Happy Birthday Tua

Tua's Birthday Party was very much in her character: small, but full of life. We decided to not risk getting stranded in the city with the pending blizzard so we stayed here. As always happens when a party is thrown together at the last minute, our guest list was rather short and we had to bring in a few reserves, like the fellow on the right below in the photo of Tua and her Nona opening a birthday treat.






Below is a scene from the days events: Seth and his brother salvaging the plow from a snowbank.

Parties (Two and Counting)

Tua's first birthday is causing quite a stir here. There has been no lack of fanfare here in the days leading up to the 31st (which as of today, has not arrived yet).



Saturday night, Tua and I baked a cake with the title of "Death by Chocolate". She picked it out and insisted that I substitute the 16 oz of semi sweet for the same amount in a 90% special dark Ghirardelli. That was a sure sign that she has inherited another of her mothers tastes. Here we are sampling the batter.








We the took the finished product to my parents for an evening of very good food and company.
At the end of the evening, we served cake and Tua (though indifferent to the candle and the attention) was very much taken with the outcome of her first birthday dessert.




Today, we all went to the Sunday brunch at the Woodstock Inn. This brunch has a capacity to render one useless for several hours following. The food is delicious and plentiful.


Here, Tua waits ( in the arms of my dad) for the buffet line to open up.

Tua, waiting for the rest of the slow eaters to finish.

And waiting...............

and...........

Tomorrow is the big event. If the weather cooperates , we might try for first night in Boston. However, we're thinking of perhaps not setting the bar too high. Fireworks on her first birthday might set a exciting yet regrettable precedent.

Christmas Day

The following pictures are from today. They begin with Tua primping for her first Christmas. The last one is of her first gift, which turned out to be a lovely doll named Nelly.

Merry Christmas. God bless us, every one.

Snow, again

up all day

Tua had a banner day on Sunday. It was the first time she was able to go without (or refused) to take a nap. Her demeanor was shiftless and she was able to toss out a smile at any given hour. The twenty hours of blinding snowfall kept us all indoors for most of the day. The days highlights include:

A transfixed Tua motionless as she takes in the spinning anglic breakfast host. Missing from the photo is the plate of waffles that she had just sent overboard.


Having just lit the tree, Tua gives us a one second parting shot before turning back to watch the lights.

Below, Tua gains the ability to walk with only a one hand assist. It only works however, if the other hand is holding on to something else, like a hat.

Toddler Life

Toddler life is very tiring, but it always presents something new each day...today: pigtails.

Peter Silly Honey

Tua was the lucky one today. Her Birthday is just over a month away and we figured since she'll have little to no remembrance of the event, we would do no harm in giving her an early gift. Jenny found her a stuffed rabbit from Germany with the name Peter Silly Honey tagged to the bottom of it. From what little I can recall from my childhood, I seem to remember a certain liberty when it came to naming stuffed toys. But we like the name that came with this one and Tua is too young to pick a title and as far as names go in general, it's a keeper. How could you forget a name like that? The pair get along very well and Tua is already requesting his company as she travels from room to room.

Sharing

Crackers and Grapefruit

The dinner table has become a type of laboratory. We assemble a variety edibles onto a tray and place it in front of a pair of waiting hands. The food rarely makes it into her mouth. Most of it ends up on the floor, on her face, or if we're lucky, in her hair. Monday evening, we experimented with grapefruit. The rind seemed to be her favorite, though she thoroughly enjoyed squashing the fruit between her fingers.

Visit

Tua spent Thursday morning at Phare's house. There, the two pals played nicely with bears, bags, and each other. Below are some winning shots of the morning fun taken by Bug of the two girls and their hostess and activity director, Bekah.

Winter Gear

Close inspection of her new, very pink, boots. We haven't taken the tags off yet in case we decide to swap them for the blue model instead. Either way, they are rated to -25F.
I was just thinking the other day how she was losing her baby cheeks...maybe not so much.
She has plenty of wiggle room in her new bunting.

Junk Mail

Tua received her first piece of junk mail today...what is worse is that it is about planning her first birthday party from Toys R Us. I tried to explain to her that she doesn't need to do all the things described in the brochure to have a nice birthday party. For example, it lists a) selecting a theme 4 weeks before the big day, b) arranging for extra party helpers 3 weeks before the big day, c) buying favors and helium balloons 2 weeks before, and d) calling those who haven't responded to the invitations 2 days before the big day. I suppose Toys R Us is trying to be helpful, but I suspect that Tua has now kicked up her expectations a notch or two since reading this pamphlet. I was thinking more along the lines of simply making a cake.

Snow

Proofing the House

For about two months now, Tua has been advancing both in skill and bravery when it comes to stairs. When the stairway was completed last year, we figured that we had a good two years before we would have to worry about child-proofing. As the pictures below will show, we have already had to come up with a solution for keeping the climber at bay. Today, we created a ceiling newel out of an old barn rafter. This is the vertical piece which rises from stair 3 (visible below. Into this will run both the handrail (from the top of the stairway) and the gate (across stair 3). If all goes according to plan, this should keep Tua from unauthorized ascensions.





Tua, Bug and Tua's favorite book.