Thanksgiving 2009

Wednesday: prep.

Thursday - last-minute cooking and lots of snuggle time.

GREAT food...

Followed by tryptophan-induced floor naps...

...and some silliness.  (No, the baby is not in there.)

Our little gobbler!

Happy Thanksgiving!

All Through the Night

Sleep my child and peace attend thee,
All through the night;

Guardian angels God will send thee,

All through the night;

Soft the drowsy hours are creeping,

Hill and vale in slumber sleeping,

I my loved ones' watch am keeping,

All through the night.

Angels watching, e'er around thee,

All through the night;

Midnight slumber close surround thee,

All through the night;

Soft the drowsy hours are creeping,

Hill and vale in slumber sleeping,

I my loved ones' watch am keeping,

All through the night.

While the moon her watch is keeping,

All through the night;

While the weary world is sleeping,

All through the night,

O'er thy spirit gently stealing,

Visions of delight revealing,

Breathes a pure and holy feeling,

All through the night.

I know it's a combination of luck, timing, growth and metabolism, but I have to think that having all these people cuddling and loving our little boy help to effect the miracle that has been two nights in a row of 8+ solid hours of sleep. 

Anything is possible...

...with the right shoes.

Bean booties for our little Bean!

Three Months!

"Say what?  Really?"

Really, Asa Bean.  And every day brings more joy.

Happy Accident

On so many levels!

I started this video just to show y'all how cute it is when Asa starts kicking and waving his arms in excitement.  Then he grabbed his dragonfly toy.  Now, I think that might have been happy accident number 1, but it was also lovely to have the video going just in time to see him grab and hold a hanging toy, on his own, for the first time.

Enjoy!

Visit from Nonni and Poppy

Oh, no, of course he isn't a spoiled boy.

Just like they're not spoiled grandparents.

Can't you just tell how much arm-twisting it took to get Poppy to carry his grandson?

Smiling Boy

The most addictive thing in the universe.

Elvis Sighting

"Don't you/ Step on my blue terrycloth shoes/ You can do anything/ But stay off of my blue terrycloth... feetiejammies...."

Moose Hill

The weather having been unseasonably warm a couple of days ago, we decided to go for a walk in the woods.  Near my church is MA's biggest Audubon sanctuary, Moose Hill, so we headed over with a backpack full of diapers and a baby björn.

It ended up being more than just a "walk in the woods", as we took a two-and-a-half hour hike out to a rocky bluff face from which we could see for miles and miles...

That's Gillette Stadium, about 3.5 miles away.  We could also see all the way back to our own town, about 10 miles south.  This picture was taken from the first promontory that we came to; after that, the trail became narrower...

But we came upon another overlook just about the time Asa decided he wanted to eat.  Fortunately, this one was perfectly equipped.

After his snack, Asa was awake for a while, and fascinated by his surroundings.

To see all of our pictures, including some of lovely New England late-fall color, check here.

Overall, it was the perfect day to take our first family hike!

Videos, Old and New

Proof positive that Asa rolled over at 6 weeks - that's Granna's foot in the background, from when she and Pap Pap were here for the baptism.

Granted, several weeks on, rolling over is a skill long-since forgotten, in favor of newer and cooler games.  Like "scootch":

We're trying to get video of the smiley, giggly boy, but he gets very serious whenever the camera comes out.  You'd think he'd be used to it, but it really just freaks him out.

For Uncle Mike

Which one?  Well, both, really.  As well as for Cousin Alison.

It's a little big for him, still, but I did promise that if the Steelers weren't playing, he'd wear his Eagles gear.  It's okay, though, Granna and Auntie Becke, next week he'll be back in black and gold.

Full Circle

Taking a moment out of the baby stories to give a shout-out to the moving ministry of my childhood church.  Yes, that's moving - the physical act of filling and unloading a van full of boxes and furniture - as a ministry of the church.  It's actually a lot of fun - I think I've been helping on and off since I was about 5.

On one of the first moves in which I participated, we moved a church member out of a second-and-third-story apartment in a Victorian house.  It was a particularly memorable move because the stairs were so narrow and twisty that we had to remove a second-story window to get the sleeper-sofa out.  As you can likely imagine, that move has become legendary - if not modern mythology - among the movers.

Yesterday, over 25 years later, we moved a different church member back into the very same apartment.  Fortunately, she didn't even try to move her couch in... but she did try for her box spring and large dresser.  Good thing it was a nice day, because the window came back out.

Shout-out to the SACC movers!

Three members of the brain-trust...

Window out, preparing the ropes:

Box spring:

An extra ladder for the (heavier) bureau:

The point at which most of us on the ground cringed - two men on one ladder, one on the other, and two hoisting from the top.

So... who needs movers?