Holding on to Autumn

What once were monthly updates on our family life (ok, mostly Miriam) have become more seasonal, and as I looked out our window at winter's first flakes of snow, I realized that I had better commemorate our autumn in some way before it becomes a distant memory.

Needless to say, autumn in New England does not disappoint. We got out and enjoyed it all this year - the fair, the pumpkin patch and apple farm, parks galore and even some vineyards in upstate New York - in an effort to pack it all in before the weather turns bad.

Awed by the animals at the fair

Miriam has three speeds these days, running, sleeping, and eating. She loves the usual toddler things like our neighborhood park, playing with her baby doll, and excitedly pointing at any dog within sight, but she has also picked up her own quirky pastimes like begging to smell all our spices, reading through cookbooks like picture books, and calling out her favorite storybook characters' names while trying to fall asleep.

The beginning of the school year brought more routine in our lives as I began to teach French once a week at a local public elementary school. The opportunity sort of fell into my hands, and it has been oh so nice to flex my brain in new ways.

About a month ago, Zach came home with the good news that he had been promoted to project manager on the maternal health grant that he has been working on. The promotion was great affirmation from Harvard that they'd like to keep him around for a while, and the fact that it came on the exact same day that we got a rather large bill for some car work that the previous owner 'forgot' to mention was more than a little nice.

Her favorite spot to watch for passing trucks and dogs 

 Working on the Curious George O'Lantern

Dressing up as an African mama (just like her doll from Aunt Kristiana) for Halloween

Miriam has become quite the little chatterbox at home, and watching her understanding of language unfold has been incredible. The video below shows her reading one of her favorite books with her typical enthusiasm.

Summer in the City

We did it. We moved out to the suburbs and bought a car. Really, we're only just across the Charles River in Watertown, Massachusetts, but it feels worlds different from the busy hub that we left. I do love urban living, but it was time for Miriam to have a yard, not to mention her own room! I'll post pictures soon when we're a little bit more put together.

For now, here's a look at Miriam's summer in the city before the big  move, equipped with everything to enjoy the New England heat.

Flip flops - thanks to Aunt Kristiana's trip to Brazil

Sun hat - thanks to grandma's birthday visit

Linen shorts - thanks to my first attempts at sewing clothes

Time in the pool - thanks to the best daddy who doesn't mind excessive, gleeful splashing

Sweet summer pjs - thanks to Hee Do's mom in Korea who has never even met this little one

Pig tails! - thanks to those tiny wisps of hair that keep growing

Our favorite park - thanks to Boston and Brookline for providing fun fountains to keep cool

Needless to say, it's been a memorable summer.

Independence Week

Walking in Harvard Yard like a pro

Someone recently told me that her daughter first walked on July 4th, making it her 'independence day'. Miriam spent this past Independence Day watching all the other kids run around at the barbeque we went to and must have picked up on the hint. Three days later, after not much previous interest, she just went for it.

Here she is in her walking debut. (Just don't mind the mess in our apartment. We're getting ready to move!...but more on that later).

Celebration Season

Late spring is a good time to be born. It's also a good time to have a baby. We've had two solid months of lots of celebration, birthdays and otherwise.

I missed mother's day last year by less than a week. Of course I had constant reminders that I was a mother at that point. They came in the form of kicks to the ribs and heartburn, but that could never compare to having Miriam here in person. I never could have guessed all that this first year of motherhood has been - so much laughter and tears and learning. We celebrated with a delicious meal on the sunny patio of a Cambridge cafe that we'd been eyeing for some time.

The pinnacle of celebration came the following Sunday on Miriam's first birthday. One of my friends here with older children told me, "You just have to make it through the first year." At that point, Miriam was four months old, and the all-important first birthday seemed so far away. And here we are now with a vivacious one year old that loves life almost as much as we love her. We celebrated with an open house at our place where our friends could drop by, and of course there was plenty of family on hand to love on her. It was also my mom's birthday that week, and she was here to add to the celebration.

She was quite bewildered as to why everyone was singing to her, 

not to mention the flaming food near her face.

The two birthday girls

At church on her actual birthday

A monkey cake for our monkey

The birthday spread with a timeline of photos of her

My birthday is just two weeks and two days after Miriam's. Zach gave me a break from the kitchen and made a delicious dinner for us complete with carrot cake. He also gave me time in the kitchen for my birthday - time, that is, in a restaurant kitchen with a local chef who grew up in the south of France. I spent the Saturday following my birthday along with a small group of people learning how to make specialty dishes for summer from the southwest of France. It was a completely new experience and made me miss all the delicious food that we readily had available in France. 

And now here we are on the eve of father's day, and it seems fitting to celebrate Zach after all these other celebrations. Through all the ups and downs of the first year of parenting and the second year of marriage, he has been so solid in his patience, reason, and love. Miriam and I are so lucky to have him in our lives!

Thus wraps up my (usually tardy) monthly updates of Miriam's first year. I mentioned to a couple people that I would probably wrap up the blog with this post as it doesn't quite top the ever-growing to-do list. However, their response convinced me that this is indeed worth doing occasionally and appreciated by others. Hopefully this will be a place where our friends and family far and wide can get a glimpse of what we're up to, and if you're only coming in search of an inordinate amount of cute photos of Miriam, there will be plenty of that as well.

Eleven (and a half) Months

So we're running a little behind on this whole 'monthly update' thing. Miriam is now eleven and a half months, and time just keeps flying. April was packed with visits from friends, two weekend trips away, and lots of time in the spring sunshine (which seems to have once again left Boston for the time being).

Miriam is as full of life as ever. Her favorite activities these days are dancing, waving, and creating disorder out of order. Out of nowhere one day she started dancing to music, swaying back and forth like a baby metronome. These days she will go over to the computer (the source of Pandora and all other musical wonders) and begin dancing - her way of saying 'Please won't you turn the music back on?' Oh and the waving. Anything and everything deserves a wave these days from inanimate objects to people walking by, but the waves are mostly directed at pictures of herself on the walls and mirrors. Who is that cute baby always looking back anyways?

We spent a nice, quiet Easter with Charlotte at our church followed by lots of delicious food at our place. Note her sweet Easter dress and first pair of real shoes! She is so ready to walk but just doesn't know it's a possibility yet.

The following weekend our friend Karen came out for a visit during the Boston Marathon. Temperatures that weekend were at record highs, and we enjoyed time out in the sun. As you can see, Miriam quickly bonded with her.

Our church had a women's retreat in western Massachusetts toward the end of April, and Zach graciously agreed to watch Miriam on his own that weekend. It was so nice to get out of the city, meet some new friends, and not have to worry about making the next meal or cleaning up the next mess. It was good to come home and find that they had such fun daddy-daughter time together. 

The next weekend Miriam and I were off to Jackson, Mississippi to watch Alli graduate from college. Plane rides are not meant for children who cannot sit still, but it was well worth it to see family and get a taste of where Alli has been the past four years. It was a fast but wonderful trip filled with outdoor dinners, poolside chats, and the sweet smell of magnolia trees. 

In other news we have officially commenced urban baby training here.  Phase one: learning to push your own groceries home in a cart. As you can see, she is becoming quite good. We'll have to move on to phase two soon: toting her baby doll around in a front-pack carrier.

10 Months and Counting

Miriam wasn't feeling very well on her ten month day (that, or she didn't like the dress I made for her) so she was pretty mellow (a rare state) when I took this picture. Just when her fever dropped, two more teeth decided to emerge, but we are over the worst for now (fingers crossed).

We spent the last truly cold days of winter exploring local museums and entertaining ourselves indoors. This is easily accomplished when even the variations in our floorboards hold endless wonder to Miriam as she scoots around the apartment. She had her first taste of the Children's Museum with some playgroup friends and then we went to the Harvard Museum of Natural History as a family. We can get in for free with Zach's work ID, and we're looking forward to taking her again when she will actually appreciate the dinosaur bones and enormous stuffed animals instead of taking a snooze.

Winter seemed to suddenly turn to summer last week with weather in the 80s. Our courtyard is bursting with buds and bulbs, and the evenings are staying lighter and lighter. The spring weather has made me reminisce about last year when Miriam was still on her way, and now she wears some clothes that say 'toddler' in the sizing. Ok, ok, maybe she is just a big baby, but toddler days aren't too far off.

For now, though, we get to enjoy what she is like at ten months:

Loving her blueberry oatmeal. However, she does NOT love the  subsequent cleanup.

Bath time is much more fun now that she actually has some hair.

Zach brought this huge box home on the bus. First playhouse? Check.

Hanging out with Grandpa Ward in the dress he brought her from Ethiopia.
Uncle Caleb visited too!

Her first real picnic...

and her first taste of baguette.
We're looking forward to more warm weather to come!

9 Months!

It's only been a month and a half since I last wrote about little Miriam, but so much has changed...so many milestones! As her mobility and language competence increase, more and more of her personality comes out, and boy does this girl have personality!

So what is Miriam like these days?

- Favorite activity: coffee table cruising - the unique sport of holding on to the coffee table and making as many laps around it as possible until the inevitable plop on a diapered tush. She also plays the crib version of this game in the middle of the night, and it is slightly less amusing to all involved.

- Favorite sounds: She started babbling just after Christmas and has worked through several consonants, currently settling on 'baba' and 'dada' (much to Zach's approval). However, her true current favorite is growling. 

- Favorite time of day: when Zach gets home. She knows the sound of the door and lets out a hearty growl of excitement even before she sees him.

- Favorite food: Anything, as long as she can feed it to herself. Full of stubborn independence this one...wonder where she gets that from?

- Favorite toy: She still plays rather indiscriminately with anything in sight, though she has a particular fondness for her stuffed Curious George...probably because she is such a monkey herself. 

You've got to love early morning bed-head

So proud of her new skills

Her latest preferred method of sleeping. It reminds  me of someone else I know, though no names will be mentioned :)

Playing with her mini Miriam doll that Grandma Bostrom MADE for her. It looks just like her!

Won't you PLEASE be my Valentine??

It has been an exceptionally mild winter, and I am so thankful. Here Miriam is growling
 for the joy of yet another sunny 50 degree day at the park.

We had Miriam baptized at our church at the end of January, and Zach's mom came down for the occasion. It was a special time of remembering what a gift this little one is. 

Last but certainly not least, she decided that as much fun as walking around the coffee table and crib is, she would give crawling a try too. She is still working on her form, but here she is in her first crawling performance:

Miriam's first Holiday Season

Miriam at 7 months

In all our holiday travels and the hustle and bustle that accompanied them, I fell behind on Miriam's monthly update. Also, part of me felt like six months was such a big milestone that it should stick around for a while, but nope, she just keeps growing at the speed of light.

We traveled to Colorado at the end of November for Thanksgiving. My parents' family of six now numbers nine plus their exchange student, and how sweet it was for us all to converge at their home for a weekend together. We also got to see much of our extended family and introduce some of them to Miriam for the first time.

The Bostrom clan at Thanksgiving

Returning to Boston, we set out to enjoy our first Christmastime in the city.  It was our first Christmas back in the States in two years. While we missed the lights and markets of France, we had plenty of festive fun including the Boston Pops children's concert and a cocktail party at the Harvard Faculty Club. We also decked our apartment with a charming little tree whose lights dazzled Miriam to no end.

We celebrated our own family Christmas the weekend before leaving for Portland so as not to haul all our presents across the country. Miriam was so wildly ecstatic over all the ribbons and wrappings that she wore herself out and had to open her presents in shifts. Really, she would have been completely satisfied had she just received wrapping paper and boxes, but we couldn't resist giving her her own tiny piano so her music genius can be performed on something her own size.



Our holiday saga continued as we flew all the way to the west coast to spend Christmas and New Year's with Zach's family in Portland, Oregon. It was good to be back in the mild and misty Northwest, and we spent a full two weeks relaxing and sharing good food and memories with lots of family.

Our little maestro's first recorded performance.

(Sorry, I don't know how to rotate the image)

Sharing Christmas secrets with Great-Grandpa

Christmas morning

Learning about African adventures with daddy

And now we breathe after the wonderful craziness of the last month and a half. We're slowly settling back into routine and hoping that 2012 is perhaps just a wee bit less crazy than 2011, wonderful as it was.