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.