Ben, Jerry and Hairy the Horse

Q:

How do you celebrate a birthday in a town that primarily touts outdoor recreational activities with a newborn in the winter and a brace-legged husband -- especially when said birthday is for just such a gimp-legged spouse?

A:

Rent a horse-drawn sleigh in the snow-capped mountains

I'd like to introduce you all to Wyatt and Blondie

Doesn't the birthday boy look like he's having fun?

Actually, we all enjoyed ourselves. After a winter spent avoiding RSV and the flu by locking ourselves tight inside our home, it was nice to get out in the sunshine and snow - though we would have been wise to bring along some sunglasses.

Ok, Nora didn't love it, but at least she looked cute and stayed warm. That's right, that is a "real cowboy," as Porter put it, behind me. Funny, we asked tha names of all five horses and the dog, but forgot to get his name. Real cowboy it is.

And more real cowboys and their horses Ace and Maverick. When these two came riding up to us near the end of the sleigh ride, Porter asked the one in the red coat if his horse was named Hairy, "because he has lots of hair." I'm sure that made perfect sense to him, considering we had told him that Blondie was named Blondie because her hair was blonde.

Once we got home from the mountain adventure, we took naps and sang a little Happy Birthday to a couple of pints of Ben and Jerry's. I know, I'm a bad wife. But Andy doesn't love cake and the trip to the mountains threw off my plans to make an ice cream cake, so Pizza Hut and a little Cherry Garcia sufficed.

Baby Love

This weekend, while Andy was coaching all day and Porter was napping, I decided we needed to get a few new pics of Nora, with the hopes of snapping something frame-worthy for the living room wall. As luck would have it, I think I got a few good ones.

I like this one.

And Andy likes this one.

Your votes?


But even more fun than that, our fifteen minute photo shoot revealed the many emotional facets of our little lady...


Content.
(Always accompanied by a fist in the mouth.)

Happy.
(I tried to get a full on smile, but being a Top Model, she seems to have already learned the art of smiling with her eyes. Watch out Tyra.)

Worried.
(And who wouldn't be with their mom cooing nondescript, high-pitched noises to try and attract their attention?)

Thoughtful.

Coy.


Impatient.
(We see this one a lot.)


And, of course, mad.

Thanks for humoring me; I know that was a lot of the same picture. at least the grandmas liked it, right?

Magical, Blissful, Peaceful Sleep

If you've never had a baby, you may not grasp the magnitude of what I am about to say. Regardless, I invite you all to help me celebrate in what I'm assuming is just a fluke:

NORA SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!

Thats right, there I was, eyes glued shut, toes cozy under my mass of blankets, baby monitor buzzing silently for eight whole hours (11 p.m.-7 a.m.) last night. I woke up this morning feeling like a human being for the first time in two months. Hooray for me!

Now, for all those friends/family with small children, I'm sad to say that there is no need to turn green with envy. Nora had her two-month doctor appointment yesterday which included immunizations. I chalk the extended sleeping up to her being sore and worn out - not to any magical sleep regime I may be instituting within the Burt home. But just for today, I feel like celebrating and wanted to share in the fun with all of you.

And for all who care, here are Nora's two-month stats:

9.15 Lbs. (25th percentile)

22 inches (50th percentile)

Black Walrus Crashes Playdate

Q:

What do you get when you leave an almost-three year-old alone long enough to escort your visitors to the door after a successful play date?

A:

The Black Walrus

That's right, just seconds after  closing the door, I turned toward the stairs to the playroom to find an exuberant Porter growling and squealing "I'm a black walrus!"

He was so proud of his work that I didn't think to explain the bad behavior until after I'd laughed and snapped a few pictures (we got to the "we only draw on paper" during bath time).

I also didn't immediately think to check out the office (next to the playroom upstairs) until a little while later (and then worriedly climbed the stairs hoping to still have mark-free walls). Fortunately, once the black walrus tired of the paper scribbling, he jumped straight to the tattooing.

And just for fun, Nora's first successful play date with her pal Vivian (so defined as "successful" by including two awake and content friends).