Spring is Here

Spring is Here

The temperature hit 68 degrees one day this week, which is a sure sign of spring. Sunrise is heading toward 6:00am, and Audrey wakes up with the Sun even though her windows are covered with dark blankets (blackout curtains are on the way!). We suspect the birds are waking her up.

In the winter, Audrey would sleep until 7:45 or so (well past my 7:00 departure time), which was nice for Carol. Now I get up with Audrey earlier than I normally would for work. The upside obviously is more time together. The hard part is making myself go to bed earlier.

Charlotte gets cuter every day. Last Sunday she rolled over from her tummy to her back several times. She's done it a couple of times since. That's a motor control milestone. She also is chattering a lot more and tells us long stories almost every day. She has a great smile and laugh.

Audrey never really showed any jealousy about Charlotte, but now she shows outright affection for her. In the morning Audrey can't wait to see Charlotte and wants to touch her and kiss her. As always, Audrey gets very concerned when Charlotte is crying. Charlotte is fascinated by Audrey and loves to watch Audrey play.

Carol and I are doing very well. Carol's former boss Debbie has volunteered to babysit one evening every other week, as has my sister Tricia. So suddenly we are babysitter-rich and Carol and I have been enjoying our dates. They are limited in length by the fact that Charlotte won't take a bottle (yet - we're working on it), but even an hour and half alone together is a treat.

I'm trying to get started with our garage construction. The plans are complete and we have the building permit in hand. Now I have to find and coordinate the necessary subcontractors. As an independent contractor myself every hour off work is income lost, but I'll have to bite the bullet soon and take a day off work to meet subs and get bids started. Tricia and Frank are standing by to help with the excavation and framing, but I have to resolve the underground plumbing and electrical plan before we can do the excavation and concrete.

The other piece of house news is that the custom banquette we ordered for the kitchen in November is going to be delivered Monday. Then we can finish the dining area. We're looking forward to creating a warm, cheery and comfortable space for eating and socializing.

Almost the End of Winter

End of Winter

Charlotte is 3 1/2 months old now and generally sleeping through the night (as long as 8 hours sometimes!). That's a treat, especially for Carol. Charlotte seems to have come through her slight colic-y phase and is usually pretty happy these days. She still doesn't like to be left in a position where she can't see any action.

Audrey is doing well. She's very kind to Charlotte; she gives Vegas to Charlotte when Charlotte is upset. Audrey is talking a lot more (or at least a lot more in English) and is starting to put together real sentences. Her vocabulary is increasing rapidly. It's very nice that Audrey is starting to be able to ask for what she needs. Of course, her favorite word hasn't changed: "No!"

We've been making up for the social life we haven't had since Charlotte was born. In the last two weeks we've had several groups of friends over for meals and have gone out a few times with other friends. Our friends Barry and Rabih turned us on to a Greek restaurant (Vios) that is very kid friendly - it has a nice play area within view of the tables so we can eat and socialize and Audrey can play the whole time while we keep an eye on her.

I continue to bike to work most days and I've started getting out most weekends for the Saturday morning group ride I've enjoyed for several years. Carol is enjoying our new YMCA membership and she has signed up to do the Danskin Triathlon again in August with some friends.

Carol and I count our blessings every day. We feel extremely fortunate.

Showshoeing on Suntop Mountain

2006-03-04 Suntop

I obtained a special dispensation from the Mrs. to go snowshoeing with friend Chris Kilmer (thanks, Carol!). Well, I also had to give up half a day with the daughters. But neither Chris or I had been in the mountains in far too long. In fact, we both had trouble remembering what to wear and bring.

For example, we didn't bring a map or a good route description. My impression was that the entire route was on logging roads, but that's only true for the last part of the route. We reached the end of the road, which appeared to be about 100' vertical below the top of the mountain. But there was no continuing trail to be found. I'll have to head back in the summer and try to find the trail to the lookout.

I also forgot to bring a camera, so the only photo is taken with my crappy cell phone camera. With no tripod, Chris and I are standing together only through the magic of Photoshop.

The weather was nice and the snowshoeing was perfect. There were some few-day-old tracks part of the way, but we got to break trail the last half of the route. We had to turn around at 11:00am so I could get back for afternoon Daddy duty. And Carol got to go to a chick flick by herself on Sunday as compensation.