snowy day

Today it was 40-something in Vermont, but it did snow late last week and Nate got in some "play" time with Joshua. Nate got a sled for Christmas and Joshua used a homemade version. Nate looked a bit like Mushmouth in his new hat, but at least he was dry when we came inside. I'm not really sure Nate had much fun, probably because he was all puffed up and could barely move (another Christmas Story reenactment.) 'Tis the season!

kids galore

Nate's cousins Joshua and Peter (and their entourage) arrived yesterday afternoon. Joshua's 21 months old and Peter's not quite six weeks, so Nate's pretty much in between the two of them. Nate is enamored with Joshua and has become his loud, uncoordinated shadow. Nate's also been surprisingly good with Peter and, if he happens to acknowledge his existence, is relatively gentle with his new cousin.

Bumpa was over for dinner last night and wanted to play with the kids, but they kept running past him and he couldn't catch them. So he set up a trap by laying on the living room floor, not-so-silently awaiting their arrival. Nate had fun tackling Bumpa and wrestling with him. You can imagine how graceful it is when an 87-year-old man and a year old baby wrestle!

merry christmas!

As a holiday treat, Aunt Holly made Nate a "nate" gingerbread cookie, which was apparently quite delicious. We had a nice day of food, gifts, and visiting, and are excited for Nate's cousins' arrival tomorrow.

on trains

So much for frostbite. When we arrived in Middlebury the car thermometer read 49-degrees. It's back to normal today, somewhere in the 30s. We took a stroll downtown this afternoon and stopped to look at the train because it seems that every kid thinks trains are exciting. Thad noticed that this train had a warning on the back of it, which baffled us both. Is train humping a big problem? Really?

christmas, the sequel

This morning we had a small celebration with just the three of us. Today is Lucia's birthday, and she historically celebrates with a long car ride, so in her honor, we're headed up to Vermont, where we assume we'll have a white Christmas, accompanied, perhaps, by frostbite. (That was a lot of commas - my apologies to my writer/editor friends.)

christmas in boston

Santa came to Boston a few days early because we're all headed in different directions for Christmas. Nate showed no interest whatsoever in opening gifts, but he did like playing with them once they were unwrapped. He seems to have a fondness for wine bottles. I'm not sure if we should be concerned with that? He also really liked looking at himself in his grandparents' new tea kettle.

We're off to Vermont tomorrow to celebrate with the Carlsons.





























































the new grandpop

another vain attempt at a nice christmasy picture

nate and aunt holly looking at the light

Nate did this for a while the other day. Weird.

snowy days

Right now it's actually more icy than snowy, but what can you do? We took Nate out for his first real "playtime" in the snow but it was something of a letdown since he could barely move in his puffy outfit. I actually think it took more time to get him dressed than we spent outdoors. It was also raining a bit, which always puts a damper on fun. Needless to say, it went pretty well and I think Nate would be open to a second attempt in the near future (that is, if the ice is ever replaced by light, fluffy snow). And below, for your viewing pleasure, I sacrifice my vanity for a picture where Nate looks cute.

nate and grandpop go berserk

Out of the annals of great children's literature comes the tale of one hippo, all alone, who calls two hippos on the phone. In Sandra Boynton's classic novel Hippos Go Berserk, said hippo invites a whopping 42 more hippos to come over. As you may have guessed, the tale climaxes when all the hippos go berserk, wearing lampshades on their heads, standing on tables, and recreating other scenes from Old School. And all through the hippo night, the hippos play with great delight. Not to be left out, Nate and Grandpop have started to have their own party and, when they reach the part of the story where the hippos go wild, they too scream and wave their arms.

treading not so lightly

Nate got his first pair of real shoes yesterday. Unfortunately, since I am a big fan of shoe stores, I didn't go along for the shopping expedition, but instead Thad and Nate went together. Ah, the ritual father-son shoe shopping trips. You all know them well... At the store Nate was apparently very interested in another child, who was around 2 or 3, who, according to the poor kid's mother, Nate terrorized. As you all know, Nate is a very intimidating kid. So menacing. He was also interested in trying on shoes and running out of the store into the mall. *Note to self: give talk about why stealing is wrong asap.

After some power shopping, the boys returned home with some legally acquired sneakers, because nobody seems to make boots small enough for toddlers. Perhaps the shoe manufacturers don't feel it appropriate for small-footed children to play in the snow? Anyway, Nate's sneakers are spiffy and he walks around in them the same way our dog did when we put booties on her - picking each leg up five times as high as normal and moving as if he were wading through quicksand. Using my spectacular photography skills, I got this fab shot of his new duds.

deck the halls

Most kids like Christmas because of the gifts, the food, the family (ah, the true meaning of Christmas.) But in our case, Nate, like a little raccoon, is enthralled by all the lights and shiny things. And there are lots of bells and music, and people out who can smile at him... really, what could be better?

The Corbo-Hudak/Corbo/Hudak/Carlson household decked the halls this weekend (to a chorus of nose blowing, mostly provided by yours truly.) Even though this is Nate's second Christmas, he really had no idea that anything was going on for the first one, so it's fun to see his reaction to the festivities. He's so excited about the Christmas tree and seems especially interested in the red lights. This year, Nate had the honor of putting the angel on top of the tree (sort of). And he broke his first ornament this morning (which can luckily be fixed with a little wood glue). The tree is clearly decorated for a household with a child, as 75% of the ornaments are crammed on the top.

We've got some friends and family who like to really go all out, decorating their houses for the holidays, but there's a house a couple miles away from us that's got everyone beat. Check it out! If you can't tell from the photo, that is a crown on the top of the roof. Seriously.

cold

We are stuffy, and Nate hates getting his nose wiped more than ever. Not a good thing, because he's quite a snotty little kid right now. He seems to be in better spirits than I am, though, so he's either not quite as wiped out by this cold as I am, or he's just a more pleasant sick person (or both). He's really acting pretty normal - a little crankier than usual, and he sounds very stuffy, but is otherwise in great spirits.

Thad's feeling fine (so far) but had to make two trips to the DMV yesterday because once again he failed to jump through the absolutely ludicrous hoops that are required to get a new driver's license. He said he made the mistake of believing the last two DMV workers and once again brought the wrong identification, so he got rejected again. But, fourth time's a charm and he is now officially licensed in Massachusetts, which means pretty much nothing.

We hear we are missing out on some great Rochester snow. It's cold here, but there's mostly ice right now. And most of that has melted now (or so I've heard from people who have ventured out of their sick beds).

I've been trying to get a video of Nate walking around but he hasn't cooperated and likes to fall down when the camera is in sight. I'll work on my espionage techniques and get you something soon.

bates babies

We met up with a few of our Boston-based Bates friends and their kids for dinner and pulling things off shelves. I'm not sure why that's so fun, but it is apparently a big hit with kids of all ages. Toy-wise, Nate was particularly fond of Loula's enormous stuffed duck and a toy bottle of soy sauce. Anyway, if someone had told me ten years ago (yikes - has it really been that long?!) that we'd be sitting around together with our kids running around the place, I probably would have laughed. But here we are, doing just that. And it feels surprisingly normal. Weird.

baby talk

So, as many of you know, Thad and I have a habit of occasionally speaking for Nate. He has slightly different accents depending on which parent he's with, but Nate tends to speak in a high, squeaky voice. We've pondered whether we are the only people crazy enough to do this, and we're been pretty sure we're not despite the fact that nobody else will fess up to doing it themselves. So last night we settle in for our fun-filled hour of The Office and Scrubs and, low and behold, JD and Turk (from Scrubs) are hanging around with their babies having a chat in good old fashioned baby voices. So we're not alone (even though they aren't actually real people... but whatever.) But I'm really not sure if I should be comforted or disturbed by this?

tearing it up

Yesterday, for the first time, Nate stood up without holding on to anything. All he does now is walk around. And usually he also waves his arms around. These waves usually get exponentially more frenetic as he gets tired, which is pretty amusing. He's also gotten back into the habit of doing yoga poses when he's tired - down dog is always a favorite.

It's crazy how quickly he's moved from being a baby to a toddler. What's next, a goatee?!

toddler heaven

We found the greatest place on earth. Nate had SO much fun. No, not Chuck E Cheese. Not Disney World. Not the Children's Museum. Where then, you may ask, would be the most wonderful, exciting place for a one year old? DSW Shoe Warehouse, of course! It's huge, with lots of wide aisles, low mirrors, and people to smile at. And the worst that can happen is you knock over some shoes (which really do belong on the floor anyway). We went over the weekend with Great Grandpa Rocco, Grandma Corbo, Great Uncle Rob, Cousin Lia, Aunt Jeannie, and Thad. It felt like we were living in a Seinfeld episode because every aisle had something new and humorous, but in the end nothing really happened. Nate had so much fun doing lap after lap of the store. We met a boy, around seven or eight, named Jakob who talked for about 15 minutes straight without taking a breath. His mother's name is Katherine. He is a lady's man and hides in the boys' room between classes to escape the mob of girls chasing him around. Blah, blah blah... We met lots of nice ladies looking at shoes who thought Nate was the cutest thing ever. Nate was dumbfounded by the display of purses, all sparkly and shiny. Oh, how glorious! We must return soon to again wobble through the long aisles.

These photos are completely irrelevant, from some time last week, but I thought they were cute so here you are!

bright lights big city

I'm playing a bit of catch up here. We've had a nice holiday with a load of Corbo relatives, but it's made me a bit of a delinquent blogger. So to catch up on yesterday's action, we took Nate downtown for his first big city experience. I thought he'd be really interested in the tall buildings, but he didn't seem to take much notice of them. Maybe it's just that from his perspective, everything looks like it's looming. We met up with my old friend Amelia, who was quite impressed by how much Nate's walking has improved in just a couple of weeks. He's a true toddler now - that happened in the blink of an eye! Nate's favorite part of our visit to the Copley Square area of Boston was the lobby of Meils' parents' building, where he wobbled around for a while, screeching.














Then it was off to the North End for pizza at Regina's, my absolute favorite pizza place. It's kind of like the Dinosaur of Boston - no reservations, a long wait, mildly friendly staff, and wherever you stand you are in serious danger of being hit in the head with a tray of something delicious. So yummy!

thanksgiving

It's after 11pm, and as much as I'd like to entertain you all with the minute details of our day, I'm tired. So here instead is a Thanksgiving synopsis: we cooked a lot and ate a lot. Nate is thankful for cornbread. Halie is thankful for tennis balls. Thad and I are thankful for our friends and family, which is what matters most to us.

oh, my darling

Nate is very into Clementines. He had his first about a week ago and now he gets very excited when he sees one, even from across the room. No big surprise, but he doesn't understand that you need to peel the Clementine before eating it so he occasionally gets a mouthful of delicious peel. He also doesn't really eat the segments so much as he drains them of their juice, like a little orange-sucking vampire (albeit, with no canines). Usually he bites one in half, sucks on it for a second, and then discards it for a new piece. If he sees you give him a "used" piece, he gets upset, but it's still relatively easy to sneak them back into the rotation. And by the end of the snack, he's got a makeshift graveyard of Clementine shells all piled up in front of him.

sleepless in boston

Or perhaps "Night of the Living Dead" would be more appropriate? Nate hasn't slept through the night in over a week and, thus, neither have his parents. We had a horrible night Friday when Nate was awake about 75% of the time from 11pm to 5am, but the last couple of nights he woke up only once. We're not sure what's bothering him, but we think he might be getting more teeth.

Other than that, Nate's taking figurative leaps and bounds with his walking. So much so that my father didn't see him for about 36 hours and couldn't believe how much better his walking was in that short period of time. Nate can walk really well if he's holding on to something and has gone across a room without any support. He can even turn now. For a day or two he would do this funny side step, like he was in a Frogger game and instead of turning he'd just shift over to one side or another but always facing the same way. But that quickly passed for the ever-popular 90-degree turn. He just needs to learn how to stand up without grabbing on to something and he'll be running all over the place.

welcome to massachusetts

Lots of people joke about Taxachusetts, which Thad and I both agree is a load of hooey. Across the board, we paid far more in taxes in Rochester than most people in Massachusetts (especially our property taxes - yikes!) But I can honestly say that we have had to jump through so many hoops here, it's getting ridiculous. Between unhelpful elections officials and grouchy DMV workers, page after page of seemingly unecessary paperwork, and forms requiring obscure information, I'm surprised we've gotten any accomplished.

Yesterday we went to the DMV to switch over our registration and drivers' licenses from NY to MA. We were able to get the cars registered, but we didn't have enough id to get our liceneses switched because MA requires FOUR pieces of identification. So back we went today, armed with a stack of IDs. We were told to bring along proof of MA residency, like a utility bill or something from our insurance company or bank with our new address on it. Since we're living with my family, we don't have any household bills in our names or a lease and since we just got here we haven't received statements, but our bank/insurance company sent us a document showing that we were switching our address over to MA for a variety of accounts. It's a nice little letter on their letterhead with address, phone, etc and looks quite official. Turns out, it isn't worth diddly squat here, and what we needed was something more easily forged, like a bank statement or a blank check. What?! How silly. I mean, I could probably order blank checks and just make up account information for $4.95 online. But something on letterhead showing that we've changed our address for our banking, life insurance, auto insurance, and homeowners policies doesn't count. To top it off, they made Thad sit down, took his photo, etc and then gave him an "application rejection form." And the lady "helping" him didn't even say hello! Somehow they let me sneak by because I had lived in MA before at the same address, but Thad has to go back for a THIRD time whenever we get a bank statement in the mail. Isn't that crazy?! If his license were expired or from another country I could rationalize it, and we both were somewhat understanding yesterday when we didn't have enough ID (although I still think four peices is excessive), but asking for something from the bank and then not accepting it because it's not the thing they wanted is ridiculous. But if anyone needs directions to the DMV, you know who to ask.

one!

...singular sensation, every little step he takes (da da da da da da). Which is not so far off base, since whenever Nate walks, even if it's just a few inches, whoever's in the room typically bursts out in cheers.

But, wow, he's one.
















As far as birthdays go, this one was an improvement from last year for both Nate and me, mainly because it did not involve a hospital. Nate welcomed the day by waking up at 11:30 pm (jumping the gun just a tad), 12:30 am, and again at 1:30. During the daylight hours we hung out with Aunt Jean; visited with Julia; had a quick visit with Anna; and (the grand finale) had a kid-friendly dinner of mac and cheese and apple cake with Grandma and Grandpop Corbo/Hudak, Great Aunt Anne, and Cousin Lucia. The ladies love him (and Grandpop too)! I'm sure Nate had no idea what was going on and seemed rather confused by the candle and singing, despite having just done the same thing a couple of days ago. He definitely enjoyed all the clapping. Another major highlight was the first poem from Great Grandpa Rocco - a Corbo-family birthday tradition.

What a crazy year. It seems like it has flown by, but at the same time it's hard to remember what things were like Before Nate. It's been so wonderful, exhillerating, and exhausting. We see the world from an entirely new (and much lower) perspective. Before Nate was born Alison said that with her son things were so amazingly great, and then they'd get better. For us, that is exactly what's happened. And I can't imagine Nate being any cooler or more fun. But I'm sure tomorrow he'll trump today and surprise us yet again.

blueberry pancakes

yum