The Past 2 Weeks

Wow, I think the cabin fever has gotten to me as I've forgotten to blog for the past 2 weeks.  You'd think being cooped up with a one year old in an 1200 sq foot house buried beneath the 60+ inches of snow we've gotten in the past month would have me begging for things to do, like blogging.  Alas, Griffin and my job keep me busy, or too tired to remember what things I have to do.  

So, let me fill you in on the last two weeks.  We've had some memorable times to share and document.

1. Griffin got conjunctivitis, or so we thought...

2. Despite the supposed "conjunctivitis", we had a family birthday party for Griff, complete with a Dad-made snow fort/tunnel and a duck shaped cake.

(Griff was NOT a fan of the snow fort, though I think he just got too cold.)

 (Thank you to our wonderful family for making the trip down to celebrate!)

 (Griff's first birthday cake was handmade by Dad, with a tiny bit of icing help from Mom.)

(Duck cake death.. it was a tasty death)

 (Anny was sick so she hugged Harry Bear instead of the baby..)

3. We celebrated Johnny's 1st birthday via breakfast skype.

 

4. Turns out it wasn't conjunctivitis.. Griffin got his first official ear infection.  Here we are at the doctor's office (again).  I think we've spent upwards of $200 in co-pays already this winter.

5. We took a family trip to the Museum of Science to catch the Amazing Nano Brothers Juggling Show, which totally lived up to its name- it was amazing.

(Griffin measured at just over 700 million nanometers tall!)

6. We caught many sightings of the family of 5 turkeys, or as Griffin calls, them "bahhllls".  They caused a traffic jam at the intersection of Village and West Shore the other day, and 2 nights ago, they slept up in the trees behind Joyce & Paula's house.  Griff and I love watching them fly up to the trees from our front window.  Who knew huge turkeys could fly so well?

7.  We took Griffin sledding on a slightly warmer weekend day.

(This was Griff's reaction to the sledding.. and to the snow in general..)

 (...until he realized he could eat it.)

 (then it wasn't so bad.. mmm..)

8. We got snow/freezing rain/rain/sleet again... (Dear Mother Nature, this is a little ridiculous. 60+" in the month of January? 36 days until Hawaii, 36 days until Hawaii...)

Moving Day

It's funny to think that at the ripe age of 1, Griffin has a best friend.  Griffin and Johnny first met when they were 8 and 6 weeks old respectively.  Megan and I both happened to tote our little bundled bundles to an infant playgroup at Crunchy Granola Baby one fateful Friday morning in early March 2010.  Megan found the below picture on a random website- It was taken the day we met; you can see us sitting next to each other in the corner.  

Today, the Gonzales Family moved from their 3rd floor Kings Beach Rd apartment down to Haverford, a suburb of Philadelphia- home of my favorite airport pretzel.  The whole day, or really the whole last month in anticipation of today, has been really emotional and sad, though I've handled it surprisingly well (denial perhaps?).  Tom joked that we were couple dating Megan and Ryan- that we had brought them up to Maine to meet his parents... aw, it's so sad to see them go.

I know that, albeit short, the time Megan, Johnny, Griff, and I spent together allowed us to build lifelong friendships. It's like when people go through a war together, they build a deep bond because they shared a tough experience and triumphed (hopefully).  I think that Mom-friends are just like that, not that motherhood is comparable to war, though some may think so (heck, my labor room looked like a bloody war zone.. sorry, TMI).  Its just that we've been through the craziest year of our lives together, and we've supported and leaned on each other all the way through, and it's been a blast.  Megan and I also happen to get along perfectly as we are very alike.  She's like the sister I never had.  We share an almost identical parenting style (I'd trust her in a heartbeat with Griffin), and ironically a similar fashion style as well (Griff and Johnny wore many of the same onsies, and last month, Megan and I literally wore the exact same outfit to the Children's Museum- jeans and a black scoop neck sweater).  I know we'll be attending each other's son's weddings in 25 years.

 

 

Today made me realize how lucky we are that our boys are still so young that they don't even know to be sad.  Ignorance is definitely bliss in this case, and as a parent, I know there are going to be times when Griffin is sad or disappointed by something, and it will be my job to help him through whatever it is.  I welcome those challenges but I definitely don't look forward to them.  It's hard for me to think about, as I just want to protect him from everything bad/sad in the world.

Despite the sad goodbye, or rather, the "see you later", we were so fortunate to have shared such an awesome first year as Moms together.  We love you Megan, Ryan, and Johnny!!!  Here are a few pictures of Johnny & Griffin playing together on moving day:

 

 

Apple Picking with Megan, Ryan, & Johnny

We invited Megan, Ryan, and Johnny up to Tom's parents' house in Maine for a fun family weekend. We had picnics, went apple picking, took naps, and even had a double date without the babies. (Thanks Grandma for watching the boys!). Here are a few pictures, and a link to the full album:

Babies vs. Wild

Today's Adventure: Mass Audubon, Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary
I must say, it is extremely helpful to have fellow mom friends to help motivate me to get out there with Griffin to explore and give him exposure to new things. I brought the iced coffee, Megan packed the PB & homemade J sandwiches and together with our babes, we ventured out to the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary. The highlights: arriving in Ipswich with 2 babies in the backseat sound asleep, waiting 20 minutes for them to wake up, spending another 20 minutes feeding them and getting ready to hike, making "hee haw" donkey noises to stop Griffin's tears, trying to avoid the bugs, breastfeeding on the watchtower where we got invaded by 15 rambunctious 7 year old explorers approximately 3 minutes after we got up there, a search for a beaver dam, walk around a pond, a delicious picnic in the back of the Subaru, Johnny and Griff lickin' peaches, great chats on the drive to and from.