Sweet Potatoes

Connor is six months old this week, which means we started his first solid food today...sweet potatoes! We decided to skip over the rice cereal and oatmeal and go straight to "real" food, especially since he's a little older. Needless to say, he wasn't impressed. Lots of funny faces and I would be surprised if any sweet potato actually made it into his stomach.

We'll try again tomorrow. Here's to hoping that each day makes him a little more open to real food! In the meantime, enjoy the show.

Photo Shoot

Because it's been awhile since I last posted, I thought I would indulge you with several pictures of Connor. Today, he was playing in his Exer-saucer, and I was playing with the Canon. I have to say, I love that camera, and I love playing with the settings to get exactly what I want. Here are a few expressions to share...we're starting to see a little personality peek out!

Sleeping like a baby

We had a cold, rainy, gray weekend a few weeks ago. Perfect napping weather. I snuck in and snapped this shot...both were sleeping soundly!

My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard

Connor had his four-month check up today (a little early; he turns 4 months in about a week) and we learned, once again, that we have a ginormous baby. He weighs in at 16 pounds, 8 ounces and a cool 25.75 inches long. This puts him in the 95th percentile of babies his age, which equates to the size of an average 6-month old. How Scott and I produced this mammoth of a child, I'll never know. Perhaps all those sweets I've been eating have found their way into my milk supply!

Otherwise, we have a healthy, happy baby. We really can't complain - he's sleeping through the night, eating like a champ (obviously) and hitting his developmental milestones. If he just had a more rounded head, he would be the perfect baby. Maybe a little more tummy time each day will help with that.

In other news, Monday was my first day back to work and it actually went really well. It helps that we found a daycare that we love and feel completely comfortable leaving him in the care of Miss Sharon, Miss Dot and Miss Charity. Today is day two of work and I'm getting back into the swing of things. Not only did I miss the work that I do, but I also missed my friends at work, so it's been a nice reunion to come back.

And knowing that I'll get a big, toothless smile when I get home makes the day go by a bit more quickly!

Ho, Ho, Ho!

Yesterday, Santa Claus paid a visit to Connor's daycare and each child took turns sitting on Santa's lap, taking pictures and receiving a present. This was Connor's first encounter with the jolly fat man and he did pretty well...no tears or screams, although he does look like he's ready to take Santa on.

Happy Baby

Connor has been smiling and laughing up a storm lately. Of course, every time I grab the camera to record that cute little giggle, he stops laughing. This is the best I could get on camera.

He definitely takes after his dad and is a morning person. Of course, as hard as it is for me to get going in the mornings, Connor's laughs and smiles make it a little easier (that, and a Starbucks latte).

Jingle Bells

I'm lucky to work with very talented colleagues and am always impressed by the talents that they have, but that I don't always get to see in a work setting. Take my colleague, Caroline. She has a knack for taking pictures and we were lucky enough to have her take our photos for our holiday cards.

Here are a few that we love. These are really some of the first pictures we have with the three (four) of us as a family. Thank you, Caroline!

Splish Splash

The one thing we know about Connor, after almost three months of living with him, is that he loves bath time. Take a cranky, fussy Connor, put him in the water, and he immediately chills out. Maybe we have a water baby on our hands!

Here is a little footage of Connor enjoying his "me" time. Full disclosure: as with any bath time, there is always a little naked time.

There's an app for that

I love reward cards. I love earning points for stuff that I'm buying anyway, only to redeem them later to save money or get other free things. It's one of the reasons that makes travel fun - the six hour flight to Europe is a little more bearable when I know that I'm earning airline miles. Sleeping weeks on end in a hotel is a bit more rewarding when I know I'm earning hotel points. If you've seen "Up In The Air", everything about they parody about earning miles is completely true.

The downside to having all those reward cards is that you end up with a big, fat wallet. Until now. I recently discovered KeyRing, an app that stores all your reward cards on your iphone/droid. It scans the barcode on the card, stores the rewards number and - voila! - virtual rewards card. This is the reason these phone were invented.

So I was at the Harris Teeter (grocery store) the other day and decided to try out my newly digitized VIP card. I opened the app, the clerk scanned the code and my savings began.

And the best part: my wallet can now snap shut.

An (almost) White Christmas

The snow hit Raleigh just late enough to miss a White Christmas. But it was still a beautiful way to keep the Christmas spirit alive after all the presents had been opened. I estimate that we got about 8 inches, which, I realize, is small beans compared to other parts of the country.

Lisbon

I'm a little late about adding Lisbon to the list, but I ended my travels here. It's good to finally be home (and to be home for the holidays), but I really did enjoy my trip to Europe even though it could be a bit tiring at times.

Lisbon was the last city to visit and it was my favorite. People have called it the "San Francisco of Europe" which, I was told, was a bit pretentious of Americans. "Why don't they call it the Lisbon of America?" one Portguese friend asked me. Good point, except that we're the global super-power, not Europe. And we're cooler. And everyone wants to be like us. (Don't believe me? Just listen to the music...it's Katy Perry all day, every day).

Anyway, Lisbon is hilly and has a mini Golden Gate Bridge and is laid-back and beautiful and by the water. It's better than San Francisco. I loved the tile work on all the buildings. It's an easy city to walk around and if you haven't had their wine and pasteries, you haven't lived.

And yes, this last picture is an outdoor urinal on the side of a building. Did I mention Lisbon was my favorite city?

Munich

Up until today, Europe has been fairly warm with temperatures in the high 50s/low 60s. To me, this means a light jacket (unless I'm wearing a sweater). To the rest of Europe, this means heavy coats, hats and gloves. I've been a little confused by the attire.

But Munich was COLD. It truly warranted heavy coat, hats, gloves...and fur-lined boots. Of course, it wouldn't be the spirit of Christmas without a little chill in the air.

I was last in Munich about nine years ago, when I went backpacking after college. So it was fun to see some of the sights that I saw then. I did a lot of walking and toured the Residenz (the king's palace). I ate roasted chestnuts from street vendors (it was my first chestnut experience). I went to mass at St. Michael's Cathedral (one of the benefits of being Catholic is that you don't actually have to understand the language to still participate since it's all the same ritual...always). I listened to street muscisians perform classical and holiday music. And I ate some really great food.

Again, I always underrate Germany. Both Frankfurt and Munich have turned out to be such cute towns...even in the cold.






PS...take a gander at the outdoor muscians. Note the baby grand piano that's performing with them. How in the world did they get a baby grand piano outside?

Frankfurt

Everytime I come to Germany, I'm surprised by how much I love it. I had some time to walk around Frankfurt and watch the Christmas markets go up. Unfortunately, I'm just missing them here in Frankfurt (they don't open until next week), but I can see how magical it's going to be once the Christmas season is in full swing.

On Saturday morning, I walked around the outdoor markets, sipped on a cappacino and had a jelly donut (and, just because it looked and smelled delicious, some sort of pork sandwich with onions...yum!).

I love the quinessential German feel of the city, mixed with the modern shopping. This is what you think of when you think of Germany. It's quite a lovely city.

This is my version of "Ich bin ein Berliner." Eat your heart out, JFK!

Barcelona

I had always heard that Barcelona was a magical city. After visiting it, I have to agree. Think Alice in Wonderland down-the-rabbit-hole, a little girl playing make-believe, and charming Europe, all rolled into one.

The one architectural masterpiece that best embodies Barcelona has got to be Sagrada Familia. I was expecting just another cathedral (after all, this is Europe), but this was unlike anything I hadd ever seen - experienced, really - before. It was gorgeous. And not in the Notre Dame kind of gorgeous. But in a Candy Land sweetness kind of gorgeous. You literally feel like you're standing in a magical forest and there's a good possibility that you may be greeted by a sacred tree nymph.

Gaudi was ahead of his time. His use of color, texture, movement, nature - it was unbelievable. Very contemporary yet still tasteful. Of course, the cathedral is still unfinished (it's not slated to be completed for another 25 years or so). So I can't wait to come back and see it in all its glory.

A few pictures are included here, but they don't do it justice (pictures never do).

During our research sessions yesterday, our Spanish moderator asked one of the respondents (in Spanish, of course, but translated here):

Moderator: You're not from Spain, are you?
Respondent: No. But I've lived here for 13 years. I didn't think my accent was that noticeable.
Moderator: Your accent is perfect. But you look like a foreigner.

I was struck by two things: 1) that the moderator could tell someone they looked like a foreigner without fear of litigation and 2) that he could even tell he was a foreigner. It made me realize what a melting pot we are. Aside from our obesity and penchant for wearing athletic shoes, there really is nothing that makes us uniquely American. We don't have facial characteristics that give us away. But other countries are so much more homogenous that you can "tell" if something doesn't belong.

I guess that makes us mutts. And maybe a little bit boring. I'm OK with that...as long as I can still be visited by a magical tree fairy.

Galavanting through Europe

I'm off to Europe for the next three weeks (save for a quick visit to St. Louis for Thanksgiving). I'm visiting six countries and seven cities, many of which I've never been to before. This trip is for work, but I'm hoping to get a little down time to enjoy the sights.

The cities planned on my trip are Barcelona, Rome, Frankfurt, Munich, Paris, London and Lisbon. I'll send updates on my exploits and hopefully have lots of great pictures to share!

Europe, here I come!

Wake Forest in the news

I was watching some TV in a hotel room today and heard a Toyota commercial that cited Wake Forest. I couldn't find the same commercial online, but I did find the commercial below. Looks like Toyota and Wake Forest Medical Center have teamed up with using technology to study the imapct of crashes on the human body (courtesy of the game of football).

Kind of cool to hear your alma mater mentioned randomly in a commercial. Looks like Wake is moving up in the world!

The wonder of Craigslist

I had, of course, heard of Craigslist before. But we had never used it. Tonight, I understood just how wonderful it is.

After eight years, our Kenmore vacuum cleaner crapped out. It really started about a year ago, when something went wrong with the plug; we attempted to fix it, and we sort of did, until we plugged it in the other weekend and it blew a fuse. We think it had something to do with our fix-it job.

It's a great vacuum cleaner and we figured any handyman would be able to make it almost-new again. The problem is, we're not handy. But we felt really bad just dumping in the landfill. So we decided to try our hand at Craigslist to give it away free to a good home.

Within 24 hours, we had several bites. And, as of 8:00pm tonight, our Kenmore has a brand-new home to someone who seemed to know exactly how to fix it. We felt good that we were able to help someone out, prevent something from going to waste, and find an easy way to make room in our house. Craigslist just might be one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century.

I have a feeling this could become addictive...

What I learned in France

Scott and I spent a week in glorious France, starting our trip in Paris, driving through Provence and finishing along the Riviera. It was a wonderful week and it was fun to see other areas of France besides just Paris.

This is what I learned while I was there:

French women don't eat. This is actually a hypothesis I've had for some time and I test it out each time I visit France. So far, I haven't found one instance that refutes this statement and I chalk it up to caffeine and cigarettes. Both of these are appetite suppressants and both of these are the only things close to eating I've seen French women do. This, I believe, is their secret. I've seen plenty of women in France eat; they just aren't French.

55% of Philip Morris sales must come from France. Everyone in France smokes and they all smoke Marlboros. We saw a few 14 year olds smoking, too. This supports my argument above.

You can spot an American a mile away. It doesn't matter how they are dressed, you just know they are American. I can't figure it out...someone can look French on the outside -wearing the right clothes and shoes - and even be speaking French. But you just know they are American (confirmed when they switch to English). I don't know if it's in the way we talk or in the way we walk, but Americans are easy to spot.

France has a roadway hierarchy: Mopeds, people, cars. With mopeds being on top. They can squeeze between traffic, cut you off, run over a person. It doesn't matter. They are the supreme being.

France is beautiful in the fall. The weather was gorgeous. The vineyards were blazing. The wine was tasty. I can't imagine a better time to visit an already beautiful country.

A walk back in time

A few weekends ago, Scott and I went up to visit our good friends Elizabeth and Chris. It was just a wonderful visit, getting to see them and watching how big Chase has grown. And they unwittingly unleashed a monster - after a fun-and-curse-filled night of making pasta from scratch, I have now gone out and bought a pasta maker. (The one I purchased, however, uses electrical power to crank the pasta out...all that hand-cranking was the cause of the cursing).

This was the first time I was back in DC with Elizabeth since 1998. That sounds so weird to say...that the last time I hung out in Georgetown with Elizabeth was last century. Anyway, I did a little rummaging and scrounged up a few pictures from that last visit, back when we were just wee college freshmen. We've come a long way, baby!

Thanks to the Bevacquas for a very fun weekend! We hope to see you back in DC before the next century!

If I had a million dollars

I'd be rich.

And I probably wouldn't give it to animal shelters. With Katherine Heigl's announcement this week that she's giving $1 million to LA-area animal shelters, I was wondering what that same million dollars might do for LA-area homeless shelters.

Don't get me wrong. I love animals. And I think we should do everything we can as a society to treat them with respect and prevent an overpopulation. But I also think the least fortunate of us humans may be a bit higher up on the food chain than animals. And while it's noble that Heigl is helping out our animals, it would be great to see that same amount of money go to helping out those in our species. Heigl says in People:

"How can we change the results for these animals?" she said. "[Shelters are not only] euthanizing sick, old dogs. It's gotten brutal, you know. It's inhuman, really."

It is inhuman. It's also inhuman how we treat our humans. Maybe if we did treat our humans better, then our animals would follow.