"This is my new friend Wyatt..."

One of my dearest friends in the world, Melissa, came to visit with her husband Hayden and their gorgeous son Wyatt. We were also supposed to have the Hammers visiting as well, but sadly another snow storm closed Newark Airport, BOO! We missed having the Hammers join in the fun, but had a fantastic time being snowed in for a long weekend "staycation".

Wyatt "Big Man" Lindsay

Wyatt is just three weeks older than Ellie, and the two kids kept us laughing the entire weekend. It's amazing how much fun four adults and two kids can have with nothing much to do except sleep, eat, drink, and play around the house. Here they are saying hello to each other:

Neither Wyatt nor Ellie is mobile yet, so they spent the majority of their time together seated on the playmat surrounded by toys. Both of them loved playing with blocks, but each in their own way. Ellie would pick up a block, shake it up and down, maybe bite it...while Wyatt was a little less, gentle and a lot more interested in slamming and banging blocks. They certainly each had their own style of playing!

We did manage to get ourselves out of the house and walk around Princeton for a bit on Saturday when the snow let up. We had lunch at a local brewery got this picture of Mel, Hayden, and Wyatt. Thanks for coming, guys!

"Happy Birthday, Daddy!"

...says Ellie with a high pitched shriek;)


We were lucky enough to celebrate Phil's day as a family with Grandma Connie. On Friday, we spent the afternoon walking around Princeton and had an early dinner out. On Saturday, we went to a local sculpture garden, Grounds for Sculpture, and strolled around in the snow. The highlight of the day was probably the live peacocks that have free range on the grounds. Ellie seemed intermittently intrigued by the birds, but was completely entranced by the fountains. She just loves running water! On Saturday night, Grandma graciously offered to babysit so Phil and I could go out alone. We had an exquisite dinner at a Elements and went to see a movie, too.

Throughout the weekend, Grandma helped Ellie do all kinds of things like playing with blocks, reading books, and of course practicing high fives! Thanks for visiting G'ma Connie!

Gung Hay Fat Choy - Happy Year of the Tiger

For Ellie's first Chinese New Year (and Valentine's Day), we celebrated by spending the weekend in NYC with my brother and his girlfriend, Katherine. Earlier in the week, our previously scheduled vacation to Colorado was canceled by yet another snowstorm. Undeterred by this disappointment, we packed ourselves up, and crashed my brother's apartment for two days. On Saturday, the four of us took Ellie to see some culture and went to the Museum of Modern Art. Phil carried Ellie all around MoMA, having very deep conversations about everything from Monet's waterlillies to Orozco's shoebox on the floor. I think she was intrigued by anything with bright colors, but Phil is convinced she has a very discerning eye for art.

On Sunday morning, we headed to Chinatown and ran into a parade. There were dragons dancing in the streets and drums beating all around us. Ellie seemed intrigued by the dragons and unperturbed by the drums.

Our favorite dim sum place was a mob scene, so we went to our family's favorite restaurant instead. The Dong family has been going to Hop Lee for as long as I can remember and the food was delicious as always.

Jonathan and Katherine with Ellie

Only one minor mishap at lunch: after taking this photo, Ellie proceeded to splash her hand into the plate of hot sauce in front of her. Katherine saved the day by swooping in, moving the plate, and grabbing Ellie's hand before she could smear it on her face. Good save, K!

This last video was made especially for Gung: Ellie's first tofu, broccoli, and rice!

Snowpocalypse 2010: Hangin' in DC

Was it Snowpocalypse or Snowmageddon? We've had so many 12+ inch snowfalls this year it is hard to keep track...but we spent the last weekend of January at Julie and Eric new abode in Great Falls, VA. Using a genetic counseling conference as an excuse, we had grad school reunion as Tricia, her husband Kevin, and Sarah all flew in to DC. On Friday while all the ladies were at the conference, Ellie spent the day with Dad and Uncle Eric.

She did fun things like walk around the lake at the house...

and visited the Air and Space Museum! I'm sure Uncle Eric spent lots of time telling Ellie all about the planes;)

We spent the rest of the weekend snowed in at Julie and Eric's. On Saturday, we ventured out of the house to walk to the waterfalls. Even bundled up in the cold, Ellie loved the walk in the snow. It tuckered her out enough that she fell asleep in the Bjorn for the first time in months right after we took this photo.

Ellie loves being part of the party - this photo is just too funny as she looks like she's part of the conversation with her godmother Julie and me! Ellie really is just one of the girls;)

Before heading back to Princeton on Sunday, we had brunch at JC and Marcela's with Padrino who was visiting from Charlottesville and Mike and Rebecca, too! Sadly, I forgot to take any photos at brunch, but it was a wonderful ending to a very snowy weekend in DC.

Back to Merrimac

We took a quick trip up to Merrimac to visit Grandma Connie and had too much fun with all the Whitings! It was just a few days, but we were so happy to drive up for the weekend.

One of the highlights was having lunch out with everyone at Michael's Harborside. Ellie got to test out her new chair and Grandma kept her amused all through the meal.

Ellie loved hanging out with all the Joneses and Whitings!

And Great-Grandma Dot keeps Ellie cheering: Yay for family visits!

Happy Happy Joy Joy

Two of my new favorite pictures of Ellie - she's squealing with excitement for nothing in particular...

Running with Ellie

Ellie and I often go running on the D & R Canal together. There is an entrance to this 30+ mile canal and trail 0.5 miles from our house (one of the biggest bonuses of living in our neighborhood). This is often a regular part of the day, nothing too out of the ordinary. On our run yesterday, we has an especially "warm" January day in the 40's. Much more pleasant than the brutal 15 degrees of a few weeks ago. When she was younger, she would inevitably fall asleep, but now, at 7 months, she is often interested in the sights and sounds around her. I found myself running along, listening to Ellie babble away to herself, "Ma-ma-ma-ha-ha-ha". It struck me as an unbelievably sweet moment: me and my daughter, alone in the woods, running along on a Tuesday afternoon. It made me stop and appreciate the little moments I get to share with her these days. She brings a unique kind of joy to the day with her little voice than I ever could have imagined. About 20 minutes into our run, she stopped babbling. I looked in on her and she was asleep. I have also learned to appreciate the quiet of her sleep, too;) Awake or asleep, she is joy.