New Year and a Winter’s Birthday

The new year continues to take New England by storm, as below. Every few days more snow arrives, a few inches with each fall. While it might warm slightly and possibly mix with rain or dangerous ice, the few new inches continue to insure that we are never without a proper, downy, winter blanket.

Cars to Clean   More Snow in the Neighborhood

Smiles for the Camera

This weekend marked the celebration of my birthday. It is the kind of birthday observed scenario that MLK gets to ensure that everyone gets a Monday holiday. Since mine, this year, falls on a Tuesday, it seemed best to engage in the traditional eating of Italian beef sandwiches when my lovely wife, Ali, and her sister Keri (otherwise now known as Aunt “E!”) could both be present to share in the imported succulence of that Chicago delicacy. Of course we also had a traditional ice-cream cake. Hadley certainly enjoys that newer tradition perhaps most of all.

Preparing the Beef   Preparing the Sandwich   Get a Load of That Beef   Help from Hadley

As one might expect of Daddy’s girl, she is rather fond of the ice-cream. I think it would be safe to say we have discovered that eggnog flavor might be her favorite, but she was more than willing to knock down more than a fair share of the chocolate and vanilla layers of my birthday dish.

Ice-Cream Cake   Presentation of Birthday CakeBlowing Candles   Mmmm - Hadley Enjoying Ice-Cream Cake

The women in my life were wonderful to me, also presenting me with an array of wonderful gifts. My lovely Aunt sent me a shirt and some sweets, ingeniously wrapped in a puppy print paper. It was as if she knew that would keep Hadley interested. My wife and daughter gave me some great DVDs and my sister-in-law provided the Red Sox garb. All fantastic! The whole evening was great.

Opening Gifts from Afar   Daddy, Puppies!   Gift - Shirt   Gift - Red Sox

Becoming Hadley’s History

As Ali pointed out, it seems like an eternity since the last posting here at ye olde fritzwinkle, which may well have to change Hadley’s History. My personal site has become a virtual photo album of my daughter’s increasing cuteness.

Second Haircut - before Second Haircut - after

Keeping with the theme, Hadley has recently cut her first tooth! It is not quite visible without great effort yet, however the sharp little razor can definitely be felt. Shortly after her eight month birthday and only a single night of waking with some pain, I was the first to notice the invading incisor. Everyday it seems to be poking a little further above her gumline. I even got to brush it recently, using a special little tooth brush, which was kind of fun. She doesn’t seem to mind much either, making it even more fun.

8 month birthday

Also, since the last post, we celebrated our first Mother’s Day. Ali seemed to enjoy the day, which began with my anticipating both her and the baby with pancakes. Then she got to open her modest presents, a commemoratively inscribed picture frame and earrings with Hadley’s birthstone, two square-cut blue sapphires. Overall, it was a pleasant day. The weather was cooperative and later in the afternoon, we headed to the in-laws for a nice dinner.

Practicing Standing Mother's Day

A few weeks ago, Hadley attended her inaugural Boston Marathon on another day of wonderful weather, at least for the spectators. It may have got a bit warm for the runners. Still we retook seating at the base of Heartbreak Hill in Newton, near the two Johnny Kelly statues, after opting to miss last year’s event, as a result of monsoon-like conditions. Hadley is such a good sport it still astonishes me regularly. She is happy and relatively peaceful everywhere, so easygoing neither Ali nor I can hardly believe it. The marathon was no different. She ate lunch through the sirens of the police lead cars without a hitch and later took a nap during the applause for the tens of thousands of runners that passed.

At the Boston Marathon

Marathon Girls

Recently, Hadley finally got her first Red Sox cap, a veritable birthright for New Englanders everywhere. Thanks to Aunt Keri, Hadley is now sporting the essential local fashion accessory. We are feeling pretty good about it, considering how much charm she seemed to bring the Patriots, one game withstanding, wearing their garb. Plus, she will fit right in for our planned trip to see AAA farm team Pawtucket. She doesn’t seem to have quite the same interest in baseball that she had for football, but I blame late-night games.

Red Sox Cap

Lastly, we have begun taking Hadley to church, where she is all the rage. We figured if we were going to get her baptized, it made sense to find a church that appealed to both of us. Plus, Hadley needed a place to wear all those fancy dresses and the like that her Grandma keeps sending. We seem to have found one, although we garner a lot more attention than we expected in such a small congregation, especially with the cutest baby ever in our arms. Despite my strategically sitting on the aisle, ready to make a quick escape should Hadley begin to cry or get uncomfortable, she has yet to assist me. Having already mentioned her sweet nature, she rarely makes a peep and usually takes a nap in my arms. At least Ali lets me go to Dunkin’ Donuts after the service. We haven’t gotten comfortable enough to hang out for coffee hour and snacks just yet.

Showing off her dress

Here are even more photos from this month.

New England Sports Dominance & Hadley’s First Halloween

I have been meaning to write something about the Red Sox since last week. Only a week and a half ago the Red Sox won their second World Series in the last three years and it is already ancient history.

What a transformation.

Apart from the floating rally downtown, Red Sox Nation has simply come to expect post season victories, now the that the curse has been broken. Maybe it was the fact that they didn’t meet the Yankees during October, but this year’s team won and it almost seemed anti-climactic. For all the hype of Colorado’s sizzling stretch run, this one never seemed to be in doubt. Perhaps that’s another reason for the short memories.

Of course, Monday morning, following the celebration in Denver, the Red Sox were very nearly overshadowed by the charging behemoth that is the local NFL franchise. There is no question that this is decidedly a baseball town, and the Red Sox reign. Yet, the Patriot beatdown of the Redskins, earlier that afternoon, was so spectacular that it drew the ire of the sporting world. Moreover, the midseason showdown against the Colts was looming so large on the horizon, it seems these two events stole some of the Red Sox sunshine. Plus, is there a team in the NFL that is likely to beat the Patriots at this moment, because Indy was unanimously the best of the rest and defending champ?

Hadley, however, was ready to go for game four with support for Tito’s team. Witness her below laughing with joy in her Red Sox gear.

On a separate note entirely, Halloween came and went rather quickly too. Yet, we still managed to outfit Hadley with some amusing holiday garb. Aunt Keri had set Hadley up with a peanut costume before birth. Unfortunately it proves hard to tell whether she is a peanut or simply a beige blob. Concerned, Ali secured an alternative for necessary costume changes. The result is a nearly two foot long dog, covered with savory mustard striping. Doesn’t she look positively delicious? Ali often tells our beloved daughter, “I just want to eat you.” Staring at the large all beef looking dog, I suddenly understood this idea on a whole new level.

Beyond that, here are some other pics of the little cutie!