Summer Adventures

We started out the summer with a trek to Colorado at the end of May to see my little brother graduate from high school, and we're headed soon to top off the summer with a week on the southern Maine coast - just the three of us in a beach cottage with no real agenda. The weeks in between have been full of splash parks and picnics, backyard barbecues and outdoor concerts and lots of good visits with friends and family. Miriam has learned the joy of roaming barefoot in the backyard, which was the epitome of my childhood summers. Here's a peek at what we've been up to.

 Feeding the giraffes at the zoo in Colorado. Daddy is a pro.

 Someone cannot get enough of Auntie Charlotte.

 Learning about camping from the big kids.

Prepping the garden with daddy.

 Home-grown bouquet

Picnic in Harvard Yard.

Swinging in Colorado

First nap in her big girl "bed"

We take our ice cream seriously

Befriending a goat

Hot weather hair

First time making chapatis with daddy

And as if all those pictures weren't enough, here are two videos that have to be shared - her first splash park of the summer with her friend Rachel and her evening song request ritual with daddy.

Two

Obviously up-to-date blogging is not my strong suit... nevertheless here we are. Two. It's breathtaking for me to look at the two above pictures and realize how much change happens in these first years. These crazy first years when days seem to blend into each other, each one feeling the same, and only in hindsight do you realize what extraordinary transformation is happening right under your nose.

We marked these last two years well with many celebrations among friends and family, and all the celebration made quite an impression on Miriam too. She now thinks that if she sings the Happy Birthday song, some form of cake is sure to follow. After a hearty rendition, she'll look up and say, "Cupcakes?!"

The main event this year was a barbecue at our place. After the initial confusion as to why there were so many people in her backyard, Miriam relished the fun. She ran in and out of the house with friends, sharing her new swing, bubbles, and chalk with them. Zach enjoyed the excuse to cook up a ton of Ethiopian style chicken and burgers, and I enjoyed having our house so full of people we have come to appreciate so much. After all our moving and transition, it was heartwarming to see my little girl surrounded by over thirty people who love her.

Here are some shots from the day, mostly taken by Zach's mom, Kathi.

The serious chef and his grill. 

The butterfly cake for a girl who is very into 'pappillons' thanks to her French friend Christian.

Testing out the bubbles and working on her candle-blowing skills with Uncle Caleb before the party. 

Friends!

Our neighbors accepted the invitation to pop over and brought her this sweet monkey.

A tired but very contented girl post-party.

To Say Au Revoir

This is an interesting community we find ourselves in. I'm not talking about our geographical community per se - though our quiet suburb of Watertown has had plenty of unwelcome time in the spotlight recently. No, our community of relationships is quite unique in that there is a constant flow of people in and out of it.

We've spent the last several years in cities that rank high as popular travel destinations. It turns out, that ranking is even higher when you have a cute toddler at home to welcome said travelers. It works well for us when friends want to visit us as it becomes increasingly difficult to travel with a toddler. Miriam has the whole drop off at the airport routine down that when you ask her where certain people are the response will be "on the airplane".

Dancing with Grandma during her April visit

Enjoying a weekend with Grandpa, even if we were on lockdown

Maybe it is just the nature of big cities, but the countless academic institutions and opportunities in and around Boston in particular attract so many people from all over the world. When we meet people and ask, "What are you here for?" we might as well be asking, "How long are you here for?". People are here for school and residencies, post docs and internships, and then when it comes to "settling down" they leave or head for the far-flung suburbs because few can afford to settle into the high and competitive housing costs.

The two Frenchies in their stripes

All this to say it has struck me recently that saying goodbye to people she loves is already a normal part of Miriam's life while it was much less a part of my childhood. She often asks to play with a certain friend and then remembers that oh yes, he is in France now. Another friend is off to Canada soon, and our dear friends down the street are off to Oregon. Part of it makes me sad, but then I realize that there will be people literally all over the world who know and love Miriam and new people to meet and welcome. Rather than saying goodbye, the French say 'until we meet again' and so do we to all our friends.

Almost Two

In less than two months we will have a two year old on our hands. Somehow that is hard for me to wrap my mind around. When having a baby, one prepares extensively (more or less) for just that, a baby. While it took me some time, I got used to the idea of having a baby - one that I could port around with me all over the city in our car-less days, one that slept quite a bit, one that didn't mind whatever I chose for her to wear.

Miriam is no longer said baby, and it is both wonderful and terrifying. She has such a big personality and will - though her will is far from rational. She is currently sleeping (thank you, God) to an opera on the radio because that is the only thing that would quiet her down...for tonight.

Yet what a glorious thing it is to see more fully how her brain ticks as she begins to talk and express her will - rational or not. She loves to take care of her doll, organize things, clean up, and help me out in the  kitchen. Here she is helping me squeeze the juice for some blood orange sorbet.

Her capacity to learn has also exploded, along with her vocabulary. She counts to seven in English, four in French, and three in Swahili. She knows her body parts in all three languages. The point being not to brag about our genius child (because we could easily share stories that would prove otherwise) but to revel in the capacity to learn at such a young age.

Here are a few snapshots of what she is up to lately.

Learning how to bead

Organizing by shape

 

                      A true Boston toddler. Thanks for the hat, Uncle Andrew!

Gone are the bald baby days.

And finally, a video of a little St. Patrick's Day revelry, family style. Miriam thought it was so funny, she kept saying, "Silly, Daddy!" over and over.

Surviving Winter

Winter hits hard here in Boston. The wind is biting, sickness pervades, and darkness creeps in far too early. It's hard to believe that this is our third winter here in the New England. Each year has been different, but each year it feels like we hold our breath, reminding ourselves that Boston is great nine months out of twelve.

Winter or no winter, life in Boston doesn't stop (unless it's getting a record-breaking snow storm and only then does it stop for a mere day or two), and we've found ways to keep going as well.

Visitors: We were fortunate enough to have visitors on two separate weekends in February to help us pass the time. Maybe no one told them February is a precarious time to make plans or maybe they just love us that much. Miriam always loves the extra attention and is working on her role as the bossy first-born. As you can see below, Brittany complied amiably.

Hearty food: What better way to avoid the winter doldrums than to pass the dark evenings with good food. Miriam asks for pizza every night, so we decided she could make her own. 

Playing in it: Apparently toddler energy doesn't downshift a bit when there is three feet of snow outside and no possibility of romping around the playground. One can only run around our small apartment so much, so Zach took it upon himself to shovel out a maze for Miriam in our backyard (as if the five hours he spent shoveling post-blizzard weren't enough). It was a brilliant idea that allowed Miriam to burn off all that pizza-fueled energy.

A view of the maze from our porch

Miriam busy making snow soup

 Simply staying in: When you wake up and your car looks like this you have a pretty good excuse to call off the normal routine in favor of staying in, sipping hot cocoa and just enjoying family.

Even though snow is forecasted yet again this week, we have at least made it to March, and thought hard to believe, winter will just be a memory.

Musings on Doing and Being this Lent

I'm irked by how easy it is to curate our public image these days. Whereas an iPhone commercial claims that we can upload the whole of human experience, what we really do is pick and choose which facets of our lives to trumpet out to whoever will listen. We do things in order that we might later talk about it, digitally collecting a trophy case of accomplishments and adventures.

I'm irked because I see the same desire come across in the words I write, the pictures I share, the ways I fill my days. At the end of the day I find solace in what I have done rather than who I have been. Did I cook well, clean well, play well, etc. I turn to these action verbs to define and shape my days and ultimately myself.

What if I focused instead on the stative verbs? I am a mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, teacher. More importantly, I am loved and beloved, forgiven and redeemed. Let's face it, some things need to get done in a day. I'm talking to you pile of dishes, runny noses and dirty diapers. But when I stake my worth on what I do rather than what is already done, the doing never ends, and the days blur into empty exhaustion.

Maybe that is why I like Lent so much. We're invited to sit inside the messy house that is our soul, realizing that we can't do anything about it. Still in that mess we can see the face of Him who gives us the title of beloved child - a title won at a great cost. Then and only then will our actions flow from who we are rather than what we've done.

So I hope that this blog will become a quieter, less-trumpeted space where I can document our family life, not in order to look back years from now at all we've done but rather to evoke memories that run deep with love, forgiveness, and grace.

Twenty Months

I stopped posting monthly updates of Miriam eight months ago when she turned one. It's not that she had stopped growing and changing at rapid pace each month. Mostly I didn't want the pressure to write at that exact time each month, hoping the lack of a set schedule would make me want to write more. Well, the evidence clearly points otherwise. But excuses aside, just look at this twenty-month-old, and all will be forgiven.

Sweet Miriam, born on the 20th and now twenty months old. Just hours after this picture was taken, I came down with the flu and a sinus infection, leaving me bedridden for six days. I haven't been so sick in years. If there is anything worse than having the flu, it's having the flu while trying to keep track of a toddler full of zest for life. Thankfully Zach is able to work from home a bit, and another friend swooped in and took her for a day. It's difficult to admit that I've come to the end of myself, of my ability to do anything, but I'm learning that is something I need to admit more readily, sick or not. This parenting thing just like life isn't meant to be done alone, and thank goodness I don't have to.

It's not all bad when mama isn't making the calls. Just check out the Ethiopian spread that Zach convinced Miriam to consume while I was still on a ginger ale only diet. This girl wants to be just like daddy and constantly reminds us that she wears blue jeans and puffy coats just like daddy.

Here's to more blogging in 2013 if only to help us remember our crazy, wonderful life as it passes before our eyes.