25 May 2011
Happy Birthday Dad - Love bugs at the Zoo
We just realized that Maceo is strong enough to ride on Craig's shoulders without having to hold his hands. This is a major milestone as it now means that a shoulder ride is a viable alternative to the stroller and walking. And it is just plain old fun. However, by the looks of these photos we might need to limit Maceo's "ride time" if Craig wants to have any hair by the time he reaches 39. Despite the follicular massage, Maceo intermittently bent around to plant big wet kisses on Craig's cheeks which was about the sweetest thing ever. Craig confirmed that those kisses and hugs were the best birthday gift in years.
The Wildlife
Look at this mama lemur and her twin babies - amazing!
Maceo doing his best lion imitation.
Lazy lion.
The big beautiful peacock that greeted us when we first arrived.
Merry Go Round
Just in case it is not obvious, these two were trying their best to impersonate a roaring lion. These days, Maceo's favorite "aen-e-mal" (also known as "animal") is the lion so that was his immediate choice of companion. Who was having more fun? You decide for yourself...
A Wild Ride
Yesterday was Craig's birthday and we had a great afternoon and evening.
The fun started at the zoo with a bunch of "rides" as well as lots of animals. Maceo was determined to ride the cars, and only after buying my ride tokens (and I might add a spendy ride at $3) did I discover that nobody over 100 lbs. was allowed in the cars. That clearly ruled me out as the passenger in Maceo's car. Thankfully, the cars did have serious lap-belts, so I buckled Maceo in, confirmed with the operator that he would stop the ride and let me rescue him if he started to cry, and stepped outside the gates. I had no idea what Maceo's reaction would be. He looked a bit tentative as I walked away from him, but as soon as the cars started whirling around it was clear he didn't need me. As you can see from the photos, he had a blast and seemed to be quite impressed with the speed (note the sucked-in cheeks indicating major speed) and even got brave enough at the end to go for the classic, "look ma, no hands!" pose.
The fun started at the zoo with a bunch of "rides" as well as lots of animals. Maceo was determined to ride the cars, and only after buying my ride tokens (and I might add a spendy ride at $3) did I discover that nobody over 100 lbs. was allowed in the cars. That clearly ruled me out as the passenger in Maceo's car. Thankfully, the cars did have serious lap-belts, so I buckled Maceo in, confirmed with the operator that he would stop the ride and let me rescue him if he started to cry, and stepped outside the gates. I had no idea what Maceo's reaction would be. He looked a bit tentative as I walked away from him, but as soon as the cars started whirling around it was clear he didn't need me. As you can see from the photos, he had a blast and seemed to be quite impressed with the speed (note the sucked-in cheeks indicating major speed) and even got brave enough at the end to go for the classic, "look ma, no hands!" pose.
23 May 2011
Sarah & Craig's Jamaica Plain Tree Top Treasure
So this is pretty exciting...our condo was just featured as the May "House Tour" in the design blog Apartment Therapy. Our friends Nate and Ila recommended us for the tour - they had their house featured in 2009. Check out photos of their fabulous house HERE .
The opportunity to have our current condo photographed and featured in the blog felt like a special way to pay tribute to a place we have seriously loved - and transformed - over the past 8 years. Not to be letting all the cats out of the bag at once, but we are moving from our much beloved condo in August to make room for another baby (more on that later). We found a fabulous single family colonial just 1/2 a mile down the street that will become our new home by the end of the summer. So, a huge project to come.
Back to the Apartment Therapy excitement. The author and photographer Kyle Freeman came over to our house this weekend to take the photos. I'd be lying if I didn't admit to a serious thrash of de-cluttering and toy removal, but overall I think this is a fair representation of what our house actually looks like. We couldn't be happier with Kyle's write-up and must admit that getting to read comments from readers all over the country is pretty exciting. It looks like the birch wine tree that Craig made the first week we moved in (August of 2003!) is going to be the most admired element. Given that he burned out two separate drill motors boring into green wood, it seems appropriate!
Since this is probably our one and only brush with fame, I shamelessly decided to blog about it. Let me know what you think. Click HERE to be directed to the Apartment Therapy feature!
The opportunity to have our current condo photographed and featured in the blog felt like a special way to pay tribute to a place we have seriously loved - and transformed - over the past 8 years. Not to be letting all the cats out of the bag at once, but we are moving from our much beloved condo in August to make room for another baby (more on that later). We found a fabulous single family colonial just 1/2 a mile down the street that will become our new home by the end of the summer. So, a huge project to come.
Back to the Apartment Therapy excitement. The author and photographer Kyle Freeman came over to our house this weekend to take the photos. I'd be lying if I didn't admit to a serious thrash of de-cluttering and toy removal, but overall I think this is a fair representation of what our house actually looks like. We couldn't be happier with Kyle's write-up and must admit that getting to read comments from readers all over the country is pretty exciting. It looks like the birch wine tree that Craig made the first week we moved in (August of 2003!) is going to be the most admired element. Given that he burned out two separate drill motors boring into green wood, it seems appropriate!
Since this is probably our one and only brush with fame, I shamelessly decided to blog about it. Let me know what you think. Click HERE to be directed to the Apartment Therapy feature!
Mother's Day Photos
Despite everyone feeling pretty crummy, we were determined to mark Mother's Day doing something special. We headed to the JP Arboretum to smell the lilacs and do some freestyle stomping around. After several family members previewed the photos, it was suggested that we were inventing our ailments. I admit that we look pretty happy despite our runny noses and hacking coughs.
A New Baby Quilt
Our dear friends Len and Ani welcomed their son Azulik Vesak Castanos-Davis into the world last Tuesday. Below are some shots of the quilt I made for baby Azulik. The second one (the quilt that is) was so much easier than the first. Still not perfect, but I am learning more with each attempt. I can't wait to post a photo of the baby and quilt together. Stay tuned.
We're still alive!
It's been forever since I have posted anything. Somehow the last couple months have gotten away from me. The main excuse is that someone in this house has been sick for about three months running; sometimes just one of us, sometimes two, and a few weeks ago all three of us at the same time. Ugh. Between that and Maceo deciding that he is no longer going to be a gold-star sleeper, we are all feeling a little frazzled and conserving energy. That pretty much means that once we get Maceo to sleep, we eat dinner, attempt to return any pressing correspondence, pay bills, have some vauge version of a husband-and-wife conversation, and then either A) go to bed, or B) watch some idiotic 30 minute TV re-run that we can stream off of Netflix. All of which is wrapped up by 9:30pm tops.
The good news is that we are on generally on the mend as far as health goes. The bad news is that Maceo is still having some major sleep issues...inexplicably up in the night between 2 and 3am and unable/uninterested in going to sleep again unless he is physically on top of a parent. That means we have given-in to some version of the family bed in a desperate attempt to get some sleep. Which I might add is especially uncomfortable as I grow increasingly pregnant. Of course we are fearful that we are actively creating a terrible habit that will be hard to break, but we also can't abide by being wide awake from 2-4am listening to him grow increasingly hysterical if we attempt the cry-it-out method. I am not sure how we functioned with such limited and fractured sleep during his first 6 months because it is kicking our butts right now.
So...I'm not promising a return to regular updates, but I did want to post a few great new photos and share link to a design website that recently featured our condo. Sending love to all from Boston.
The good news is that we are on generally on the mend as far as health goes. The bad news is that Maceo is still having some major sleep issues...inexplicably up in the night between 2 and 3am and unable/uninterested in going to sleep again unless he is physically on top of a parent. That means we have given-in to some version of the family bed in a desperate attempt to get some sleep. Which I might add is especially uncomfortable as I grow increasingly pregnant. Of course we are fearful that we are actively creating a terrible habit that will be hard to break, but we also can't abide by being wide awake from 2-4am listening to him grow increasingly hysterical if we attempt the cry-it-out method. I am not sure how we functioned with such limited and fractured sleep during his first 6 months because it is kicking our butts right now.
So...I'm not promising a return to regular updates, but I did want to post a few great new photos and share link to a design website that recently featured our condo. Sending love to all from Boston.
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