Happy Half Birthday, Miriam!!

She thought she'd finally sprout some hair for her half birthday...

Has it really been six months? Most people look at our 94th percentile (read chubby) baby and guess that she is at least eight months, but I still find it hard to believe that half a year has gone by. She sleeps all night long and spends her days at full throttle wanting to sit up all the time and devour anything in sight...

                                   

Our first fall in New England proved to be just as beautiful as we'd hoped. November was full of warm, sunny days and beautiful foliage everywhere. In fact it's been so nice that we are still in denial that dreaded winter is just around the corner.

The ivy outside our building

First time in the swings at our neighborhood park.

Miriam's sixth month was also full of guests. She got to see three grandparents, one great-grandparent, and one of our dear friends from college. She is one loved little girl.

With Papa Bostrom at the Boston Waterworks Museum during his first visit to Boston.

With her great-grandmother.
She has now met all seven of her living great-grandparents!

With aunties Brittany and Charlotte during Brittany's visit.
I don't think I've ever heard Miriam laugh so much!

Zach is not just a public health programmer by day but has recently extended his endeavors into cheese and beer making. I am happy to share in the bounty...

Learning all about the beer making process...

   That's all folks...

Miriam's 5th Month

Oh, ya know, just sitting up to celebrate being five months old today...

It's been a full month for all of us. We traded late summer in for autumn (though the Boston foliage seems to be on the late side this year), and Miriam keeps trading in old habits for new ones. She plays with her feet all the time instead of her hands. She's decided that she maybe enjoys baths now, hard as she tries not to smile. The list could go on and on.

Perhaps most exciting is her new-found discovery of mobility. She started rolling over, at first with timidity, but now she flips over with glee. Then there is the belly-inching. She heaves up her chubby belly and then pushes with her toes to inch backwards - not the most efficient means of movement, but she's working with what she's got. She also wants so desperately to be sitting up whenever she is on her back that she ends up doing several repetitions of baby crunches a day...though still no abs to show for it yet. 

We also got a piano this month! Not surprisingly free pianos in Boston go quite quickly, but we finally heard back about one only to find out that it belonged to someone from my women's Bible study at church. They had to move quickly and needed to get rid of it, so it has found a new home in our little apartment. It is over 120 years old, and needs some love and repairs, but how wonderful to be able to fill our home with music again.

We took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather over Columbus Day weekend to explore some of the urban parkland around Boston. 

Of course we had to visit Ward's Pond, murky as it was.

Testing out her new snowsuit. Thankfully we have no use for it yet.

Showing off her koala hat and her Michelin Man arms.
We think she has a career as a bouncer in her future.

And finally here she is testing out her usual song and dance routine on our new rug...

4 Months

It was this time last year that we were finding out that little Miriam was on her way, and now our little monkey is already four months old!

This is about as good of a picture I could snap of her on her four month day. She is such a squirmy little thing that there is always a bit of blur to each photo. If I put something new in her line of vision i.e. a camera, she goes into full-throttle flail. Either that or she tries to snatch the camera out of my hand where its likely destination would be her mouth.

She is so full of life...erupting in tears and then bursting in belly laughs. It's like she's trying out different emotions and the reactions they get, and then she'll crack a cheeky little smile like she's got it all figured out. How can you resist a bald little baby with a smile like that?

Here are some of the less blurry photos of her that we managed to take during this last month:

Having fun with Grandpa Ward during his visit Labor Day weekend

Enjoying sunny Boston over Labor Day weekend

Geez, mom! Can't you see we're busy reading  The Economist?

Showing off her chubby baby belly

Quarter of a Year

It hardly feels like three months have passed since little Miriam came into the world. Yet such extraordinary changes have occurred in such short time. Little squeaks have changed to real phonetic sounds - she currently favors the 'g' and French 'r' sounds. Squirmy little hands are reaching out for toys and still constantly in her mouth. She even traded in sleepless nights for ten hour stretches of solid sleep when she turned 10 weeks! She is chubby and happy as ever, and we're enjoying what each new day brings.


Here are some snapshots from the last month:

Already the avid reader

Protecting her beloved pacifier

Enjoying Boston Commons with Aunt Kristiana

Finally enjoying tummy time - she's such a strong girl!

And finally a video of her latest noises - belly laughs...

Happy Two Months, Miriam!

   One Day               One Month               Two Months

Well, after a six and a half month hiatus from blogging, we've seen our fair share of life changes:


We moved across continents to plant ourselves in Boston amidst snow drifts and gale winds. We spent a great month and a half with Zach's dad during our apartment search. We trusted and waited and trusted some more during Zach's job search which ended perfectly with his hire at the Harvard School of Public Health. Then just eleven days later, nine months of waiting came to fruition on May 20th at 2:35pm. Little miss Miriam Amina Ward came into the world healthy, happy, and beautiful. It's hard to believe it has already been two months. Here are some highlights from her first two months of life.

We hopped on a plane to Colorado to attend Matt and Callie's wedding in Amarillo on June 18th.  Then Miriam smiled consciously for the first time on Father's Day just before Zach left to return to Boston and then France.

First 4th of July in Colorado Springs

First bath time back at home in Boston

Now at two months, Miriam is weighing in at a chubby 12lbs. 12oz. and is 22.5 inches long. It's hard to believe that she has almost gained six pounds! Here's to many many more months with you, Miriam.

Ottie & Lula Come for a Visit

 One of the perks of living in one of the most-visited cities in the world is that our friends come to us rather than us having to go to them. Shortly after Christmas we welcomed Ottoline and Tallula MacIlwaine to our rather humble abode in the City of Lights for their first ever trip to Paris. I lived with the MacIlwaine family last year in Aix en Provence while teaching English part time. They were British expats in France, and my duty was to help the girls with their French homework. Unlike many such 'au pair' situations these girls became more like little sisters rather than charges as they are two of the most delightful 10 and 11 year olds that I have ever met.

After having lived two whole years in France and moving back to England, the girls had still never been to Paris, and that was something that their parents and I agreed that we needed to change. For two and a half days we traipsed around the city seeing sights, eating delicious food, and trying to keep warm in the wintry cold. We climbed the Eiffel Tower where they ice skated on the rink on the first level. We indulged in macarons from Laduree, and we saw the city from the giant Ferris Wheel that is put up every Christmas season.

                                     

In our day to day routine here in Paris we rarely go into the 'touristy' parts of the city. We are more likely to be found underneath them zipping around on a metro to get to work or school. Seeing the girls' wide-eyed amazement of everything here reminded me of my own first trip to Paris which I will always remember well. There is nothing like taking in this magnificent city with fresh eyes, walking down its tree-lined boulevards, or partaking in a real French pastry for the first time. 

As we prepare to leave Paris and move on to Boston in just a few short weeks, it's hard for me not to want the days to go more quickly. It's difficult to settle in somewhere when you know how temporary it's going to be. However, it was so good to rediscover this wonderful city alongside Ottoline and Lula and remind myself exactly why I love it and will miss it.