Ian's 2d Birthday - Family Party

We invited family to the house for a small birthday party for Ian a couple weeks back. The little man couldn't wait to dig into his cake when he woke up from his nap!


Sesame Street (or as he calls it, "Elmo") is his favorite TV show.


He hasn't quite gotten the hang of blowing out candles yet, but he had plenty of help!


He also had plenty of help with eating the cake! Jocelyn is a fantastic cake-eater, one of the best we have ever seen.


She was very excited to see her Godfather, Uncle Greg, and to get to spend time with all of the cousins.


It was a team effort opening the gifts Ian received, since Jocelyn's eagerness to open any wrapped gifts, whether hers or not, has been known to set off small skirmishes.



One of Ian's gifts was a set of balls, including a basketball and football, from Uncle Tim and Aunt Marie. There was a scrum when they came out of the packages, but in the end the birthday boy successfully defended his turf.


Later, Ian and Jocelyn played with Julia and Timothy for quite a while, giving the adults a nice break. Apparently the hall closet became a makeshift clubhouse. This picture was taken just after surprising them by opening the door!


Thanks everyone for reminding us how lucky Ian is to have such a wonderful family!

50 Degree Day at the Park

Jocelyn and Jakob are classmates at Wellesley College Child Study Center. Since Dave and I were in NH for the day, Ashley came to babysit, and I coordinated a playdate at the Sprague School playground across the street with Jakob and his little sister Julia. This picture was taken by Jakob's mom, Naama. No shots of Julia (Jakob's 8 month old sister) or Ian, although I was told Ian had a great time "holding" her!

Little gifts

Life is made rich by the little gifts Jocelyn and Ian give us. Last night I had just gotten them out of the tub and into their PJ's when I left the room for a second to put their dirty clothes in the laundry. When I returned it was to this adorable scene. Normally they wait to sit in my lap on this chair, but tonight apparently they decided to get started on "bookies" without me.

The Joy Of Shoveling

We had just gotten Jocelyn and Ian out of their pajamas this morning when I decided to go take care of the snow in the driveway. They decided to put their boots on to come help me shovel, but they were a little underdressed otherwise!


Ian seems very interested in what's going on, which is good since I may need his help if the snow keeps falling at this pace!


A face only a mother could love.


Jocelyn quickly lost interest in what I was doing and moved on to jumping on the couch in her boots!


And little brother wasn't far behind!

Merry Christmas!

On Christmas morning, Jocelyn was excited to see that Santa had apparently left his hat at our house, and offered to distribute all the presents he had left under the tree.


This goal was quickly forgotten when she realized that most of the presents were for her and Ian, and her attention shifted to opening rather than distributing. She took quickly to the dolls she received from Momma and Nana, and seemed to take very seriously her responsibility as their Momma.


Ian loved the play table for his new Thomas the Tank Engine set...


...and they both loved their new workbench and basketball hoop.


When all their gifts were opened, Jocelyn and Ian pitched in to help others open theirs.


They are now experts at unwrapping!


We were very thankful to be able to spend Christmas morning with Nana, Grammy and Pepere! Merry Christmas to all!

Jocelyn's Birthday and Christmas Eve

Jocelyn turned three (!) on Christmas Eve and we had our usual low-key birthday celebration (we celebrate her half birthday in June with a bigger event), combined with a Christmas Eve dinner with family. She was very excited to wear the pretty red dress again that she first wore for our Christmas card, and to play with the princess-themed birthday balloons that awaited her when she woke up from her afternoon nap.


Jocelyn picked out her own cake this year, an ice cream cake shaped like Frosty the Snowman. Frosty is a favorite in our house, as she and Ian ask to watch the video nearly every day.




She got to open just a few presents before Santa arrived that night with the rest. Her favorites were the Hello Kitty dress from Grammy (which she asked to put on immediately upon opening) and a big stuffed elephant from Nana. Nana had gotten her a subscription to a child's magazine that showed an elephant on the last page, so Jocelyn had been asking for an elephant for a couple of weeks prior to the party.


Ian got his share of attention and a few presents to open too. Here he is enjoying his own balloon and being held by Caitlin...


...and here some lap time and tickles from Cathy.


He was fired up when he saw that Nana had gotten him a Thomas the Tank Engine train set...


...and loved his new monkey pajamas from Cathy.


What a wonderful night! Happy Holidays everyone!

Christmas Cookies

Jocelyn "helped" Momma out with her signature Christmas cookies again this year. She is now a whiz at applying sprinkles...


...although her primary contribution is making sure they are tasty enough for everyone else!


Yum!