Crunchy Crunch Clara and Her Organic Adventures!

Clara's grocery cart debut happened last week in the glistening aisles of the West Hartford, Connecticut Whole Foods Market. She was quite taken with the selection of impossibly colorful organic produce. Clara and I were in Hartford to visit with my Dad, who's currently on assignment there with IBM. We may go back if he's still there when the weather turns warm!

New perch

Clara enjoys her elevated view of family mealtimes from the lofty security of her new high chair. She thinks the chair is pretty awesome for about 10 minutes before she realizes that the chair neither bounces, swings, nor vibrates, and she soon wonders why the back of her legs are sticking to the pleather. Just wait til she starts eating solids and realizes that the chair is a gateway to countless culinary adventures.

A sojourner in a strange land

Meet our pet squirrel, Scooter (not to be confused with Scooter Libby, who is, after all, a scapegoat, not a squirrel). Scooter is not a very loyal pet, as he spends very little time with us on our third floor balcony, but when he does come 'round, he makes his presence felt. He seems to particularly enjoy clinging to our porch screen and carrying enormous chunks of pink insulation from out of the attic (we don't have a picture of that, but trust us: it's alarming).

One day we hope to get a better pet for Clara, like a guppie, but in the meantime, she seems to enjoy her fleeting glances of Scooter (if "fleeting glances" and "enjoy" are the same thing as "not knowing there is a squirrel on our balcony").

Oh, Mexico...

When I woke up last Monday morning, the first day of SU's ironically titled "spring" break, Jeremy surprised me by saying we were going to Mexico--with a stop in Phoenix on the way! I soon found out, of course, that he meant Phoenix and Mexico, New York--two Upstate villages within about 30 miles of Syracuse. Nevertheless, the sun was shining, and with spirits soaring we loaded up the car for a memorable trip to the northern versions of two classic spring break destinations. It was, if nothing else, Clara's first road trip--a type of travel we hope she learns to love as much as her parents.

The always scenic port of Phoenix.


Jeremy's first word when we drove into Phoenix was, "Dam!" Before I could get offended, he gestured to the low-slung dam on the river. Clever boy...


The sun was warm, and we didn't have a window shade for Clara. She managed to get a bit of sleep on the way to Mexico, although her patience did not hold all day...


Welcome to Mexico. (What happened to the water all those other years?)


Clara's first trip to a restaurant was memorable, to say the least. We feasted on the culinary stylings of the famed Mexican eatery, Daddy Ed's (in Mexico, not featuring Mexican food). Nothing could be finer than sitting in a diner eating bland chili cheese fries (ugh).


Our first attempt at a back seat diaper change must've been a bust, as shortly after this Clara really started to unravel. She wouldn't eat, and she cried until we took off her sweatshirt. Maybe she was just too hot, as she didn't seem quite so sad after that...


Clara shows the relief we all felt by the time we got back home. All said, a nice trip to Mexico and Phoenix, and it certainly fits in well with our untold other fake spring break vacations (tent camping in the living room, anyone?). I wonder where next year will take us...

Jeremy Obama?

Not long ago, Jeremy's research design seminar was assigned to take ethnographic fieldnotes at a geography department symposium. The basic idea was for the students to record the behavior, appearance, etc. of the symposium participants. One of Jeremy's classmates reported the following:

"Jeremy B----- and Barack Obama have similar speaking and gesticular patterns. Note to self: pay close attention to Jeremy B----- in the future."

Only the manly need apply

Early last week when our car wouldn't start, Jeremy and I decided the best course of action would be to play ostrich. After all, the day the car didn't start was a bone-chilling 5 below (with a wind chill of 25 below). Perhaps it was just the cold, right? We figured that if we just bided our time, the car would eventually fix itself. No harm, no foul.

When la voiture still wouldn't start five days later, we began to realize that perhaps more sinister forces than a cold snap were at work. As it turns out, our battery had died. Rather than try to jump it (Prevent Blindness America discourages this heavily) we decided to go ahead and replace it. Jeremy, concerned not with the process of battery changing but with the sheer guts needed to do it successfully, enlisted the help of our friend Ryan. A mere three hours later, the car started with no problems! Since then, we've had not one problem starting the car. And luckily, Jeremy is not blind, saving us the challenge of conceiving for him a new career suited to a blind man with a weak back and delicate hands (although we both got pretty excited at the thought of starting our own tuna microcannery).

Since the day of the battery change was a pleasant 40 degrees, Clara and I ventured out to check the progress of our favorite mechanics. Lucky Clara was able to have her first snow experience, lounging in the powder. She was most enthused.

Stern no more!

Jeremy was showing a few pictures of Clara to one of his classmates, and her first reaction was, "Hmm, she looks pretty stern." We think this picture proves otherwise! (Maybe it's the too-small hat.)

5-Y

Last Friday marked the end of our fifth year of marriage, a momentous event we marked by actually leaving the house--together! Without Clara! (All of our "together" outings in the last three and a half months have either been trips to the pediatrician or excursions to the grocery store, in which I go inside the store and Jeremy and Clara cruise the parking lot.) Our neighbor, Ericka, who's in our ward, came up to watch Clara, and Jeremy and I braved the elements to go out to dinner for the first time in months. We had a great time; we ate at La Cena, which is billed as "creative Latin American cuisine," and I braved the Paella, which was really...something. I don't know why I insist on being quite so adventurous on the rare occasions we get to eat out, but I think I knew I'd crossed some kind of invisible boundary when this huge dish was set in front of me, full of shellfish and sausage and shrimp (which I'd expected) and also featuring four alarmingly large whole calamari. Wowzers. To prove what a good sport I am, I speared the smallest of the four and ate it, chewing thoroughly. Not to be out-done, Jeremy chose the second-smallest and went to town. The remaining two I stuffed into an empty mussel shell and buried in some uneaten rice. My adventurousness only goes so far.

While our anniversary outing was both pleasant and memorable, I'm more grateful for the countless other moments that comprise our five years together. We've certainly experienced a lot of life together in a relatively short time, as my mom says, yet I can't imagine anyone else I would rather have shared those experiences with. Here's to many more years of contentment and joy, made deeper and more poignant by the occasional sorrow.

Let It Snow!

Syracuse has been on the news quite a bit lately, mostly taking credit for the snow everyone around us has been getting. But finally we've gotten our just desserts! Over the past 24 hours we've received more than a foot and a half of snow, making even the most basic things--like getting into our car--quite difficult. Jeremy snapped the following pictures before trudging out to dig our poor car out of the snow. What a wintery world!

The view of our parking lot from our front porch.

Our own little snow canyon.





The real challenge: getting rid of the voluminous snow piled up behind our car--thanks, neighbor!

How Comforting...

Clara is an extremely good-natured baby, which means that so far my anxiety and neuroses have yet to impact her negatively. Good for us! For the last several nights, we've put Clara down for the night groggy yet awake, and with nary a peep she puts herself to sleep. All she needs is a pacifier, and if she spits that out she manages to comfort herself with her fists. As you can see in this picture, a sleepy Clara likes to comfort herself by sucking on one hand and playing with her hair with the other (it also helps if she's within range of her favorite crib toy, Tu-tu Chew). What a tender baby!

Aside from Clara's sleep habits, life is plugging along much as it ever does in our house. Last week I discovered a great used bookstore not too far from home called Books End. I only had a few dollars and a few minutes, but I can see myself going back again and again. Books are a definite weakness.

Syracuse has gotten a decent amount of snow in the last week, but we're about 15-20 miles outside the weather you've been hearing about on the news. Some places north of us have had nearly 11 feet of snow in one week! It makes our 12-18 inches seem downright paltry by comparison!

Clara's Room

We finally put some finishing touches on Clara's bedroom. I still have a few other things I'd like to do over time, but at least it now feels like her bedroom! Clara especially enjoys having her name spelled on the wall--just ask her!

Playtime!

We had an unused gift certificate to Target and decided to get Clara this swell play gym, primarily because we are always on the lookout for something to distract her for even a few minutes from the fact she is not being held! We have met with only minor success, meaning that she still prefers playing face to face than entertaining herself. She doesn't mind lying on the floor with nothing around her, and she actually seems to enjoy the bouncy seat I borrowed from a friend. The jury is still out on the play gym, but perhaps she'll grow to love it.

In other news, Clara is up to 11 pounds, 12 ounces as of January 30. You grow girl! :)