Florida: Vacation shots

Rather than cram the 4 of us into a hotel room, or more likely a suite, we were able to find (with help from Cousin Jamie) a great house to rent near everybody that allowed us to talk as adults while either or both of the kids slept. There's just something so humanizing about having a kitchen when away from home, even if we don't do much serious cooking (no flour, condiments, or any staples, and who wants to stock a fridge for a 3 night stay?).

Mia got to go swimming at least twice each day, and even Nate got into the action:


We tried taking the kids to the 'beach', but what we found classified much more closely as a swamp, though with a nice view from the pier:

However at a nearby playground, Nate got his first taste of a swing:

But most impressive of all had to be the TV at our rental house. Mia binged on annimated movies and worked on her best couch potato technique:

...but at least she let us watch some of the Democratic Convention:

Florida: family

We're back from our jaunt to Florida visiting the family, and have the long weekend to recover back in Boston. A great time was had by all, the kids did well on both flights, and slept better than expected in a strange home. We have a bunch of pictures we wanted to post, but let's first cover the family portraits, shall we?

Nate (almost 5 months) & cousin Matthew (7 months):


Matthew, James, Mia & Nate:


James, Mia, Chase, Nate, Hunter & Matthew:


And lastly, Grammy and our kids:

Photo dump (again)

Nice weather here in Boston, tends to get us to break out the camera. We took the kids downtown today...



Mia shopped for shoes...



We played in a fountain at Copely Square...



And after a nice (though reluctant from some quarters) nap, we ended up at the pond...

His Turn

We've been remiss in posting movies of Nate recently. So with no further preamble, heres our boy in his hand-me-down exer-saucer.



(for reference sake, this is his sister at roughly the same age)

How not to be a dad

I like tossing the kids in the air as much as the next guy, but these two have me seriously reconsidering it. Somewhere Darwin is watching from up on high, cringing.


Rejected Olympic Sport: Toddler Tossing - Watch more free videos

(from the inestimable Metrodad)

Lazy Sunday

Before it gets too cold and miserable in Boston again, it's worth noting only that this can be a great place to live when the weather's nice.




(That's Walter in the shade, rolling in the morning dew)

4 Month checkup

Well the results are in, Nate at 4 months and change is tipping the scales at 18 lbs 8 oz. At 9 months Mia was 18.1. Applying some standard calculations I project Nate to be an easy first round pick for the resurgent Packers in 2029.



Mia of course is very proud of him as well.

Quick in, quick out

We were able to get to NY this weekend for the wedding of a good friend,though it was in many ways a rushed and hectic affair. The logistics alone of having two kids on different sleep schedules, trips to Rockaway, Bay Ridge, Greenwich Village, etc. limited both the amount of time we had to see people, both at the wedding and not, but we got in most of what we hoped for. Big thanks to all that played a hand in making it work, Grandmom for taking Mia for a night, Uncle Matt for keeping her entertained well past any reasonable bedtime. We made it back in one piece, but both Corrie and I are recovering from the whirlwind, and trying to get the kids back to their regular routine.

As a parting shot, here's our daughter doing her best hippy, earth-mother dance in front of the NY stock exchange.

Photo Dump

...Because sometimes "why not?" is reason enough.







Lastly, our street after an afternoon thunderstorm.

4 Months

My how the time does fly. For the record, Nate has found his feet, and enjoys grabbing them both. They haven't made it into his mouth yet, but it's only a matter of time. The boy loves looking at himself in the mirror (video to follow), and has enough neck strength now to face outwards in the Bjorn, and even ride the old Exer-saucer that Mia used to use.

So without much ado, some action shots of our boy.