School's out for the winter!

I'm finished with school for the semester! I completed my last test on Friday. I learned so much new material, but somehow felt like I should have learned more on Thursday and Friday.

I spent my newfound freedom today browsing around the city. It was very cold, but worth it.

Boston Skyline from the Courthouse

 Mormon missionaries signing carols in Quincy Market

 Picked up a ricotta cannoli from Modern Pastry in the North End

Admired the Old North Church and Paul Revere Mall 

Beautiful Day in Boston

The only things missing are Rachel and Brinley!

Christmas Party

After over 5,000 hand-cut dots, sixty pounds of potatoes, forty-five wire trees, and fifteen Christmas hams we finally finished one exciting Christmas Party. (Yes, Rachel cut out all those little dots on her own, with nothing but a crummy little set of scissors!)

There was great food, and an amazing group of people that made the night  truly enchanting. 

Thanks to all those that helped with the delicious food, wonderful musical performances, decorations, and--of course--the visit from St. "Nick"-olas.

Have I mentioned how much Brinley loves Santa Claus?

8 Months

Brin is now crawling, scooting around the furniture and even stands up on her own, though not for more than half a minute or so. With her ability to get around she has become more capable of providing her own entertainment. She can crawl to and reach up to most surfaces in our apartment and pull things down. She is finding all kinds of trouble and has the uncanny ability to find even the smallest scraps of paper even if it means tearing a sticker off a cardboard box and putting it in her mouth. Other fun tidbits include kisses, waves, the game of "I'm gonna getcha", tickling her back and knees, and the unexplained excitement that comes with walking up and down the stairs.

Brin got in a fight with one of our stools. You should see the stool...

Time Square

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving vacation in New York with Joanne Ho and her family.

More to come soon...

Until then, here is Brinley enjoying the lights in Time Square.

Photo credits to Alain Namy on vacation from France.

Bed Head

It's these moments that Brin reminds me of her dad.

7 months

We feel so lucky to have this bundle of joy in our lives, Brin is just so much fun. Though she still isn't crawling, she moves around the apartment with sufficient speed on her stomach and has now mastered standing up against the furniture (but isn't as proficient at getting down). Her most recent party trick is clapping when she gets excited. When we leave the apartment I feel like a celebrity, most people smile and wave but we are often approached and greeted with, "What a beautiful baby" or, "Oh! How cute is she?!" I must say, I agree. I love how she recognizes and prefers Jeremy and me and it still melts my heart when she reaches for me.

Eh, maybe not the cutest cryer.

Pumpkin Patch.

Post-Exam ritual... not think about school for a couple of hours. This time we went out to eat with my all my study buddies. On the way home we stopped by the neighborhood pumpkin patch. It's not the same when the 12 pumpkins are lined up on stacks of straw and have price tags taped to them.

Joanne, one of my awesome study buddies, snapped the picts.

Mischief

This is a daily occurrence. When ever the apartment gets quiet we know Brinley is up to no good. This time, Rachel was folding laundry and Brinley decided to use a pen as lipstick. Lookin' good Brin!

6 Months

I have a problem. I can't stop adding pictures to this post; Brin is so darn fun that I can't choose just a few. So here we are with loads of photos... Brin is a happy baby, curious and becoming more mobile by the day. She is getting around pretty quick just army crawling and tries to get up on her hands and knees but just face-plants it when she tries to move. She has started to string together different sounds and has lengthly conversations with us and her friend in the mirror. She has just recently discovered that strangers are strange and becomes momentarily shy until curiosity wins out and breaks her from her shell.

5 months

In the last few weeks Brinley has really become aware of her surroundings and is able to reach for exactly whats she's after. She can pivot on her belly like a pro and can get to whatever's just behind her in a snap; gone are the days that we could leave her on the couch and bed alone. Jeremy and Brin have begun a balancing act that draws people's eye all around the city and many have even asked if they can take pictures with them. Though I am not quite ready to start, Brin is super interested in eating real-people food (we did let her have some of Boston's best pizza tonight at Regina's, we wouldn't want her to miss out on that ;))