Happy New Year!

While Connor and Ed are out looking for digger trucks and checking how the construction of a bridge over a nearby creek is going and Helen is busy working off her New Year's Eve buzz - I figured I should enter this long overdue update.

I got a new camera for Christmas - a digital SLR - and I am loving it. Only problem is, I haven't yet recalled everything I learned in my Smithsonian camera class a few years back - so I'm hopelessly relying on the auto features, which means the camera is only an improvement over my previous digital in that it takes photos when I push the button, rather than me having to push the button and wait for the camera to have a smoke break before actually taking the photo. True - this is a huge improvement (and removes Ed's primary excuse for the numerous crappy photographs he has taken with the digital camera), but I want to wean myself from this feature and start really using the camera.

Christmas was lovely. We were at my in-laws, which meant Connor had a whole new set of toys to enjoy. He also got to watch a bit of bona fide children's television because his cousins watch a lot of it. One day, when we were alone in the house he told me "I think I would like to watch some more TV". I, naturally, told him "no, I'm worried your brain will start dripping out of your ear", and that was the end of the conversation. He also asked Ed once if he could watch TV, but Ed also said "no" (though I KNOW Ed will be the one to break the TV ban with Connor in the future on some weekend when I am under the weather or out of town and Ed wants a break). I guess Connor didn't think it was that great or he would've persisted. He certainly did enjoy it when it was on though.

He also had the opportunity to go ice skating for the second time in his life - but he wasn't too nuts about that. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that last year when he went, he was wobbly on his feet, so being wobbly on skates didn't phase him. This year, he's steady on his feet so he didn't enjoy the out-of-control feeling the ice brought. He did enjoy the post-skate popcorn.

He also went bowling for the first time and this was a total success. He and his cousin Alisa had a great time. Sad to say, I failed to bring my camera, so you'll just have to imagine this one. Connor heads to the bowling lane. Ed or I plop his 6 pound ball down. He pushes it with all his might. The ball rolls down the lane, ever so slowly, bouncing off the bumpers on the side of the lane. The ball finally reaches its destination and the first pin it hits falls down. But the next pin? The force from the ball is less than that of gravity, so the pin remains standing and stops the ball. Impossible, I know. But it happened many times.

Over this time, Helen has become quite the smiler. She spent most of yesterday perfecting her laugh, which is pure music to my ears. I am quite the comedian, at least in the infant world.


Connor has become expert at building blocks, and we had great fun building and undoing the tower beside him. He particularly loves "the little teeny tiny block that goes all the way on the top"!

I'm looking forward to lots more towers, trains, and everything else you throw at me in 2008, Connor. Helen, I'm crossing my fingers every day that this reflux ends soon - and not just because I'm tired of both of us smelling like vomit all the time! I'm also hoping that you can chat with some other babies who love the carseat and figure out a way to tolerate it. Can you believe it? Two kids with carseatitis. A true call to support public transportation.

Elaine