And another girl! My friend Elliot and his wife Gwen were surprised in the early hours of the morning by the arrival of Abby Danielle, who joined her new parents about 10 days early. Must be something in the water...
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It's a girl... ...and a boy! For the edification of the two sides of our family who read our blog regularly, there's been lots of baby news lately. Peter's cousin Colleen had a baby girl on February 16th. Welcome to the family, Erin. Her great-aunt Sissy (sorry!) was planning a visit this past weekend to see the baby and to celebrate with Erin's grandmother Mary Pat who must be over-the-moon happy. And from my side of the family, Rob and Carey have found out that the next little Merrill will be a boy! See some blurry pictures on Greta Grows . Congratulations to all the new parents!
New boots. Last Friday I stopped by Old Navy to pick up some pants for Max. It seemed like all his pants were either too short or had a hole in the knee, or usually both. Since I couldn't ignore Esme, I came home with a pair of rain boots for her. When I got home with the kids I left the bag of stuff by the back door where Esme found it. She pulled out the boots and brought them to me in triumph, knowing which of the items from the bag was for her. She was so smitten with them that she insisted on putting them back on again after getting dressed for bed. As luck would have it, we got about 3 inches of snow last night, so Esme was able to wear her boots outside this morning. The boots were, of course, the first thing Caroline, Maureen and Una noticed this morning. It must be a girl thing.
A star is born. Finally, finally, after 21 weeks of pre-school, it was Max's turn to be "Star of the Week." As Star of the Week, each child gets a turn to talk about his/herself, presenting a photoboard to the class. A parent is invited to spend an hour one day doing a project. And of course there is a crown and some sweet treat since Star of the Week usually corresponds with a birthday. Or in Max's case, his half-birthday. Max and I worked together on his photo board last weekend, looking through our limited supply of printed photographs to find pictures worthy of inclusion. He chose images of his sister and our family. One of the Flynns and one of Emily next door. Also one of Max and Grandpa in the canoe at South Lake and one of Emma the newfoundland on the beach at Nantucket. We labeled the photos, decorated the collage with stickers and then Max wrote "my favorite animal is the dinosaur" across the middle. A proud effort. Max's star was a bit d...
Don't try this at home. [Have finally charged my camera, so will share some of the pictures taken over the last month.] The night before our construction project was scheduled to begin, we invited the neighbor girls over for a party. After debating whether this was a precedent we wanted to set for Rachel (2+) and Esme (-2), we decided that an opportunity like this one only came about once in a lifetime. Armed with a bucket of crayons we set the kids loose in what was previously Esme's room to transform the walls, ceiling, whatever they could reach. You can see a dinosaur theme developing under Max's influence, tempered by a lovely flower garden produced by the girls. I think we have several young artists in development on our block. Or maybe just young hooligans. Is it too early to try spray paint graffiti?
London. I still haven't charged the camera, so no pictures for a while. I'm in London this week for work. Flew overnight, arrived this afternoon and did a few hours in the office with a hazy brain. Am about to head back to my hotel for a lite meal and a long sleep. Peter reports that the kids slept through the night and were helpful and cheerful this morning. He's such a great daddy. Miss you guys...