Summer is Nearly Upon Us

June arrived with Hadley’s nine month birthday, a milestone of sorts, proving to be the harbinger of even more to come. It was as if Hadley heard Ali give our pediatrician the rundown of what our little girl was and was not doing. Nearly everything the doctor asked to which Ali replied, “Almost, but not yet.” Hadley began doing after the appointment. It is rather amusing, actually. All of a sudden, she began feeding herself small finger foods and pulling herself up into a standing position for example.

Nine-month Birthday   Second Stand EVER!

Since then there has been no rest for the wicked, as Hadley requires absolute attention to ward off the occasional head bonking from dangerous and fearless climbs. Now she is really getting into everything and always in danger of pulling a serious header. At least she isn’t at full speed crawling, so we can catch her pretty quickly. We can only imagine what it will be like when she starts walking.

First Pull Up in the Crib   Batgirl

June also brought a monstrous heat, one in which we still find ourselves. As luck would have it, Aunt Keri had already prepared her niece with her first pool, as seen below. Being a bath lover, Hadley certainly enjoys herself splashing in the shade.

Cool in the Pool

Click here for some more pics.

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.

Digging Out in New England

Well, it has been an exciting last week here in New England. Today, was a good day to do some catching up on ye old fritzwinkle. In the last four days we have been slammed with somewhere over a foot of snow.

Half of it crippled the whole region Thursday smack in the middle of the afternoon rush. It was by far the worst conditions I can ever remember being a driver. It was absolutely ridiculous. My trip to pick up Hadley and head home took over two hours, and I nearly didn’t make it. This is a trip that normally takes about twenty minutes or so. Beginning about 1 PM somewhere between 6-9 inches fell fast and furiously until about 8 PM. The interstates were parking lots where it was not rare for people to simply put the car in park, get out of the car, brush off the snow, get back in and start driving again. The occasional abandoned car was not out of picture either. Ali, having to head west from the city spent five hours to travel about eight miles, before deciding to whole up at Keri’s for nearly the evening. She eventually, restarted the trek after 11 PM and pulled in around 12:30 AM. Luckily she doesn’t work on Fridays, but I do. So, after a fortunate delayed start I finished the week at school.



snow in new england

Originally uploaded by chrishanaka

Then today’s morning greeted us with an expected Nor’easter that dropped another 6+ inches on us. This leaves us up to our knees with the winter’s downy. Fortunately, our two great neighbor’s hit most of our driveway with a snowblower, which meant that I only needed to spend an hour and half with shovel in hand to clear the rest of the area and get the cars capable of use. While it sure looks pretty, it no doubt complicates just about everything. Yet it made for a good day to shut in and play with the baby and watch some football, with the sweet smell of Ali’s Christmas cookies in the air. Unfortunately, today’s odd mix of snow, then freezing sleet, and windy conditions thwarted the anticipated Patriot drubbing of the Jets, in the much anticipated Spygate Bowl, a mere 10 point victory when everyone was waiting for something in the neighborhood of 50.



Go Patriots!

Originally uploaded by fritzwinkle

Needless to say that the last couple of weeks have been hurried to say the least. As we prepare to head home for the holidays to show off the new addition, we’ve been doing all the last minute shopping and such. Ali even got the tree up and decorated to ring in Hadley’s first Christmas right. The way this season is going though, we are beginning to refer to the holiday as Hadley Day! Now that we have a baby, it is stunning how many gifts continue to arrive. My mother has particularly lost her mind with a gift giving fever for her one and only granddaughter. It is a good thing that we bought a house, because we need a place to put everything! Still, we couldn’t be more grateful. If only people could gift us some time. Then we could finish moving into said domicile.

But enough chatter here are some more pics of the golden child!