pieholden suite

Missin' my boys

2009-12-04T01:54:00.003-05:00

I am in Boston and my boys are in CA. Sigh. I miss them. I will be away for five nights total!! So here are some random (but recent) pics to comfort me:

Ansel got sent home from school "sick" with a "fever" of 99F (worst part was they made me wake him up from his nap to take him home; that part almost made me cry because he was sleeping so soundly)

We visited the San Jose Children's Museum - lots of fun!!

Bathtime:

Ansel and Nora Jane go to the park

2009-10-20T04:19:00.002-04:00

Our friends from Boston, Jill, Jeff, and their daughter Nora Jane, moved to Palo Alto recently. This past Sunday we celebrated their return with a play-date at Mitchell Park. Ansel and Nora Jane even played a little "Row, Row, Row Your Boat". Photos are here.

A car for his 15th

2009-09-25T23:23:00.003-04:00

Our little guy is 15 months today! He is busy busy as ever. He gets a big kick out of making people laugh (sometimes a bit mischievous in the process). Still loves his food (cheese is tops!). He seems to understand more and more of what we say everyday. He tries to say words (though still far from enunciation in most cases). Still a bit careless when walking and running, taking plenty of tumbles. He gives hugs and kisses (make his mama melt!). He sleeps about 12 hours a night, and most nights is eager to get into his crib and snuggle in (quality ne-ne time!). Yeah, we find him to be pretty sweet.

His daycare was getting rid of some toys, so we took this car home. He loves getting in, shutting the door, turning the wheel, opening the door, getting out, waving "bye-bye", repeat.

Papa has been away at a conference in Montreal; we sure do miss him! But, have no fear, Auntie Annie Super Nanny is here!! She has been so helpful (e.g. already cooked us two meals) and of course is always great to be around! Kissy for Auntie!

Our good sport

2009-09-20T23:47:00.004-04:00

Ansel and I flew home after a great trip to MN this past Wednesday and Ansel slept for over 2 hours in my arms--what an angel! Then when he woke up, he sat in the vacant middle seat, buckled in, and ate his cheese and carrots one piece at a time. It was wonderful :)

On Friday, Ansel had his long awaited, once postponed surgery to relocate an important item. The first three pics here, clockwise from upper left, show the minutes right after administration of "something like valium," pre-anesthesia. The last pic in the lower left shows recovery at home in his crib, 3 hours later; we sent in a 3 ne-ne team to help out.

Ansel was a real trooper, and, with the help of some extra sleep, was back to his old self in less than 24 hours:

Today, I finally gave in to Ben's requests to have Ansel's hair cut (there were others hinting at it as well, I won't point any other fingers). Before:

During (yes, we went to the kiddy salon, and yes, I took a few pics; in the lower right he is done and has just visited the prize machine, an important part of any haircut!):

After:

Some cousin cuteness

2009-09-14T00:59:00.001-04:00

At the Minnesota State Fair

In rocking chairs

At bath time!

Most of bath time looked like this (Ansel drinking water, Dalila playing nicely)

"Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream..."

Our sweet walking belly* is 14 months old!

2009-08-25T23:11:00.002-04:00

Aah!

Aaaah!!

AAAAAH!!!

Ansel is always on the go-go-go these days. That is how he prefers it. Hanging around our apartment is boring, apparently. Outside, we will likely encounter dogs ("woof, woof" + pointing), cars ("vrum, vrum" + pointing), and airplanes (his take on the sign for airplane). Awesome!!! Fortunately, even when he is forced to stay inside, our close proximity to the tracks allows us to keep tabs on all trains passing by (his take on the sign for train, getting better all the time).

We've had lots of fun adventures lately, with visits from Grandma Barbi, Great Auntie Brenda, Cousin Chloe, and Megan! We went into San Francisco three Sundays in a row when Grandma Barbi was here. Here's our little family with a beautiful steel structure.

*Our friend Monica coined this term when we were over at their apartment for dinner last week, observing "he's just a little walking belly!"

Yesterday was crazy hair day at school

2009-08-06T23:40:00.000-04:00

Some extra sunscreen did the trick!

Grandma Barbi's in town

2009-08-05T01:29:00.003-04:00

And it's more than Ansel can handle. (Click on the image below to see video evidence.)

Our baby is sleeping through the night. For now.

2009-08-04T11:17:00.000-04:00

It makes him that much more adorable to us.

At 11 months, ANSEL LOVES:

2009-05-31T23:37:00.002-04:00

CLAPPING

RIDING IN THE SHOPPING CART
many ladies smile at him and want to touch his hair

(RIDE HOME FROM SHOPPING, NOT SO MUCH)

DISCOVERING A NEW SOUND HE CAN MAKE AND MOVING IT INTO MASS PRODUCTION
here he has just discovered a fake-vomiting sort of sound

ANSWERING THE PHONE - "H'YA?!"
or sauce pan, or remote control, whatever

GETTING DIRTY AT SCHOOL
otherwise the laundry would be boring!

SWINGING!
and trying out pick-up looks

CLIMBING AROUND, UP, AND THROUGH THIS PLAY STRUCTURE

CLIMBING IN GENERAL
here he has just discovered a new place to climb: into his car seat

WATCHING THE WORLD GO BY
here from a train, most often from the bike trailer

DRINKING WATER FROM A GLASS
he has just had some and is about to get some more

PLAYING AT THE BOTTOM OF THE STAIRS

GOING WHERE HE SHOULDN'T

BEING OUTSIDE

TASTING
though less than before

AND MOST CERTAINLY, EATING
yogurt is a current favorite

And we sure do love Ansel.

In honor of 10 months: 1 photo and 2 videos

2009-04-25T23:34:00.007-04:00

Ansel is 10 months old today - thanks for all the fun, buddy!

Ansel is electrified by his new water table from Grandma and Grandpa Burk

From Ansel in April

In order for us to see his four new upper teeth, he has to be on his back, laughing or crying...here he is laughing but nearing zombie state

From Ansel in April

A break in our regularly scheduled program

From Ansel in April

My Uncle Mike

2009-04-02T00:26:00.003-04:00

Back in February, my Uncle Mike’s long fight with a blood cancer called Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia came to a bittersweet and peaceful end. Mike battled his cancer with perseverance and dignity. Fortunately, he was able to spend his last days with his beloved wife Linda and his immediate family in the privacy of his own home.

I was not able to travel back to Minnesota for the memorial service, but did contribute to the remembrances from my cousins distributed across the country and read at the service by my brother.

Here's my remembrance:

Growing up, I was blessed with the opportunity to see Uncle Mike regularly and came to know his gentle spirit and kind, caring way.

When I have though of Mike over these last few weeks, one memory comes repeatedly comes to mind.

We were on a Boundary Waters canoe trip and my dad had become very frustrated carrying a canoe over a long, miserable, mosquito-ridden portage. In frustration, my dad tossed the canoe he was carrying off in the woods along the portage. Uncle Mike soon came along and willingly -- without a word of complaint or chagrin -- snatched up the canoe and carried it the rest of the way to the end of the portage. (Actually, I don’t remember if I was on this canoe trip or if this is just a story told to me.)

To me, this story is how I will always remember Mike. Strong, committed, helping, and willing to bear the burdens of others with love and kindness and without ever a word of complaint. These were the traits that he taught to all of us nephews and all those who he met. These were the traits that he shared with Linda in their wonderfully loving and committed marriage. These were the traits that he held true to even in his most trying days.

I cherish and will greatly miss Uncle Mike, but know that his spirit and his example are carried on with those who knew and love him.

It turns out that I didn’t actually witness the canoe story, but instead it was one of my dad’s favorite stories about Uncle Mike and I internalized it as a memory (as I suspected).

This upcoming weekend I am travelling back to Minnesota (and leaving Elissa and Ansel in Palo Alto with her visiting parents) for my Grandpa Felix’s 90th birthday celebration and a family remembrance of Uncle Mike. It will be great to see all the family, but be sad that Mike won’t be with us. Hopefully, he is somewhere enjoying a peaceful bike ride and knowing that we love and miss him dearly.

Ansel with my Aunt Linda and Uncle Mike, November 2008

9 months in, 9 months out

2009-03-25T23:06:00.017-04:00

Today Ansel is 9 months old. I don’t know if it has gone fast or slow; I think the answer is both context- and mood-dependent for me. But it has definitely been amazing and great getting to know our little guy, and to watch and participate in his development. We’re looking forward to lots more!

ANSEL
Not long after our last post, Ansel made his first clear sound: ba-ba-ba. A few days later he added g-g-g-g (lots of effort involved in pushing this one out). He has since added lots, today’s favorite was da-da-da. For awhile, he would say ma-ma-ma when he got tired and wanted to have mama milk. But he hasn’t done it as much lately, so maybe it was just a coincidence. We love his sounds, and they make him even more irresistible to us.

Happy just-woke-up Ansel

Ansel kept scratching his forehead open, so we had to put on a band-aid

Family dinner at our new dinner table

He is still working on that pincer grasp; in his last attempt, he got about 4 Cheerios in his mouth over the course of about 30 tries. He doesn’t really use his thumb and forefinger. Instead he paws at them until one (or a couple) get into his clammy palm, and then he tries to put his whole fist in his mouth, hoping that the Cheerio will somehow drop in there.

He loves kneeling and pulling himself up on stuff and standing. He prefers to do #2 while standing, and gets red in the face while doing so. He tries to clap. There is little noise produced, but it does get a reaction out of his parents (lots of clapping, of course); we love it.

Mid-clap clap clap

Happy tanny-upper

Our large coffee table is a great height for him to pull up to standing

He likes to bang his cups (or any two hard items) together or on the floor or table, or anything to make some good noise. He also really likes to climb up the stairs.

Ansel's ride to and from school (unfortunately, he is not always this happy about the helmet)

And, we think he likes “school” (a.k.a. day care), which is really good. Hopefully that’s not just wishful thinking. We really like the teachers and the atmosphere at this place. He has only gotten sick once: he had a fever and infections in both ears, and there was a 24 hour period where he would only sleep in his parents’ arms. The bug lasted awhile, but sick only once so far seems pretty good for a kid new to day care (we’re hoping that keeps up).

Ansel with his teacher Dora and buddy Callum

Ansel with his other teacher, Suji

FIVE VISITORS, NOT ALL AT ONCE
Since our last post, we have had some nice visits from family. Grandpa Dave and Grandma Joanne came out for a week at the end of Feb/ beginning of March. Ansel warmed right up to his grandparents and had a great time playing with them! He got to leave school a few hours early each day they were here to play with them. We all went into San Francisco one day (Ben and my first trip into the city) and had a good time walking up and down hills and seeing sights. Unfortunately, both Dave and Joanne got sick during the last part of their trip (seemed to be some sort of food poisoning, though we couldn’t really figure out which food had caused it), but thankfully they were better before they had to leave, and still got in some more play time with Ansel.

Grandma giving Ansel his antibiotic, which he preferred in a glass mixed with water

Reading with Grandpa

Grandma and Ansel at school

Grandpa and Ansel planning out our route around San Francisco

Lunch spot in San Francisco, with the reflection of the Bay Bridge in the window

The day after grandma and grandpa left, Auntie Annie came for a visit! The two of us spent one day going around San Francisco and had a great time. After school/work one day, we picked up Ansel and checked out the Junior Children’s Museum nearby. Anna made salsa verde enchiladas for us again – delicious! We also spent some time at the Stanford Shopping Center, and sampled some Sprinkles cupcakes (delicious red velvet!).

Anna with a cross-section of the Golden Gate Bridge main cable

Auntie Annie playing "high five" with Ansel

At the top of Hoover Tower at Stanford

Annie left on Sunday, and the following Friday, Uncle Derek and Amiee arrived! We got a Zipcar and checked out Half Moon Bay. It was nice but the weather was windy and cool, so we didn’t take any long strolls along the beach. The next day, we all went in to San Francisco to take in the sights. And a few evenings, we played Rock Band (Amiee is a master of the drums!). Amiee made a cool photo montage of their trip (with music!) that is posted on Derek's blog here.

Ansel in his carseat, ready for our day trip

At the cold windy beach in Half Moon Bay

Little family and the big ocean

Tasty snack at Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park

Amiee and Derek took care of Ansel one afternoon and they went to the park

Thank you all for coming!!! It was great to have you stay with us! Now we are looking forward to an upcoming visit from Grumpa Tom and Grandma Barbi, and then hopefully a visit from Uncle Andy in May. And we welcome anyone else who wants to come!

BEN AND ELISSA
We’re doing well. Ben is gradually adjusting to his new job and is starting experiments. I am still working on my research, still hoping to graduate in the not-so-distant future, but definitely not this semester. One weekend, we decided to have some real fun by both acquiring a severe case of food poisoning at a restaurant (good thing Ansel couldn’t eat that food yet!). Thankfully I have blocked most of the details from my memory, but I do remember 1) feeling like Ansel weighed over 50 lbs. as I tried to rock him to sleep in my weak post-sickness state, and 2), with both parents struggling to lift limbs, resorting to another form of child care:

Can you find the baby?

We are excited that our good friends Ilaria and J welcomed their son Eliot into the world on March 16! J made an album here with lots of good pictures and details. We hope to meet Eliot sometime soon!

Our February and March photo albums aren't quite done yet, but close enough (maybe no captions is better!). If you want more Ansel, follow these links!

Happy Spring!

California, a new world

2009-02-10T00:49:00.015-05:00

All three of us are here in Palo Alto. Here in a land without winter as we know it, and where we are two to three hours behind our friends and family. There are definite perks to the former, but the latter plagues us daily: our unlimited calls after 9 pm are essentially useless. We will just have to get used to Skype.

Ansel is doing pretty well here. I would say he was in a great mood two weekends ago, for the entire weekend.

Happy Weekend Ansel at home

smiling at papa in Chipotle

tasty Chipotle table

So, to put a stop to that, the following Monday we took him to daycare (real nice, mom and dad). Daycare has been going pretty well overall, but at times it has been hard, for all of us in different ways. We are all still adjusting, trying to think positively about it. It is very hard to leave the place when he is crying, which unfortunately is still the case a majority of the time. But they tell us he gets over it relatively quickly, and we hope that is true. He is still struggling to take naps longer than 30 minutes, which is probably affecting him in many ways. There are only 4 kids that attend his classroom, and only 3 at a time, maximum. Three afternoons a week it is just him and a 1-year-old boy, so that is nice. He has two teachers, one for most of the day, and then the other at the end, and they are both nice.

Ansel has been moving around via an inchworm sort of mechanism (up on knees, flop forward, repeat) for a few weeks, and since then has been working on improving his speed. About a week ago he started moving from the tummy/crawling position to sitting on his own. We are still not sure he always knows when he can do it. He likes to offer us toys that he is playing with, or even a little turn with his precious ne-ne, and then take it back. He makes silly sounds that delight his parents. I feel like when he is making these sounds (a screeching animal of some sort), he is happy, so that makes me happy (maybe it is all in my mind!). He seems very content when he is out and about, able to stare at anything and every thing. He does so in the stroller or the Ergo carrier without complaint.

Walk around the neighborhood in Ergo

Ansel on a stroller outing (after he has removed his socks)

We have been to the swings several times.

He eats rice cereal, carrots, sweet potatoes, applesauce, and tonight, bananas (this delicious fruit certainly got the warmest welcome so far). And still as much mama milk as he can get.

Ansel is not sure about plain old carrots

He's generally happier when two parents are in the room. Ever since he started daycare, he likes to crawl into our laps (and apparently likes to do this at daycare as well).

Ansel's room is the one room in our home that is "done". So we spend a lot of time there, also because he is free to roam.

Ansel's room, curtains have since been trimmed

The rest of the apartment is still coming along. Maybe it will be ready in time for our first visitors...?

Our neighborhood is very nice. Many homes around us are beautiful. But most striking to me has been the amount and diversity of the vegetation, including many trees that are unfamiliar to me, flowering trees (in Jan/Feb!), trees baring citrus fruits, palm trees, cacti, bamboo and more! It is crazy!

(click to view larger image)

Our transition here has been made much nicer by the help and company of our friends, Stephen and Monica, who, among many things, helped us find our current apartment (i.e. went to the appointments that we set up). They have already had us over for dinner (delicious!), and when Ben rushed off to Colorado last minute to give a research talk, they brought Indian take outs to our place and kept Ansel and me company. Thanks guys, you have been so great to us!!!

Dinner at Monica's apartment

We still haven't purchased a car. We are still toying with the idea of not doing so. In the mean time, we have been cheating by borrowing Stephen's car for weeks at a time as we have been trying to get things up and running here. Thanks again, Stephen!! But really we are trying to use it minimally. I got a new bike, Ben bikes to work, and Ansel and I have done lots of stroller-blading (carefully, not too fast, but faster than walking). We also got a bike trailer (thanks Grandma and Grandpa Cosgrove!!) and plan to start using it soon. Daycare is a 15-20 minute walk. Trader Joe's is coming in close by (signs say in Spring 2009). So it could all be doable...

Stroller-blading to Monica's apartment, in front of the Oval at Stanford

Papa was on his bike

So those are some highlights. We have lots of wonderful pictures from our time at home in MN, and our last days in Boston, but that is just more than I can handle at the moment :) Awhile back, I did manage to post a November Picasa album, featuring:

Uncle Andy visiting Boston!
Super Auntie Annie Nanny providing daycare and excellent meals in Boston!
Boston in Autumn
Quality time in Minnesota, with many fortuitous encounters between two young cousins

Overall, I think that we are doing well. We are looking forward to learning more about our new home town, exploring the surrounding area, and welcoming a string of family visitors (25 days of a 35-day period, mostly in March!).

We hope that everyone is doing well! Please come visit us :)

P.S. This was going to be a separate post: Name one food that tastes better than raw chocolate chip cookie dough (Nestle Tollhouse recipe). Any answers given will be deemed incorrect.

Feet on the ground in California

2009-01-08T01:48:00.003-05:00

Well, much has passed since my last post, and I am sure we'll get to covering it in appropriate detail in the coming weeks. The short story is that all the items from the to-do list below have been completed. I've successfully defended my Ph.D., we've packed up and given the movers our stuff, spent the holidays with family in Minnesota, and now I am here at Stanford ready to start my post-doc position tomorrow and hoping that the movers arrive with our stuff between now and when Elissa and Ansel arrive on Sunday. I'll be missing them until then.

For now, I'll just send out a thanks to all our family who helped us pack up in Boston and who have served as Ansel-sitters during our time in Minnesota.

Until Elissa and Ansel get here, I'll be in California, feeling Minnesota.

December to-do list

2008-11-29T04:07:00.003-05:00

(...This is what one does at 4:15am on a Friday night when the other option is writing your thesis...)

With Elissa and Ansel staying in Minnesota with our families to allow me some quiet for finishing my PhD thesis, I have begun to make all kinds of to-do lists.

So here's a summary to-do list/schedule of party events (with estimated due dates) for the uninformed:

* Missing Elissa and Ansel (all the time)
* Finish writing PhD thesis (Dec 5)
* Begin packing apartment (Dec 6-9)
* Somehow find an apartment in Palo Alto via Craigslist (Dec 7?)
* Welcome Elissa and Ansel back to Boston (Dec 10)
* Public thesis defense (Dec 15)
* Finish packing apartment with the help of Elissa and my folks (Dec 16-18)
* Movers come to get our stuff (Dec 19)
* Fly back to Minnesota for Christmas (Dec 20?)
* Fly out to Palo Alto to meet our stuff (Jan 1?)

Oh, December! You will be fun!! Luckily, Ansel is going to chip in on the packing/moving/thesis defending.

Oh yeah, what I am thankful for? My lovely wife, our joyful and healthy child, family (aka baby-sitters) and friends, three experiments with primary human cells that pretty much all worked out as expected thus allowing me to finish of my thesis in a timely manner, ...

P.S. (to Trey): No wife, child, or time to cook? Imagine the consumption rate of bratwurst and other tube meat!

Hangin' in MN and missin' papa

2008-11-27T22:45:00.006-05:00

It was really tough to say good-bye to papa,

and even tougher (by scale of Ansel's facial expression) to be awake when we arrived at the Burk household,

but we have gotten to see lots of great people here, including sweet Cousin Dalila,
and all four grandparents are giving Ansel high quality care and lots of love. Here he is just loungin' around,
and here working on a new skill: tanny-uppy with the help of the couch (and a tight-fitting snowsuit)!
And here is his loaner battle-station - thanks Allanna and Josie!But we sure do miss papa, especially at night. We look forward to being with you again, soon, papa, and keep up all the good work!

I am so thankful for our incredibly loving and caring families who have so willingly (eagerly!) helped us out while Ansel and I are in MN!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sittin' up. Take two.

2008-11-13T08:49:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure why people said that this is hard. It's easy. Now I'll fall over if you don't mind...

Uncle Andy was here.

2008-11-13T08:47:00.002-05:00

And we put on our serious faces.

More pictures from Andy's visit soon...

Battle-stations!

2008-11-13T01:44:00.002-05:00

It's my safety hat.

2008-11-12T23:40:00.002-05:00

And I'm proud of it.

October, starring Grandma Barbi!!

2008-11-12T15:26:00.004-05:00

After our trip to St. Louis, October came and went pretty much like September did (read: controlled chaos). Since Elissa covers the latter part of October in full at our Picasa site, I'll refer you all there. For a nice long stretch of October Ansel had his Grandma Barbi here as full-time baby-sitter.

Ansel and Grandma Barbi

Ansel at the playground

St. Louis - Oct 2008

2008-11-12T15:13:00.005-05:00

A little more than one month ago, Elissa, Ansel, and I went to St. Louis for a research conference and to visit our friends Ilaria and J, who now live there. It was a great time and Ilaria and J were wonderful hosts and baby-sitters! For the full adventure, visit our Picasa album here.

Here are a few photo previews:

Ansel enjoying the hotel bed

Ilaria, J, and Ansel

Hands.

2008-11-03T11:55:00.003-05:00

Ansel is using his hands with more regularity. Oh, and they're quite tasty.

Click the photo for a video:

Laughs.

2008-10-29T00:10:00.002-04:00

Click the photo below for a video:

From 2008.10.28

September came and went

2008-10-11T23:50:00.005-04:00

Yes, it’s been a month. We are doing just fine here on Hereford St.
We had a great nine day visit from Grandma Joanne and Grandpa Dave! Ansel got in lots and lots of high quality interaction with both of them: countless stories, new toys, conversations, bottles, it was great! Ben turned 28 while they were here. We all went out to eat several times and Ansel did well.

By the time his grandparents arrived, Ansel had started consistently rolling from his back to his tummy. He first developed this skill when he was extra angry, and proceeded to apply it to all moods. Now he really seems to prefer being on his tummy and will quickly roll from his back unless you stick around to provide some good quality eye contact. His vocalization increased over the last month. Lots of noises. Some I find irresistible, while others have a more screechy quality. Ansel enjoys “tanny-uppy” quite a bit (standing up on our laps), though not for too long at one time. He has one or both of his hands at his mouth about half of the time he is awake. He prefers to stick his entire index finger in his mouth. Lots of spit. He doesn’t sleep through the night. If we are lucky, he only wakes up once or twice, but usually it is more. He only sleeps when he is swaddled (naps included), which we are hoping is not stunting his development. He doesn’t reach for things yet. He has a few toys that I have seen make him smile. He seems to tolerate sitting through board books quite well, and I have even made it all the way through The Cat in the Hat a few times. At 3 months, he weighed 18 lbs. and measured 25 inches. Most of the clothes he is wearing right now are size 9 months.

Right before Dave and Joanne came, we realized that Ansel exceeded the weight limit of the bassinet we were using by a few pounds, so once they arrived, we went out and bought a real crib from Ikea. We also got him a mobile to go with it. He slept very well the first night in his new bed.

Most of the time, we find Ansel to be irresistible. Sometimes I am overcome by this feeling and wish that I could kiss everywhere on his chubby face at once.
We recently went to St. Louis for a research conference and to visit our friends (pics etc. soon to come) and Ansel did great. Right now, Great Aunt Darla and Great Uncle Phil are in town, and it has been really nice to spend time visiting with them! The USS Constitution is on deck for tomorrow. Time to get some rest!

Oh yeah: There are MANY pictures here from September. I did a terrible job at being selective/ discriminating...

Daddy Day Care

2008-09-11T19:20:00.007-04:00

This afternoon Ansel had a play date with Sophie, daughter of Jenn and Wayne, who we met in our child birth class. During the play date, Jenn and Elissa took in a movie ('Mamma Mia' -- two thumbs up!) and I watched the two babies. Things started out promisingly, with both babies fed and in clean diapers, but still awake.

(Note that Sophie and Ansel were born on the same day (at the same hospital!), but one of them is quite a bit larger.) Shortly after these pictures were taken things went a little downhill. Ansel got tired but wouldn't go to sleep so he started crying and didn't really stop for the next hour. Sophie was wonderfully behaved and went to sleep right after being put in her stroller seat. After she woke up, things got crazy again. At some point, I was rocking both babies on the glider chair. Eventually Ansel fell asleep and then Elissa and Jenn got back to find Sophie contently taking it all in.

Sophie and Jenn

Bye, Sophie!

Visit from Jon

2008-09-11T18:46:00.006-04:00

Our friend Jon visited last weekend. Jon is a submariner in the US Navy and is currently in Newport RI for a month before shipping off to Europe for a while. We hadn't seen him for three years(!!), as he was stationed in Hawaii and we never made it out there (sad for us in many ways!). It was great to get to hang around with him and hear about life on the sub. Jon met Ansel and we walked around enjoying beautiful Boston weather and several restaurants. Jon took the opportunity to get a new computer at the new Apple Store a few blocks from our house.

Ansel, Jon, and Ben

Elissa, Ansel, Jon, and Jon's new baby

Thanks for visiting, Jon!

Tastier.

2008-09-06T13:47:00.001-04:00

He's foraging.

Laundry day.

2008-09-06T10:00:00.000-04:00

And Ansel was no help whatsoever.

Puckered.

2008-09-06T09:00:00.000-04:00

Sittin' up. Take one.

2008-09-05T16:00:00.002-04:00

With some help that is.

Independent sleeping?

2008-09-05T10:00:00.000-04:00

We have been attempting. with some success, to get Ansel to sleep without rocking him fully to sleep. It takes some patience to let him cry himself to sleep.

Trust me, it's all muscle.

2008-09-05T09:00:00.000-04:00

Heads-up.

2008-09-04T18:00:00.000-04:00

To the left, to the left.

2008-09-03T20:15:00.004-04:00

This is documentation of Ansel's first bout of front-to-back rolling over using his right hand and rotating over to his left. Well done, boy. There's still hope that he'll be right-handed. Also, Ansel's been liking sticking his tongue out at us of late. Maybe it's his way of saying "Na-na bo-bo! I'm not sleeping when you want me to or as much as you want me to. Ha ha ha!"

Tasty.

2008-09-02T23:00:00.002-04:00

Mmmm. Delicious.

Pensive.

2008-09-01T23:00:00.001-04:00

Welcome to a new Pieholden Suite feature: One picture posts. Sure will make getting posts up easier.

Family Cosgrove goes solo: Ansel in Boston in August

2008-09-01T11:55:00.009-04:00

So we are back in Boston. We had a month with Grandma Barbi here in Boston, as well as several other visitors, then two days on our own, and then three weeks in MN surrounded by grandparents willing to hold and coo and play with baby all day long. And now it is just the three of us. Trying to find some sort of rhythm to our daily life. So far the best mindset for me has been "one day at a time."

Things are generally going quite well. We like to think that Ansel is generally a happy baby. Sleeping was actually going better in MN, but things here are improving and we hope that sleeping through the night (which he did several nights in MN) is on the horizon. The amount of daytime napping is often indicative of what kind of day we are having, both because he is happier when he gets lots of naps, and his parents are happier when he gets lots of naps! Needless to say things are up and down, but more up than down.

Ansel reached the 2 month mark on August 25, and to celebrate, we had him infected with weakened rotavirus, and threw in 3 shots as well! This resulted in a fever of 102 for the poor kid (accompanied by full-body-clenched screams), but 3 consecutive doses of Tylenol and a night of sleep made it better. At his appointment, he weighed 16 lbs. exactly (99th percentile for a 2-month-old and the average weight for a 5-month-old) and measured 23.5 inches.

Ansel loves tummy time. He seems to strongly believe it is a time for intense exercise, which he appears to enjoy. He rolls over (from tummy to back) once every other day or so. He also really likes his activity gym, and loves staring at the rings that hang from it, and every once in awhile, at his reflection in the mirror. He most consistently participates in conversation at the mid-point of feeding, the end of feeding, and laying on the changing pad. These bouts of coos and oohs and gurgles are mixed with lots of smiles, i.e. the good stuff that melts his parents' hearts. Right now, he has a dimple in his right cheek. We are watching for signs of one on the left. He is good at holding his head up steadily by himself while he is being held or when someone helps him sit up, as long as he's not too tired.

Days are cycles of feeding, tummy time, activity gym time, changing table time, and sleeping, most often with a walk or a trip to a grocery store thrown in just to mix things up, and maybe a story book here and there. And sometimes he just wants to be held. The August Boston weather has been beautiful (in contrast to July), which has made getting out and about easier and more enjoyable, and cuddling with Ansel more comfortable.

I am incredibly thankful that Ben has been an equal participant in our parenting team. I am somewhat disappointed in myself for not being better at spending full days with Ansel on my own. There have been a number of days when I had to ask Ben to come home early. But I hope I am getting better. Ben has also been very considerate trying to make time for me to get back into my research. And he is still willing to kiss me even though I haven't combed my hair since Ansel was born. Yep, he is just an all-around great guy.

We have a photo album here with lots of pictures of our favorite little one, depicting some of our comings and goings. And here is a little story for which I don't have any accompanying pictures:

One day, I was home with Ansel and felt very ambitious. I gave him a bath by myself in the morning, and decided we would go run Target and Babies R Us errands in the afternoon. Unfortunately, it wasn't until 4:30 pm that we were out the door headed for our Zipcar. I carried Ansel in his car seat and the car seat base and my returns for Babies R Us down the stairs and down Newbury St. to the garage where our Zipcar was parked and loaded everything in. I was glad to find out that I could do it on my own. We got on the road, only to run into a lot of traffic, turning the 20 minute drive into an hour. Thankfully Ansel slept almost the entire time, and each time he lost his pacifier, I was in stop and go traffic and was able to safely reinsert it. Once in the parking lot, it was time to feed. After feeding, shopping in Babies R Us went smoothly until we got in line to check out. At this point, Ansel's infatuation with the ceiling lights ended and he began to squawk. The cashier rang everything up and pushed a button, at which point loud alarm sounds started to go off. Somehow, the register was pissed off, and the cashier could not console it. And the alarms made Ansel scream loader. So, the cashier moved to the next register, alarms and Ansel still sounding, and rang everything up again. Eventually, thankfully, we were on our way. On our drive across the parking lot to Target, Ansel fell asleep. He stayed asleep for the first part of the Target trip, but then woke up, unhappy, with the appearance of a baby who still wanted to be asleep. But I did not succeed in soothing him. By the time we got to the line, he was crying real good, and people were staring (why do people stare? He is just a baby, doing what babies do!). The cashier scanned my items and I signed the in the box, and then she said "oh, were these yours?" pointing to some paper towels on the belt. Well, yes, they were. Another scan, another signature, we're on our way. Frustrated with my second bumpy checkout of the outing, we approached the exit, baby still screaming, and the security guard stepped forward and said "may I please see your receipt?" Thinking he was required to stop every tenth person and that I was the unlucky tenth, and desperately wishing that he could have made an exception given my screaming baby, I exclaimed "Are you kidding me?!" Yes, I really said that out loud as I put down what I was carrying and started to dig for my receipts. He looked them over and cooly said, "I don't think you paid for this medicine, or these band-aids" and without any searching, reached directly under Ansel's car seat and pulled out the aforementioned items. "Would you like to pay for these items?" he asked me. Woah, was I embarrassed and ashamed. "Yes, I would" I assured him, and apologized profusely for my rudeness. He offered to hold on to my bags for me while I went to get back in line. Baby got louder and lines were long to add to the embarrassment. But eventually we got out of there and back home, forfeiting only the pride that I had been feeling in my ability to complete such an outing.

Ansel in Minnesota

2008-09-01T11:52:00.001-04:00

We had a wonderful three week visit to Minnesota (Ansel and me, that is, and Ben was there for a big chunk in the middle). MANY photographs were taken. Here is an album with captions (in lieu of a blog post, necessary short cut!) of Ansel meeting lots of friends and family and, in general, loving good ol’ MN.

Ansel in Minnesota: a brief preview

2008-08-06T01:09:00.011-04:00

Over the past two weeks we have spent some quality time in Minnesota seeing friends and family -- Ansel got to meet his five great-grandparents, my parents, his uncle Derek, and all sorts of great-uncles and -aunties and second cousins and friends for the first time. I am writing this from a hotel room in Colorado where I am attending a research conference (some father I am!). Elissa and Ansel are still in Minnesota spending a few more precious days with our families before we re-group our family unit back in Boston. During the trip, Ansel has been a real charmer and well behaved in general. There will be a mega-post and a large cache of photos coming soon. For now, a few Ansel photos will have to serve as appetizers...

Ansel

Ansel's first documented rolling-over, at 5 weeks

Ansel is starting to smile a few times a day, here with Grandma Joanne

Ansel with his second cousin Dalila, following their double baptism. She is almost two months older (but he equals her in weight and height), far more settled and mature (he's a spaz compared to her), and, apparently, a calming influence on him (we think he's just trying to impress her with his fabricated calmness).

The First Fortnight

2008-07-14T08:06:00.033-04:00

Let the baby blogging begin...

For those who just want the photos (and a bit of story, in chronological order), visit our recent albums here and here.

Vistors.
We’ve been lucky to have a number of visitors here to see Ansel over the past two weeks. We’ve had Grandma Barbi here since before his birth, as we’ve noted already. She has been incredibly helpful with all sorts of apartment cleaning (even going to the laundromat for us!), grocery shopping, meal preparation, and of course, all things baby.

Ansel with Grandma Barbi

Grandpa Tom came out to visit last week and got to spend a bunch of time with us when he wasn’t attending a research conference two blocks away at the convention center.

Ansel and Grandpa Tom

Uncle Andy also came out last week and got to watch Ansel a bunch.

Ansel with Uncle Andy

Auntie Anna is out here right now and is getting her share of time with the little guy.

Ansel with Auntie Anna

Last week, Elissa’s friend Megan also stopped in briefly in between flight connections coming back from Europe.

Ansel with Megan

My friends Mike and Dara were in Boston for the July 4th fireworks so they got to see Ansel for a little while too.

Ansel with Mike and Dara

Also last week, Ansel got a visit from two of Elissa’s BU friends and their two-year-old daughters. Ansel even got a kiss on the lips from one of the girls. He’s such a charmer.

Ansel with Sanaz and Nikki

And this weekend we had a little open house for our Boston friends and had a good showing of Ansel-holders. Ansel is visibly excited at the thought of getting to visit many more relatives, including Grandma Joanne and Grandpa Dave and Uncle Derek, when we go back to Minnesota in less than a week. Can’t wait!

Ansel.
As far as we can tell, Ansel is pretty much your average newborn. All he does is sleep, eat (nursing is going rather well), get his diaper changed (he makes ‘poogers’ 4-to-5 per day -- nice and regular), cry a bunch, eat, and sleep some more. In the first few days home, we couldn’t get him into much of a schedule so we had some very restless nights. But now, we’ve managed to get him into a more regular schedule by trying to avoid letting him take long naps in the early evening and using the Miracle blanket to swaddle him during the night. The Miracle Blanket is basically a baby straitjacket and it sedates him after a few minutes and prevents him from waking himself up by restraining his arms and legs.

Ansel in the Miracle blanket

We use the Miracle blanket for two or three periods a day, mostly in the evening, to avoid complete dependency on it (we think). Using the Miracle blanket, we’ve been getting at least one longer 3-5 hour sleeping period at night. By sunrise, he becomes alert and we usually hand him over to Grandma Barbi, (temporary) resident baby-holder, so we can get a bit more sleep.

Sleepy morning Ansel

Once awake in the mornings, he’s alert and adorable (for anywhere from 5-30 minutes).

Grrrr!

He seems to be aware of light and dark but doesn’t focus on anything or follow anything yet. We've seen many smiles, though they don't seem to be in response to anything in particular. He is quite physical, especially when he’s tired or angry. When Grandpa Tom was here, they worked on his boxing skills.

Boxing with Grandpa Tom

He doesn’t particularly like baths but seems to tolerate them for a little while and then gets upset.

Ansel, post-bath

I cannot really overemphasize how much he wants to eat. He’s basically always hungry. He rarely takes a pacifier but does like the taste of his hand and forearm -- he just hasn’t realized that he has control over them yet (they are so elusive!), so his enjoyment is often limited to the brief time they are randomly in his mouth.

Outings.
So far, we’ve been to Ansel’s pediatrician twice. He doesn’t mind the journey, which includes a short bus ride across the Charles into Cambridge and then a walk across MIT campus. But he gets a little ornery when the doctor starts poking and prodding him. The good news is that he’s gaining weight ahead of schedule (not surprising considering he is a big fan of eating in general) and now has pushed past 10 lbs.

Ansel at the pediatrician’s office

Ansel’s first major expedition was a walk down to Boston Public Garden to meet up with Uncle Andy for lunch. He is hiding in the baby carrier I am wearing in this photo:

Lunch in the Public Garden

We also brought him to Grandpa Tom’s hotel room to watch the July 4th fireworks. The hotel room had a nice view overlooking the river and was protected from the loud booms, nice for Ansel’s ears.

Ansel watching the fireworks

While Grandpa Tom was here, we made trips to two seafood restaurants (The Barking Crab and Legal Seafood) with Ansel.

Ansel and his dad at the Barking Crab

Gifts.
Lastly, I wanted to show a few of the many helpful gifts we have received in action:

Stroller
(Thanks Auntie Anna and Travis and Mark, Burna, Kiara, and Stefan!)

Ergo baby carrier
(Thanks Brenda and Mark!)

Mei-tai carrier
(Thanks Rachel, Trey, and Ellis -- handmade by Rachel’s mom!)

Gilder chair, useful for rocking the baby and playing video games simultaneously
(Thanks Grandma Joanne and Grandpa Dave!)

Going to California

2008-07-03T15:00:00.007-04:00

Made up my mind to make a new start,
Going to California with an aching in my heart.

In the last two months of Elissa's pregnancy, I spent an inordinate amount of time shopping around for a post-doctoral research position. A good fraction of science and engineering Ph.D.'s, especially those interested in an academic or research careers, conduct one or two post-doc stints (I'm hoping for the former) to round out their research experiences and to put them in a better position to get a faculty position and research grants down the road. Initially, my search was focused on post-doc research positions in labs around Boston, but then expanded to include labs in other places at the recommendations of my current research advisors. I ended up deciding on a post-doctoral training program in molecular imaging at Stanford University in California. The position will start in the beginning of 2009, so I have until the end of the year to finish up my Ph.D. (hurry, Ben, hurry!). If all goes to plan, we'll be headed out to California in December or January, and then I'll start my post-doc position, Elissa plans to finish her Ph.D. remotely, and my baby Ansel will go roaming on his own for some sort of child care.

That aching on our hearts will be due to the fact that we really love it here in Boston and will miss it greatly when we have to leave.

(This post was dedicated to my Uncle John, the biggest Zeppelin fan I know. Keep on recovering!)

Ansel Thomas Cosgrove

2008-07-02T16:05:00.013-04:00

(This post is written in the first person as Elissa, but we worked on it together.)

Our son Ansel Thomas was born at 10:47 AM on Wednesday, June 25th. At birth, he was 9 lbs 8 oz and 21” in length. Both Ansel and I had to stay at the hospital for a little extra observation (him in the neonatal ICU and I under bed rest). Now we are finally all at home, a happy family. We are really enjoying the experience. He is, of course, amazing and cute and all things that babies are.

For those who just want to see pictures, click here.

For those interested in more details, here’s the story of his arrival:

6.23.08 17:00 – With me six days overdue, contractions (which had been going on without pain for a few days) begin to be accompanied by pain, especially in my back. We wonder if I am just getting tired from the extended pregnancy or if this is the real thing.

6.24.08 03:30 – The contractions bring pain strong enough to keep me awake (for the long haul, as it turns out). In our last ultrasound, we found out that he was sunny-side up, with his back on the same side as my back, which often means more back pain during contractions.

6.24.08 15:30 – After talking with the receptionist at the OB/GYN office about my status, we took a bumpy cab ride to see my doctor who confirms labor has begun and I am 3 cm dilated. (We’ll start the labor clock right here.)

6.24.08 16:00 – From the doctor’s office we took another cab the short distance to the hospital! It was an even bumpier cab ride.

Ben with his pregnant friend at the hospital (these two obviously don't know what lies ahead)

Ben is ready to help out!

6.24.08 22:00 – After getting checked in and doing some exercises in hope of easing the labor process, my midwife checked me out and found my cervix 4-to-5 cm dilated. :( The midwife says she expects I should be dilating approximately 1 cm per hour…we are not on track.

6.25.08 02:00 – Another cervix check and it is at 5-to-6 cm. :( :( Time to break the water! Nurse Melissa was impressed with the amount of amniotic fluid: “I’ve never seen so much!” (Probably not much fun for her…) Following this augmentation, pain escalated (likely due to baby’s sunny-side up position) but contraction strength did not.

6.25.08 04:00 – I opted for the epidural anesthetic – make it work faster! Once it set in (and an extra bolus was administered), I was able to get some much-needed rest. Then pitocin was initiated. But still labor did not appear to be building. Pitocin was increased. The tone of the midwife said “c-section” to all three of us (though we only discussed and acknowledged this afterwards).

6.25.08 07:30 – Nurse Sue comes on duty, and directs me to a position that was supposed to help allow the baby’s head to move down. By some miracle, minutes later, it felt to me as if the baby’s head turned and settled low.

6.25.08 08:00 – An exam confirmed what I thought I felt: 10 cm diluted and we can touch his head! Start pushing!! From here on, pushing was coached wonderfully by nurse Sue and midwife Mary, and supported lovingly with encouragement from Ben and my mom (they were GREAT throughout, taking turns helping me and getting rest).

6.25.08 10:47 – After 20 hours of labor, Baby Cosgrove is born!! 9 lbs. 8 oz., 21”, 10 fingers, 10 toes, boy parts, a bunch of strawberry blonde hair on his head, and quite purple in color (at least at first).

After cleaning him up and an initial feeding session with me, he was taken away to the neonatal ICU to begin a course of the same antibiotics I was on during the labor (due to a fever). We were told that he’d be in the NICU for as little as an hour to start the antibiotics and could spend the rest of the time in the nursery near our recovery room. Soon after I was moved to our recovery room, we got word that he had low blood sugar (common in large birth-weight babies) and that he’d need to say in the NICU until they could get that stabilized. So we visited him in the NICU every few hours to attempt to feed him (with success, mostly) and the NICU nurses supplemented with formula to help his blood sugar. He sure didn’t appear or sound like he should be in the NICU; he was probably the biggest and loudest baby in the NICU, since most of the babies there were premies.

The first day after his birth we continued to visit him regularly and spent time thinking about his name. We came to the hospital with a list of thirty names in consideration and decided to call him Ansel Thomas.

Life in the NICU is tough!
(Blogger insists this picture is landscape)

The next day -- the day we thought we’d both be coming home -- was pretty eventful. My blood pressure started testing fairly high, to the point they wanted me on bed rest. Pretty much immediately after the bed rest order, Ansel was cleared to leave the NICU and was brought to our room. With me on bed rest, Ben had to do his best to calm Ansel (team member Grandma Barbi wasn’t allowed to come and visit until 1 pm!).

After another high blood pressure reading, the doctor ordered me to be relocated to a new room where they could monitor my blood pressure more consistently. This meant that Ansel was going back to the nursery. My monitoring continued and the doctor, who never came in to actually see me (he was working through the midwife), ordered 24 hours of magnesium treatment. But thankfully, another doctor stepped in and actually checked on me and said we should delay the treatment in hopes that the readings would settle down. Luckily my high readings steadied somewhat. During this time we got word that Ansel had been rushed off to an ultrasound: the doctors couldn’t find one of his testicles. Oh no, he’s gonna need that! That news did wonders for my quest for relaxation. The ultrasound confirmed the doctor’s suspicions -- they found his missing testicle in his abdomen; it just hasn’t descended yet (apparently this is relatively common). Give it time, they said, and so we will.

With my blood pressure more stable, we got to move back up to the recovery room only to find out that Ansel was brought back to the NICU pretty much right after his trip to the ultrasound. He had a “dusky” episode (purple coloring around his mouth) upon returning to the nursery and the doctor wanted to monitor him more closely for low oxygen levels. So back to the routine NICU visits for feeding and such. The next morning I got discharged, but Ansel would spend another day in the NICU before they cleared him for release. One thing we learned: once you are admitted to the NICU, it can take some time before you can get out, even if your baby is perfectly healthy (as pretty much every NICU nurse told us was the case with Ansel).

The in and out of the NICU and the somewhat automatic response to my high blood pressure were frustrating, but overall, the multitude of nurses we interacted with were wonderful throughout our stay, giving great care and being very friendly and warm. We did encounter a certain breed of nurse, the certified lactation consultant, that differed from the rest in their dictatorial breastfeeding speak, but they did have some helpful things to say as well, and we just disregarded the rest.

On Sunday morning, after we spent the night in our apartment without baby, we checked out a Zipcar and installed his carseat. After some discharge activities in the NICU, we got to load him in the car and take him home. Like a true baby, he fell asleep on the short car ride. It felt wonderful to get him to the apartment and show him (while he slept) his home. We took him out of the carseat and placed him into his bed and he continued to sleep, like a little angel.

I am incredibly grateful for the amazing support provided by my husband and my mother; I don’t know how I would have done it without them.

Welcome little Ansel, we are so happy to have you here!!!

P.S. For more photos, visit our Picasa album here.

P.P.S. Grandma Barbi has been posting blog posts and photo albums along the way. Follow the links if you are interested.

The Waiting Game

2008-06-22T20:36:00.015-04:00

As I write this, it is Sunday evening. Elissa's due date was Wednesday, making her four days overdue. So we are playing the waiting game. (And, obviously, Lumpy is winning. He/she is a pro at this as it is his/her life’s work so far.) No worries, though. First babies tend to come a little late.

We have been lucky to have the accompaniment of Elissa’s mom Barb since Monday. This past week, Barb and Elissa (and Lumpy) went on some rather adventurous walks, averaging five miles a day. One of these walks had the goal of finding a travel Scrabble game so Barb could play long-distance Scrabble with her mom (Grandma Barb). Unfortunately the game store was closed when they arrived:

Note says "back at 3pm"

As the note requested, they came back after 3pm. Also Barb and Elissa made some walking trips to plan out the construction of birth announcement cards and designed a prototype but are waiting until the baby arrives to put assembly into full force.

On Thursday, Elissa was starting to get more regular contractions (five to six minute intervals). They still weren’t painful or cramp-like, but they caused significant stomach tightening.

Timing pre-labor contractions

She had a normally scheduled doctor's appointment on Friday. Her OB/GYN confirmed that labor had not started yet. Unfortunately, these pre-labor contractions have persisted since then without escalation into the more painful ones that are associated with the start of labor. At this point we are all wishing pain on to Elissa.

Yesterday, we all walked down to the Arnold Arboretum, a destination we had not yet been to in Boston. We took the subway out a few stops and then walked around Leverett and Jamaica Ponds before strolling through the arboretum.

Elissa and Barb waiting for the subway

Near Leverett Pond, we observed a mother turtle trying to dig a hole to lay her eggs and thought it might be a good omen for Elissa.

Mother turtle

Before we got to the arboretum, I tried to coax Lumpy out.

Ben is powerless to induce labor

After a picnic lunch in the arboretum, we took in the arboretum's sights.

A magnolia (?) flower

Kousa dogwood flowers

Elissa and Barb

Barb and Elissa through a yew bush

Wild rose bushes

After the arboretum walk and a subway ride home (and a short stop at Barnes and Noble’s to pick up “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and a few other baby books), Elissa and Barb headed out to the Hatch Shell to catch a free concert featuring David Cassidy and the 5th Dimension.

David Cassidy, showing off his pop star moves

So, the waiting game continues, with hope that labor starts some time soon. Elissa and Barb are both taking this all in with very positive attitudes and trying to let Lumpy know of the welcoming environment out here.

Elissa (and Lumpy) at sunset

Barb at sunset

Our friend Storage

2008-06-14T17:48:00.003-04:00

So we thoroughly reorganized our apartment, but where did all of our old, not-so-baby-friendly trappings go? Our storage unit, through something like five separate trips.

Bi-pregnancy posting, apparently

2008-06-08T09:22:00.032-04:00

Of course, I thought that I would post multiple times throughout this pregnancy, but alas that has not been the case.

Things here are coming along as smoothly as can be expected, we think. We haven’t really had any bumps along the way with the baby. All doctor appointments have been uneventful. I did manage to trip and fall forward twice, but no direct hits to the tummy, thankfully, just some scraped up knees and wrists. My biggest issues have been: 1) lower back pain; 2) related to (1), loss of sleep (at this point, I have to switch sides at least ten times during the night (something I still haven’t learned to do in my sleep due to the careful pillow placement that must accompany the action) and visit the bathroom at least three times); and 3) a change in mental capability (things at work take longer than they did before, focus feels generally diminished, I often feel scatter-brained, and my dreams are repetitive, tiresome, and noticeably more mundane than they were pre-pregnancy (if that’s possible); I feel I will not be disappointed when it comes time for the placenta to relinquish its control). Whine, whine, whine. Obviously, I’m doing just fine. :)

Here’s a bit about what we’ve been up to the last few months.

In March, we had to say good-bye to some friends departing Boston. First, our friends (and my labmates) J and Ilaria left for their postdocs at Washington University in St. Louis. We really miss having them around (especially me at work) but it sounds like they have settled in nicely to their new location and jobs and that things are going well, so that is great. Then, our friends Rachel, Trey, and Ellis left Boston for Ann Arbor. They have found a much better situation there, which we are so happy about, but of course it is sad they are no longer a short train ride away.

The Scheks at Boston Harbor on our visit to the New England Aquarium (visit their blog for a full post if you like ):

Here is my belly in early March:

And I turned 27. Here is a pic of Lumpy and the custom-ordered mocha frosting (50% by volume) chocolate cake that my sweetheart gave to me:

(I apologize: Blogger seems convinced that this image should be portrait and I can't figure out how to override.)

In April, we got serious about preparing the apartment for baby (though this is still ongoing). Mostly this meant getting rid of a lot of things, and rearranging our bedroom (also the baby’s room). Here is the bedroom arrangement we decided would work best:

Here is my belly in early April:

Later in April, we took a trip to MN, and had two very nice baby showers held in honor of Lumpy. Ben’s aunts Jeanne and Linda, along with mom Joanne, planned a wonderful shower for relatives from Ben’s side of the family. One of the games we played involved tasting baby foods, and, I must say, several of them were quite unpleasant. My aunts Brenda and Burna, sister Anna, along with mom Barbi, planned another wonderful shower for relatives from my side of the family and friends. The highlight here, apart from the people, was certainly the food: a delicious brunch featuring a build-your-own omelet bar (cooked by skilled chefs Uncle Brad, Uncle Mark, and Cousin Tryg)! My mom posted some very nice pictures of the event here. We had a really great trip, and enjoyed seeing everyone immensely.

When we returned to Boston, we were welcomed by the blossoming magnolia trees along Commonwealth Ave. Definitely a great time of year in Boston!

The first weekend in May, we were invited to have brunch with our good friends Erin and HD at their apartment. We walked through the Public Garden on our way there. It was gloomy but pretty:

When we got to their apartment, I found out it was actually a baby shower! I was completely surprised and had a great time! A special thank you to Corin and Erin for making the event happen!

Corin brought home-made truffles with little labels as party favors - very cute and incredibly tasty!

Pretty flowers on my walk to work one May day:

We have taken and enjoyed many walks together on the weekends over the past months. Here we came across lovely tulips in the Public Garden:

On May 20, Ben’s uncle John (Dave’s brother) suffered a traumatic brain injury from a biking accident. This was incredibly sad news and a startling reminder of how fragile life can be. Our thoughts are with John and our family as the recovery process begins and continues. John is definitely making progress, showing some signs of responsiveness, which we are so happy to hear, but still requiring intense medical care. You can see John’s progress on his CaringBridge site here. We continue to keep John in our thoughts and send him our best healing wishes!! PLEASE, everyone, wear your bike helmets!!!!

Here’s my belly in later May:

Also in late May, a new cupcake shop opened, only blocks from our apartment, so we had to give them a try. I have to say they were pretty tasty, and they came in a cute box (see below), but when one cupcake costs the same as the mix and frosting to make 2 dozen of your own, that must factor into the overall ranking: C+.

Ben loves it when I stop to take pictures on our walks:

One of our many apartment projects was staining these night stands (something we’ve been meaning to do since we purchased them 2.5 years ago). We did it up on the roof of our building:

I sincerely hope this is the worst job we ever do at staining and finishing wood furniture. But from far away, you can’t really tell, thankfully:

May also saw the inaugural run (actual shot of the event below! wow!) of Harry, our new Haier portable washing machine (shh! it’s a secret), gift from grandparents-to-be Tom and Barb. It hooks up to our bathroom sink and drains into our bathtub. This thing has been working beautifully. We have now run it six times, almost exclusively for baby stuff, all successful. What a treat! Thanks mom and dad!

I also want to mention the very cool gift we received from our other set of grandparents-to-be, Dave and Joanne: a camcorder for recording the baby! However, after seeing (and hearing - yuck!) footage of ourselves at our baby showers, we have decided that this will be used exclusively for live baby footage, so we have none to share as of yet (I have tried capturing the activity in my belly on camera, but none that is worthy of sharing, I’m afraid).

Up until this past Thursday, I have been going into work (now I am planning to do most of my work at home until the baby comes). When I am at work, I often take pictures out the window near my desk. Here’s a late May storm rolling in:

May was also a month for babies! On May 1, Dalila Jeanne was born to my cousins Jeanne and Tryg (my mom has several posts with pics here (and other albums, too) of the beautiful little girl); May 25, Jaden Michael was born to Ben’s cousin Steven and his girlfriend Lyndsay; and May 27, Anya Grace was born to my high school friends Laura and Chris. Congratulations to all!!! We are so excited to meet your new little ones!

And now, here we are in June. So close to meeting our little one. Our apartment projects have helped us feel better organized and better ready to welcome the baby. Here is our desk-turned-into-changing table in the bedroom:

The Pack ‘n’ Play for sleeping (if sleeping in our bed doesn’t work out):

Our entrance hallway transformed into “garage” storage:

And an electrical cord jungle activity station for playtime in the living room:

We’re not ready, and I’m afraid we’ll never actually feel so, but at least we are part of the way there.

Belly in early June:

Congratulations to mom Joanne who, on Friday, completed her final day of 30+ years of teaching! Happy Retirement! We greatly admire the years of work you put in enriching the lives of so many young ones!!

Yesterday, we went on another walk, and on three occasions had random people ask if I was expecting twins. I’m pretty sure that is not a compliment, but maybe I was asking for it given my dress:

(NOTE: I am not a Red Sox fan! Purchase of this visor was strictly a matter of convenience and price.)

Finally, we have come to accept the fact that we will never be able to complete all of the posts/ albums we have envisioned having over the past several years (OK, this has been a bigger challenge for me than for Ben). But slowly we still intend to go back and fill in the holes. Here are a few recent photo album additions:

July 2006 - Visit to MN featuring Burk Family Reunion

August 2006 - Megan visits Boston

August 2006 - Allanna and Tessa visit Boston

March 2007 - cheating - J’s post about our ski trip to Sunday River in Maine

June 2007 - Boston Picnic

October 2007 - Felix, Barbara, and Joanne visit Boston

December 2007 - cheating - Ilaria’s post about the trip that she and I took to San Diego

A little Lumpy

2008-02-14T01:30:00.004-05:00

A living lump has been growing inside me for 22 ~~months~~ weeks. We have come to refer to it as Lumpy (Mom Burk's suggestion). Lumpy is a good name for now, since it is obviously gender neutral, and isn't likely one of the names we'll be considering for permanent use. Here are some pictures of Lumpy from the ultrasound at 18 weeks.

Sweet little Lumpy

Looks like a monkey! I suppose we aren't actually looking at teeth, but...

does anyone else see the similarity?

Mommy and Auntie visit Boston: First Annual Visit

2008-02-14T00:59:00.003-05:00

My mommy (Barb) and my auntie (Brenda) are coming to Boston tomorrow! In honor of their visit, I thought I would post the pictures from their first visit together, which took place over President's Day Weekend last year. We had a great time despite less than ideal walking conditions, and saw a lot of Boston. This time around, we plan to take a day trip to Newport, RI to see a bit of New England outside of Boston. Here are the photos from (almost exactly) one year ago.

Honeymoon - Part Salzburg

2008-01-27T13:37:00.001-05:00

Salzburg was the final stop on our trip. We met up with Ellis, Rachel, and Trey (Henry). We had a very nice two day stay, enjoying excellent company and scenery. For real blogging about this trip, visit Rachel's posts "The hills are alive with the smell of meat" and "Weekend in Salzburg". For the usual Cosgrove pictures with captions, click here.

Honeymoon - Part Munchen

2008-01-22T00:03:00.000-05:00

I am simply unstoppable! We arrived in Munich after an overnight train from Venice and walked around the Old Town from 7 am until noon when we went to wait for our train to Salzburg. We ate weisswurst before noon and Ben even chased his with some beer! We felt very German. Here are the photos.

Honeymoon - Part Venezia

2008-01-21T00:10:00.000-05:00

Look at me go! One post per day! Woo-hoo! Here are some pictures from our 12 hour visit to Venice. This was our final stop in Italy. We came in on the train in the morning, and left on an overnight train bound for Munich. We mostly walked around outside and spent minimal time in museums. We had really nice weather that day! It was really fun to see this truly unique city, but we were happy with the brevity of our stay. A very nice visit!

Honeymoon - Part Firenze

2008-01-20T01:12:00.000-05:00

Alright, there is about to be a frenzy of new "posts" (i.e. a few sentences linked to a photo album) on this dormant blog. And each one will be amazing... actually, more like, we really want to keep our photos organized and document our experiences, and this is the way we have decided to do it, and you are free to look at it as well, though we don't promise anything interesting.

Here are pictures from Firenze, the heart of the Italian Renaissance. We had a very nice two night, one day stay in Florence. We especially enjoyed the Uffizi. Click here to find out more!

Honeymoon - Part Roma

2007-10-28T23:43:00.000-04:00

Well, ya know, I think that most people would agree it is best to write about one’s travel experiences several months after the fact, once you’ve had time to let all the sights and culture sink in. Nevermind those details that might have gotten lost in the meantime; if they were important, I would remember them, or would have written them down in my trusty travel journal (though, I am afraid it is filled primarily with thoughts on sight-seeing in general, my mood, and reflections on my arguments with my travel partner).

So early Monday morning, we left the Cinque Terre and traveled down the western coast of Italy, through La Spezia, into Rome. Roma was noisy, crazy, smelly, and really wonderful to experience! The streets of Roma were filled with brightly colored buildings (in stark contrast to Paris’ gray stone) and, in most of the areas we walked through, were more like a random mesh than a grid, with streets stopping and starting all over the place.
We had several tasty meals accompanied by good cheaper-than-water wine, walked in the footsteps of the ancient Romans (well, probably not, technically), saw lots of cats (bleckk!), savored the best cappuccino we have ever encountered, avoided being hit by motorbikes speeding down sidewalk-width “streets,” passed by dozens of churches (and peaked in a few), saw the pope (’s quarters), and had one of our top two museum experiences at Galleria Borghese. Paris might have been overall more pleasant and appealing, but for me, Roma may have left a deeper imprint.

According to our friend Ilaria from Latina (about an hour south of Roma), Roma is the best city in the world, while Paris is her favorite (she admits that it is difficult to live IN Roma, but would be happy to live in Paris). I do not feel informed enough to agree or disagree, but I am glad we got to experience both!

Click here for photos, and beware, there are 150+ of 'em and average comment value is low.

Acadia National Park

2007-09-28T23:51:00.001-04:00

Elissa and I spent a weekend camping back in early September in Acadia National Park near Bar Harbor, Maine, with her labmates J (short for Jeremiah) and Ilaria. Acadia was as spectacular as advertised. J and Ilaria were great fun on the trip and made the 5 hour drive each way a breeze. A highly recommended destination -- even the somewhat advance hiking trails (the Beehive) were well worth the effort. Check out our photo album for a detailed wrap up.

View of the Atlantic Ocean near Thunder Hole in Acadia Natl Park

Honeymoon - Part II

2007-06-22T00:23:00.000-04:00

Part II: Cinque Terre, Italia

Things are looking up! It seems I will have posted a new post within two weeks of the last one! I am not sure blogs can handle posting at such high frequencies, but I will keep my fingers crossed.

The Paris to Milan travel leg was a rough patch in our trip, due to a Eurail pass kerfuffle (described below), and the unrelated late arrival of our train into Milan the next morning, causing us to miss our intended train to the Cinque Terre. Nevertheless, we were still able to enjoy the transition in landscape, housing (bright colors!), and people (lively, and a bit pushy) that had occurred during our overnight transport. Our spirits were lifted when we were able to find a room for the night on our first try once we arrived in Riomaggiore, the southern-most village of the Cinque Terre. The Cinque Terre (or Five Lands) are five villages located close together along the northwestern coast of Italy on the Ligurian sea. They are all connected by train and by walking/hiking (depending on which section) paths (there are also additional trails that go up to villages away from the coast, but we stuck to the linear trail connecting the Cinque Terre). There is limited car access to the villages (basically none), which was an added bonus. The scenery was absolutely beautiful! And we had great weather and a very nice walk along the coast, puncuated with brief wanderings through sidewalk-width walkways lined with fun, brightly colored houses in each village. It was truly unique from the rest of our trip and it felt healthy and refreshing, to me anyway, to have a museum-free, historic-site-seeing-free day.
[CINQUE TERRE photos here]

~~~
Our Eurail Pass Conundrum

Waiting for our train to Milano, Italy in Paris’ Bercy Station, traveling tragedy struck: our Eurail pass had been filled out incorrectly. We had purchased a Eurail pass for 8 days of travel for two people between four specified countries. You initialize this pass on your first day of travel, and from then on you are responsible for filling in the day of travel before the officer asks for your ticket on the train. Well, it explicitly says on the pass that if an error is made in filling out the time table, you forfeit that day (i.e. no editing!!). So, Ben, having read this warning and remembering it lightly (I say lightly, because if he had felt the full weight, he probably would have done the filling in himself), asked someone working at the Bercy information station to fill in the correct date, feeling a bit out of touch with such details. But what the station attendant wasn’t thinking about was that, on an overnight train ride, you fill in the NEXT day’s date, not the date of the present evening!!! So, we had incorrectly filled in a date, potentially forfeiting a day of travel. The Bercy station people wrote us a note, explaining what had happened, and included their official stamp. So, we would just have to hope that people checking our ticket that night and the next day would believe our note, and not make us use another day. But then it got worse. The people at the station also seemed to think it would be no big deal if we editied our pass. So, Ben took a stab at it. And this is when it happened: when going from a “2” to a “3”, he chose to add an extra loop on top of the two’s loop, resulting in some sort of 3 with a tail. He came back to me and said “I did it. This is how you would have done it, right?”, showing me the pass. “WHAT?!!?! Did you never have to edit an excuse in school or anything like that?!?!” Everyone I have asked since agrees: don’t leave a tail! Force the bottom line into the bottom loop of the 3!! These are life skills I’m talking about!

I do not know how to properly communicate the amount of angst and negativity this event created for both of us. Even while it was happening, and now as I look back on it, it is surprising how many bad feelings it generated. But when it was all said and done, we used it three times for this date, once on the overnight and twice on 5/13 around Cinque Terre, and only had to suffer through stern looks, and were never forced to forfeit a day of travel. The only person who ended up saying anything was someone at the ticketing window in Florence four days later (“you can’t do that!”), but no consequences followed. Still today, though, just looking at it, I get a little tense (and Ben just shields his eyes).

Honeymoon - Introduction and Part I

2007-06-11T08:43:00.000-04:00

Well, it might actually be happening. The Cosgrove blog has laid dormant too long. Time after time, month after month, pieces of blog entries have been assembled only to collect dust in the circuits of our computers. But this past May, we went on our honeymoon, and we will use this as our rope out of the deep void of posts we seem to have fallen into. So here it is, an introduction to a multi-part series:

The Young Cosgrove’s Honeymoon: Moon, but no honey (nothing romantic about it)

We got married on July 16, 2005. Just under two years later, we set out to see some of Europe’s most toured sites (if so many people go to see them, they must be good  ). This, our “honeymoon,” was an invaluable gift from our Cosgrove parents.

Our research advisors graciously allowed us to take off two full weeks, and we tried to make the most of it. Here is a timeline of events:

Tuesday, May 8 - Leave Boston Logan Airport for Detroit, MI, then Detroit, MI to Frankfurt, Germany

Wednesday, May 9 - Arrive 7 am in Frankfurt, take train to Heidelberg and then Bammental, to spend the day with our good friends, the Scheks; leave Bammental at 10 pm, off to Heidelberg and then overnight to Paris, France

Thursday, May 10 - Arrive 7 am in Paris; spend day sight-seeing, with only one nap

Friday, May 11 - Paris

Saturday, May 12 - Paris; Giverny; leave Paris 8 pm for Italy

Sunday, May 13 - Arrive 8 am in Milan, Italy (late, missed next intended train); caught next train to Riomaggiore, the southern-most town of the Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera; spend day walking between the Cinque Terre

Monday, May 14 - Leave Riomaggiore for La Spezia, and then on to Rome; walked around Rome

Tuesday, May 15 - Rome

Wednesday, May 16 - Rome; in evening, took the train to Florence

Thursday, May 17 - Florence

Friday, May 18 - Depart 8 am on train to Venice; around Venice during the day, including the island of Murano; depart 10:30 pm for Munich, Germany

Saturday, May 19 - Arrive 7 am in Munich, spend morning walking around Munich’s Old Town; depart Munich around 1 pm for Salzburg, Austria; meet up with the Schek family and see some of the sights

Sunday, May 20 - Salzburg with Scheks

Monday, May 21 - Salzburg with Scheks; depart 5 pm on train back to Bammental, Germany

Tuesday, May 22 - Depart Bammental 6 am for airport, Frankfurt to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Boston, MA, arriving around 6 pm

NOTE ON FORM: In order to make these posts something we can actually hope to complete, we will give a few notes on the blog about the places we visited, and then link to a photo album, accompanied by scintillating details delivered in witty prose . . . well, not really, but there are captions, so if you are interested, take a look. Many of the “factual tidbits” I’ve included are direct from Lonely Planet, and less often, Rick Steves. (To see entirety of longer comments, you will have to view the album in slideshow mode or double-click on the picture.)

Part I: Arrival, Paris, and Giverny

Our overseas flight went very smoothly, except when Ben, in his sleep, decided that I shouldn’t be reading, and turned off my light as though I wasn’t even sitting there, and I burst into tears (I think I was tired, having given up on sleeping, and affected by the movie I had just seen, “Letters from Iwo Jima”), but he didn’t notice because he was asleep. Other than that little bump, we had a smooth trip into Frankfurt and onward by train to Bammental. It was great to see our friends in Germany! We spent the morning and afternoon hanging out with Rachel and Ellis, who is, as of 5 days ago, a whole year old! He is incredibly adorable and fun to play with, making cute noises, and in general a very happy baby. Rachel even ran some errands and left me to play with him, and he didn’t get upset. Ben took one nap. Trey joined us for dinner and the rest of the evening. We were sad to say bye again so quickly, but it sounded like there was a good chance they would be able to meet up with us at the end of our trip, so that served as consolation.
[ARRIVAL photos here]

Paris was beautiful and peaceful. It felt less touristy than most of the cities we visited afterwards. We stayed in a nice hotel in the Latin Quarter, and enjoyed the convenience of that location. We had very decent weather, with only a bit of rain our first day there. I think my favorite part of Paris was just walking around, peering down street after street, each time seeing a sight that might inspire a painting . . . beautiful stone buildings decorated with iron balconies and railings and sometimes plants, with buildings often forming a perimeter and opening into courtyards. And a café on every corner, of course. Ben’s favorite site of Paris was the view from the Arc de Triomphe. The French people we encountered were in general very polite and patient with our terrible attempts at French words, and didn’t even seem grumpy about having to speak English with us (maybe we got lucky) (and I must give Ben credit, he was better than I was with the French pronunciation). I am guessing our jet-lag yielded its strongest effects on this leg of our trip, contributing to countless arguments and little “romance,” as so many told me Paris would be (I think I almost felt pressure for it to be so!), and, every so often, a blunting of the senses, maybe contributing to the “peaceful” feeling we walked away with (I don’t remember many crowds . . .). We each came into our roles on the trip, serving as dual (dueling?) tour guides, me using our Lonely Planet resources (“they say this . . .”) and the compact Streetwise maps, and Ben with Rick Steves’ Best of Europe (“Steve says that . . .”) and the larger maps that provided more detail but had to be strategically refolded each time we walked a few blocks. This fueled countless (incredibly meaningful) arguments about which way to turn or what a building was . . . great practice for our marriage! Overall, though, the combo of these resources served us well, even, in some cases, complementing each other. We had a great time walking all around the city and seeing many of its sights!
[PARIS photos here]

In the afternoon of our third day in Paris, while there were still plenty of things we could have seen in the city, we decided to take a train out to Monet’s gardens in Giverny. This turned out very well, as I think it helped us to slow down a bit, it was nice to see a bit (even if it was a very small bit) of France outside of Paris, and the gardens were beautiful and very fun to spend time in. We were really able to relax, which was healthy for our moods in general.  I think we were lucky, too, as the guide books described it was very touristy, and there really wasn’t too much of a crowd the day we went out there.
[GIVERNY photos here]

new photos: nov 2006 - fall in boston

2007-01-10T23:48:00.001-05:00

From 2006.11 - fal...

My Benny

2006-10-28T23:16:00.000-04:00

One of the (many) reasons I hesitate from posting on the blog is that I don’t have any really exciting things to share, especially no wonderful baby pictures, like so many of the sites I like to visit. But then I thought, what about my sweet hubby Benny? Surely he is subject matter worthy of at least one post. So here are a few pics from Bunji’s 311th-314th months:

Excited for a scrumptious McD’s breakfast at Logan Airport, waiting for our 6 am flight home

Enjoying Famous Dave’s BBQ ribs at the Burk family reunion outside Eau Claire, WI (I recommend zooming in if you want to fully appreciate the sauce-on-the-face)

Insect Ben

Practicing his form for using the bathroom in the BWCA

Hungry for a cupcake at The Magnolia Bakery in NYC

Out past his bedtime at a jazz club downtown Chicago

Mornin’ Benny brushin’ his teeth

An unexpected but very welcome encounter with a Jimmy Johns on a walk around Chicago

*That’s Bunji (boon-gee), my favorite nickname for Ben. I also like Jamin, and I enjoy his eye rolls and obligatory chuckles when I sing the corresponding chorus from Bob Marley’s "Jamming."

**On the subject of “Bunji”, our cell phones have a poorly designed feature where, if one of the buttons on the OUTSIDE of the phone is held down, the phone goes into “driving mode” (poorly designed in my opinion because it happens accidentally all too often, and I have never chosen to use it intentionally). When you get a phone call in this mode, instead of ringing, the phone says “BEEP [female voice] Call from [male voice] (caller’s name here),” with the awkward timing characteristic of computerized announcements. And the story: one time when the Dr. Pepper Lip Smackers (the best!) in my purse decided to activate driving mode, Ben called, and the phone said “BEEP [female voice] Call from [male voice] Bunji,” only it decided the correct pronunciation of Bunji was bun-gee, like a bungee cord (umm, wrong!). And so, I must correct the statement above, as I now have intentionally entered this mode at least twice and had Ben call me for a good laugh for both of us. (I don’t know, maybe you had to be there.)

New York, New York

2006-10-01T22:36:00.000-04:00

Or, Our weekend trip to New York City, in which we attend a Sufjan Stevens concert, see our good friends Melanie and Megan, and take in the glorious sites of Manhattan.

On Friday afternoon, Elissa and I each cut out of lab early and grabbed a Greyhound from South Station in Boston direct to the Port Authority Bus Terminal just off of Times Square in Manhattan. Once in Manhattan, we caught a subway to Brooklyn to drop off our luggage at Megan and Mel’s apartment and then had to grab the subway back to Manhattan to catch the evening’s Sufjan Stevens concert.

Sufjan Stevens and his ensemble band were playing their first of three consecutive shows at the venerable Town Hall. Elissa and I had the fortune of seeing Sufjan play in Boston last fall at the Somerville Theatre just three blocks from our old house. Since he wasn’t coming to Boston on this tour, we had to venture all the way down to New York. Sufjan played a diverse mix of songs from his two ‘states’ albums (Michigan and Illinois), his ‘religious’ album (Seven Swans), his upcoming Songs for Christmas album, and a completely new song called Majesty Snowbird. If you are interested, follow these YouTube links for a few videos from the show:

“The Transfiguration” (Elissa recommends!)
“Majesty Snowbird” (Ben recommends!)

Sufjan Stevens, Town Hall

On Saturday morning, we ventured out to Central Park with Mel. We saw the acres of tennis courts, running paths, the Reservoir, and the Great Lawn and took some pictures to prove it.

Elissa and Mel, Central Park

View at the Reservoir, Central Park

View up to the Belvedere Castle, Central Park

View from Belvedere Castle overlooking
the Turtle Pond and the Great Lawn, Central Park

Ben and Mel guarding a gate in the Ramble, Central Park

We headed out of the park and went south into Manhattan to see the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA).

MOMA entrance

MOMA was quite possibly the best art museum experience I have ever had. Beautiful, orderly galleries packed to the brim with breathtaking art. Most impressive was the utter efficiency with which the world-class art was presented: there was little room for waste and exhaustive cataloging (go to the Met for that). (Disclaimer: Elissa does not support my disparaging statements regarding the Met’s excesses [blog disagreement #1].) Here are some highlights:

Elissa and Rodin’s Monument to Balzac

Klimt's The Park

(This Klimt was stunning in person, the digital camera doesn’t do it justice.)

Pollock’s Number 1, 1948

MOMA’s outdoor garden

After a long day of walking through Central Park and MOMA, we retreated back to Brooklyn and met up with Megan before heading out to dinner at Café Steinhof, a restaurant specializing in “Austrian comfort food”, just a few blocks from their apartment. Elissa went with the avocado and tomato sandwich and I the weiner schnitzel with roast potatoes. I found the schnitzel to be a bit tough, and nowhere near as good as what I had in Schwetzingen -- c’mon, why no spatzel?! But make no mistake, this is no Pie Hole post, here we specialize in photos and mildly informative commentary. While we waited for our food to arrive, we all contemplated the meaning of friendship and the joys of Elissa’s digital camera.

Ben, Mel, and Megan at Café Steinhof

On Sunday morning, Elissa and I said goodbye to Mel and Megan and ventured out with all of our baggage for one last bout of Manhattan site-seeing before catching the Greyhound back to Boston. We attempted to purchase a pair of cheap tickets through TKTS Tickets for an afternoon Broadway show at both their South Seaport and Times Square locations but came away empty-handed due to a restrictive combination of our spending limits and the limited availability of tickets to the Drowsy Chaperone. No worries though, we had a whole day and the entirety of Manhattan at our disposal.

Ben, with souvenirs

On 5th Avenue, we encountered what appeared to be a Polish parade (the shouts of “Polska! Polska!” sort of gave it away). We shortly realized that this was the New York City version of Casimir Pulaski Day, a holiday celebrated to honor the Polish-American Revolutionary War General Casimir Pulaski. In most places, this holiday is celebrated on the first Monday of March, but, for some reason that is as yet unknown to us, it was being celebreated on October 1st here in New York City. This encounter seemed fitting given that Sufjan Stevens had closed out the concert with his song entitled “Casimir Pulaski Day."

General Pulaski float

We continued our walk, stopping at the paper specialty store that Elissa had eyed ahead of time (but ultimately found to be disappointing) and the utterly rare (at least in Massachusetts) burrito mecca Chipotle. Since we still had a few hours to kill, we journeyed towards The Magnolia Bakery, famous for its cupcakes. After waiting in line for ten minutes, we got into the tiny store and picked out a half dozen, including a German chocolate cupcake, which was as good as it sounds. (Elissa went with the traditional options and was very pleased.)

Cupcakes galore, Magnolia Bakery

After our bakery stop, we grabbed the subway back uptown to the Port Authority Bus Terminal for our Greyhound back to Boston. Just 10 blocks out of the station, our driver stopped the bus to let us know that the A/C was broken and that we would need to wait for a replacement bus. By voice vote, our fellow riders agreed to proceed onwards without a functional A/C as long as the bus’ roof vents were opened to let in fresh air, affording us this nice view of Manhattan skyrises:

Unfortunately, this decision greatly displeased an older woman and she took the occasion, two hours later into the trip, to loudly and repeatedly complain to the driver about the breezy, cool conditions inside the bus. The driver responded to these complaints by pulling the bus over and threatening to order another bus to come and get us unless the passengers stopped complaining to him in the manner that the older woman had just done. Eventually, the driver decided against getting a new bus, closed the ceiling vents, and got back on the road, but for a solid five minutes I was fairly certain that we were going to be stuck in the middle of Connecticut for two hours waiting for another bus to pick us up just because an old lady complained that it was cold on the bus. Fun times on the Greyhound.

Big clouds outside the bus

Film Night at Tanglewood

2006-08-13T22:44:00.000-04:00

Each summer the Boston Pops Orchestra resides at Tanglewood in the Berkshires in western Massachusetts. This past Saturday night was Film Night at Tanglewood. The film scores to be played included Star Wars and Memoirs of a Geisha and the special guests were none other than John Williams, Yo-Yo Ma, and James Earl Jones. It sounded too good for Elissa and me to pass up.

We headed west out of Boston with some of friends from my program and stopped for lunch in Lee, Mass. at Joe’s Diner. Joe’s Diner was the setting for one of Norman Rockwell’s paintings (The Runaway) and is located only a few miles from the Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass. We each got a hamburger and split a strawberry milkshake and root beer -- all were excellent.

Joe’s Diner

On the wall at Joe’s Diner, the setting for Rockwell’s The Runaway

Our friends Dave, Megan, and Kurt waiting for some delicious diner food
Elissa sports a Joe’s Diner hat

After lunch, we drove up to Mt. Greylock State Park and picked out a short hiking route (0.8 miles, moderate difficulty) as our full stomachs collectively argued against anything more difficult or longer. The hike ended at a nice waterfall:

The waterfallKurt takes a dip in the waterfall

The drive back down Mt. Greylock offered some outstanding views:

The view from Mt. Greylock

It was a short drive from Mt. Greylock to Tanglewood. At Tanglewood, it is common practice to bring a picnic dinner with blankets, chairs, candles -- anything goes -- and we were no exception. We found a nice space on the lawn and made it ours:

Tanglewood lawn

We brought way too much food -- guacamole, ramen noodle salad, two quiches (made by Dave), bread, cheese, banana bread (made by Megan and Kurt), worse-than-water wine, juice boxes -- and couldn’t finish it all. Since we had a bit of time before the concert started, we snuck in a short game of Settlers of Catan right there on the Tanglewood lawn. (Settlers seems to be a trend in our blog-posts!)

Ben pours wine into fancy plastic glasses

The picnic feast

Settlers of Catan

After dinner, the sun set on Tanglewood and temperatures dropped quickly. We scurried to put on pants and jackets before the concert began. From our place on the lawn we could not see the stage inside the main shed but still could hear the music fabulously and see some of the action on stage through a pair of video monitors.

The sun setting on Tanglewood, pt. 1

The sun setting on Tanglewood, pt. 2

Our view of the Tanglewood stage

The concert started with John Williams conducting the Pops Orchestra through some of his material from the War of the Worlds and Close Encounters scores. Then Yo-Yo Ma was introduced and soloed his way through the suite from Memoirs of a Geisha. Following a short intermission, John Williams pointed out his good friend Steven Spielberg was in the crowd (which yielded cheers from the audience), and introduced James Earl Jones (aka Darth Vader), who proceeded to narrate as the orchestra played bits from all the Star Wars films. Jones’ narration introducing the crowd to the various characters in the Star Wars universe was remarkably serious (or, maybe, comically serious). He actually fumbled about 10% of his lines, which contributed significantly to the (perhaps unintentional) comic element of the narration. Nonetheless, the orchestra hit all the big pieces from the films and the crowd loved it. Throughout the concert, we could see plenty of stars overhead, including many shooting stars from the Perseid meteor shower (very Star Wars appropriate!). After the Star Wars suite, John Williams and the Pops came back out for a brief encore of music from E.T. A very fun evening…

Germany Trip (July 2006)

2006-08-08T21:38:00.000-04:00

It’s here! The young Cosgroves’s Germany post has arrived. I apologize in advance: I have trouble with moderation in tasks such as this; it seems the options were nothing or too much, so consider yourself warned (one of you might regret your 'mega-schmega' comment).

Synopsis

Our Germany plans began when Ben and his advisors decided that he should attend a conference there (“Conference on Systems Biology of Mammalian Cells”). We decided that I would accompany him, as the conference was in Heidelberg, where our good friends from Ann Arbor (my former labmate Trey and his wife Rachel) are currently living (with their one month - wait, now two months! - old son Ellis) while Trey works as a postdoc at the European Molecular Biology Lab (EMBL). We stayed for almost a week (Ben’s conference was only for three days) with the Schek family and had a wonderful trip, experiencing interesting, beautiful sites, and enjoying wonderful company!

We got there!

Our journey from Boston to Frankfurt was elongated due to storms in Boston during our scheduled take off. After sitting on a Detroit-bound plane for 2.5 hours still attached to the jetway, we finally got off the plane and began waiting for an Amsterdam flight. All in all, when we got into Frankfurt at noon on the next day, we had really only been delayed 4 hours. Some highlights of the wait and the trans-Atlantic flight included: Logan Airport cuisine; trying to make a cell phone call to Germany to alert Trey of the complications, which involved a 15 minute conversation with a Verizon customer service agent, in which I learned about her first wedding and marriage, her children, and her next wedding (this month!); between 1/3 and 1/2 of the passengers on our plane participating in “Airobics”; Arrested Development on Ben’s computer; 2 hours of sleep = a good night’s rest.

(Below: we had seats on the left side of the plane, looking north, and so the sky was never completely dark. The airplane wing is in the foreground, and through our eyes, we could see stars at the same time.)

We arrived in Frankfurt not really knowing what to expect, since we had never actually gotten ahold of Trey after the change in flights. But, as we walked through customs (without even having to slow down), we saw that Trey was waiting for us, which was really nice because this way we were able to get into Heidelberg in time for the start of Ben’s conference. I seemed to be a lot more alert and excited than Ben, which, upon examination, we thought was likely related to the fact that Ben had to work and think while I got to go on to Bammental and see Rachel and meet wonderful little Ellis.

Bammental

Trey and Rachel live in a village called Bammental, about a 15 minute train ride from Heidelberg. The streets in Bammental were very still and quiet, and there was an abundance of lush, well-kept gardens. When Trey and I arrived at the Schek residence, Rachel and Ellis were there to greet us. Ellis was so small!! He was being very sweet (like he was almost all of the time, from what we observed).

Their apartment has a very open floorplan with lots of windows and natural light. It was a very pleasant place to stay. Here is the view from their back porch, into the house (across the dining room and the living room), and in back of the house:

Rachel and I spent the afternoon chatting and watching Ellis (hours and hours of entertainment) while Ben was at the conference and Trey was at work. After awhile, I got up the courage to hold Ellis, and after that I was hooked. I tried not to be an Ellis hog, but sometimes it was hard to hold back.

That evening, we had a tasty dinner cooked by Rachel and Trey. After dinner, Ben needed a 20 minute nap, but that was really a joke; he was done for the day. I went for a walk with Trey and Scout, their 2 year old Brittany spaniel, who got to run all around in the open field near their house and show off her trained-ness. She even knows the command “cool down!” (or was it cool off? something to that effect, anyway) which upon hearing, she dashes into the creek that runs along the edge of the field. Overall, Scout seemed to be doing very well: good behavior around the house, hardly triggering my allergies at all, looking pretty and healthy, and following Trey’s orders . . . for the most part.

After Scout was done playing (maybe she would have played all night, but we were ready to go), we went into the village and got some ice cream from a place that Trey and Rachel frequent, I believe. It was very good, and the fruity flavors really tasted like fruit! Here are the boys at the end of another evening walk with their ice cream.

As we walked through Bammental, it was amazing how quiet and empty the streets were. Maybe it was especially striking to Ben and me since we are currently surrounded by nonstop noise at our Boston location. One night as we walked down a street, two ladies were having a conversation from two separate houses across the street from each other, and they were speaking at volumes as though they were in the same room (see if you can pick them out in the picture).

The next day, Ben went to the conference (he managed to ride the train from Bammental to Heidelberg all by himself but did sit in the first class section accidently and consequently got yelled at by the ticket checker in German), Trey went to work, and Rachel, Ellis, Scout and I hung out at the apartment. We all (minus Scout) went into town for grocery shopping and delicious lunch of kebap - yum!! We went to the fresh grocery where we got tasty fruit, and to the supermarket, where we got basics for dinner, as well as fresh bread from the bakery inside. Back at the apartment, we watched a movie and hung out with Ellis. When Ellis was awake, his arms often seemed in constant motion. He really has the “show your muscles” pose down, fists and everything. Stretching also appeared to be a very popular and important activity. I might have taken a few (hundred) pictures of Ellis. He didn’t seem too camera shy when I would hover over him (which I really tried not to do too much), trying to capture the incredible cuteness (which wasn’t actually possible, but I did my best). Fortunately, he found the wrist string hanging down from the camera completely fascinating! I took a few short video clips of Ellis being Ellis (yawning, stretching, moving his mouth really cute while he slept), so if you are interested, you can access them below. (I highly recommend, especially if you want that a bit of that warm, fuzzy feeling.) That night, we had another delicious home cooked meal thanks to Rachel and Trey.

Video of Ellis yawning

Video of Ellis sleeping

Video of Ellis movin' to the beat

Heidelberg (along with EMBL, Bierhelderhof, and Konigstuhl)

On Friday after lunch, Rachel, Ellis, and I took the train into Heidelberg to meet up with Ben, once he was finished with his conference. (Oh yeah, Ben gave a talk and presented his poster, which both went well. He was even complemented by an Englishman attending the conference: “your English is very good” (about 80% of those attending were German). Ben told him he sure hoped it was, as it is his only language.) The train ride into town was very beautiful, running along the Neckar River. In Heidelberg, we walked down the Hauptstrasse, visiting the large once-Catholic-now-protestant church, visiting shops and purchasing souvenirs, and taking in the scenery.

Heidelberg Hauptstrasse

Heidelberg Cathedral

Cathedral interior

Cathedral stained glass window

Pilsner glasses full of beer flavored gummies!!

Ellis' mode of transportation: the ring sling

Neuenheim, directly across the river from the convention center

Heidelberg Convention Center, location of Ben's conference

That evening, we took a bus up the big hill to meet Trey at EMBL and went inside to see his lab. We went to dinner at Bierhelderhof, enjoying outdoor dining in very pleasant weather overlooking a green pasture, and excellent food, of course.

After dinner, we drove up to Konigstuhl, located at the top of the big hill that rises up behind Heidelberg (the castle sits partway up on this hill). The view down was a bit clouded due to the mugginess, but you can sort of get the idea. You can see the Neckar along with Heidelberg and the surrounding area.

Train tracks up to Konigstuhl

The roads up on the big hill were a bit scary. They weaved in and out of the dense forest and back and forth up the steep incline. In a few spots, it looked as though we were on the set of one of those car commercials where the car zooms around bends through a picturesque forest road.

Back in Bammental, we played the board game Settlers of Catan. This game has been a staple in the activities that we have enjoyed with Rachel and Trey (eating really good food, often prepared by the two of them, is another). Partly in honor of our visit, they had purchased the German version of the game (the game was originally developed in German), which was exciting because it had different pieces and pictures than the version that we are used to playing back in the States. I won. It is possible that motherhood has softened Rachel, or that, for both Trey and Rachel, having a child has really put a game of Settlers in perspective. Or that I am one of the greatest players to ever play the game. We played again the next night (sans Rachel, as Ellis was having a bit of trouble falling asleep), and I “womped on” (as my mom would say) Trey and Ben. All hail Elissa, ruler of Catan! Here is a picture of German Settlers (and of my dominating victory):

The German Wine Road

On Saturday morning, we set out for a visit to a winery in the village of Gimmeldingen along the German Wine Road. After finding our original destination was closed for a private event, we ended up at Weingut Klohr, where we were treated to many very good white wines and a few interesting red ones. Additionally, they brought out a plate of interesting meats (liverwurst, blood sausage, and something “like head-cheese only butt”), none of which I would likely eat again by my own choosing. It was a fun setting, and Trey did very well interacting with the man helping us and relaying all of the information to the rest of our group.

Road through Gimmeldingen, grape vines growing throughout!

Rachel and Ellis find some shade

On car trips, I got the best seat in the house - right next to the sweet sleeping baby, and with a view straight out the front of the car. Here we are navigating our way out of Gimmeldingen.

Speyer Cathedral

From the German Wine Road, we proceeded to Speyer, located along the Rhine River. The main attraction was the gigantic Romanesque imperial Cathedral of Speyer (Kaiserdom). None of the pictures I took communicate the grandeur of this cathedral. It was quite a sight. Here is what Trey said about the cathedral on his blog post: “The cathedral was in the older heavy Romanesque style, which isn't as ornate as the later Gothic catherdrals on post cards and jigsaw puzzles. Inside the cathedral had two unique features. First the stones were an array of colors. In some places they were random and others the were in carefully arranged in patterns. The nave was set with several paintings of bible stories like the ones in the picture. The church crypt is the burial place of several unremarkable Holy Roman Emporers as well.” Yes, exactly!

Overhead shot of cathedral (from internet); Rhine River in upper left corner

Ben at cathedral entrance

Cathedral interior

Speyer

After visiting the cathedral, we ate in Speyer, and then returned to Bammental for some rest and relaxation.

Schwetzingen Castle Gardens

On Sunday (our one year wedding anniversary), we drove to Schwetzingen to visit the castle gardens. We first ate lunch in town. For a very cute series of pictures of Ellis at this lunch (with very fun captions from Trey), look here. Here’s the blissful one-year-old couple:

Ben helping out at the asparagus statue in Schwetzingen

The castle gardens were expansive and beautiful! (They are described by UNESCO as “one of the most significant works of horticultural art.”) There were flower gardens, pruned tree arched walkways, numerous statues (including Apollo, Athena, and Pan), temples, fountains, a mosque, artificial ruins, a beautiful bathhouse (sorry, no pics allowed), a variety of birds, and nice wooded areas with paths through and to everything. Most of the items in the gardens were commissioned by the Palatinate Elector (local ruler) Carl Theodor in the 1700s (I think). Schwetzingen Castle was his summer residence (Heidelberg Castle was his home). Now the gardens belong to and are completely run by the local community. Trey said that one of his colleagues told him that virtually every teenager growing up in the town holds a job there for a summer or two.

Flower garden with stag fountains in the distance

Ben observing Pan

Kids-playing-with-goat statue

Monkey Ellis

Bird Fountain - on most days, the birds lining the upper rim spout water

Mosque - under repair

Elissa in the Temple of Athena

Video of Schwetzingen Castle Garden

Boat trip up the Neckar

On Monday, Ben and I ventured out on our own back into Heidelberg, where we hopped on a boat tour that went up the Neckar River to Neckarsteinach and back. The boat ride proceeded at a leisurely pace while our guide shared facts about sites we passed in three languages - German, English, and French. It was a beautiful day, though a bit hot in the sun, and we had a very relaxing time. A good chunk of the time on the boat was spent in locks, as we had to pass through two to get to our destination (and then again on the way back, of course). The land surrounding the river was covered with densely packed trees, and we had a good view of many villages as we passed. We saw campers all along the banks. Neckarsteinach is home to four old castles, sprinkled along the river, apparently commissioned by four brothers who did not want to live together. Two are currently inhabited (one of these two, partially covered with vines, is pictured below).

Village along the Neckar

Two currently uninhabited castles

Monday night we had our final meal with Trey and Rachel: green beans from their garden, cheese-tomato-spinach stuffed turkey breast, and zuchini fries. Delicious!

Germany Notes/ Observations

almost all Germans we encountered were quite patient with our inability to speak German
obey crosswalks (no jaywalking - really!); this seemed to create a more relaxed feel amongst pedestrians
scheduled breaks: stores close for a 2 hour midday break
houses: red roofs everywhere, very stereotypical “European” look
fast drivers on the autobahn? most definitely
a striking difference in defining an historic site: Boston - 16/1700’s vs. Germany - 1000’s (or earlier!)

Auf Wiedersehen!

Rachel and Ellis very kindly took us to the airport on Tuesday morning. We got there with plenty of time and had a safe, smooth, uneventful trip home. We had a great time in Germany, but the highlight was spending time with our friends (and meeting a new one :) )!

comments & mega-update in the queue

2006-07-20T08:45:00.000-04:00

[1] my apologies to those who diligently have been trying to post comments on our blog. i enabled comment moderation accidently which held all your witty comments in a secret island somewhere on the internet until i waved my magic wand. well today i waved that wand and disabled comment moderation so you all should be seeing your comments as soon as you submit them.

[2] expect a mega-update on our recent germany trip very soon.

Cape Cod weekend

2006-07-02T22:45:00.000-04:00

Elissa’s parents, Tom and Barb, visited Boston two weeks ago and we took the opportunity to visit a few Boston sites that had so far missed our grasp and to make our first trip down to Cape Cod.

Before heading down to the Cape, we subjected Tom and Barb to multiple walking tours of Boston (pay attention possible guests: we reward your travel out to the east coast with cozy apartment confines and repeated three-hour walks through our fair borough of Boston). On subsequent days, the four of us took afternoon-long walks through Boston, hitting up such destinations as Boston Public Garden and Common, Quincy Market, Long Wharf, Charlestown, Bunker Hill, and the Museum of Science. We found out after deciding to take the harbor taxi from Long Wharf over to Charlestown that the Bunker Hill Monument grounds were closed for the summer due to repairs. Alas, we still climbed up the hill to see the monument. The view from beyond the chain link fence was still sufficiently historic-looking and the walk back down the hill and over to the T stop was ever more rewarding. In one of the few times Elissa and I let her parents venture out into the city unsupervised, Tom and Barb went up to Harvard Square to visit the Longfellow house, site of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s family home and also George Washington’s residence during the beginning of the Revolutionary War. The house sits on Tory Row, which was quickly vacated by British Loyalists during the build-up to the war for the safer confines of Boston proper. Here is a view from the back garden of the house:

Early Saturday morning, we piled into our Zipcar (Scion xB Bento for those in the know, see a photo below of the lovely, boxy beast) and headed like all good New Englanders for a Cape Cod weekend. At the recommendation of many locals with opinions about traffic patterns, we aimed to get to the Cape by 8am, which implies a 5am Boston departure time. Little did we know that the cruel New England weather gods prescribed a weekend of steady rain that kept all the regulars away from the Cape and meant we had no competition for highway space. Shortly after 8am, we drove up US6, the main north-south drag on the Cape, and pulled into Wellfleet. Wellfleet is a small town situated on the bay side of the Cape about half-way up its skinny arm that is home to (apparently) world famous Wellfleet oysters and some delicious seafood (I will get to that later). We grabbed some breakfast at the Lighthouse, an all-purpose café in Wellfeet and then headed out across to the sea side of the Cape to visit Marconi Beach. Besides a fisherman and a surfer, we had the beach to ourselves. Amidst on-and-off rains, we tramped through the high tide and saw a large seal swimming up the coast. As the rains picked up, we shuttled over to Marconi Station, the site of one of the first transatlantic radio transmissions and then up to Race Point Beach and the Province Lands Visitor Center at the northernmost tip of the Cape before retreating to our motel located just off US6 in North Truro. Cleaned and rested, we headed back to Wellfeet and had some remarkably good seafood at Mac’s Shack in Wellfeet. Barb had fish and chips, Tom had lobster, Elissa had scallops with curry, garlic mashed potatoes, and seaweed salad, and Ben had grilled tuna -- all highly recommended!!

On Sunday, we drove into Provincetown and visited the Pilgrim Monument and Museum. They don’t teach it in elementary school but the Pilgrims first landed on Cape Cod, shuffled around for a few weeks, stole some corn from the natives, and moved onto the other side of Cape Cod Bay to what they eventually called Plymouth. Provincetown is famous for the abundance of its shops and diversity of its citizenry and we observed both. Unfortunately, Barb’s efforts to find some Cape Cod-esque pottery were thwarted. We returned to our motel and then grabbed some typical tavern food at a restaurant in Truro -- the food was a bit of a letdown considering the great seafood we had eaten the night before.

Monday greeted us with nice weather and sunshine. After checking out of the motel, we drove over to the Highland Light, which overlooks the sea side coast of the Cape. Here are some photos of the light house and its surroundings:

Before departing the Cape and returning to Boston, we stopped at pottery shop in Truro and Barb finally found a piece of local Cape Cod pottery to bring home. Then, it was off to Plymouth for a history lesson. In Plymouth, we happened upon a replica of the Mayflower (appropriately called the Mayflower II).

Tom and Barb paid the fee to board the ship while Elissa and I waited dockside.

Later we moved on to the viewing post for the remaining chunk of so-called Plymouth Rock (the second American landing place of the Pilgrims). Supposedly, it was much bigger until folks realized that taking chunks of the rock for museums and the like would ultimately lead to its demise. Now, it is caged like a wild animal so schools kids can’t get their sticky fingers on it.

We wandered up to a cemetery where many of the Pilgrims, including William Bradford, are buried.

And then loaded back into our Zipcar (as piloted by yours truly) and aimed northward to Boston.

I would be derelict in my blogging duties not to mention that our lovely Scion was home to a rowdy crew and was always clearly identified as shown in the photo below.

(sign in car window reads: Anna Burk's family vehicle)

All in all, your typical Cape Cod weekend.

fridge portraiture

2006-06-29T21:54:00.000-04:00

a while back elissa drew my portrait on our fridge dry-erase:

compare it to the real thing:

marathon '06

2006-04-17T18:39:00.000-04:00

Today we took in the splendor of our first Boston Marathon. The elite racers put on a show, the fans were boisterous, and our friend BC gutted out a 3hr 19min to which all involved earn many congrats.

-Ben

See if you can find BC in the picture below:

mile 25

2006-04-17T01:18:00.000-04:00

Our apartment is conveniently located on Hereford St in Boston's Back Bay. This give us excellent proximity to shopping, restaurants, public transportation, both BU and MIT, and -- of course -- the Boston Marathon. In mile 25 of the race, the course makes a short, two-block hitch from Commonwealth Ave through Hereford St to the final few blocks on Boylston St. That means our building's roof affords us great views of the race spectacle. We will report back about the marathon goings-on tomorrow. Until then, Happy Easter and Happy Patriot's Day.

Mile 25:

Blossoming trees on Commonwealth Ave:

-Ben

tulips but not cherry blossoms

2006-04-17T00:44:00.000-04:00

Elissa and I were in Washington D.C. two weeks back with hopes of catching the reknowned cherry blossom season. Unfortunately hard rains and an early bloom were against us and the blossom peak had passed. Luckily, the tulip garden maintained by the National Park Service just off the Mall was in bloom. On the non-botanical side of the trip, we got to visit some high school friends from Minnesota and my cousin who works in D.C. We also registered our first visits to the National Holocaust Museum and the National Museum of the American Indian, which both got high marks. Oh, and the D.C. metro win points over Boston for cleanliness and cool display boards.

Not-in-full-bloom cherry blossoms on the tidal basin:

Tulips in bloom:

Nat'l Museum of the American Indian [exterior]:

-Ben

Ben's research webpage

2006-04-16T16:36:00.000-04:00

My lab's research webpage has been relaunched. Here is a link to my profile on the webpage.

-Ben

...like it's 1999.

2006-01-19T22:41:00.000-05:00

some old photos...

(1) '80s nerd/punk day.
'twas the culmination of spirit week 1999. but where are they now?
...from left to right: boston, ma / washington, dc / bloomington, mn (at his parents' house, i do believe) / 3000 leagues under the indian ocean. [not pictured: paul b as an '80 punk, i am guessing that he was roaming the halls for fresh meat to pound.]

(2) it's a grammer-off!, council-style.
no comment other than andy looks like he's trying to look all bad but really can't pull it off.

-ben

2006.

2006-01-05T14:53:00.000-05:00

it's 2006 and we are back in boston. 'twas a very nice holiday with family and friends. let's make this a good year, shall we?

work becons and the apartment needs tidying. the blog must wait its turn. it's funny how 2006 seems awfully alot like 2005.

peace on earth.
ben