Duh duh duh duh duh duh.. duh duh…

We’re going to have a good time!

I’m glad it’s your birthday..

Happy Birthday to you!

Yes, we’re going to a party party…

Yes, we’re going to a party party..

Oh we’re going to a party party!

I would like you to dance… BIRTHDAY!

Take a ch-ch-ch-chance…

BIRTHDAY!

Much love and many thanks to all of you who have helped us grow into ourselves this past year!

HUZZAH! An excellent afternoon adventure! Take that, Mother Nature!

We were all very impressed with how preggo dear Katie looks these days!

Mmmm… Cupcakes. Laura and Brita were very polite.  I was less so.

Books! This is a soft one about Pat the Bunny. Katie loved that there was a picture of the original Pat the Bunny book on one of the pages of the book ABOUT the Pat the Bunny book.

We all reconnected with old friends, both literary and feline.

Mrs. Sosnoff and Katie remembered Pat the Bunny well.

Lillie seemed very interested in the Penn Gazette. No pressure, Lil, but how cool would three generations of Penn women be?

Welcome! Welcome!

No joke, people. Ol’ Jack Frost has moved to Maynard.  Some of us at 60 Thompson are clearly more pleased than others by this development.

In the spirit of fresh starts, here’s what how Lillie’s days look now that she’s almost 11 months old. Hard to believe, huh?

She wakes up when Jason leaves for work, so usually around 7 am. And then she has breakfast, which mostly consists of yogurt & cheerios. She’s decided breastfeeding isn’t efficient enough, so she drinks a bottle with every meal & breastfeeds at night.

And then we play:

She loves all things made from wood pulp.

And then if it is nice we maybe go outside:

And then she usually has a nap around 10:30 am.  She’s pretty good about sleeping for an hour or so, and lets us know in no uncertain terms when she wants up.

Then we usually have an adventure. Sometimes we go play with friends:

And then have lunch around 1 pm:

After lunch we play some more:

Jason usually comes home around 4, and then some days I go to work, and Lillie usually has another short nap until dinner at 5 pm. After dinner she is often quite cranky and sleepy, so we go for a walk:

And have a bath, which is a highlight of both our days:

Jason is in charge of bedtime, which she is amazingly good about (takes after her mama), so after the bath, around 7:30 pm, he reads her stories, usually Time for Bed or Goodnight, Gorilla! and then she gets put down with her blanket.  Most days she sleeps till midnight or so, and I get up to feed her, and then we all sleep till morning.

All in all it is a very good life. Lillie is an incredibly alert and aware child – always observing & always involved. She loves people and loves to talk. Right now she is also starting to test us, which is challenging. She moves like the wind and is very close to walking, but prefers to crawl as she is faster that way.

Hope everyone is doing well – HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Lovely Nancy hosted at her lovely family lake house in Ashby, which is a charming town not at all far from Maynard, which made it very convenient for me.

Parrot Inflate made a comeback, as did the tradition of ridiculous bridal headgear. It was great fun to break out my old friend The BeDazzler.

Nancy almost lost her sunglasses in the lake,  but a combination of Thea’s long arms and Nancy’s wading rescued them.

Then we went horseback riding!

And Caitlin showed off for the local farm animals. YAY Buddy’s Ranch!

Everyone brought tasty treats! Lisl & Nancy did a brilliant job grilling up delicious meats, but of course our Pig’s eyes were only for dessert.

Devoted Thea hauled a donkey pinata all the way from NYC, and while Jodie gave it a good shot, it was Caitlin who ended up being restrained from stomping its little head in. After a charming game of Truth or Dare Poker, where we all got to know each other a little better, we retired.  I must say, I very much enjoyed a full night’s sleep, but pumping was incredibly inefficient in comparison to the wee lass, and I missed her.

The next morning dawned rainy and gray, so we had to forgo the winery tour and lake swim, but we had a lovely hang out on Nancy’s porch and much good conversation.  Thanks to Thea, Nancy, Johanna, Andrea, Jodie and dear dear Piggus for a most excellent PigFest!

Just above the treeline. Some of these trees are over a hundred years old!

A break for Lillie’s lunch.

BEAR Country!

At the tip top! This photo was taken by a very kind Russian tourist, and right after us, his whole family had their picture taken with two American young men who’d climbed the mountain in the their superman drawers.  They looked very cold.

At the top of Mount Washington, the highest wind speeds recorded by man were documented.  Luckily Lillie had a very firm grip on the chains that anchored the building to the rock.

We came back tanned, rested, and with several new teeth!