Happy Birthday Grammypot!

The lil' man was having fun with Grammy on her 64th birthday...

And so was Jocelyn!

Pepere had his share of fun...

And so did Poppa!

Jocelyn is still unsure about the whole singing happy birthday and blowing out candles...

However, she still loves the cake...

And sharing time in Grammy's lap!

Ian tried cake for the first time...

And was quickly reaching for more!

And after cake was done, the party toys came out...

Happy Birthday Grammy!

Demolition

We reached a big milestone this past week when the Oak Street house finally came down. It took about a month to get the various utilities to come out and cap off the feeds into the existing house, set up the new structure for enhanced feeds, and then get the town's approval to take the existing structure down. Here's some video of the demolition in progress - this is a slighly extended version of a clip I had shared previously.



The next step in the process is to lay the foundation for the new structure, which should take place sometime over the next week or so, assuming the next phase of the permitting process moves as it should. Fingers are crossed that we are able to lay it down before weather really becomes an issue.

Happy Thanksgiving!

On Turkey Day 2009 we visited Grammy and Pepere's new house in Wellesley for breakfast before heading to Nana's to celebrate with extended family in the afternoon. Grammy and Pepere were excited to see Jocelyn and Ian all dressed up in their holiday outfits and the little ones were excited to play with the toys Grammy had set up for them in their new playroom.


At Nana's in the afternoon we had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner as always (well, those of us that are eating solid food anyway; the little man had some strained peas and bananas) and Jocelyn continued her love affair with mashed potatoes and gravy but not with turkey. A work in progress.


Somehow we ended up with very few blog-worthy photos despite taking over 200 shots during the day (thank God for digital cameras). While this is partly (OK, mainly) due to our skill as photographers, I think the fact that the kids just do not sit still for very long these days also plays a very big part. The shots below show that we may be in for some tough sledding getting a good picture for our holiday card this year!

Happy Halloween!

What a beautiful fall day for trick-or-treating! Jocelyn dressed as a bear. We were hopeful she would go for a costume with a headpiece (she hates hats) and we talked her into it by telling her she was dressing up as "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" from one of her favorite books to read at night.

Ian dressed as a pumpkin and was tolerant of his headpiece too...

...for a while anyway, until he decided he preferred Pepere's hat.

While our house is being torn down we are renting in a neighborhood where they had a Halloween parade, in which all the kids in the neighborhood marched down the street together before trick-or-treating started. Before the parade everyone got together for a group shot that was pretty darn cute.

Jocelyn wasn't too sure what she was supposed to do once the marching started and pretty quickly was bringing up the rear.

Of course, that didn't stop her from hamming it up for the camera...

...while Ian was just hanging out, soaking up the scene.

Jocelyn also discovered that she loves playing with all the leaves on the ground (last year at this time she wasn't quite mobile yet). She was a ball of fire, running on to lawns while we should have been marching in the parade with everyone else.

And here she is heading home after a long hard day of playing, marching and collecting treats. :)

Childrens Museum

Julie's sister Jenn and nephew Zachary came up for a visit last weekend, so we took them to the Children's Museum. It has recently become one of our favorite places to hang out. Julie and I decided to get a membership a couple of months ago - it is some of the best money we ever spent. It pays for itself within just a couple of visits, you can visit during members-only hours to beat the crowds, and the kids just love the exhibits. We highly recommend it for anyone with young children.

Jocelyn loves the climbing ramps near the museum entrance. They alone are worth the price of admission. Even if it means that I need to play sherpa because she is a bit small to be in there by herself!

Zachary was able to get a bit further on the ramps - all the way to the top I think, with Pepere hot on his tail to make sure all was well...

It's a little difficult to make a graceful exit, as we both learned!

Ian isn't yet able to full take advantage of the interactivity of a lot of the exhibits, but is fascinated by the bubble chamber. I think he would hang out there for hours if we let him.

He did, however, take full advantage of the opportunity to hang out with Grammy and Auntie Jenn and I think loved all the extra attention.

Overall it was a great way to let the kids have fun while we all caught up. Good times had by all.

Extreme home makeover

So we have finally begun the project we waited almost two years to start: the tearing down of the present structure at 74 Oak Street and construction of a new house. We are going from the 1200 square foot, 4 bedroom, 1 (tiny) bath Cape you see here...

...to the Craftsman style home you see here. Just one more bedroom, but 2-1/2 more baths, and a lot more space for a growing family.

We are very excited. We love the location. It is right across the street from the elementary school Jocelyn and Ian will attend, with a beautiful park and playing fields, and within easy walking distance to the shops at Linden Square in Wellesley. We also feel we have a great lot with ample space for play and entertaining.

We hope to be able to post regular updates on our progress. If all goes well, we should be able to move in early next summer!

Flying by

Seems like every day I get home from work these days the kids look bigger than they did when I left in the morning. Ian is shooting up like a beanstalk; Julie gets asked if he and Jocelyn are twins. And this is not because Jocelyn has all of a sudden stopped growing - we just bought her a bunch of new clothes for fall and already some of the pants are a little short. Hopefully they last through the winter!

Jocelyn's latest thing these days is dancing. She loves music and definitely looks for opportunities to shake that booty.

A little exhibitionism never hurt anybody.

Ian's latest thing is that he has become even more affectionate and looks for opportunities to snuggle (he is giving me one as I write this). Here he is with one of the biggest objects of his affection, Grammy.

He is a happy one as well. We are very lucky in that way - both are pretty carefree and easygoing. Ian has also recently started sitting on his own and seems to be on the verge of crawling. Pepere thinks that by Christmastime he will be giving us a run for our money.

They also seem to really enjoy each other's company. It's pretty funny to walk into a room and see them playing and trying to make each other laugh. They make it pretty easy to love being a parent!