06.28.09
European Tour 2009
We are off to Oxford, London, and Paris, where I’m giving a paper about this sensationalist fin-de-siècle novel, among other things. Hope to publish updates soon!
xoxo
Rachel, Seth, & Jax
06.17.09
Botany Lesson
House/life/travel/baby updates are coming soon…but in the mean time, here is a post I had in the reserves to share with fellow old book/botany/science-loving types. Aren’t these botany-inspired designs cool? And they’re all online at the New York Public Library’s site here! What can we do with them?
06.13.09
Coney Island
Here’s a little SAT prep for today: Paris is to France as Coney Island is to _________________.
the world! of course.
We had lunch and spent the afternoon in Coney Island today, stopping by the New York Aquarium for the first time. It was a great day, although we still miss the batting cages that have been razed in preparation for some sort of yet-to-be-revealed development. Other institutions like Nathan’s hot dogs and the “Shoot the Freak” game were still thriving, so all was not lost!
What? no dog?
Only in Coney Island do aquarium inscriptions include the word “jackass.”
There’s a photo of this snack bar currently being sold at CB2 in SoHo.
Not sure if we’ll make it back for the Mermaid parade, but we’re glad we trekked out before moving from the city.
06.07.09
Slide
On Thursday we went up to Croton-on-Hudson to run some errands and check out our new neighborhood. There’s a wonderful park on the Hudson with a fun slide we had to try. The stop-motion feature on our camera came in handy to capture the fun of going down the slide (alone!)
Again!
06.03.09
May into June
Here are some things we’ve been up to as May has turned into June:
“Signing” thank-you cards to babysitters.
Lounging
Asparagus Quiche
Washington Square Toddler Park
Hair do
Central Park
Wreaking havoc
Reading on a new yard-sale quilt.
Pulling up and pushing (no “walking” yet – the feet stay put)
Pasta
Broccoli
05.26.09
8 months
We have a lot of changes on the horizon: moving to a house up the Hudson next month, and then traveling to Europe just after moving in. I’m rewriting a conference paper, beginning to pack/organize, and getting our now 8-month-old into daycare. So I’ll keep it short and stick to the photos!
Highlights from this 8th month:
Last day with babysitter Amber. We loved our babysitters this semester and appreciate how wonderful they were with Jax.
Trying on his Portuguese hat, May 6 (can you tell it’s still too big?).
Favorite activity: looking out the window, May 7.
May 11
First pizza from John’s, May 11
Visiting with babysitter Soo, May 14
New shoes from Soo!
First pancake, at the Jersey Shore on May 17
May 19
New push toy, May 21
May 22
Picnic in the park, May 22
Showing off teeth! May 23
Testing the new stroller Grandma Barb got us for our European trip next month…
{May 23}
West Side Highway, May 23
Tasting a bran muffin, May 24
Union Square, May 25
Playing with a bottle and Grandma Barb.
Walking home from Union Square
05.21.09
Home
It’s ours! I’m sorry I’ve been so secretive: in today’s market, I felt like buying this house wasn’t a sure thing until closing day, yesterday. We won’t be moving in until mid-June, so we still have 3 weeks of city life. We are so excited to begin this new chapter!
05.18.09
Nursery Contest
I just received word that our nursery/bedroom/laundry room made the cut to be entered into Ohdeedoh’s Smaller Cooler contest! Feel free to head on over {I mean hurry!} and give it a “thumb’s up”…voting is only live for 48 hours…
05.14.09
Let’s talk hair
As you have probably figured out by now, we are a hairy bunch. My little sister Laura had to have bangs cut within hours of coming out of the womb and at 2 months (3 months? I can never remember), she looked like this:
My sister Monica and I can’t leave the house without a pound of gel in our unwieldy curls (or a headscarf) and my mom’s hair defies gravitational theory each morning (it is “just a theory” after all, silly scientists). Seth’s baby and toddler pictures don’t offer much hope from the Weintraub side to counter our wild hair gene:
Jax’s signature look is the hair he’s inherited from us all, but I’m starting to worry it’s affecting his psyche. Case in point: two nights ago he was rubbing his eyes/side burns, as he always does when he’s tired, and his finger got caught in a tangle. He couldn’t figure out that it was his finger doing the pulling, so he kept pulling harder and cried and cried as we grabbed his arm and untangled the finger. His bangs are getting so long I’m wondering if his 33-week-old vision isn’t what it should be, and that he doesn’t complain because he doesn’t know how else to live.
We aren’t die-hard about the wait-till-he’s-one thing, but at the same time feel like an 8-month-old might look funny with a “big boy” haircut. Option 1 is to just cut the bangs and tell everyone his mullet is ironic, like the ones you see loafing about in Williamsburg. Option 2 is to give him a proper haircut, all the way around, and risk the Elvis-wig look. Option 3 is to do nothing and buy a dozen “I am a boy” shirts for the kid.
What do you think?
05.13.09
Birthday
What a wonderful day! Thai food lunch with Seth and Corry (who’s visiting from Paris), then dessert at Magnolia bakery:
Then a trip to the Lion Brand Yarn Studio (where I picked up some bamboo yarn):
Then some afternoon shopping, a wonderful experience with a friend who will open doors, push the stroller, and entertain a cranky baby… Thanks Corry!
I was in the mood for French food for dinner, so we scoped out a couple of restaurants yesterday. We decided on Jean-Claude. It’s literally just down the street, incredibly reasonably priced, and authentic. I had: a salad of haricots verts & walnuts & bleu cheese, Steak-frites and a glass of Côtes du Rhone, tiramisu and a decaf cappuccino. Seth had onion soup, mussels (moules) and fries, some of the tiramisu and most of the wine.
A fantastic day. And of course I’m reminded of my 30th birthday, when I saw this just before hopping on a train from Paris to London:
and what he looked like in the park yesterday:
