Last weekend we had a birthday party for Griffin. This year we decided to just do a small party with family at a local farm. All of Griffin’s aunts, uncles, and cousins were there and we got to meet Anneka for the first time. The farmer took us on a hayride to see the sheep and horses, showed us the rabbits, turkeys, and chickens, and then we had lunch and cake.

On Griffin’s actual birthday we flew to New York City for my friend (and Griffin’s godmother) Gillian’s wedding. All of Gillian’s out-of-town guests were staying at the same hotel and that night she rented a suite and had a pajama party. It was so good to see her and meet so many of her friends.

The next morning we took the lower Manhattan bus tour. This was Julian’s first trip to New York and that was a good way to see a lot quickly. Griffin happily grabbed a seat at the front of the bus until a group of friendly southern women sat down beside him and he decided he’d prefer to be in my lap. He’s about as social as we are:

We got off the bus to spend some time in Central Park:

Gillian’s from Canada but I met her in California. Her friends David and Maria are also from Canada but moved to California while we were still there so we’d gotten to know them and liked them a lot. They now have a 14 month old son Ewan. Some other Canadian friends, Marc and Shira, were there with their 18 month old daughter Lizzy. So we were the toddler crowd, we all went out to dinner that night.

The next morning was the wedding. The ceremony was at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, the weather was perfect, and the bride was of course gorgeous:

Griffin was sort of a ring bearer, but he didn’t really get the concept. However, he looked so cute all dressed up that I may dress him up all the time:

After the wedding was a lovely brunch followed by a chocolate/ginger/carrot wedding cake with maple buttercream frosting that Gillian made herself. She’s beautiful and talented.

We had to miss the afternoon trip to Coney Island in favor of getting Griffin back to the hotel for a nap. That evening we walked around Battery Park and had excellent Chinese food, then Julian and Griffin went swimming until the hotel pool closed.

The next day we headed to Central Park again, this time on a subway which was fun for Griffin for a few stops and then he wanted to get off. We met up with the Canadian toddler crowd at FAO Schwarz and then got lunch. I am a terrible representative of our country, do any Americans out there know why we have both a Memorial Day and a Veterans Day? We made some logistical errors on the way back that ended up resulting in five subway switches until we were finally back at our hotel.

That night there was a party at Gillian and David’s apartment. It was so good to hang out and talk with Gillian and David and their friends. And I drank wine! That rarely happens these days. Julian took Griffin to a nearby park for a while to run off some energy, good for everyone.

The flight back was delayed but otherwise uneventful. It’s so much easier to travel with Griffin these days. The dairy allergy is still a pain and we have to be careful to get him sleep at regular intervals, but otherwise it’s great. He enjoys new experiences; I think the trip was a great way to spend his second birthday.

I hate NYC. I’m never going to go there. I’m going to keep blog pics to 30KB and no more than 3 pics per entry.

I hold these truths to be self-evident(ly false).

It’s sweltering, and a sweltering storm is passing through. Griffin couldn’t be contained as the buckets came pouring down. The eve of his birthday, 2 years ago tonight we had thunder that called out “Boom, Griffin’s coming, Boom”.

Tomorrow we head out to New York City. Griffin’s first time to the big apple. His dad’s as well. Eek! When Griffin was 6 week’s old we cruised downtown Chicago, and he had the time of his life gawking at the bustling crowds of people, so I know one of us will fare well.

Griffin had his first tick last night. We’d found one crawling in our house (or on us) at least 3 times this season, so we weren’t too surprised, but having one actually leached onto the kiddo’s skull was a bummer. Given we’re up to our necks in woods and tall grass, we’ll probably have many more over the years. A neighbor recommended the Ice Age trail nearby, but apparently they came back from the hike with 15 ticks between him and his wife. Tick-tacular!

Tomorrow is the G-man’s bday party at a nearby farm. A smaller gig than last year’s 40+ blowout. My boy is all grown up! Stay young, master G!

On Thursday I had a CT scan of a swelling in my neck. Nothing bad turned up, just one of those medical ambiguities, which is totally dandy with me.

Have I mentioned I’ve got too much work? I’ll just make that the auto-sig for my posts. But in general I’m feeling pretty good these days. Been noticing a lot more stuff I want to take pictures of as I’m out and about. Either an upswing in my mood, or perhaps just the natural state of spring time.

I’m going to pseudo-intellectual hell cuz I liked The 40-year Old Virgin more than Crash (both are well worth seeing).

A picture Julian took of Griffin hiding in the toy chest:

So I quite possibly have the world’s most compulsive coolest garden. After doing some research back in February I decided to build a square foot garden. Mostly because I like building things at least as much as I like growing things. Here are pictures of the garden at different stages. Building the frames:

The frames in their final location:

Griffin and Julian inspecting the progress, Julian did a ton of root removal and digging for me:

Both frames in place:

The final garden. The hoops are covered in netting to keep out deer, the frames at the ends are for vining plants like pumpkins and squash:

How compulsive am I? Very:

We recently got a bike trailer for Griffin and are psyched about the possibilities. So far Julian’s taken him to the park in it a few times and they both had a great time. Here’s Griffin having a pre-ride snack:

All ready:

And off they go:

I started working part-time yesterday morning. The job itself is going really well, I’ve never started a job that was so prepared. They’d sent me an ascii map so I could pick out my office and everything was already set up (fast machine, dual monitors, split keyboard) when I got there. It seems like a very development friendly environment. I have a lot to learn about biology, but this should be fun.

Being away from Griffin has gone more smoothly than I’d expected. We have an interim nanny this month until our permanent nanny starts next month. Sunday night I got around two hours of sleep, I was completely stressed out and feeling like I’d never see my child again. It helped tremendously that Julian was able to work from home on Monday. I leave at 7:30 and the nanny gets here at 8:30 (although we’re switching that to 9:00), so Julian has some time with Griffin first. Then after the nanny got here he went up to his office to work and sent me periodic email updates of what they were doing. Like “They seem to be hopping and giggling down there”. Four hours goes by really quickly and I’m home in time to snuggle with Griffin and read to him before his nap. Then we have the whole afternoon together. I know I’m very lucky to be able to work a schedule like this and I’m grateful for it.

The hardest part so far was this morning when I went to work for the second time. Griffin usually wakes up at 6:30 but this morning he’d slept in until after 7:00 so we didn’t have a lot of time together before I had to leave. When he saw me putting some things together he very matter-of-factly said “Bye, mommy”. I don’t know why that was so hard, he wasn’t crying and he didn’t even seem all that sad. For some reason it was so hard to know that he’s already expecting me to leave in the mornings.

I want to be posting a lot more than I am. Here’s Griffin at a friends bDay party. Some of the nuances emerging – he seems to be left handed, and might be a bit red green color blind. These things we’ve suspected for some time now… probably the left-handedness for around a year. He’s been saying his own name a bit here and there, rather than just referring to himself as “YAY!!!!!!!” (self-esteem? check!).

Too much work still. A broken record really.

Candy started a part time job today and so far so good for all parties. Very exciting to have made it through the first day of this rather momentous change in the order of things.

After the 1st mini-camp, I’m totally ready for Raider football this year. Wasn’t sure i could get psyched for it after being the worst team in football over the last 3 years, but they’re feeling like the real deal Raiders now.

We took Griffin in for his two-year allergy test appointment today and they confirmed that he is still allergic to dairy. When we were in the Wisconsin Dells on a vacation in March we ordered hash browns for him in a restaurant and he immediately got hives, we think possibly because of butter flavoring. So, we weren’t surprised today to learn that the allergy is still there. The doctor said there’s still an 85% chance he’ll grow out of it by age 5. Last year the allergy meant drastic changes to our diet, including adding in some meat. This year it just means “Eh, more of the same”. We’ll test him again when he’s 3.