We celebrated Eva’s first birthday a little over a week ago. It was an event – family flew in from the West Coast and we threw a party. You should know that the last time Matt and I threw a party, we were getting married. It took a [...]]]> It is amazing what happens in 12 months:

We celebrated Eva’s first birthday a little over a week ago. It was an event – family flew in from the West Coast and we threw a party. You should know that the last time Matt and I threw a party, we were getting married. It took a week to recover from it all – normally I have a 24 hour turnaround for getting pictures up and this batch took… a week and a half.

The picture above right is from our little family celebration on Eva’s actual birthday. We had breakfast for dinner, because one of Eva’s favorite foods is pancakes – the carbohydrates instantly convert into baby energy.

Two days later we had the official party at a picnic shelter at local park. The park was gorgeous, we couldn’t have asked for better spring weather, and everything went smoothly. The picture below captures the spirit of the party – Eva has not left my arms, and is wondering how everyone she knows ended up in the same place and why they are all singing.

She finally decided she could leave my side when she saw Matt pick up another baby.

Eva got into the spirit of things after guests left. She is missing a shoe, but enjoying the flying paper.

All the pictures are up the photo gallery. We’d better get good at party planning – only 51 weeks until the next one.

The Pacific Northwest is having the warmest winter on record, which sounded more appealing than [...]]]> A week and a half ago, Eva and I bid farewell to the five foot pile of snow in our front yard and headed West for a balmy vacation in Seattle. Matt flew out and met us a few days later.

The Pacific Northwest is having the warmest winter on record, which sounded more appealing than Washington DC’s snowiest winter on record. It was a spring vacation; bulbs were peeking out of the ground, trees were blooming, and we rarely needed coats (or pants, if you’re a baby).

I planned the vacation in part because the gap between December and May seemed too long for Eva to go without seeing her West Coast Uncle and Grandparents. Just two months after Christmas she’s a different person, and nine months is an exciting age. I watch her learn and grow every day, and she does it with cheer and giggles (most of the time). It is an age that is meant to be shared.

As is becoming tradition, my brother took me rock climbing. We went to Vertical World in Redmond, and I was pleased with my progress since my first climb last November.

If you’re a climber and look closely at the picture at left, you’ll see that I’m not following a route (my hands and feet are on different colors). I did, however, climb that wall a second time following a 5.6 route (beginner) without cheating. I managed to make my climber extraordinaire brother proud.

We planned the trip to coincide with the Kasdan’s trip to Seattle. Mitchell just turned one, and Eva had a lot to say to him. She likes to be around other babies, and is especially interested in babies that move independently (crawl or walk) like Mitchell can. It took him awhile to warm up to her, but they were batting each other on the head by the second visit.

Eva made great strides with her stranger anxiety on this trip. For the last three months she has taken days to get used to new people and situations, and often had to be attached to me. On this trip she immediately smiled and waved at everyone she met, and even allowed Marissa to carry her around at a crowded event.

Overall, it was a fantastic trip, and I was as thoroughly spoiled as Eva. I barely cooked, saw a movie, and came home with a suitcase of clean clothes I didn’t fold. If that’s not a good trip, I don’t know what is.

I have one more entry to post on this trip; in the meantime, there are more photos here.

Yesterday a blizzard dropped 10 inches of new snow. A storm that I agree actually was a blizzard, and I’m picky – I’ve read The Long Winter multiple times and have a literary sense [...]]]> After our second historic winter storm you would think we would get a break. And we did – for one day.

Yesterday a blizzard dropped 10 inches of new snow. A storm that I agree actually was a blizzard, and I’m picky – I’ve read The Long Winter multiple times and have a literary sense for what a real blizzard is. It’s the kind of storm you get lost in while walking home from school and are saved from death only by brushing the edge of the last building in town before wandering onto the prairie forever.

Okay, our blizzard wasn’t that bad. But there were 50 mile an hour wind gusts that blew our powdery new snow all over the place, and visibility was extremely limited.

Meanwhile, Eva and I started to get cabin fever. Matt has been out shoveling every day and even got to go to work for a half day on Tuesday, but Eva and I haven’t seen the outdoors since Friday, aside from the ten minutes we stood on the front stoop on Sunday. Add to that our lack of Internet and a cold (how did I catch a cold while housebound? I am baffled), and I might have been getting a little cranky.

In the name of Mama and baby sanity, we did things we never do, like watching to the local news (all snow, all the time) and figure skating. Matt managed to get Muppets Studio working on his laptop, and Eva visited with Animal and Beaker for a few minutes. As Matt took pictures of Eva watching YouTube (at right), I said, “This is a preview of teenage Eva, lying on the floor and flipping through a magazine… Oh wait, she’ll probably never read magazines.”

The blizzard ended yesterday at dusk and Matt went out to shovel. I strapped Eva to my chest and we stood outside for a half hour. That half hour made all the difference in the world. I saw that there was an end in sight, and Eva was shrieking with laughter by the time I brought her inside for a bath.

I know that doesn’t sound like a lot, but this was actually the fourth largest storm recorded in DC, and [...]]]> It is a clear sunny day and I am still Blackberry blogging. We don’t have a yard stick, but I would guess we have the same amount of snow as Reagan National airport – 18 inches.

I know that doesn’t sound like a lot, but this was actually the fourth largest storm recorded in DC, and the area is ill-prepared for any amount of snow. Even though we’ve cleared our walkway and access road, we haven’t seen a plow on the main road. If we’re lucky we might be able to leave the house by Tuesday.

We took Eva outside to play in the snow this morning which, as usual, involved putting her in the backpack and standing around watching Matt shovel. We stayed outside for ten minutes – the same amount of time it took us to get into our snow clothes.

Here are some pictures from our morning outing:

Babies in snowsuits are slippery, so we always go out in the hiking backpack.

I would like to have taken a walk, but this ice slick was my only option.

Matt’s car. All we need is for a plow to come through and it will be buried forever.

Matt is standing next to our four foot tall azalia.

Babies in snowsuits cant quite sit up straight.

Eva concedes snowsuits are good for one thing – playtime.

February is not far away and I find I am unable to write a traditional Christmas post. Perhaps it’s because we have a paltry 207 pictures chronicling Eva’s first Christmas. I might be a little overwhelmed.

Instead, I present one tiny theme from our Christmas week. I give you… Captain Eva!*

It all started with an innocent [...]]]>

February is not far away and I find I am unable to write a traditional Christmas post. Perhaps it’s because we have a paltry 207 pictures chronicling Eva’s first Christmas. I might be a little overwhelmed.

Instead, I present one tiny theme from our Christmas week. I give you… Captain Eva!*

It all started with an innocent onesie. You can see the culprits laughing in the background (below left).

Next we received the Star Trek movie (above right). Several members of the family are obsessed with that movie. Eva, of course, experienced it in the womb.

Finally, Star Trek Uno** appeared, and we played it in between games of Quiddler*** for the rest of the trip. I highly recommend Star Trek Uno – we all enjoyed the addition of the “Beam Me Up” card.

Over the holidays, Captain Eva ruled. Because who are we kidding – isn’t the seven-month-old always in charge?**** Below, Captain Eva orders fine dining, a piano lesson, and some snuggles.

Finally, Captain Eva commands you to rock.

* We are not crazy Star Trek fans. I swear.
** Hmm… the evidence is starting to disprove *.
*** A note to The Northern California Quiddler Committee: The word “za” was used several times over Christmas, and once in conjunction with a new discovery, “mo.” Look up “mo” in the Scrabble dictionary and weep.
**** This is not true, though it sometimes feels that way.

There were so many [...]]]> We flew to Seattle on Thanksgiving morning – it was wonderful to have a relatively quiet airport experience and fly on a half full plane. If you look at our pictures, it looks like all we did that weekend was bathe and feed a baby… well, maybe that’s kind of accurate.

There were so many baths, many directly after feedings. This is my favorite bath picture, though don’t be fooled by the peacefulness of the shot. A few minutes later, the scene looked like this.

We were so excited to introduce Eva to the Rutledges, my friend Marissa’s family (sadly, Marissa was not there). We’ve known each other for 20 years now, so it was fun to watch Eva play with Calvin, Marissa’s nephew.

One of my biggest highlights was rock climbing. My brother Austin is an avid climber, and took me to his favorite gym. He taught me the basics, and after a few tries I found myself at the top of a 20-foot vertical wall, and then hanging upside down. It was exhilarating, and I hope to find a gym in D.C. so I can go again soon.

Eva and her grandparents had tons of quality time together. Grandpa taught Eva to play peek-a-boo actively, and Grandma spent time reading to Eva and showing her how to turn the pages of her books. My mother now has what I call “Happy Grandma” face – you can see it here, as Eva gives my mom a hug.

On our last day in town, we all went for a walk along the Redmond Slough. Matt took a series of nature shots that turned out beautifully – start here and click next for eight shots total.

As always, the trip was way too short, and Eva is already looking forward to seeing her West Coast grandparents and uncle in a few weeks. All of the pictures are here, complete with captions.

Matt’s grandparents live in the Albany area, and we were able to stay with [...]]]> A few weeks ago Matt, Eva, and I flew up to Albany for an event at RPI, Matt’s alma mater. Yes, we have returned to our former life as traveling fools. The flight up was a success, as you can see below.

Matt’s grandparents live in the Albany area, and we were able to stay with them the whole weekend. The leaves were almost to peak fall color, and it was beautiful.

Matt’s grandparents have my ideal property, which includes a field just for garlic and a 19th century cemetery. Here we are walking around their pond:

And visiting their latest addition, the Hoophouse (hopefully I’m spelling that right). Lucky people – they can garden year round!

Here we are before the main event that weekend. Turns out we clean up well every now and then.

We don’t jet-set as effortlessly as we used to, but it’s nice to know it can still be done. All of the pictures from our New York visit – including more fall color and farm photos – are up in our photo gallery.

I still managed to keep our numbers low, though [...]]]> I reviewed our September photos on September 28 and thought, “21 photos. That’s a nice number for our September gallery.” I went out the next night and left Matt home alone for two hours. I came home to 41 new photos of Eva, plus a video. Sigh.

I still managed to keep our numbers low, though that’s really because all of the excitement happened at the beginning of the month, which we covered. So I leave you with a link to the gallery, and a video.