April 2016 (Helen is one month old!)

The past month has gone by quickly and slowly all at once. Everyone adores baby Helen, who is an incredibly mellow baby. She's started keeping her eyes open a bit more, which is fun for us, but she is still very content to be cuddled and worn and carted around. Here are some highlights of the month.

 

Baby

Yes, we are trying to take just as many pictures of Number 3 as we did of Numbers 1 and 2. . . .

 

Art and Artists

Samantha continues to work hard on her art. Second from left is a dragon flying around a rainbow. Third from left is a baseball game in progress. Bottom row, left and second from left, is a "Search and Spot Animals" activity page she designed, where she wrote the sound each animal makes in order to give readers an extra clue about the animal. At right is a three-headed friendly monster, a child holding scissors, and her attempt at sounding out the name of Danny (first try: Tonny, then Tanny, then Danny), one of her best friends from school.

 

Family

We've had such a wonderful month!

Friends

Sarah and Sean have been absolutely spoiling us with meals and treats, from a Somerville feast to Sultan's Kitchen. Meanwhile, Samantha has been going to birthday parties galore on the weekends.

 

Baseball

Marcus is on the Seattle Mariners in the South End Baseball minor leagues. His coach, Fernando, is great, and even after just two weeks of practices (plus some supplemental fielding practice with Sean one weekday evening) Marcus is definitely getting better. Plus, he became the first member of our family to own cleats and batting gloves.

 

Music

Marcus sang with the 80-member kids' choir at church in a cantata, an almost-hour-long musical play (with costumes, speaking parts, lights, and lots of songs) about Nicodemus. He also performed at a small concert for school alumni one evening. Meanwhile, Samantha has started piano lessons and absolutely loves it.

 

Family Visit

Also in April, Amanda and Katy came up from New Jersey, and Tia (Aunt Cat) and Coeur flew in from Chicago for a quick but nice two-day visit. It was great to see all the little cousins together!

 

Boston Marathon

On Patriots Day, we went to our usual spot in the morning to watch the wheelchairs, elite women, and elite men. It was a gorgeous 60-degree day, breezy in the shade and warm in the sun.

After a sushi lunch outside on a patio, and some special marathon cupcakes, we headed home to relax for a bit before heading back out around 4:00 to see Samantha's teacher, Becky, who was running her first-ever marathon for a local charity. We'd made a banner for the racers earlier in the day, but then we made a special banner for Becky too, and we were so excited to see her!

 

Holi

We celebrated Holi on my campus, with the kids and Robert leaping into a full-scale block party with music and waterplay and colors, while Helen and I hung out on a lawn around the corner, safely away from the colors. I love Holi, but thought that she was a tad on the young side for the colors to go all over her skin. Marcus dabbed a tiny bit onher foot, though, at the end, and she squawked her disapproval anyway. Marcus and Samantha had a ball, with Marcus being mischievous and Samantha charming, but both got lots of smiles and made new friends.

 

Life

Meanwhile, life continues around us: pictured are trips to Chinatown (complete with Helen's first-ever red envelope, from Doris at China King, who's known Robert and me since we were penniless students in 1994); Ben and Jerry's free cone day ("I had chocolate ice cream and Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz! I had two ice creams!" explained Samantha); and weekend breakfasts at home.

 

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Created: 4/24/16. Last Modified: 4/24/16.