...and the rest of February

February was such a busy and fun month! For Valentine's Day, we printed out some kid-friendly recipes (eggless chocolate cake, snow ice cream, etc.), and Caden decorated the pages with stickers and pens. This project took place the same night the girls from the lab were 'getting crafty' in preparation for G's bachelorette party, so Caden got help from our friend Catherine.

On Valentine's Day, we invited Summer and Mae over so Sal and Liza could go on a date (a snowshoe race in VT!). The kids had a blast, as usual, playing, snacking, reading books, and painting. That night, Dada and Caden went over to Luke's to play guitar hero (there were extra instruments for Caden, so he could play the guitar and drums, too) while Mama joined the girls for dinner and a movie in Boston.

The next day, we took the T into Boston and then out to Cambridge

to go to the (residents free day at the) Harvard Natural History Museum. We had talked up the dinosaur bones, so Caden did a happy dance for about 30 seconds when he saw this complete skeleton! He also liked seeing the stuffed African mammals, insect collections, and space rocks. We made it to only a few exhibits, with there being so much to see and the place being pretty packed with kids, so we'll definitely return. We had lunch at b.good., a natural food burger place, before riding the trains back to the car.

The next weekend, Mama went to Foxwoods (in CT) for a night, then returned in time to celebrate her birthday at home with some of her favorites: taco salad and rhubarb cake (which Caden helped make).

Finally, a couple pictures of Caden playing...here he is practicing out his doctoring. He is wearing socks as gloves (he is very interested in the different gloves that are worn in different professions - has also asked about garbage collectors, lobstermen, and postal workers) and using his Slinky as a stethoscope to give his sea animals a check-up. Maybe we don't need to get him a doctor kit for his birthday after all!


And we couldn't resist taking a picture of this train. We like how he used his natural wood blocks, with the small sticks set sideways as wheels.

Next - photos of Caden's week with Nana and Boopa while Mama and Dada went to Hawaii for Spring Break!

First week of Feb.

During February, the weather has alternated being cold and threatening snow and warm/rainy, with the snow almost completely melting. Mid-month, we saw through to the lawn for the first time since early January. It's so strange to be becoming accustomed to perpetually having snow on the ground! We haven't been too stir crazy and have been kept busy, mostly indoors.

On the 1st, we went over to Luke's house for a Super Bowl party with a Pittsburgh theme, since that's the hometown of our friend Liz (see photo), a huge Steelers fan. She set Caden up with his own Steelers hat and Terrible Towel, and he enjoyed the attention and excitement of rooting 'Go Steelers' and hanging out with the grad students.

The following weekend, it warmed up a bit. On Sunday, we headed out for a hike on the railroad trail, but we arrived in tennies to find that it was still snowy and slushy. Instead, we walked around downtown (the old part of) Marblehead - Caden especially enjoyed rediscovering the 'old town' toy shop.

Caden's friend Osamu - a post-doc at the lab who Caden loves to play with at lab get-togethers - went back to Japan early in the month (and was offered an asst. professor position - congrats, Osamu!). He brought Caden a Japanese coloring book, which Caden was super excited about. He also surprises us by saying that he knows the names of some of the characters 'from school' (really?).

Osamu also brought a Thomas the Train puzzle - Caden's first 40-piece puzzle, and he completed it with only minor help! We tend to not give him activities that we think would be too frustrating or challenging, so we are always surprised by how we sometimes underestimate him!

Hope you are all staying warm, dry and healthy!

Messages for Adad

We're thinking of you, Adad!

January jaunts

It's been a snowy month, but we're enjoying a brief bit of warmer, sunnier weather between storms. Today, the temperature got up to almost 50 degrees! This afternoon, Caden and Dada tromped through the squishy snow to fill the bird feeder wearing baseball caps instead of stocking caps.

Earlier this month, Mama enjoyed a break from the snow in sunny Merida, Mexico, where she attended the International Biogeography Conference. She had a great time meeting new colleagues (she didn't know anyone there before going) and exploring Merida and the Yucutan. A highlight was a tour to the ruins at Chichen Itza.

While Mama was away, Caden and Dada had a great time together. Sal invited us over to have a tasty fish dinner with his family, and Caden had lots of fun playing with Summer and Mae. While Mama was in Mexico, Caden and Dada also had fun playing at the playground, watching the snow fall, dressing like pirates, and reading lots of stories.

Dada's birthday was a couple of weeks ago, and we had many of our lab friends over for dinner. Summer, Mae, Chelsea, and Savannah came over with their parents, much to Caden's delight. The older kids are independent enough that they mostly ate and played in the playroom while the adults chatted in the living room, and everyone had a great time. The following day, Mae and Summer visited again in the morning--Sal had to have a tire fixed--then we all headed over to their house. Caden played there while Mama and Dada went cross-country skiing on the railroad trail, then we all enjoyed warm drinks and snacks together.

Last weekend, we were invited to the birthday party of one of Caden's school friends. The party was at an indoor amusement park and pizza place (a local version of Chuck-e-Cheese) called Bonkers. Caden had a wonderful time playing with his friends from the Y, and it was great fun for us to watch him interact with them, as we usually only see them at pick-up or drop-off times. Rides included an indoor carousel and a Ferris wheel. Caden absolutely loved both of them, including the Ferris wheel. We weren't sure how he'd react to the height, but he and his friend Hailey chanted "Again! Again!" whenever the attendant asked them if they were ready to get off.

This past Wednesday, a daytime snowstorm hit, and schools were closed throughout the region. Caden and Dada spent a cozy day at home watching the snow turn our backyard evergreens into, in Caden's words, "Christmas trees." If you look closely, you'll see the cardinals in the snow.

Christmas morning

Here's Caden coming downstairs on Christmas morning to find the surprises that Santa left for him. In particular, he'd been asking for a fire truck for weeks...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

This year, we spent Christmas 'just the 3 of us' at home in Swampscott, having decided to do our travelling for Thanksgiving instead. It felt a bit unusual to Mama and Dada - Mama having spent most Christmases with cousins galore and Dada remembering several travelling holidays (Mexico, Hawaii, etc.). But for Caden, Christmas was all about Santa, Reindeer, presents, Christmas trees, and wishing for a fire truck! We enjoyed some fun holiday gatherings, including Chinese food at the lab, brunch at Caden's school, game night at our house, lunch with Eric and Jackie (who were visiting from BML) on the 24th, and a fun open house/party at our neighbors that kept us up late on Christmas Eve.

We awoke to a bright, sunny Christmas morning - with just a bit of snow on the ground leftover from the previous weekend's storm. We spent a leisurely morning, opening stockings and presents and having our traditional cinnamon rolls, omelette, and OJ. There were enough presents under the tree to keep us busy opening all day on Christmas and even into the 26th! Among the many wonderful gifts were play food...

...2 fire trucks (Santa must have gotten the message!) and a school bus...
...the hilarious laughing bear from Great Grammy and Grandpa...

...and the most creative gift we have ever seen: a book made by Auntie Misty that uses actual pictures of Caden to tell 2 stories - one about Caden the Great (a pirate story) and one about Caden the Farmer. In the pirate story, with his trusty sidekick, Jerry the Jolly (Uncle Jerry), Caden sails off to find a suitable gift for the Queen, taming oysters out of their pearls and singing (child-friendly) pirate songs en route. We all so appreciated the gifts and packages that family sent to us!!

Around lunchtime, we went for a walk along the Swampscott waterfront. The sun made it nice and warm (for December - note: no gloves!) but it was super windy. We collected lots of fun shells and even found a shark egg in the wrack.

We ended the day with a Skype video chat with Ama, Adad, Auntie Sally, Uncle Jerry, and Auntie Misty and had a great time sporting our new outfits and gifts and giving them their first (all except Ama) tour of the house as we walked the computer around.

Caden didn't have school all of the next week, so we both spent most of the week working short hours from home. Caden came down with a fever/cold/cough/ear infection/pink eye, so was under the weather part of that time. Here we are administering tea and vit C-rich popsicles!

Fortunately, Caden was pretty recovered by New Years, when we visited Mark and Anne in Vermont for 2 nights. We hadn't been there since a year before, so this was our first visit to their new home - a ~1830s farmhouse in Poultney, just down the road from where they work at Green Mountain College. Temperatures were around 5oF the whole time we were there, so we spent most of the time inside. Caden was in awe of Mark's guitar so, since we'd brought his new harmonica, he and Mark had a little jam session.

We spent New Year's Eve at a party with several of Mark and Anne's friends and all had a great time. Caden even fell asleep in their spare room, letting Mama and Dada stay out until after the midnight champagne.

Since the 1st, we've been getting back into a routine. Dada is teaching on campus in Boston on Tuesday and Fridays, and we switched Caden's schedule so he is now at school Tues-Fri and home with Mama on Mondays. Since the 1st, Caden has been diaper-free, except at night, so that's a big milestone! Happy New Year, all!