I feed myself

Liam was getting a bit bored of food... until he realized he could control the spoon. Look out, everyone!

A boy and his dog

I love this look from Bianca, who is almost saying, "Buddy, I don't even chew on the woodwork."

Fun new toys

Thank you, Ikea, for this fantastic little tent that has already provided HOURS of great playtime. With this and some new wooden blocks and a number of other fun additions to our toybox, we have had some great afternoons lately.

Happy Birthday, Buddy!

Liam turned one year old on February 15th and, though we had to postpone his birthday gathering with friends due to illness, we still celebrated the event with some cupcakes and a song. And his lucky sister had a cupcake outfitted with candle of her own to blow out. Here are some shots from those moments...

Friends at the Mountain House

We had a very nice Long Weekend up in the Adirondacks with our friends, the Brenners and the Nuttings. With six adults, five children and four dogs, we had a full house. Here are some shots of Ella with her friend, Casey.

Getting into trouble

Liam is at that age where he is CONSTANTLY getting into things he shouldn't. And he knows it. He looks back at you with this coy little grin, just waiting for you to stop him. Adorable and aggravating. I call him the "Smiling Menace." If I leave the room, I have to ask good old "Hawk Eyes/Safety Patroller" Ella to help and I often hear her yell, "Mom, Liam's getting into trouble!"

Bath and pj-ed snuggles

My new favorite time of day is bathtime. It's often in the evening, but sometimes I just can't wait that long, because it is always so sweet. Liam just crawls around inside the tub and splashes while Ella animates toys and squirts him. There have been times in her life when Ella has detested the tub and refused to go in, but now that she has a playmate, she is always game. And, yes, we're all wearing footed pj's in that other shot. So snuggly.

The crazy, crazy winter of 2010-2011

This has been an incredible winter all over the country - and that is certainly true here in Connecticut. I will always remember the ridiculous snowfalls we experienced - and the total lack of thaw in the months of Jan and Feb! Here are some shots of our house and yard as we pinballed back and forth from light, fluffy, soft snow to pools of water over icy crust... OY! Maybe we shouldn't have made all those snowflakes in December. We just really wanted snow at that point!!

Silly, happy

I love these two goofballs.

Trail o' slime

In this series, you can see Liam go in to kiss Ella's head. Then, if you look closely, you can see a line of slime across the top of her head - his loving mark.

Kisses and hugs and wrestling

There's lots of that around here. Some rough, some gentle, mostly very loving.

Dancing?

Ella and Liam are interacting so much these days. It makes being at home with them a great deal of fun and hugely tiring at the same time, because, as we have established, Ella always wants what Liam has and Liam always wants what Ella has. Oy!

More Beeky

Just a couple more shots of the dog.

Beeky/Bianca

As Bianca enters the 11th year of her life (upcoming birthday March 24th), she is feeling more love than ever before. She is constantly loved. Loved, smothered, kissed, patted, sat on, etc. Liam in particular is pretty much obsessed with her. As Ella put it, "Liam loves Beeky like Ella loves mom." It's like he thinks he's a pup in her litter the way he crawls all over her and pulls at her neck hair. She puts up with it like a loving mother and, from time to time, just removes herself from the room for a bit of a rest on our bed upstairs. That is her sanctuary. And there's a thick layer of hair to prove it. We really love Bianca and feel so lucky to have such a sweet dog as part of our family.

Goofing around with dad

Winter is a busy season for Will, with a very hectic squash schedule, but we still found lots of time for good play time on the couch, at the squash courts and all around campus.

Sledding

We had a lot of fun sledding in December and January, but then with the huge snow that we got, we barely made it out... This has sure been a winter to remember!! I got back into knitting again, so here's a shot of mother and kids all with homemade hats!

It's been a while!

So it is February now - about two months since my last post - and it's time to catch up... Here are some post-Christmas shots of the little guy to start...