quickie

J., as is visible in one of the previous set of pics, has grown a beard. It suits him very well. Sam isn't totally sure about it, though; when queried recently, he asked, "What's the word again? Oh yeah. It looks ridiculous. Daddy, your beard is ridiculous."

We're going to Montreal tomorrow for a conference (driving). Wish us luck! It's supposed to be cold and rainy the whole weekend, so I probably won't take pics (that, and that we'll mostly be in conference sessions).

ps2: Opa and dumplings

When Omi and Opa were here, Omi made the dumplings that Sam loves so much. She froze two big bagfuls (thank you Omi!!!) and we also ate some for dinner on Friday night, after Opa got here. Opa, exquisitely mannered, took for himself most of the few that had gotten a bit burnt at the edges, announcing over our protests that he likes them. Sam, of course, took this entirely literally, and spent the rest of dinner pointing out any dumplings with the littlest bit of burnt edge and insisting that Opa have them.

PS (oblivious)

Sam's word of the week: oblivious. Picked up when J. called a driver that, and used correctly multiple times in the car since (the first time taking me quite by surprise). "Why is that driver so oblivious?"

easter

Straw glasses were among the favors in the "pass the bowl" game at Sam's birthday party (in which a bowl filled with little presents is passed in a circle while music plays, and the kid holding the bowl when the music stops gets to choose one, then leave the circle. We did this in lieu of goody bags).

Sam also got an insect kit from my grandmother, complete with an ant farm. He brought home an ant in a little jar (packed for that purpose) from his long bike ride w/J. on Saturday, but alas we couldn't find any sand for the farm fast enough, and the ant died that night. In the meantime, he'd named it Pillow. It's a bug name, he explained quite seriously.

We tried naturally-dyed eggs this year. Grape juice worked the best (deep bluish-purple). Beets were ok, too. Less luck with red cabbage, turmeric, and paprika (the white designs are from dripped candle wax).



"Why on this night do we recline while eating?" (a line from the Passover Haggadah, for the Gentiles reading...):



After brunch and a short backyard hunt for Easter chocolates, we drove north to spend the afternoon at Wingaersheek Beach (the same one I'd gone to with the kids and two friends right after Thanksgiving). In contrast to last weekend's frigid weather, which Omi and Opa endured on a walk through Boston Common and the Public Garden, this past weekend was warm and lovely. Sorry... better luck next year? We'd expected to just walk on the beach and climb rocks again, but it was so warm that wading called. Sam promptly wet himself up to his hips while trying to hop between rocks. He was fine, if a bit itchy on the way home:





Frida hung out on a blanket for a bit, then consented to riding around in the ergo. She will NOT keep a hat on. Sunscreen for the feet and ankles, and an unending game of hat-on hat-off.



She has been determinedly working on independent mobility, these days. Also babbling. J's quite pleased with her selection of "dadadadadadadeedadadadadeee" to begin.

birthday party, and passover

Sorry, no more details on FL and NYC. Both were good. 'Nuff said.
Omi and Opa visited this past weekend, and we had Sam's birthday party. 3 friends from preschool (plus one friend's older brother) and 3 friends from kindergarten (3 other invitees didn't make it, sadly), a few organized games, cupcake decorating, and controlled chaos for two hours.

Limbo excerpt (pictures severely edited because I'm not sure which kids' parents are ok with me putting them online):



We're hosting a seder w/J's lab tomorrow night, but tonight it was just me and Sam. We had matzo brei, carrots (w/ranch dressing, in Sam's case, and as carrot salad, courtesy of Omi, in mine), and concord grape juice. And had a serious discussion about slavery, in which Sam concluded that sometimes he's a slave because I and Stephanie tell him what to do (we then discussed how being a kid entails a lot of being told what to do, and how that's different from slavery). Happy Passover to all who celebrate.

pics from FL and NYC

Frida swinging at Sugar Sand Park in Boca Raton:





Sam having a sundae after dinner on Grandpa's birthday (the expression was supposed to convey how amazingly good the sundae was-- he kept enjoining us to try a bite, because it was THAT GOOD):



Sam having gelato in Delray:



Birthday night, in the hotel in Newark after a long day out (Central Park, Museum of Natural History, ramen and gyoza for dinner), wearing his birthday t-shirt. It was bought from a friend who designed it based on Sam's monster drawings. She'll have a website up soon, if you want to order from her!)



He licked all of the frosting off of the cupcake and then carefully replaced it in the box. I found it there some time later... this weirdly naked cupcake with just a little nibble of cake missing. So yeah, lots of chocolatey, creamy, sweet goodness for Sam over the past week.

I bought Frida a shirt from Bianca too. Here's a typical Frida expression:




... and another, blowing raspberries. She will do this over and over again when she's in a certain mood:




(more text to follow in the next few days...)

the power of dizzy

We're in FL visiting Grandma and Grandpa. Today, at a huge and lovely playground/park, we bought a token for Sam to ride the merry-go-round. We discussed the possibility of Frida riding too, but Sam thought she wouldn't like it. "Why not?" I asked. "She'll get dizzy," Sam said. "Hm, you could be right," I said. Sam: "Did you forget about the power of dizzy?"

Forgot the cord to transfer pics from the camera, so pics will be up later. (Maybe a while later: we're back Wednesday then taking the train to NYC Friday for Sam's bday, and not back until Sunday night. Staying in Newark-- both bec. it's cheaper, and because it's on the NJT line for J. to go to a conference in Princeton.)

Hope everyone is ok after the crazy weather in the Northeast. We've spoken a few times with our amazing upstairs neighbor/condo-mate Paula, who's been bailing/pumping out our basement the past couple of days.