Boston Bucket List

It's hard to believe, but I've now called Boston home for over 11 years. Wow! And what's also amazing is that there are still so many things that I've yet to experience here. Boston (and the whole of New England) has so many great offerings - from refined art museums to the Museum of Bad Art, many historical sites and homes important to this country in different ways, and the ocean to the mountains. I've always tried to live like a tourist and do them all. And if you've been reading my blog for any amount of time, you know that our family rarely takes any down time since we're so busy trying to do everything!

Well, last weekend I got to check off two items off my Boston bucket list that made that list over a decade ago. With the luxury of two date times with Mike (thank to my wonderful in laws for one occasion and our local "usual" sitter the other time), we had a Saturday evening and a Sunday afternoon to play.

On Saturday, we went downtown, had a great dinner on the infamous Newbury Street and laced up some skates for some rounds on the Frog Pond! The Frog Pond sits in the middle of the Boston Common park and is open in the summers to splash around and stay cool in and in the winter to enjoy the frigid air by using it to ice skate on.

Neither Mike nor I have gone ice skating in many, many years, so we were pretty wobbly at first but picked up speed after some warm up loops. Now, we're not great skaters but considering our company, we looked like pros. The unfortunate thing we found out is that the locale is a big draw for first time skaters and it shows. While it was downright scary at times to avoid the unsure skaters that were surrounding us, we escaped unharmed and had a great time together. With my little camera that takes horrible night pictures, this is what we came home with as documentation of fun night.

The Frogs Watching the Skaters

Skaters and the Lighted Pavilion

Self, Rose-Cheeked Portrait

Our Cool Rental Skates

After a great Saturday night of silly fun, we followed it up with a Sunday cultural experience. Dylan's good friend, Erica (our sitter), came over to play while we packed up some lunch and drove up to Salem, Ma. This town, normally known for it's museums centered around witches, also holds an incredible art museum - The Peabody Essex Museum. We got there just a few minutes after the museum opened for the day, admired to amazing architecture of the building and headed right up to the special exhibition that was on it's last day there - Treasures from the Forbidden City. There was some amazing furniture and artwork on display but we somewhat hurried through because the crowds were a bit overwhelming at times.

Once we headed into other areas of the museum, it was much more quiet and we were able to enjoy a nice, leisurely pace. After a few hours of filling our heads with culture, our stomachs were growling so we headed back to the car and ate the picnic lunch Mike packed on our way back home.

While it sounds like I missed out on a ton of Dylan time, I really didn't. Our timing for both dates worked out well and we were mostly gone during Dylan's sleeping time. So, around our dates, we had some good, low key family time around the house as well.

Snow Day!

A few weeks ago we had a storm that paralyzed New York, closed my company for the first time in my 11 years working there and was pronounced a really big deal around the nation. In actuality, it really wasn't any big thing. The previews of it were blown out of proportion (which is why my company closed) and I have no idea what happened in New York (what an embarrassment to Mayor Bloomberg) because Boston cleared up the snow quickly and within 24 hours of the storm starting, life was back to usual.

We had another storm this week and this time, it created more of an issue. The storm was actually a combination of two storms coming through (one from the west and one from the south) and it dropped snow fast and furiously during the morning commute time. A state of emergency was declared, lots of the city closed and the plows were out in full force all day. It was a long wait before I would be hitting the streets that afternoon to go into work.

While the 16 inches of snow fell in our area, Mike went out to tackle it with the snow blower while Dylan and I watched from inside.

That night, our company closed an hour early so we could go home to finish digging out. Mike had already done all the tough work (what a great guy!) so we did the only other thing that had to be done - go out and play in it!

Bundled and Ready to go out!

Almost Knee High in the Front Yard
(Notice how great our street was plowed...it's normally the last in the city to be cleared.)

We couldn't decide between making a snow fort or a snow man so we did both! At first, I had to keep Dylan in a backpack. If I'd put him down in our yard, we might have lost him in the snow! After we'd collected some of the snow for the snowman, and scooped up more to add to the big pile of snow on the lawn (from shoveling the walks) that would become the snow fort, and trampled down on the path between the two, I let Dylan down on the passable path to play. He did a great job helping me "pat, pat" the snow on the snowman and encouraged his Daddy to hurry on the snow fort by reminding him he wanted to go "under, under" each time Mike was working on\blocking off the entrance to his fort.

Snow Fort

Under, Under!

Mom Trying to Squeeze in too

As our snowman started to take shape, Dylan finally understood what was going on and got very excited about the snowman. Once the hat, scarf and face was on, we asked Dylan what we should name our snowman - he said "Nono" (snowman) of course!

Nono
(Good thing our Christmas lights were still on so we could see.)

With Dylan's cheeks starting to turn bright red, it was time to head in to warm up. The temperatures have stayed cold so Nono is still perfectly in tact. First thing in the morning and last thing at night, Dylan wants to see his snowman...he loves it!

18 Months

Yeah, I'm over a week late with this post..and such a big event to acknowledge - Dylan's half birthday! Thursday last week my little guy turned 1 and a half. He still loves the birthday song so grinned from ear to ear when we sang it to him. (He got to enjoy it again when we sang it to his Pipaw a few days later.)

As usual, he changes so much from month to month. Let's do a run down of some of his new skills.

One of the developments in his personality that gives me a lot of personal joy is how he now says hello and goodbye to me. Kids thrive in routine and he is getting mine down. He understand what it means when we say "Mommy is going to work" and he'll run over and give me a hug. Then, some days, he excitedly run to the door to greet me. Those days are pretty awesome. Before he did that, he would need some time to warm up to me while he clung to Daddy.....usually because he was just waking up from his second nap. That still happens every now and again, but it's really great to see him excited for me to get home. Love it!

Another development I love is his want to snuggle more. With him getting nice and settled into our current nap\nighttime routine (which if you have kids, you know it changes pretty frequently before this age), Dylan has become a bit of a snuggle bug. When we go to put him down into his crib, we always sing a song. During that period, he likes to nuzzle into our shoulders and hug us with his body. I find myself rocking him like that long after we've finished the song to get in more snuggle time. As a little guy on the go, he doesn't often slow down enough for prolonged affection for us so we soak it up when we can.

Speaking of routine, it's only taken a year and a half but Mike has finally successfully found the sweet nap time. Dylan's never been a great napper so it's been challenging to find ways to have him get the daytime sleep he needs to function well. With lots of experimentation, Mike found the perfect schedule for him in December. Even with holiday travel, he settled back into the routine very nicely when we returned home. It's been great for Mike because he's been able to get regular workouts in during the week while Dylan takes his morning nap and it's become a lot easier to plan their days. Now that we've found the sweet spot, I'm sure it will change again soon just to keep us on our toes.

Christmas activities and decor gave Dylan a lot of joy...so much so that we waited to take our decorations down until just last weekend. He was so mesmerized by snowmen that he memorized all his books that had them in it. One day, Dylan very carefully collected all of his books with them, turned immediately to the page with one on it and pronounced "NoNo!" (That's snowman in Dylan speak.) Also, thanks to Santa, we've been able to get Dylan to wear hats a little easier. It's great to see him in the Red Sox hat his Nana gave to him last Spring. He looks super cute wearing it around.

Closing doors is one of Dylan's favorite activities around the house. He can't open them yet but the day will be coming soon so we are definitely a lot more careful about locking the front and back doors to keep him in. He's been able to get up on chairs and couches for a while but we've noticed a general improvement in his climbing skills and he's expanding where he's trying them out....a great thing for a playground but not great for him trying to scale other non safe household things.

Another toddler behavior coming out is testing boundaries. Dylan's forced Mike and I to have many conversations about what our steadfast rules are and how we're going to implement them. I'm sure that challenge will only increase over time. Right now we're sticking to things\activities that will cause physical harm and letting the rest be. As a parent, you learn the "pick your battles" adage early and frequently.

For Christmas, I gave Dylan a year long membership to our local YMCA and also enrolled him (and Mike by default) into a swim class. They had their first class on the first Monday of the year and it went really well. Mike got them there a bit early so he could walk Dylan around the pool area for a bit to get him comfortable with the area before plopping him in the pool. So, by the time class was ready to start, Dylan was open to getting into the water! He's had fun splashing in the water, sitting on floats and playing with toys in the pool.

Dylan's had a long time interest in the cats but we've noticed and increased interest in interacting with them and playing with them. Much to Oliver and Luci's dismay, Dylan very often tries to share toys with them while they're sleeping and then follow them around the house. It's a constant balance of making the cats get used to this behavior and keeping our cute tot from irritating them past their breaking point. Very often, the cats make themselves scarce during the day and them come hang out with Mike and I once Dylan is tucked into bed.

Under is a concept Dylan has learned and loves to do. He likes to go "under" the table, play "under" the bed covers and go "under" the rocking chair (behind really but we're making the correction slowly...don't want to discourage that budding vocabulary).

Today we went to his 18 month check up. Apparently, we're horrible parents because we didn't know until today that we were supposed to have gone for a 15 month check up! Whoops! The appointment went well, though, and the doctor confirmed what we already knew - that Dylan is long and lean (58% height, 38% weight), a genius (has many more words than average) and a cute, healthy, brave boy. Since we missed the 15 month vaccinations, he had a little more than his due for this appointment. After 4 shots, a short cry and a big hug from mama, he recovered to his happy self quickly. And, after a nice long nap, he was in a great mood. Normally after getting vaccinations, he doesn't feel that great and is a big crank but we enjoyed a pleasant Friday night at home together.

Dylan - 18 Months (With His Cats - Luci and Oliver)

Chrismas Day in Boston

This year has started with a bang so I've yet to blog about the rest of our Christmas story. So, let's wrap up that holiday...we've got a new year to start on!

After a tearful goodbye to my parents at the airport, we went through security and grabbed some lunch. We were in a brand spanking new terminal that was a large, wide open space with a enclosed glass walkway running above all the gates. While we were waiting to board our flight on Christmas Eve, we heard cheering to our left. We look towards the noise and realize that folks are looking up towards the glass walkway while clapping, yelling and waving. We look up and see folks dressed in desert camouflage filling the walkway - troops coming home! It was such an honor to be able to join in with the welcome. Since we were the last group to board, we got to clap and wave as the entire plane of troops deboarded. My emotions were running high after leaving my parents and it was so awesome to see these proud Americans coming home to their families just in time for Christmas....I have to admit it was overwhelming to me in a good way. Pretty cool! Oh, AND we got an extra seat for the 3 of us which made our flight that much more comfortable. Score!

So, with a smooth travel day behind us, we arrived home at 8:30 pm, put Dylan to bed and did our Santa duties before kicking back and taking a breath. We were SO excited to see what Christmas would mean to our baby this year!

We'd done our best to help Dylan understand that Santa would be coming and I'm sure he didn't quite get it. Nevertheless, he was pretty excited to see the Santa loot on Christmas morning.

Santa's Been Here

We had as much (and maybe more) fun then Dylan did exploring the toys Santa brought, emptying the filled stocking and then attacking all the wrapped gifts that were under the tree. Although we had the best of intentions to not go overboard with gifts to our little guy, we failed and spoiled him rotten. He had so many gifts we had to work hard to keep him interested in the last ones to be opened.

ELMO!

Books and Candy in the Stocking

Snowman! (Now Lives in Dylan's Crib for Night Time Snuggles)

Figuring out the Ramp on His Garage (Sippy Cups Zip Down it too)

After playing for a bit and enjoying a good breakfast, we got ready and headed over to Mike's parents. Unfortunately, we left our photo memory card in the laptop at home so were unable to take any pictures of the rest of the day. I'm hoping my lovely sister in laws will provide me with some of the ones they took so we can add them to our family memories.

As usual, Dylan had a great time with his Nana and Bumpa as well as his cousins, Corwin and Jacob. We exchanged gifts and hung out for a while before heading to Mike's sister's house for her annual Christmas Day bash. In addition to Mike's immediate family, she has her husbands family over as well so the house was filled with lots of merry adults, excited kids and tons of food to feed us all. It was a fun and full day. When Dylan was completely pooped out, we took Mike's mother home and made the trip home. 

It's really amazing to me how much more fun holidays are with a kid. I've always loved Christmastime but seeing Dylan experience these special days for the *first time is like having the child like excitement for myself again. Really, really cool.

(* I realize it's technically his 2nd Christmas but this is the first year he's aware, even on  a very basic level, some of the concepts associated with all the traditions.)

After a fun day for all, it ended with an unfortunate event. A while after we dropped Mike's mother off at her house, she fell and broke her wrist! Yikes! So, in addition to all of her Christmas gifts, she got a pretty pink cast to wear. We saw her over the weekend and she's being a real trooper about it. Here's hoping to a speedy recovery for her!

Accomplishments and More to Accomplish

I sat down to do my usual first of the year resolutions post and, naturally, referred back to last years posts to see what I had resolved to do. Last year I resolved to floss my teeth daily, lose the baby weight and work on living in the moment (instead of the moment ahead). I did a pretty good job on that list. I'm a definitely daily flosser, lost a good amount of weight (though I'm still working on those stubborn last ones), and have definitely stayed more current in where my focus is. And though I did a decent job on my goals, I didn't fully accomplish what I set out to do on all of them and couldn't help but feel like a bit of a failure.

In looking back, I realized that sometimes we focus on what we didn't accomplish last year and just slap that on our resolutions for the new year (yep, that weight thing is going on my list again like it will for so many other people). However, that methodology never seems to accomplish anything because 1) resolutions aren't given the serious treatment they deserve 2) it's a vicious cycle of failure and 3) you don't focus on the positive. So, in addition to posting my resolutions at the end of this post, I first want to focus on the positive....the things I accomplished in 2010.

Accomplishments
1) Financial planning - This wasn't on my goal list for 2010 but really should have been. I've done a good amount of research on retirement, investments, life insurance, etc but must (shamefully) admit I've never done much about it. When I started fully funding my 401K at 23 years of age, I felt pretty ahead of the game. However, 10 years later I hadn't done much more than that. A lot of why was due to the fact that I felt I knew what to do and just needed to get around to doing it....not pay someone (financial planner) to tell me what I already knew. I finally had to face up to the fact that I would need someone to kick me in the butt and get some of those things done. So, I did. Mike and I spent a lot of time this year with our planner and are now a bit more secure in our financial future. Yay us!
2) Even being realistic with a time frame and a weight number goal that wasn't quite as low as pre baby, I didn't hit it. Of course there are moments when I want to beat myself up about that. At those times, I try to stop myself and look at the big picture. Did I make the number? No. But, am I a lot lower than at the beginning of the year? Yes. Is the scale continuing in the desired direction? Yes. And that should be all that matters.
3) Coming from a type A list maker and always focusing on getting the next thing "done," I've made huge progress in letting go of those personally set expectations and putting more emphasis on the things that really matter, like spending time with my family. Though I know I'm far from perfect, I really am proud of the fact that my time with Dylan is my time with Dylan and I spend little time worrying about other details when I'm with him. As is everything in life, it's a delicate balance and I don't always have 100% focus on him, but coming from the person I was 18 months ago to how I am now - BIG difference!

So, now that I've acknowledged my successes, now I need to set some goals for things that might need a little work in my life.

Resolutions
1) Weekly date night - Every month is a shift in our schedule. Dylan's going to sleep earlier or sleeping later or playing more independently...it's culminating in Mike and I actually having some free time at night. Since this is something we've really lacked since Dylan was born, we've swung a little too far into alone time and aren't spending enough time together after Dylan goes to bed. While we do make it a priority to get a sitter and go out of the house from time to time, we're now working on getting out of the habit of sitting down in separate rooms after Dylan's lights out and finding hobbies to enjoy together during that time.
2) Finally lose the last of that stubborn weight that has been making itself too comfortable on my body. Holidays, visitors and travel schedules over the last few months created a huge roadblock to progress on weight loss. It's time to get serious again. I WILL hit my goal!
3) Lift weights 3 times per week (started a few weeks ago) - This will help me accomplish #2. When I was at my smallest, weights were my workout (or part of it) 3 times a week. I now try to do yoga weekly, run 2-4 times per week and take a day off....which meant I wasn't getting in that 3rd weight session I needed to. After much thought on how to fit it all in, I've come up with a schedule. The tricky part is that it requires me to do one weight session in our basement on the weekends. That's a new habit I've got to stick with.
4) Get to Amsterdam - Mike and I have wanted to make a long weekend trip to this cool city for years now. We're hoping to actually make it happen in early spring.
5) Make a will - Along with financial planning, this was top on my list last year and it didn't happen. Now that we've got a kiddo, that will thing is pretty important and Mike and I will be making one soon.
6) Live through yet another renovation - After 6 years in our house, we've lived through 3 interior renovation periods and one exterior. Time for another. We're working with our architect on designing an addition that we hope to start building in late spring.
7) Stop sitting with my legs crossed - Sounds weird and silly, right? But, I had all this time and aggravation in 2010 dealing with that stupid varicose vein and I don't want to do anything to encourage anymore from developing. So, when I'm sitting in a chair, I'm working on getting both feet to stay on the ground. This should be my easiest resolution of the above but it's already proving to be a challenge. It's a lifelong habit I'm trying to break...no easy feat!

Wow. For someone that normally has a hard time coming up with resolutions, I've got some hum dingers this year. Wish me luck! Or rather, wish me good self determination. That's what will actually help me accomplish all of these. What are your hopes\dreams\goals for 2011?

Christmas in Dallas - Part IV

Rewind back to our week in Dallas. After a big (immediate) family celebration, we continued the celebration the next day with even more family. In addition to the previous day's crowd, we added my Aunt Gwen, Uncle Larry and cousin Allen along with his family. 

We spent the afternoon playing bunko. Apparently, I'm really terrible at rolling dice because I lost a miserable amount of times. Thanks to my cousin Moriah, I wasn't the absolute worst because she took home the "prize" for most losses at the awards ceremony. Good company while playing but I'm not left yearning to play again too soon. Maybe after I pick up a good luck charm or two. Games were followed by dinner which completed another whirlwind day of family holiday celebrations.

The Whole Gang
Top - Mike, Reece, Marcy, Larry, Pam, Jody with Ryker, Me with Dylan, Moriah (boyfriend Scott barely visible), Nola, Allen and my Mom
Bottom - Gwen, Blanche, Dad and Presley

The next day was Christmas Eve and our day to travel back home. My brother, Jody, and his family were also heading out that day to head to see my sister-in-law's family. So, other than a lot of packing, we didn't have tons of time to do much other than some casual hanging out and some sad goodbyes.

Dylan and Uncle Jody

Jody Playing Roller Coaster with Ryker and Dylan

Mimaw and Pipaw with the Grandkids

Now, my brother Jamie and his family were unable to spend the week with us. However, they made a huge effort to make it to Dallas to see us. They drove overnight just to spend about 45 minutes with us before we left to the airport. They arrived as Jody's family was piling up in the car to leave and as we were finished our last minute packing. We haven't seen them or their sweet daughter Payton since April, so it was awesome to see them, even if it was for a very small amount of time. Dylan and Payton exchanged gifts and watched each other playing.

Payton Playing with Her New Phone (Mike and Dylan Watching)

Me with Payton and Dylan

After our quick visit with Jamie's family, my parents drove us to the airport. As usual, it was emotional to say goodbye to them (especially since we haven't planned our next visit yet). With that emotion still fresh as we were waiting to board the plane, we heard cheering. Running along the terminal was a raised glass walkway that went right over our gate. On it were troops arriving home and as they passed, all the travelers waved, clapped and cheered. We, of course, joined in with the welcome home. It must have felt amazing to them to be arriving home on Christmas Eve....it was certainly awesome to welcome them on such a special day. A pretty cool ending to our Dallas Christmas!

Our Christmas was not over yet. Up next, the Boston portion of our holiday.

1/1/11

I know I'm a numbers nerd, but I think the non numbers fans will even admit that today is an awesome date! Speaking of awesome, that's a new word that Dylan learned on this first day of the new year.

We just got back from a great couple of days in the mountains. With great snowfalls from our big storm last weekend, some time off work, some warm weather (by winter in the mountains standards) and fun friends, we had the perfect recipe for a fun ring in to 2011.

Our friends Tamara and Ross, along with their cute daughter, Elsa, and energetic dog, Trucker, joined us at our NH condo on Thursday afternoon. After we all go unpacked and settled, we had dinner together, spent some time getting the kiddos to sleep in a foreign place and then stayed up late playing games.

Dylan and Elsa

Friday we did something none of us had done for a couple of years - hit the slopes! Since each of us individual couples normally are each others ski\snowboard buddies and we've had very young babies or have been pregnant the last  winters, skiing hasn't really happened. We were bound to make it work somehow. Thursday night we came up with a plan. The boys would go for the morning and then we would do a noon switch over.

After a late night, Tamara and I were happy to have a low key morning at home with the babes (though our ambitious plans to snowshoe that morning didn't happen). Around 11, we packed up and drove to the mountain. As we had planned, well hoped really, both kiddos started naps on the way there. We met the guys at the mountain, who had enjoyed 3 plus hours of snowboarding, switched cars and car keys (they got the one with the kids in it) and then the gals geared up to spend the afternoon skiing. The conditions were great, the temperature perfect and even though it was a holiday weekend, the crowds weren't too bad. It was truly exhilarating to get comfortable on skis again and have some fun in the snow.

So our ski day was new years eve. The unfortunate part with our timing was that we had such a great time staying up late the night before and had such a physically tiring day...it made for a tired four adults on new years eve. Like many new(ish) parents, we didn't make it to midnight. Around 10:30, we justified it being the new year just a couple of time zones over, had a nice toast and then all headed to bed for some much needed sleep.

The next morning, we started out the day with our favorite local breakfast spot, the Sugar Shack. After stuffing ourselves silly with great breakfast fare, we headed back to our place so that Elsa could have a wee little nap.

A few years ago, Tamara and Ross were up at our place for new years day and I went snowshoeing with them (I think Mike opted for some R&R on that trip). To continue the tradition (or maybe just start it back up), we strapped on the funny contraptions to our feet, as well as kids to our bodies this time, and hiked the trails behind our condo. And, as we usually do, we took the nice loop that passes by our property's waterfall.

Me and Dylan

There's a Waterfall Under There...I Promise!

Trucker, the Alaskan Husky Doing What He Does Best...Frolic in the Snow

With the Waterfall

Our Family at the Waterfall

Tamara, Elsa (Yes, She's Really in There Somewhere) and Ross

With us all sufficiently pooped out, we started packing up to head home. Other than us all still getting used to this whole kid in the mix thing with trips like these....especially with two from different families...the 2 night stay went pretty well. By the end of two nights with not great sleep by the kids, and therefore not good sleep for the adults, adding physical exhaustion to the mix and perhaps too much celebration, it was a long packing up process. Dylan and Elsa had found the cranky pants that none of us remembered packing for them and the parents were using the very last shreds of patience left to keep them sated while trying to get the cars loaded up for the ride home.

The weekend was filled with lots of fun, great conversation, tons of laughs, new games (for some), good exercise and lots of juggling of little ones. Definitely great memories and I'm hoping for a good night of sleep to recuperate from it all.