Happy Thanksgiving 2006

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We hosted Thanksgiving at our place this year and had Scott's sister, husband (also named Scott), and baby Jared come. We also had Anand, one of Scott's labmates, and his girlfriend Anya over. We cooked pretty much all week. Scott roasted the turkey. I made vegetarian "harvest pies" (like chicken pot pie without the chicken), mashed potatoes, butterhorn rolls, honey mustard green beans, stuffing, corn on the cob, sweet potato fritters with lime sauce and peach salsa, and pumpkin chocolate cheesecake. Lana and her Scott made the apple and pumpkin pies. It was delicious. Since Thanksgiving consists of pretty much all of Bruce's favorite foods, he's been chowing on the leftovers every chance he gets. Today for lunch he had a few green beans, some cottage cheese, and an entire ear of corn which he ate straight off the cob. He's also a big fan of the cheesecake, so we'll probably load him up on that tonight.

Earlier this week Bruce had his 18-mos appointment. He weighed 21 1/2 pounds and is now officially on the growth chart. Fifth percentile, yeah! The doctor was impressed with how much he talked and was once again amazed at his activity level (he's always a bit hyper, but those papers on the doctor's tables drive him wild).

We went to Harvard Square with Lana and Scott this week. We visited overpriced bookstores and gawked at the cool brick buildings around campus. Scott and Bruce are walking in front of the freshman dining hall; nope, it's not a church.

I'm still running, of course. I ran a race on Thanksgiving morning in Somerville. It was a 4-mile race and it was loaded with lots of fast ladies. I ran as fast as my frozen legs would go and ended up third for women with a 23:53. As soon as I finished, we (Scott, Bruce, Lana, Scott, Jared) all jumped in cars and sped home to baste the turkey.

I'm already excited about Christmas. On Friday, I rearranged the living room and got out our ugly fake Christmas tree. Bruce had a great time chucking the ornaments out of the boxes (good thing we don't have nice fancy ornaments) and pulling the Big Bird heads off the lights. I piled Bruce's toys in front of the tree so he can't pull it over, but he's already making climbing attempts. We'll see how long it lasts.

The Garbage Truck is Fascinating

This has been quite a crazy week. I've been doing all the usual things - work, chasing Bruce, running, Activity Days - but there's just been a lot more of everything. By the time the weekend rolled around, I sunk into the couch and finished the Harry Potter book I'd been reading for about six months.

The picture of Bruce playing in the leaves is a week old. That was after we went to the zoo; there was a big pile of leaves outside the zoo's entrance, so he played in it for a good 15 minutes. The other picture is typical Bruce activity. Every Monday the garbage trucks go around our neighborhood, and Bruce chants "truck, truck, truck" the entire morning. He climbs onto the chair by the window and stares out at the street for long periods of time.

Scott has been pampering me all weekend. He cleaned the bathroom while I read my book. He made me waffles and did the dishes. Scott just read this post and said I'm getting too sappy ("My colleagues read this..."), so that's all for today.

Take Me to the Zoo

Scott, Bruce, and I went to the zoo on Saturday. Bruce's favorite exhibit was not the roaring lion or the cute baboons, but it was the ducks. There were some cool ducks and turtles in an exhibit with a glass wall, so you could see above and below the water. He loved that.

After our trip to the zoo, Bruce and I went for a run. I put him in the jogging stroller and we hit up two parks. It was a nice long easy jog for me, and Bruce loved going on different slides and swings.

Homeless Halloween 2006

Bruce was a homeless man for Halloween. He always kind of looks like a homeless man because he often rolls in the dirt and pushes his shopping cart around. We just added a "Will Work for Candy" sign to complete the look. Bruce wasn't very interested in the candy, but sure loved staying up past his bedtime to run around. As you can see, he pooped himself out.

The other pictures are from the park, where he plays with the dirt. That's his newest word: "dirt."

My Aunts Love Me

More pictures from Ohio. Bruce and Grandpa on the tractor (more cousins in the trailer) and Bruce dressed up by Marissa. Scott found this especially disturbing.

Quick Trip to Ohio

This past weekend, Bruce and I went to Ohio to visit the fam. Bruce absolutely loved it. He fed the ducks in our front yard every day, and got very spoiled. He ate lots of chocolate, got a few tractor rides, ran around the house with his cousins, and got all the attention he could handle.

Bruce got to meet his newest cousin, Jared. Bruce liked Jared until I held him, then he tugged on my pants and whined. I sense some jealousy; that could pose a problem someday.

While in Ohio, Chris came to visit. He was the best man at his friend's wedding, so he was just there for two days. He's been out at college for about two months and he's already whipped over some girl. Yikes. If you check out the picture, that face says it all: "I'm whipped."

I also cracked the whip on Marissa and helped her fill out some college applications. Here's what Marissa's face says: "I spent two hours filling out my college app only to have it accidentally deleted. Guess I'm not going to that school. There goes four years of my life..."