Omnivore's Dilemma

Ellie finally met a food she didn't like: curried butternut squash. At nine months old, she's a non-discriminating omnivore: most food is delicious or at least palatable. (I guess this is sort of like me;) But not this time. I thought that the spices in this squash might be a little bit of a stretch, and I was right. Her facial expressions were so out of the ordinary for her that I had to capture them on camera. I guess it's a little underhanded of me to purposely give her a few more bites of something she didn't like, but hey, you gotta find laughs where you can...

Great-Grandma Tota visits Princeton

Phil's paternal grandma, Carlota, just celebrated her 93rd birthday and is one of the most incredible women I have ever met. She flew up to see us from North Carolina to spend some time with her first great-granddaughter.

She spent a couple of days in Long Island with her son and his family, and we spent Saturday with the Manhasset Haberkerns. Ellie is lucky enough to have two wonderful cousins, Nathaniel and India (who is only a few months older, but a lot more mobile than Ellie;) It was particularly fun to see them together, not just for Grandma To but for us, too!

Nathaniel and Ellie - he was being very sweet and sharing some of India's toys with Ellie

India cruising all around

Ellie and India hanging on the lawn

We brought Grandma To back to Princeton after our visit to LI. It was fun for all of us to spend time together eating breakfast and relaxing at home.

On Sunday, my parents came down for the day and we all had brunch together. We spent the afternoon walking around Princeton and basking in the glorious spring day - 70's and sunny was a welcome change in central Jerz! Grandma To remembered Princeton fondly after visiting years ago and we were happy that we could continue creating happy memories.

The best wakeup ever

Almost everyday when Ellie wakes up from her afternoon nap, she plays peekaboo with her blanket. She covers her eyes and then pulls the blanket down so you can see her face. She thinks she's hilarious and I can't lie, I agree...

When Mexichirish eyes are smiling

For Ellie's first Saint Patrick's Day, Nannie and Gung celebrated by coming for their weekly visit decked out in green and bearing gifts of balloons. Ellie has fallen in love with balloons, and Gung bought her bright green ones for this special day. Yay for being a proud 1/4 Irish!

Ellie was given a beautiful green dress by her little friend Nora (thanks Matt and Crissie!). It was perfect for St. Patrick's Day and we had a little photo session with Nannie.

A whole day playing with Nannie and Gung, watching the parade on TV, singing Irish songs, ending with Gung's corned beef and cabbage (Ellie was unsure about this as an important part of her culinary repertoire)...what a way to celebrate.

"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!