fun in the snow, numbers 6 and 7

*note the princess gown stuffed into the snowpants

fun in the snow, numbers 2, 3, 4 and 5

fun in the snow, number 1

16 hours later...

It's beginning!

Santa Came!

And then Anna changed her clothes a million times, and Olivia the pig (thanks Grandpa Mark and Grandma Julie) slid down the roof! And everything fits, and everything works, and everything is so exciting,and now the girl sleeps soundly into the afternoon. Love and Merry Christmas from all of us here in Brooklyn.

Anticipation

Since we put it up, she's spent as much time as she can getting as close to the tree as possible. And hugging her Cinderella ornament from Uncle Jeffrey and Auntie Jessica. And bringing the present she got Daddy to him, and then saying, "Daddy has to wait. It's not Christmas yet!" Almost, almost, little mouse!

PS: Thanks for the Christmas camera, mom!

Pizza at Grimaldi's

'Tis the Season!

She Likes to Hold the Umbrella Herself

730th Day

Anna's first day. Ever.


And then she was one.


And now she's two. The world of haircuts, stories, digging, climbing, expressing opinions, playing from dawn until dusk. What did we do before Anna was here? I've no idea...

Leaf Pile!

November at the Garden

The Garden

At the tiny gem of an East Village garden we visited today, Eva and Anna descended the steps in the blur that is the result of my phone camera. Anna recently drastically altered the lens on the real camera, so there might be a more few Monet-inspired posts...

Sunday Adventures with Daddy

A Girl and Her Babies

Vigorously rocking...


Not asleep yet?!

City Child 2

wind

Fall is here,

and we go to the library to read books about pumpkins.

The Week of the Fairy Costume

elephants, lions, pizza pie

September light on Central Park West, the rosy hulk of the Natural History Museum: Anna and I went to see the elephants. I haven't much studied the taxidermy at the museum since I was a kid myself,visiting beloved Auntie Julie from my home on the plains. I remember being awed by the vastness of the indoor space at the museum. In MN, our sky is endless, but I don't think I'd ever seen buildings that held so much air. I remember looking through the apatasaurus to the arc of the great hall above.

Anna wanted to see elephants. And elephants we saw. A troop of them have been standing stock still there since the 1930's, trunks frozen mid-swing, calf sidled up to its mama. As much as I'd rather they'd been left to live out their lives on the Serengeti, both Anna and I were awestruck by the sheer bulk of them, and close enough to touch the palm-size toenails, too. The grace of them stood me still. It sent Anna dancing and galloping in circles. "Elephants, elephants, elephants!"

After gaping at skulls the size of Anna's stroller and a blue whale big enough to live in, a horde of butterflies and a film about waves, we walked out umbrella-less into the sudden downpour and took refuge in Nick's Pizza where the fella gave Anna her first balloon. Yellow. She hugged it all the way home.

Serious Girl, Lamb, Crib

Summer, Still

West Coast Girl

What happens in front yards in Portland

Midsummer