Nature Boy

Tree + Bex = Cute

Sweater Time

We had a fab weekend because Bex had very first babysitter and Topher and I got to go out on the town. We went to a really great restaurant called Caseus on Saturday night and then went to a few bars afterwards. While we were out we ran into TWO different couples that we knew. This city is SMALL. Considering that we only know about five people total running into four of them was funny. While walking on Sunday we ran into another Yale faculty member and we went to his house for a bit. He has triplets (terrifying!) and a great playroom. I felt pretty rotten on Sunday morning but we managed to have a great day. This included busting out his new sweater (which fits perfect and is soft and cozy) that auntie Lia knitted him. Here he is modeling his new threads. 

Books n' Music

Bex and I went to a community event this Sunday where local New Haven personalities read books to kids. I think that Bex was the youngest kid, but he did great. There was a police man, a Rabbi, a news sports anchor, and a Yale scientist. Yes, I could have been a local "personality" it turns out. Bex didn't love sitting calming and listening to books but we wandered between the rooms and he loved looking at all the older kids. The best part was that after the reading they called us to the auditorium and there was a steel drum band which was great. All the kids got up and danced at the front. Bex LOVED this and crawled right over and nearly got danced upon multiple times. It was loads of fun. One lady came up and raised her hand and said "high five" and Bex just slapped her hand! They must do this at day care... or he is just very advanced :) They had mini-cupcakes waiting for us after the music and Bex had his first taste of chocolate. He loved it!

FIRST STEP!!

Bex has been trying to stand up all by himself lately. Today he did his best work yet. Here is proof...

Park it

Today was another gorgeous spring day. The weather forecast said RAIN but it was sunny and beautiful. I think that the rain is coming though, and everyone says that when it rains here it really rains (unlike anywhere that I have lived before.) It should be exciting! Topher and I both worked for a few hours today but then got a nice long afternoon with the boy. We went to the park, the playground, an indian restaurant, and I bought two awesome old trunks from a garage sale for $15 total (and they delivered them to my door!) We had a really great day. Tomorrow I may try to take Bex to a reading group where "local personalities" are going to be reading to children. Sounds super cheesy but I may give it a go. Here are some pics from today!

Mex-Bex

It has been gorgeous weather in New Haven (although it is supposed to rain this weekend). Our neighborhood has instantly turned into the best place in America for walking outside with your kid and running into other people out walking with their kids. We go to the playground almost every night after day care and are starting to see all the same people. Tonight we ran into one couple that Topher knows and they ran into another couple on our same street that goes to our same day care. It is crazy. I guess that when you live in New Haven, all the Yale associated peeps are within one tiny neighborhood. It is starting to feel a bit more like home... that isn't quite true... maybe a home away from home. Last night we went out to our local Mexican restaurant and met two other families there with young kids. One guy that we are going to stalk until we are friends! Here are some pics of MexBex at Mezcal.

Cherry Blossom Festival!

This weekend we went with some friends to the Wooster Square Cherry Blossom Festival. They had live music, lots of local cuisine, and a strange exhibit of birds of prey (owls, hawks, etc.) It was gorgeous weather and it was great to be outside for most of the day. Bex also got to hang out with his older friend Lionel (he turned one in March) and we got to hang with his parents Masha and Dan. I met Masha during my postdoc orientation at Yale. Here are some pics from the event!

RUN RUN RUN!!

The weather has been beautiful and we are trying to get in the habit of running a few days a week with Bex in his BOB stroller before work. Topher got new running shoes so we are going to try and do this as a family. We'll see how it works. Here is a preview of Topher getting his run on with Bex.

Swinger

Bex turned 10 months old on Friday and he is just a bundle of laughs and crawls and squirms and the occasional scream at 2am. We have a regualr night routine so putting down down to sleep is a piece of cake. We start with dinner at 7 followed by a bath and a bottle and then down right around 8pm. He is exhausted by that time and it gives us some time alone at night for a glass of wine and some Madmen (great show if you haven't seen it!) We went to a BBQ this afternoon with some friends of my friend Margo's little sister (yes, we are reaching out to everyone we can find.) We discovered Bex's love for the swing. He is a swinger, and a very happy one. Here is a movie that I hope posts okay (otherwise I will include just pics).

Bobcat!

It is official...(drum roll please) starting in August I will be a bobcat. That's right, I got a job. Like a real job, not a postdoctoral fellowship, not working in the lab of someone else, but yes still pushing flies around. I was hired as assistant professor of biological science in the Molecular Cell Biology department at Quinnipiac University. It is about a 15 minute drive and has a beautiful campus (see below). I will be mostly teaching masters students but will have my own small lab too. We are very excited and now we have to start shopping for another car since we will both be driving. Any suggestions? I'm thinking a Prius but they are a little pricey. Okay must run. I'm including a picture of Topher in his lab too!

Dos mas

Two fun pictures that my friend Didi took of Bex in Central Park. I really like the tall building in the backdrop. He liked this grass much more than the grass in Hawaii!

EGGs-cellent!!

Bex had the most fabulous first easter ever!! We thought that it was going to be pretty uneventful and Topher had expressed multiple times how UNexcited he was about dying eggs... THEN cousin Meg came to visit! It was awesome. I had someone to dye eggs with, we had family around for easter breakfast and we headed to NYC for a beautiful easter sunday. The egg dying was super fun with only a few bad eggs (Meg and I both had a few spectacular fails!) We watched a movie on Saturday night called Ides of March which was pretty good. We never get to watch movies, so that was a real treat! Then we all woke up bright and early (probably much earlier that Meg is accustomed to) and I made pancakes before jumping in the car and heading to NYC. We had to turn around about 20 minutes into the drive because we forgot Bex's bottles (DOH! I guess that we were just too excited!) We had no problem parking in a garage near central park and we spent the early part of the afternoon in the park. It was gorgeous and TONS of people were out and about. Bex saw his first horse, we found someone else's easter egg hunt, we played with my friend Didi who came to meet us, and we roamed around to a nearby place for lunch. After that we dragged Meg tp another friend's house (the driving in the city wasn't too bad). It was great to see old friends and be with family

Playground

Bex and I finally made it to the playground at the nearby elementary school. I thought that he would be too young to enjoy it, but boy was I wrong. He had the time of his life and crawled over to everything to check them out and stand up. Here are a bunch of pics of Bex playing around! I also had the most fabulous weekend full of egg-dying, cousin Meg, NYC friends, central park, and more. I will try and get caught up with more pictures this week.

Sexy Bexy

Check out my new haircut everyone! My mom cut it while I was sleeping so it is a little uneven and I look a bit like Jim Carrey's character in Dumb and Dumber, but at least I can see now...

Jacks!

Turns out that Bex has really started liking solid food much more as of late. Maybe that means that some day he will get teeth?! His favorite so far are all breakfast foods. Yogurt, scrambled egg, and his personal fave PANKCAKES (called jacks by Huck and Duker). Here are some pics of him eating jacks. Also we went to his 9mo check-up today with his new doctor. I thought he was good but Topher wasn't that impressed. It would be hard to be better than his doc in SF though. He was 31% for weight, 50% height, and 40% for head size. He weighed it at 18.5 lbs. We thought he was going to be at least a 20 pounder! I guess that climbing up and down three flights of stairs with him adds two extra pounds.