Koz and Cara + 1

Let Us Eat Cake

2012-02-09T04:49:00.000-08:00

Lucas has learned a lot about cake lately. Babcia Krystyna's birthday kicked the cake-fest off at the beginning of January. Then Greg celebrated a birthday on January 12, and both his Grandfathers' celebrate their birthday on the same day at the end of the month. Here, Lucas goes in for a taste test on the Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake I made for Les' birthday a few weeks ago:

January does not mark the end of our cake eating! Lucas turns TWO this week and already the festivities have begun. Last week Greg hosted a Squadron breakfast at our house and some very thoughtful co-workers brought a big cake for Lucas. He happily had a piece for breakfast.

There were about 20 uniformed people in our home and Lucas was very overwhelmed - they all looked just like Dad! He kept scanning the crowd of same-dressed people and trying to figure out which one was Greg. Then he would say "That one is Daddy!" When they all started singing "Happy Birthday" to him it became a little too much - big guys in uniform standing around you singing is scary for a little boy! Lucas cried and hid his head, but luckily a huge piece of that cake was waiting for him at the end of the song.

Big Boy Bed

2012-01-28T06:55:00.001-08:00

Greg is building Lucas a big boy bed. We need the crib for Baby #2, so the goal is to get Lucas into his other bed soon so he doesn't feel like we kicked him out of his crib and gave it to his sister. I wonder if it will work?! Lucas seems rather ambivalent about moving from a crib to a bed. He is spiderman around the house: jumping off couches, climbing up chairs, desks, tables, and anything else. But for some reason he has not escaped his crib yet. I'm not sure I'm ready for a world in which Lucas can get out of bed and wander the mean streets of our house at all hours of the night. I'm sure I'll wake up in the witching hours to find a tiny face staring at me, saying "Water please, and watch TV." But we might as well dive in now before there is an infant to worry about!
Here, Lucas helps build his bed:

Winter is Here

2012-01-22T05:49:00.000-08:00

We have had such a mild winter (and believe me, I'm not complaining!) But this last week we finally got some snow. Here, Lucas tries out his snowsuit:

Christmas

2012-01-08T17:15:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos from Christmas '11:

Christmas Eve Day: Happy to hear that Santa is on his way!

Apparently Lucas felt he needed the apples more than Santa's Reindeer...

Finally the big moment: Lucas is so surprised to see that Santa came!

Santa brought Lucas some new training potties and a potty book, along with some other toys. He seemed a little unsure, but tried it out...

Stocking time:

Christmas Rocks!

What did Ama and Bapa bring me???

LEGOS!!!

Lucas has been working hard at mastering utensils. Aunt Darby, Uncle Aaron, and cousins Sydney and Nash sent hims some cool construction utensils. They were so much fun Lucas wanted to take them to bed with him!

Santa was good to all of us this year. We have enjoyed many wonderful material gifts: a new house with new appliances, upgrades, and decor. But we understand that our real gift is each other. Our family is growing and we have so much to be thankful for!

Leaves Galore

2011-11-27T16:45:00.000-08:00

Lucas has some fun playing in all the leaves:

We're Having a.....

2011-11-19T05:24:00.000-08:00

Can you tell by this picture? Lucas is shopping for his new sibling...

GIRL!!!!

We are so excited to add a little girl to our family. Lucas will be a big brother in mid-April (due date April 16). He doesn't quite understand any of it yet but we have started to talk about his little sister. Right now when we ask him to say "sister," he just says, "No. BOY!!!!" So that's something we are working on. He's still got plenty of time to get used to the idea of sharing his mommy and daddy, and having his play space infiltrated with dolls and other pink paraphernalia!

San Antonio

2011-11-16T17:34:00.000-08:00

We recently visited our good friends Ben and Kelly in their new home in San Antonio. It was so nice to ditch our coats and dig out some flip flops for a few days of warm weather! The real bonus of course was seeing our friends. We also got to met their beautiful son, Logan, for the first time.
The plane ride was not a fun one, and although Lucas has already traveled back and forth across the country multiple times, and even has a stamp in his little passport, he had a revelation on this journey: in his words, "All Done Airplane!"

Veteran's Day Parade: We inadvertently decided to visit the San Antonio Riverwalk during the city's parade to honor veterans. We had no idea it would be such a big event so we sat down and watched for a while. We learned that Lucas loves marching bands... and he hates clowns!

A little shopping in the historic El Mercado, the largest Mexican marketplace outside of Mexico:

...and adding to the list of things Lucas disapproves of: sombreros.

He may be scared of clowns and sombreros, but interestingly enough, Lucas thought the colorful Mexican wrestling masks were awesome. Greg took this as a sign and promptly bought one.

The Riverwalk

I love San Antonio!

Kelly and I (and baby-in-the-belly)at the Alamo:

Kelly and Ben took us to the annual Wurstfest festival, which is a German sausage and beer-lover's paradise. We took a little train around the area, fed some ducks, and yes, indulged in lots of German food & drink:

Anyone who knows me realizes that I am not particularly crafty. I'm not the mom-type who has construction paper and glitter anywhere in the house. So when one of Kelly's friends literally gave us the entire packet (pre-cut pieces and she pre-made the little paper turkey) for a Thanksgiving kid craft project, I figured it couldn't be that hard. Right? I can glue things together, after all. However Lucas seems as non-crafty as I am (it's in the genes!!!). Turns out he HATES having paint on his hands (or homemade goo, which we tried as well). Boy after my own heart!

Kelly did not have a problem getting Logan into the project. He happily slapped his hand prints on the page:

While we were at El Mercado we purchased some traditional San Antonio Easter eggs. The shells are painted with all kinds of colorful decorations and inside is confetti. The tradition is to break them over people's heads and let the colorful paper fall all over them. They have them available year-round because, well, who doesn't love cracking egg shells filled with paper over other people's heads?! Lucas LOVED this activity.

So, now we have a running tally: Lucas is not a fan of airplanes, sombreros, clowns, or getting his hands messy. But he loves (at the moment) marching bands, Mexican wrestling masks, trains, quesadillas, and breaking confetti-filled eggs over our heads. Oh, and he also really loves Ben, Kelly, and Logan! Thanks for a wonderful time in San Antonio!!!

The Halloween That (Almost) Never Was

2011-11-14T18:32:00.000-08:00

Because of Connecticut's massive Halloween storm, the holiday was literally cancelled. Mayors across the state announced that children shouldn't go trick-or-treating due to the downed trees and power lines. Besides, no one had power anyway, so it would have been near impossible to navigate houses for candy! When our power went out we had to cancel the Halloween party we had scheduled, which meant Lucas didn't get to wear his costume, eat pumpkin cupcakes, or play with his friends.

Still, we made the best of it. The few areas that did have power welcomed a few trick-or-treaters. One of those areas was at Lucas' Grandma and Grandpa Kozbinski. We stayed with them for a week, and took Lucas to a few homes in their area.

We were invited inside to see this elaborate train and village in the neighbor's basement. It was so detailed - the homes had people inside; the businesses were stocked with goods; and airplane flew overhead; kids skated on ponds; there was even a ski slope with people going up and down it! We enjoyed the display as much as Lucas

It was Lucas' first time trick-or-treating. He caught on very quickly! He ended his night trick-or-treating at Grandpa's house!

Although Halloween was officially cancelled by authorities, we think it was still a success!

The Big Storm

2011-11-14T18:06:00.000-08:00

Mother nature reared her ugly head a couple weeks ago. New England suffered an unprecedented storm right before Halloween, which caused major power outages all over the area. We lost power in our home for 8 days! Halloween was essentially cancelled due to the fact that over 800,000 homes in Connecticut had no power, and trees and power lines littered the streets.

We were actually quite lucky that no major trees fell on our house.
Here are a few photos of the aftermath...

We are so lucky that none of these branches split or fell onto our house, based on how close they are!

Baby on the Way!

2011-10-17T05:11:00.000-07:00

Lucas is going to be a big brother! We are so excited to announce that our second child is due mid-April 2012. We will find out whether it's a boy or girl in just a few weeks. In the meantime, here is a first look at our precious baby...

Lucas 20 Months

2011-10-17T04:43:00.000-07:00

It's been a very busy fall season. We are settled into our new home (pics to come!), and Lucas started his new day care. In addition, I started a new part-time job and am still attending classes for my Masters Degree. Greg has spent several weeks abroad and has worked very hard updating our new home. Whew! Here are a few photos of Lucas during the past month...

Cars, trains, diggers, trucks...you name it, Lucas is OBSESSED! Whether they are tiny match cars or huge playground toy trains, Lucas can't get enough.

Lucas and I enjoyed a much-needed visit from Amma Gardner. Greg was out of town and so it was wonderful for Lucas to get special Grandma-love and for me to have mom here with me!

Mr.Independent: Lucas really likes to walk everywhere but doesn't want anyone to hold his hand or tell him where to go... this makes for a lot of chasing him around.

When we do manage to get him in a stroller, this is often the bored, exasperated expression we get: he's already started to look like a teenager!

Lyman Orchards: My mom, Greg's mom, and I took Lucas to a big farm, which is one of the 12 oldest family companies in the United States. It's quite a production. They have a nice children's pumpkin patch for little ones. Lucas had a good time picking out his own pumpkins.

Lucas tries to start a pumpkin avalanche - to no avail.

Lucas and Amma share a moment watching the ducks at Lyman Orchards

Very first cider doughnut...

...he ate and ate...

...it's a hit!

Lucas and "Dzia Dzia" (that is what he calls his Grandpa Kozbinski), play with the Ipad: looks like we know what he'll ask Santa for this Christmas!

Spokane, WA

2011-09-05T05:12:00.000-07:00

Summer Days in Spokane!

Recently we went home to Washington State for a visit with my family. Lucas did great on the airplane - Sesame Street DVDs saved the day!

We were so excited to Lucas into the lake. He has been in swimming pools and in the ocean but this was his first lake experience. He was not too sure about it!
Lucas would stand near the lake but was scared of going in.

The cousins try to get him in, but he's not having it

A day of relaxation:

Lucas has a nice chat with Bapa:

Greg took the opportunity to try out the jet ski

Darby, Nash, and I enjoyed a ride on "big orange"

...so did our cousins Andy and Glen, with Sydney. Their ride was considerably faster and bumpier!

Boat ride with the Captain:

Lucas really enjoyed the lake...as long as he was not in it!

My big accomplishment for the vacation was this: winning at our extended family poker tournament. First time ever! I won in the final round, on the river, with four of a kind! It was very exciting.

We have a lot of August birthdays: Myself, My sister, her son, Nash, and my cousin, Andy. There was lots to celebrate. For Nash's family birthday dinner, he requested we go to a big family Italian restaurant. Lucas got his own big bowl of spaghetti and meatballs. Look how happy he is! And yes, he really ate most of that bowl.

We took Lucas to Riverfront Park to enjoy the big red wagon. He was very excited about it. He might be scared of the lake, but this monster slide was no big deal!

As every native Spokanite knows, no trip to Riverfront Park is complete without a stop at the Garbage Goat. We grew up feeding our trash to this garbage-sucking metal goat. It sounds strange, but every one from Spokane has a childhood memory of this, and it is unfailingly a good one! But Lucas is clearly not a Spokanite and has not been versed in the joys of the Garbage Goat. He was terrified of this metal beast. We tried and tried, but to no avail. We will have to give it another shot next year.

Only people from Spokane can understand why we would want a nice family picture with the Garbage Goat. This was the best we could do, under the circumstances. We are quickly collecting pictures of Lucas screaming while being forced to sit with Santa, in Easter outfits, and now this:

This is a much better family shot:

The mark of a true toddler-hood is when the child begins to have opinions about how things should be done. This is certainly the case with Lucas, who has formed an unusually close attachment to his red crocs. They must be located and put on his feet first thing in the morning, no matter what. And, inexplicably, he began seeking out a plastic (empty, I promise) wine cup from my mother's cupboard. He would walk around with it and pretend to serve people. Here, the red crocs and the wine glass together, with Elmo, complete the picture of Lucas' perfect morning activity.

Did we get Lucas to go in the lake? Yes we did! My good friend Jera came out for a visit and together with Greg, the three of us coaxed our little guy into the water. He wanted to stay close, but he coasted along with me on the floater and enjoyed himself.

The cousins together on our last night in Spokane:

Lucas is 18 months

2011-08-11T10:33:00.000-07:00

Lucas is officially a year and a half. As if to belabor this point he's been acting especially independent lately. He sure has a lot of opinions for someone who has only been around for 18 months! We are so proud of him. He's growing into such a smart, (mostly) sweet, and (mostly) generous little person! Here are a few pics of the last month:

I never thought I'd have this problem, but here it is: Lucas' love of books is starting to interfere with other things! He's enrolled in a music class but sometimes he'd rather sit down and read than participate. He grabbed the teacher's instruction book and wanted to read it over while she led the class in a dance.

Even when the temptation to play with all those musical instruments took over, he would not let the book out of his grasp:

Although I am pleased with my son's passion for books, I am really truly proud as a parent to say that he has an even bigger obsession with.....SHOES. I mean, this kid wants to pair up shoes, try on shoes, put shoes on other people, and put shoes on himself. Here, he's having a perfectly good time organizing my shoe closet.

Um, do I have anything to be worried about?

Nah... Lucas is just a curious, funny, and active little boy. Anything that can be opened, torn, stacked, tipped, eaten, squashed, sucked on, or drug around is fair game. Meal time turns into construction time very quickly around here!

We recently went out to a friend's house at the lake. Lucas wasn't very excited about having to wear a life jacket, particularly one that was lined with pink. He actually started crying when it was put on. But once the boat got going he was comfortable enough in his boyhood to enjoy that pink-lined life jacket and to take in the beautiful boat ride with his buddy, Patrick.

Sand box time is always fun:

Finally, a video. It's about a minute long. I suggest you hang on to the very end.

Another View

2011-08-11T10:24:00.000-07:00

Here is a view from the back of the house with the big porch. I see lots of yard work in my future...

New House

2011-08-02T07:50:00.000-07:00

It has been a long haul - over 6 months - but we finally own our beautiful dream home in Windsor, Connecticut! This house represents a lot for us: lessons in patience, hard work, and following our intuitions. There were many times during the past 6 months during the short sale process (which is anything but short!) when we doubted whether this sale would go through, and whether it was worth it to wait it out. But from the first time we ever walked through the door, we knew this felt right. It has the added bonus of being just 1.8 miles from Greg's work, so he can live his dream of biking, running, and/or snowshoeing to work every single day.
Right now we are busy cleaning it out (the previous owners left quite a mess), and fixing it up.
Here are some photos so far:

This shows a little bit of the large lawn. It wraps around both sides of the house. In the back there is mostly trees. Neither of us was super excited about the mowing! I have been voted as Resident Lawn Mower. Ugh.

Main Floor Pics:

The kitchen is currently our cleaning headquarters:

Lucas loves his new home! There are so many nooks and crannies to explore: lots of stairs, and a big wrap-around deck. Every time we are there, he gets so excited and starts sprinting laps around the house. There is no furniture so his little voice makes a big echo, which he likes to play with by yelling at the top of his lungs while running from one room to the next. It's wonderful to see him so happy in his new home!

Upstairs landing: the bedrooms, bath, laundry + a bonus room over the garage

I cannot wait to soak in this jacuzzi! We have told Lucas this is the closest he will ever get to having a swimming pool at his house.

The Basement:
We just ripped up over 700 square feet of old carpeting in the basement and replaced it with new flooring. It is shaping up to be a nice guest area quarters (kitchenette, bedroom, full bath, living area) and/or a big party area. The bar and kitchenette area are ongoing projects.

basement hallway

As we move in we'll post more pics!

Boston Day Trip

2011-07-16T07:04:00.000-07:00

We spent last Saturday in Boston visiting some friends on their last day before their big move to Hawaii. We spent the hot day downtown, on the Greenway. This is a beautiful area along the harbor with huge grassy areas and little city water parks for families. Lucas had a lot of fun playing in the water with Lio, our friends' son.

There are several blocks of greenery and water parks in the middle of town.

The first thing Lucas wanted to do when we set him loose in downtown Boston: run away. He's making a serious brake for it here, and seems to think he's ready to be on his own.

He found a carousel and liked to watch the other kids on it. He's still too little to sit on there but it won't be too long before he is first in line!

Lucas and Lio

Caught after another attempted escape:

After a long day, this stroller brigade was tired!

July in New England

2011-07-16T04:57:00.000-07:00

We have had a busy summer with work, school, home buying, and lots of play activities. Here are a the latest photos of Lucas (now 17 months old) and a couple photos of Greg and I.
McLaughlin Winery: Greg and I managed to sneak away one Saturday and do a winery tour. Connecticut has a thriving vineyard industry and there are a lot of little wineries to explore.

Lucas cannot have regular dairy products but we found some special ice cream just for him. It's a hit:

We spent the 4th of July staying at some friend's house on the shore. We biked around town, watched the Madison town parade, and spent time at the beach.

16 months

2011-06-11T17:18:00.000-07:00

Books, Books, Books: although this photo is clearly staged, Lucas has been known to pass out surrounded by his library of books. The current favorite: 10 Minutes 'Til Bedtime

Lucas is 16 months old today. The past month has been full of huge learning milestones. Lucas said goodbye to the bottle for good (yay!), loves his music class, and is learning new words every week. His favorite words: CAR, KEY, NIGHT NIGHT, DOG, CAT, STRAWBERRY (sounds like rawrbury), MILK (sounds like lick), APPLE, and, as if on cue, said "I love you" (sounded like 'eye-lu-lu') for the first time today.

Here are a few photos of the past month:

Our little lawn mower. Our rugs are very well-manicured!

We recently purchased a bike trailer so Lucas can go with Greg on his bike rides.

...has his stuffed dog and is ready to go!

It's getting HOT! Lucas cools off in a his little inflatable pool. Perfect for one toddler...and lots of toys!

Lucas refuses to wear hats - he tears them off within seconds of us strapping them on... but he is compelled to try and get every plastic toy he owns to stay on top of his head instead.

Sittin' on the front stoop, waitin' for Daddy to get home...

Beach time: we are about an hour from the shore, and Lucas has some playmates who live near the beach so we will enjoy lots of days like this one...

Mid-Coast Maine

2011-05-27T18:03:00.000-07:00

Greg and I spent a wonderful weekend exploring the mid-coast of Maine for our anniversary. We enjoyed a night in Brunswick, checking out local pubs and art houses. We spent our second night in Rockland at the Granite Inn, one of the town's historic bed & breakfasts. The inn was modern and tasteful, and to say the breakfast was "tasetful" too is an understatement! Lemon and creme fraiche crepes with Maine blueberry compote, poached eggs with asparagus and prosciutto, crispy bacon (it doesn't get better than that), locally roasted coffee, etc..
In fact, our great discovery this weekend was the food. Maine is bursting at the seams with crunchy, free range chickens, fresh grown herbs, and quirky combinations of new age and classic dishes. Even if you forgo the lobster, which we did, Maine is a culinary delight. We ate and drank our way along the coast.

Farmer's market in Bath, outside Brunswick.

Greg is really excited about finding some healhty Nasturtium, which he used to grow in Denver. He eats this stuff daily in salads. Very tasty!

Downtown Bath:

Popham Beach. Yes, there is an ocean around here somewhere... but mostly we enjoyed a nice view of the fog.

Happy Me

We drove through some remote areas along the craggy edges of the coast and this is what most little hamlets look like: a church, an inn, a library, sometimes a market, usually a teeny roadside cemetery, and a cluster of picturesque homes all within a few hundred feet of each other.

Clearly we love Maine. But like any amazing place, there has to be a downfall. Here is is... Okay, so Maine has one really annoying thing about it: residents here are suckers for cheesy customized license plates. I am not exaggerating. Our theory is that there are so few residents in this state that they can pretty much ask for whatever they imagine on their plate and get it. And believe you me, it's groan-worthy. Here are some of the ones we noticed just in a couple hours:
F GORE, MAX MAN, CAN DO 3, OL DIRT, ERND GRL, NGHT OWL, GRNT INN (sweet owner from our Granite Inn, sucker!), GOTH GRL, COOL MOM... you get the picture. Ugh.

I really wanted to see a traditional Maine lighthouse so we set out to see the Breakwater Lighthouse in Rockland. It was the first day open for the season and the weather was less than ideal. Foggy, chilly, with sea spray whipping up around us, we were determined to have a lighthouse experience...
The VERY long walk:

Greg begins...

Cheeks stinging, we arrived... at THIS:

As you can see, I'm kind of disappointed.

I'm already imagining the amazing dinner we're about to have, and the real reason we came to Rockland in the first place: PRIMO.

I was commissioned to write a feature on one of the East Coast's best restaurants: Primo for Sommelier Journal. Chef Melissa Kelly and her partner, Price Kushner, run this one-of-a-kind establishment in Rockland, far from the spotlight of Boston and NYC, but not far from the accolades. Primo is a five-star Michelin restaurant; Kelly is a James Beard award-winning chef. Almost Everything they cook & serve is raised, grown, cured, smoked, aged and/or baked on their property. They source locally, seasonally, and passionately. Primo is truly an example for the modern gourmet dining experience. We had such a memorable meal. Every single flavor was spot-on. The next morning I spent a couple hours with Kelly and Kushner on their property, talking about how Americans eat. Their mission is to bring basic fresh food back into our hearts and onto our plates.

Gardens where my salad came from:

Melissa Kelly walks me through the green house

Sooo cute, right? Meat birds: this is what I ate at Primo. Best. Chicken. Ever. In about 4 more weeks these guys will be ready...and yes, they live very happy lives.

...more cuteness...and tastiness. This is what Greg ate at Primo. Served as saltimbocca, to be exact. Rest assured, these guys are also very happy. As food guru Michael Pollan puts it: "the animals live really great lives and then they have one bad day."

What, you may wonder, was Lucas doing during our anniversary weekend away? Well, he's not sharing the details but rest assured we won't be hiring the stuffed monkey to babysit again!

15 Months

2011-05-10T06:12:00.000-07:00

Lucas is 15 months old! We can't believe how fast he's growing. Each day he is learning new things and becoming more independent. He is a joy and a light in our home. Here are a few photos of the past month...

Lucas has discovered the joy of books. By far his favorite activity is looking at books all day. First thing in the morning he wakes up pointing to his bookshelf where all his favorites are. He climbs the shelves to get to them, stows them in every corner, and loves to sit on anyone's lap to flip the pages. Here, he reads one of his favorites, "Mimi" as he waits for dinner at Grandma's house:

"Seriously guys, this book is GOOOOOOD"

It doesn't matter how many times he looks through the pages, it's always enthralling!

In addition to books, Lucas has discovered the joys of television. We don't let him watch very much, but on occasion he gets to see a show. As you can see, he thoroughly enjoys the experience...

And finally, when he's not eating, looking at books, or jumping around the house, Lucas likes to get dirty! Now that the weather is warm we go to the playground almost everyday. Lucas likes to run, go down the slide by himself, and swing. He is also a magnet for mud, dirt, bark, and rocks.

Thoroughly happy after diving into a mud puddle.

Easter

2011-05-03T12:27:00.000-07:00

We had a nice Easter Sunday at Grandma and Grandpa Koz's house. Lucas was given his first Easter basket (courtesy of Grandma Gardner).

Krystyna always sets a beautiful table. This was just our first meal of the day:

The Polish Blessing: Krystyna had this food blessed at church the day before, per tradition

And now for the photos of our darling Lucas, enjoying his gifts from the Easter Bunny:

One of Lucas' first words is "Duck," only when he says it, it sounds like "Guck." He's very excited about his new yellow Guck.

Grandma Koz hid raspberries inside his plastic eggs. He had so much fun popping them open and grabbing the berries.

Lucas likes to show us where his nose is...

14 Months and counting

2011-04-19T19:21:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since we updated the blog. We returned home from Dominican Republic to many more weeks of winter. March and April have been transition periods for all of us. We are slowly unfolding into Springtime here, and Lucas is blossoming every day. He spends most of his Saturdays with Grandma and Grandpa Koz. Here are a few photos that Grandma and Grandpa took of Lucas during his days with them:

Deep conversations with Elmo

Snuggles with the big frog pillow at Grandma Koz's house

A whole room of toys just for me? Yes! Lucas loves his playroom

Dominican Republic

2011-03-18T06:45:00.000-07:00

We have had one of the worst winters in recorded history here in CT so our family decided to head south for a little sunshine. At one year of age Lucas has played on beaches along both Atlantic and Pacific coasts (in California, Maine, Connecticut) and now he can add the Caribbean to his list. Here are some photos of our week in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic:

Three generations...

Lucas and Koz take an introductory stroll on the beach the day we arrived.

The darling sun hat that Lucas wore just 1 time. He hated it and refused to have it on his head. We were forced to simply smear sunblock all over his hair for the rest of the trip because he would not keep the hat on. You can see by his expression how unhappy he is about this hat:

Krystyna relaxes in the shaded lobby

We enjoyed lots of nice dinners out

Lucas did pretty good at the restaurants, although he wanted to walk around a lot and visit other diners. Good thing we had four adults to take turns following him around on his explorations. Here, it's Grandpa's turn to hang on to him...

Probably the most memorable dinner was on our second night. We ate on the beach and it was very late so Lucas was really tired. But once the post-dinner entertainment began, he perked up. Lucas was so captivated by the belly dancer that he ran up on stage and became a part of the show!

All those late nights of partying with belly dancers meant he needed to catch up on some zzzzs during the day.

There was also a lot of playtime. We enjoyed watching Lucas experience the pool, the ocean, and the beach:

Lucas especially loved watching and playing with the other kids at the resort. There were a few children his own age but his new best friend was this 10-year old girl, Ally, from Ottawa, Canada. She had some great pool toys. Ally and her brother, Sam, would patiently play with Lucas for a long time every day. We wish they lived closer because these were seriously the nicest young kids I've ever met!

On our way home we had about a 9-hour layover in Miami. We rented a car and spent the day exploring South Beach Miami. Lucas ate Peruvian food and chased the seagulls on the beach. He has now rounded out his "four corners" tour of the U.S.A and can say he's been to Washington State, California, Maine, and Florida. Our little traveler!

1st Birthday Extravaganza

2011-02-19T08:17:00.000-08:00

BIRTHDAY BOY

Lucas had his 1st Birthday party last week. Let me tell you, this kid is already a pro at partying! Grandma and Grandpa Kozbinski hosted the event and we had about 15 or so people over. Lucas hammed it up for his guests, performing all his favorite tricks and walking around to each person to say hi.
Here are pictures of Lucas at his 1st Birthday party:

Grandma Koz

Grandpa Koz helped Lucas Skype with his relatives in Poland. He ate some celery sticks while chatting with Great Auntie Alina.

Lucas really likes to see how many things he can stuff in his mouth. Forget sweets: celery sticks are a new favorite. My theory is that he likes the crunch they make when he uses those chompers.

The Cake

Lucas seemed very interested in the cake and we thought he would tear into it...

...But it turned out he was more interested in the plastic spoon. He really enjoyed spreading the frosting around on his tray with the spoon but did not eat much cake.

Behold! The Spoon! I cannot believe my son was more excited about plastic cutlery than his freshly-made Italian birthday cake from Moziccato's Bakery. I suppose we don't have to worry about cavities!

THE GIFTS
Everyone was so generous! Lucas was pretty overwhelmed with all the gifts and he has spent the past week playing with his new toys a lot. His current favorites are his new Sam the Sweeper Broom, the Glockenspiel, and all his new books. Thanks everyone!

The wreckage...

Our sweet and happy boy: after a full day of people, some sugar, and lots of new toys Lucas was still smiling and ready for more!

I'm Not a Baby!

2011-02-14T14:57:00.001-08:00

Lucas turned 1 on February 11. He is officially a toddler (and has been toddling all over the place for quite some time). Here are a few photos of his last month as a "baby"...

Lucas and his big green frog:

Lucas' new trick is to put something (sippy cups, play cubes, blankets - you name it) into his mouth and shake it around without his hands. Kind of like a dog with a chew toy. I'm not sure I should encourage this behavior...but he seems proud of his trick so I took a photo.

..."hmmm, I wonder if I could get both of these block in my mouth without hands..." (For the record, he could not. But he tried for several minutes).

Lucas' "I've been sneaky" look. Believe it or not, Lucas is starting to be a little sneaky. However, he's not very good at sneaking his sneakiness. Whenever he's up to something we know it because it will get very, very quiet in the house. And when we find him, this is the little smile on his face:

Speaking of being sneaky, Lucas recently discovered a bowl of apples that I had set out. Apples are Lucas' favorite food. However, he is not happy with the small, baby-sized diced apples he gets on his high chair tray. He would like to be treated like an adult. So he helped himself to every single apple in the bowl. Took a big toothy bite out of each one and slobbered all over them. Left them all over the house. I have found one under the couch and two beneath the dining room shelf. He is my apple eater!

He may be a toddler now, but Lucas still needs his sleep! After all that running around my boy sleeps like a baby.

Snowcapolypse 2011

2011-02-10T12:32:00.001-08:00

We have had one of the snowiest winters ever recorded in Connecticut. Greg has been shoveling us out for weeks. The local schools called in the Air and Army National Guards to shovel their roofs so he is even shoveling at work!

Lucas hangs out in his new snowsuit. He's not a huge fan of the cold but he likes getting thrown around in the huge piles.

It just keeps coming down...

I managed to find our mailbox... unfortunately there is not a clear enough path to actually receive anything. We'll be making trips to the Post Office for the remainder of the winter.

Sunny SoCal

2011-01-28T06:32:00.000-08:00

We flew out to sunny and warm SoCal for vacation recently. My parents were there for the winter, and my sister and her husband flew out for my Dad's 70th Birthday weekend. It was a big surprise for my Dad. My mom planned a big party for him. He had no idea we his family would fly out from all over the country! We had such a good time seeing friends and family - and soaking in some sun.

Here he is! 70 years young and still going strong!

The Party: My parents' oldest and best friends came to help us celebrate

My sister and I

Greg and Aaron, enjoying some football, BBQ, and sweet tea vodka!

We stayed with our long-time family friends, Karen and Brian. They were such wonderful hosts and were very gracious about having to rearrange their living space for our little boy. Karen and Brian have a new grandson who will soon be running around like Lucas. It was good practice for them to see what it will be like! Lucas showed them all the things (pottery on shelves, wine bottles low enough to reach, lamp cords, table edges, little bowls of potpourri) that they will need to watch! Here, Lucas helps Karen unload the dishwasher. He likes to climb inside and finger all the clean glasses.

After the big 70th birthday bash we packed up and headed to Santa Monica to meet up with our friends, Ben and Kelly. They drove down from Davis to see us. We spent a couple days on the beach.

Lucas got the royal treatment from Ben and Greg, who sherpa-d him right down to the ocean.

"Do I like the sand between my toes?"

"Yes! I like the sand between my toes, my fingers, my teeth... you name it!"

The ocean was a little cold, but Lucas and Greg dipped their feet in.

Lucas and "Uncle Benny" at the Griffith Observatory

Kelly and I

My good friend Jihan met us out for dinner. We were so happy to get the chance to see her and introduce her to Lucas. This is the only shot we were able to get because Lucas was more interested in his chopsticks than in having his photo taken.

Lucas is a big fan of food, and he enjoyed trying some sushi rolls, pickled ginger, and seaweed salad. The only thing he did not like: the watermelon sorbet for desert. Go figure!

Nothing says LA like pupusa delivery bikes! Oh Joy!

Next we drove up the coast and stayed the night with my parents at their condo in Carpinteria. Lucas had a great time playing on the beach.

Greg and Lucas really enjoyed playing in the sand. I think we brought quite a bit back with us!

Bapa and Lucas share a moment

11 Months

2011-01-21T12:57:00.001-08:00

Lucas turned 11 months old a couple weeks ago and is growing every day! He has been walking now for about 2 months and is now so sturdy on his feet that he's decided to RUN everywhere. We have invested in some good shoes, done a few more rounds of baby-proofing, and we get our exercise from chasing him around all day!

Here's a look at the past month:

TROUBLE! Lucas will get into anything and everything that isn't locked. The cupboards, refrigerator, and dishwasher are his favorites. As you can see, he's a big "help" in the kitchen!

Of all the things in the fridge, Lucas decided to grab himself a cold beer!

Greg has taken Lucas for a lot of long winter walks in the backpack. He loves to nap this way.

Overall we've been very conservative about the foods we give Lucas. He has a pretty strong digestive sensitivity to Dairy products, so that makes it tough on all of us. But as he's getting bigger we are testing new things. Here, Greg and Lucas snack on some popcorn (no butter) for the first time. He's a fan.

Sick Kid
Lucas had a tough month. First he got the flu during a trip to Pennsylvania. Then a couple weeks later he got a bad cold and spent about two days cuddled in my lap just like this. He has made a full recovery and is stronger - and more active - than ever!

Overall we have a happy and healthy little kid on our hands. We've enjoyed every bit of the 11 months we have had with Lucas (well, okay... we have not enjoyed the bits that include sleep deprivation)!

Baptism

2011-01-21T11:44:00.000-08:00

Lucas was baptized on January 2. This was something very important to many of his family members in Poland. Here are a few photos of the event. There were four other babies/children getting baptized at the same time and Lucas managed to garner most of the attention with his friendly smiles and festive little shouts at the Deacon during the ceremony. The Deacon was kind of stern and serious at first, but Lucas had him chuckling in no time. The Deacon announced to everyone, as he wiped Lucas' forehead and chest with oil, "If you all could only see these eyes, folks," which I gathered to be a huge compliment coming from such an otherwise foreboding figure. We were very glad that Lucas smoothed things over with him, because he wasn't thrilled to learn that we showed up to baptize our son without his Godparents. The fact that the Godparents live 3,000 miles away didn't seem to be a good enough excuse. I suppose we should have read the baptism rule book! We are a little rusty when it comes to these things. In the end, it all worked out just beautifully. Phew!

It's hard to see, but in the background Les has his Iphone up. He downloaded a Skype application and was able to connect with our relatives in Poland via the Internet on his phone. They were able to see the entire baptism in real time, as it happened. This made the event very special for our family overseas. It was even worth the dirty looks from the Deacon! Again, if we had read the baptism rule book I'm sure there is something in there about no cell phones. This was one rule totally worth breaking! I'm sure Babcia Helen would agree.

Holiday Festivities

2011-01-21T11:10:00.000-08:00

I am way behind on the Blog. When I fall this far behind it's usually because we're busy generating a lot of experiences and photos and I don't have much time to post them! I'm going to try to catch up by posting a few pics from our holiday season here:

The week before Christmas, Lucas and I took the train to Philadelphia (Greg joined us later on). We stayed in the lovely little town of Wyomissing with my wonderful friend, Caitlin, and her family. She, her husband Vik, and their new baby, Naomi, live in London so it's not often that we get to spend time with them. We were so excited to meet Naomi for the first time.

This smiley photo is pretty much the only one we have of our week together because from the very first evening Lucas and I arrived, every single person in the house was systematically infected with a horrible (but thankfully short-lived) flu virus.
First down was our precious little Lucas! He got sick the night we arrived. It was so hard to watch him suffer and I wasn't able to offer him the comforts of his own home, but he recovered quickly. Children are amazing that way! Next up: Caitlin and I. The two of us spent an entire night and the next day in our respective beds. Then Greg came down with it on the day we had to drive home to CT. It was a VERY long drive home! Then Vik fell ill. And then, like dominos, Caitlin's parents, brother, brother's fiance, and her entire family - one by one - got it! It was really unfortunate but we managed to still have a nice time, eat good food, and enjoy the reunion.
It will certainly be a week to remember!

I had to include the photo below. I hope you'll get as much of a kick out of it as Caitlin and I did. We took our babies to see Santa at the mall (see the photo of Lucas screaming in the last Blog post and you'll know just how wonderful that went!) This snowman was hysterical: it has a frontal butt, sweat pants, and boxing gloves for shoes. Whatever happened to the snowmen that wore little bow ties???

And now here are some photos from Lucas' first Christmas:

Lucas was so excited about his stocking...he didn't realize there were also toys inside. At this age he was pleased with wrapping paper and boxes so we probably didn't even need to give him toys! Nevertheless, he was the big winner on Christmas morning.

Grandma and Grandpa Gardner got Lucas the wildly popular B Zaney Zoo. Big hit!

He played with this all morning long. He was a little scared of the rocking horse, but after a few days he worked up the nerve to "pet" the horse. And now he likes to climb all over him

Grandma and Grandpa Koz gave Lucas his very own mailbox. It plays music and comes with letters and a little package that he can mail all by himself.

Priceless! Here, Lucas has had a little too much Christmas for his own good. Toys, wrapping paper, more toys. He's hardly able to keep his eyes open. But still, he's got a death grip on his new Elmo Cell Phone. "I...must...keep...opening...presents!"

....NAP TIME!

Okay, so we became THOSE PEOPLE. You know the ones. They have a child and suddenly every photo you ever see is of the baby. You can't remember what the parents even look like anymore because there are no photos of them. Yes, we swore that would never happen to us but to our chagrin, we went through all the photos of Christmas morning and the only ones of us were as background during the mad rush to capture our child's first Christmas. You'll just have to believe that we were there. We had a nice Christmas day, too. And we promise to start focusing the lens on ourselves more often!

The Kozbinski’s Buzz-Worthy First Annual Newsletter

2010-12-24T18:31:00.000-08:00

THE YEAR OF THE BABY
Our little Anchor baby has finally rooted us in CT. We still manage to travel but we plan on staying here for the foreseeable future, whatever that means. For now we are fulfilling our wanderlust through little excursions, but nothing like our traipsing of years past. The focus has defiantly been on Lucas and his shenanigans.

To catch you up, we moved to Connecticut at the tail end of ’09, in the heart of winter when Cara was about 7 months pregnant. Lucas joined us 11 Feb. My job was simple: use all my social network assets to announce his arrival. The transformation from childless life to being a new parent did not hit me until it was my turn to change diapers, after Cara’s mother and sister departed. It was my turn to deal with his wiki-leaks.

Still, we have done a remarkable amount of travel for having had a baby less than a year ago. Here are a few of the places we have gone, either as a family or as individuals: We started off the year in DC, then Coastal Maine, Manhattan and Brooklyn on multiple occasions, Spokane, Washington – twice for Cara and Lucas, and most recently, Wyomissing PA. I found myself in South Carolina too many times, Hawaii, Seattle, St Louis, and even a quick trip out to the desert where I bumped into a great many friends. Lucas has definitely been a champ and has traveled from coast to coast more than once, and has gotten to know planes, trains, automobiles and even boats. He refudiates the notion that babies do not travel well. Before he turns 1 he will have taken multiple trips to the West Coast and throughout New England. As 2011 nears, we are not slowing down! Stay tuned for more travel updates as Lucas goes from riding in a backpack to wearing one.

But enough of the baby talk. Austerity measures have not affected us yet. Cara started a graduate program in business communications at Baypath College in Longmeadow, Mass. I am also working on a Master’s program. In our free time we sleep. At least it feels like that. But Cara did manage to train for and complete a half marathon, less than 9 months after giving birth. In the meantime I slacked off, only participating in a couple mini triathlons and the annual Thanksgiving Manchester Road Race.

So if you want more about the baby, just flip back through the blog – since he arrived in our lives, he has been the blog’s number one topic – he even beat out Justin Bieber. I will try to interject some adult news next year, but I am up against overwhelming cuteness.

Best,
Greg

Winter Walks

2010-12-23T14:14:00.000-08:00

Greg takes Lucas on long winter walks.

CT ANG Guard Family Christmas Party

2010-12-21T18:17:00.000-08:00

The Connecticut Air National Guard hosted its annual family Christmas party so we decided to take Lucas and test his friendliness toward Santa. It did not go well! Lucas was terrified of Santa, Mrs. Claus, and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. As long as we kept him far away from these three characters, he had a great time.

Lucas wouldn't have anything to do with sitting on Santa's lap. He cried and wouldn't look at him, so this photo is all we were able to get!

Predictably, Lucas was excited about receiving gifts from Santa. Of course he did not understand the concept of unwrapping a present. He wanted simply to eat the brightly wrapped paper and was perfectly happy with doing that. So I had to help him find the toy inside...

Lucas was much happier just walking around the room, greeting other people and seeing what they might be willing to give him that he could drool on:

When we got home, Lucas was very protective of his gift bag. It was almost as big as him! He did not want anyone touching it or taking it away from him. You can see how nervous he is about anyone getting in the way of is prized shiny green bag!

He tried pushing it as he moved along in order to keep it with him at all times, but eventually he gave up on this, as the bag was filled with toys and not very easy for him to move around.

Play Date Update

2010-12-21T17:59:00.000-08:00

About once a month Lucas goes to a party (AKA: play date) with his birthday buddies: Patrick, Riley, Kelsa, Grace, and Libby. It's fun to think that just a few months ago we'd lay our newborns on blankets and watch them squirm around without being aware of one another. Now they are all over the place, moving from room to room, eating everything in sight, and interacting with each other in hilarious ways. These play dates are always pretty busy so I did not capture some of the great moments. But here is a snippet:

Kids Museum

2010-12-21T17:30:00.001-08:00

Recently I met up with a friend and we took our sons to Kid City in Middletown. This place is amazing! Room after room of expertly decorated and incredibly detailed kid's play areas result in very happy kids. They can bang, climb, tear, and drool on everything without parents having to worry about their safety or the clean up. Lucas had a lot of fun in the baby's chef kitchen and in the dinosaur area.

Lucas got really into picking his own carrots for the fresh dishes he was making (he didn't so much as pick them as drool and slobber on them)

Lucas' friend, Trever, is over 6 months older than him and was quite a role model. Here, Trever demonstrates the "I'm so tall" game while Lucas watches closely.

Lucas made some art for daddy but then decided to eat it.

Here he his: two days shy of 10 months old and already strolling around, checking things out like he's been walking for years.

10 Months

2010-12-11T13:31:00.000-08:00

We've had a full month. I went to Brooklyn to visit a friend for the weekend, finished my first class in my graduate program, and worked hard to keep Lucas on his increasingly busy social schedule. Greg is also plugging away at his Masters classes, working hard, and had a good time running in the Thanksgiving Day Manchester Road Race. Lucas, however, has been the busiest of all...

He is opening trash cans, flushing toilets, rummaging around in cupboards, and even crawling into the oven every chance he can (I can no longer have the oven on unless there is someone else to help me "field" Lucas).

But none of those things were satisfying enough He just could not sit around any longer waiting for people. Crawling got to be soooo yesterday. So one day he decided to start walking! We will post video of this in the next update.

Here's a look back at the past month...

Recently, Lucas has been doing more than just walking. He's learned to climb up things. He regularly gets up on the granite mantel and attempts to pull down his stocking...

...before he starts pulling at it, he always checks to make sure I'm watching. Ornery!

Tailgating at the UConn football game. Lucas was a trooper and handled the cold very well:

One Cool Kid:

Second Date:
Lucas had a 2nd date with his friend, Libby. You may remember from the Blog that on their first date they didn't talk very much and Lucas was more interested in eating leaves than in Libby. This time, however, we met for lunch and the babies were so fascinated by what the other one had to eat. It was like they were comparing snacks. Lucas shared his banana puffs...although he didn't really have a choice in the matter. He doesn't look too thrilled about giving them up!

Thanksgiving:
Lucas has a great relationship with meat but he had no idea what to do with this big turkey leg...

...we let him play around with it for a while before giving him some little pieces.

Play time with Dad:

9 Months!

2010-11-14T05:52:00.000-08:00

Lucas turned 9 months old on Veteran's Day. He is 21.5 lbs, and getting his two top teeth. He likes to stand on his own, using only a couple fingers against walls or furniture to "steady" himself. He eats everything and especially loves black olives, anything with apples, and lots of meat (of course!).

Lucas' fits into his very own flight jacket but Daddy's shoes are still a little big!

We had fun getting Lucas his own flight jacket with patches. Aside from that, we know that the only shoes he needs to fill are his very own. We are excited to see what kinds of jackets and things he'll be interested in when he gets to pick for himself.

Lucas tries a raspberry...

...It's a hit!

(note: Lucas has since decided he does not like raspberries, which to date is the only food he refuses when put in front of him.)

The Tunnel:

Greg has been researching bike trailers so that he can take Lucas with him on longer rides. Here, Lucas samples a few:
At REI - This one is fun!

Out on the Trail - snooze-a-rama!

Pumpkin Photo Shoot:
I tried getting a few cute shots of Lucas with a pumpkin right before Halloween. He was very interested in chewing on the pumpkin stem and not at all interested in looking at the camera.

When the pumpkin became a little boring, Lucas realized there were other kids playing nearby...

He crawled across the entire yard in a huge effort to get to them.

The little girl was so sweet. She played with Lucas for a little while. She gave him leaves to eat, and I soon gave up trying to keep them out of his mouth.
They taste so delicate and crunchy!

Lucas and the Laundry Basket

2010-11-14T05:46:00.000-08:00

The other day Lucas rolled off the bed into the laundry basket as I was folding clothes. He was a little shocked at first...

..but then he started laughing hysterically.

He did it a few more times and we encouraged him, thinking it was a pretty fun game. But a couple days ago he rolled off the bed onto the hard floor, which as you can imagine, was not as fun. That marked the end of the Laundry Basket game.

Halloween

2010-11-05T04:31:00.001-07:00

Lucas the Puffy Dragon, not Puff the Magic Dragon:

Here is a group shot of the babies. They were all born during the same week in February. It has been so wonderful to have support from other mothers who are right there at the same developmental stages. We have really been lucky to have each other. From left:
Patrick, Lucas, Grace, Kelsa, and Libby (our March baby). Riley is missing due to a cold

The Dragon and the Lion play with leaves

Fun with Dad

Lucas and his friend, Patrick had a good time. In a previous post I showed Lucas and Patrick hanging out at this same location in our house, having a serious conversation about sleeping through the night. On Halloween they reconvened. I don't think the chat was as intense this time, but there was certainly some discussion going on regarding the property rights of the fringy lion mane. Lucas doesn't really understand the concept of personal space...
Lucas started out by pulling himself up next to Patrick and acting like he was interested in a toy:

But it didn't take long before his real intentions became known. He kept getting closer and closer to Patrick's fringy hat

Lucas: "I'm just going to see how this tastes."
Patrick: "Oh my Gosh! What are you doing? This is my mane."

Lucas: "But I'm just touching it... and maybe eating it a little."
Patrick: "Hands off, buddy!"

I decided maybe Lucas was invading Patrick's space a little too much, so I told him to leave Patrick's lion mane alone. This is the look I got:
Lucas: "who, me? I'm not doing anything!"
Patrick: "Caught red-handed, man. Drop my fringe and back away!"

CAUTION: Wild Creature on the Loose!

Caught!

Celtics/Knicks

2010-11-04T19:42:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago Greg and a friend went to the Celtics/Knicks game. They had great seats.

8 Months Old!

2010-10-16T17:35:00.000-07:00

Lucas turned 8 months old last week. I never thought I'd be one of those moms who say things like "I can't believe how fast the time goes," because quite frankly, sometimes the time goes very, very slowly. For instance, at 3am when you've been up four times already and you're thinking, "I cannot wait until he is a teenager and sleeps all the time!" Nevertheless, morning comes (coffee helps), and we find ourselves so much farther than we think. Lucas is getting bigger (aka heavier) and less like an infant every single day.
Here are some photos from the past month:

Lucas took his second cross-country airplane journey in his life on the cusp of turning 7 months old. He's already racking up the frequent flyer miles. He really enjoyed eating the cocktail napkin...hey, whatever keeps 'em busy, right?

In addition to flying on airplanes, Lucas learned to drive Bapa's boat.

Lucas had lots of fun with his friends this last month. The play dates are getting busier and more interactive. Here, Lucas and his friend, Patrick, play together.

Friends don't have to be people! Lucas likes chatting with the penguin. Greg and I have a rule: if something plastic comes into the house, then something plastic must be removed. This system serves us well and keeps our living room from becoming a Fisher Price commercial. We made an exception with the penguin, however.

Lucas tried lots of new foods this last month. Here, a journey in tofu:

Of course, there was a lot of playing with facial expressions. Some results were more darling than others. The jury is still out on this one. At least he has stopped doing it!

Afraid of barn animals? Nope. Lucas thinks the big ears and weird noises (and smells!) are hilarious.

Mostly, this was a month about INDEPENDENCE. It was all about exploring things on his own and becoming aware of his world in a new way.

Thankfully, Lucas still has time for his Mama.

Fall Farm Stands and Wickam Park

2010-10-06T06:55:00.000-07:00

Last week I got together with a friend of mine from my Mom's Group (which has turned out to be such a great way to meet people since moving to CT). Lorraine brought along her daughter, Libby, born just after Lucas. We had a great day exploring the gorgeous and abundant fall farm stands. Then we went to Wickam Park, which is a beautiful oasis right outside Manchester.

Lucas and Libby "strolled" together through the farm stands. They mostly ignored each other, but it was still a nice date to have!

The beautiful walk through Wickam Park

I could not resist taking lots of photos of the changing leaves. New England truly is stunning this time of year. I can't get enough of it!

With views like this, it's hard to believe the park is located in such a busy city area, between Manchester and East Hartford.

We spread blankets out and sat under the trees. Libby and Lucas played a little, but Libby didn't want much to do with Lucas when she realized what a brute he is! It was amazing to the see the difference between a little girl and a little boy the same age. She just sat calmly and wanted her mommy to stay close. Lucas, on the other hand, was all over the place. He had no interest in sitting nicely on the blanket and wanted to eat the leaves, pick grass, roll around in dirt, grab Libby's hair and otherwise explore every nook and cranny in his line of sight.

Sailing Niantic Bay

2010-10-03T13:45:00.000-07:00

Greg and I spent a great afternoon last weekend with our friends Kristin and Josh. We ran a 1/2 marathon in the morning and then boarded Josh's family's sailboat and spent the afternoon coasting around Niantic Bay.

The Niantic Bay 1/2

2010-10-02T17:27:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I ran a half marathon.
This was the second 1/2 I've ever done, the first being in 2008 in the mountains of Colorado at 9,000ft. altitude. I did considerably better then.

This time I had a dozen or so excuses for not training, most of them pretty valid. I stopped running at all about 3 weeks prior to the race. To say I wasn't prepared for this run is an understatement. But I showed up. And, as seems to happen during races, the spirit caught me and I ran it despite my lack of preparedness. Of course, my legs were not happy with me for several days afterward.
My friend Kristin and I before the run...

...talking and running through the beautiful Rocky Neck State Park along Niantic, CT's shoreline...

...still talking, smiling, and running (I do believe this was shot before the 10 mile mark)

...and STILL smiling after the race, with Kristin and her husband Josh. At this point we are smiling because: A. We are done. B. There are free hot dog and doughnut stands to our left. And, C. We are about to go sailing in Niantic Bay.

A Serious Conversation

2010-09-28T15:02:00.000-07:00

The other day Lucas' friend Patrick came over to hang out. They seemed to be having a very important conversation. Lots of gesturing, pointing, grabbing and a few squeals too. That night, Greg came home from his long trip away, and Lucas slept nicely through the night with NO bottle for the first time ever (we did have a couple wake-ups but nothing major).

I think maybe Patrick talked to Lucas about sleeping better. We'll never know...but it seems pretty obvious to me that this is what they were discussing. You decide.

Patrick: "So, I hear you've been a real troublemaker at night, dude."
Lucas: "Who, me?!"

Patrick: "Listen, I know it's hard. We would all love to eat all night long, whenever the mood strikes. But if you want your Mom to keep you around, you've got to curb that habit, man."

Lucas: "This is a total revelation. I will no longer demand a feeding - or 3 feedings - during the night. Why didn't anyone tell me this sooner?!"
Patrick: "I think my job here is done."

Sleep Training: Here We Go!

2010-09-23T04:07:00.000-07:00

To say we've struggled teaching Lucas to sleep through the night would be an understatement. We've SUFFERED. We've begged, demanded, and prayed to the Baby Sleep Gods. We've tried everything from the Sears method to the Ferber method. We've purchased books from someone called "The Baby Whisperer," and listened to everyone's advice. We've tried so many things at this point that they are all running together resulting in a melage of efforts that are niether effective or easy.
In the end, he still wakes up demanding food throughout the night. Greg has been gone for a while, so I've given in. What mother can stand to hear her baby cry???

But Lucas' pediatrician had a "come to Jesus" talk with me about how much he's eating at night. It looks like the all night diner is closing down. A rigid sleep training method prescribed by Lucas' pediatrician is going into full effect tonight.
Wish us luck! I will need it (and, of course, some wine, earplugs, and possibly an Ambien)!

He has no idea what's coming...

Beyond Eating 101

2010-09-23T04:01:00.000-07:00

Lucas is turning into quite the eater. We are trying new flavors and textures. So far, there's nothing he's not into!

Here, Lucas' pincer grasp in full effect: he has moved beyond "Eating 101"

Success! The sweet potato puff is in his mouth (actually, several of them are stockpiled in there).

Herbed Tofu: I had this in a salad (I was moving it off to the side of my plate to avoid it), and noticed Lucas eying it. I figured "why not?" and to my surprise, he really enjoyed the tofu. Lucas might have a more advanced palate than I do!

Spokane

2010-09-17T05:50:00.001-07:00

Lucas with his cousins, Sydney and Nash.

We had a big, belated birthday celebration for all the August birthdays in our family. From left, Darby, Andy, Cara & Nash.

Lucas plays with Grandma

Ceiling fans are so cool...

Lucas and his new favorite facial expression: scrunching up his nose. I don't know how long this little facial phase will last so I wanted to get a photo

Spokane Interstate Fair

2010-09-13T22:02:00.000-07:00

Recently my dad treated us to an afternoon at the State Fair. He knew Lucas would enjoy seeing the animals. It was a nice pick-me-up from all the rough nights we've been having. Lucas may be a very early crawler/stander/walker, but he certainly isn't a very good sleeper. I find him standing up in his sleep area throughout the night, and he's always frustrated that it's "night night" time. The party animal in him really enjoyed the animals at the state fair.

If you're going to see the animals, you might as well look like one:

Lucas loved the sheep.

Okay one more sheep photo and then we're moving on...

Pic of Bapa and a horse.

A big afternoon at the State Fair = nap time. Ahhhh - if only it were this easy at night!

Month 6

2010-09-06T19:52:00.001-07:00

It has been a very slobbering month. Truthfully, it's been a very slobbery several months. One tooth arrived in August and several are ready to emerge, so everything - and I mean EVERYTHING - is going in Lucas' mouth.

The latest for the Koz's:
Lucas and I have been visiting family in Spokane for the past couple weeks (Greg was deployed for a very short time and is now state-side - and safe - but still traveling for work).
I forgot to bring our nice camera and have had to make due with the Iphone camera. Still, we have a couple cute shots. Hopefully soon I can upload a few videos of Lucas crawling, pulling himself up to standing, and other milestones.

Playing on the grass by the lake:

Cute shots in a hat that he will someday be appalled I made him wear!

Green Beans

2010-08-27T07:05:00.000-07:00

So far Lucas has thoroughly enjoyed every food we put in front of him: bananas, apples, pears, sweet potato, prunes, peas - you get the picture. So I was optimistic when I introduced him to some green beans last week. What a total disaster. Look at his face: it's like he just realized that the world is not fair or something.

He went from grossed out and annoyed...

...to just kind of sad.

Birthday Card

2010-08-27T07:02:00.000-07:00

Lucas' cousin, Nash, recently celebrated his 4th birthday. We weren't there on Nash's special day, but Lucas sent him this homemade birthday card... and then tried to eat it. When will they invent edible stationary???

Our Neighborhood

2010-08-23T17:28:00.000-07:00

Recently Greg and I took Lucas out for a day of sightseeing. The weather is great and we decided that we needed to get to know our neighborhood a little bit. I'm so glad we did. We discovered some beautiful areas around Hartford and found several farmer's stands, some with wineries attached.

We ended up spending the afternoon at the Barkhampstead reservoir. Lucas enjoyed the sun, and the cool water on a hot day.

Skydiving

2010-08-16T18:37:00.001-07:00

I turned 32 years old today. Yesterday, on my last day of being 31, Greg took me to a tiny airport by a corn field and let me fulfill a longtime dream: jumping out of an airplane at 12,000 ft.
What a thrill. My boys watched from the ground. This was so amazing!

MANIFEST: How appropriate!

12,000 ft. jump, 60 seconds of free fall, 5 minutes of parachuting.

Post Jump: Lucas is more interested in eating my goggles than anything else; my tandem instructor. This was his 8,117th jump. I felt pretty safe with him!

6 Months Old!

2010-08-11T05:15:00.000-07:00

Lucas is 6 months old today! His crawling attempts have evolved from wiggling on the floor to actually moving fairly quickly across the room. He's still half sliding, half crawling, but he manages to get himself where he wants to go with a lot of effort, so it's time to baby proof! He has a lot to say, although none of it makes much sense. Lucas has discovered the joy of playing with things that aren't actually baby toys. If it's something Greg or I have, he wants it. I have learned to try and pretend like I'm using his toys for something important before giving them to him. He seems to like it better if he thinks it's not really designed for him. Watch out! He is also a big eater, and is now delving through some delicious organic zucchini from the Coventry Farmer's Market. Here is a look back at the past month:

Watching mom cook:

A big smile for Grandma Koz:

"Oh my goodness, this may be the coolest toy ever!"

Crawling!

"Those toys are so far away... but I can get there!"

Lucas naps while I run

A boy and his dragon... Lucas has trained his pet dragon Puff (Tolo is his real name) very well.

So funny: Lucas was playing with his turtle and suddenly got very upset because he couldn't find it. Turns out he'd put the turtle on his head and had no idea where it was. Hilarious.

It's a loooong way down from up here!

Chillin' in my crib:

Lucas' Swedish highchair: a big hit!

Koz in Seattle

2010-08-05T14:02:00.000-07:00

Greg flew out to Seattle last weekend to attend one of his AF friend's weddings. He came back with these four photos... none of the wedding. Oh well. It looks like he had a great time and caught up with some of our West Coast friends.

James! You made the blog! Our friend from Denver, James, was in Seattle for the wedding as well.

Greg stayed with our good friends Matt and Angie, and their two girls, pet bird, new puppy, etc... As usual the menagerie at their house enjoyed great food: Sola buys clams at the market for their feast

So, no pics of the wedding ceremony or reception...nothing of the bride in her gown. But there is this: Koz at the Tour De Fat beer festival.

Day at the Lake

2010-08-05T13:55:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago some friends invited us out to their house on the lake. We had a wonderful day swimming and wake surfing.
Here are a few shots of Lucas at the lake:

Lucas is already a dare devil! Only 5 1/2 months old and already body surfing (more accurately, body floating)

I love this series of photos. Lucas and his friend Patrick enjoy the kiddie pool

Patrick liked Lucas' toes...

Lucas didn't seem to mind that Patrick kept snacking on his feet

Overall they had a nice baby conversation. Greg and I had a great time too!

Visit from Tiff

2010-08-05T11:26:00.000-07:00

My friend Tiffany recently crawled out of Brooklyn, took the metro-North into the burbs of Connecticut, and spent one night and most of the next day hanging out with Lucas and I. (trust me, this is HUGE for Tiffany, who is a die-hard Brooklynite and refuses to leave during the summer =).

It was great to catch up with her and Lucas really loved making a new friend. Thanks Tiffy!

Maine Coast

2010-07-16T06:59:00.000-07:00

Right after the 4th of July, we decided to spend a night on Maine's southern coast. I had to interview some people in Kennebunkport, Maine, for an article I was writing. Greg and Lucas wanted to come along too. Our original plan was to camp. It figures that the first time I go to Maine it happens to be triple digit temps! We bagged camping in that kind of heat and ended up in a nice air conditioned hotel.

The busy beach

Greg holds Lucas just above the chilly Atlantic

Koz weathers the heat well!

Mom and Lucas

Chillin' in a cool room after a long day in the heat and lots of driving

The day after I finished my interviews, we explored the town of Kennebunkport

Kennebunkport Maine, has been a haven for urban crowds looking to escape the hectic, sticky summer days in Quebec, Boston, Portsmouth, and New York for centuries.
It's just as popular today, and looks much like a lot of the cute, touristy coastal towns along the Oregon Coast.

On our way out of town we stopped to admire this gorgeous estate. It is picture perfect, perched on Maine's ubiquitous rocky outlets. Then we noticed that lots of other people were stopped to take pictures of the same estate. And then Greg pointed out the Texas flag flying high... we asked a few of the admirers and discovered that this is the Bush home - as in George and Barbara. When the Texas flag is up, then the former president is in residence. Apparently we'd just missed him getting off his boat. There were security detail all over the place. Apparently, when his son was president and came to visit, Naval ships would position themselves in the sea all around the home.
Now that both father and son have "retired" there is still secret service all over. Apparently that is a lifetime perk to being elected president.

Major Trouble

2010-07-14T13:51:00.001-07:00

Lucas is only 5 months old. He hasn't mastered crawling yet, but people tell me I will rue the day he becomes mobile because he's so energetic and curious.
For example...
"Hmmm, I wonder how far down it is..."

Another reason I love my Iphone: I caught him in this pickle after I looked away for literally just few seconds. One sock almost off and he's backwards, half way out of his chair.

We are working diligently to get Lucas to learn how to eat some solid foods like banana, applesauce and (currently) sweet potatoes. We are having mixed results. However, he clearly wants to skip ahead of the elementary flavors and head straight for dad's steak.

And finally, the coup de ta: this one says it all. He loves his sunglasses and likes to wear them even indoors (sigh). We have a party animal on our hands, ladies and gentlemen.

Visit from Jera

2010-07-08T18:41:00.000-07:00

One of my oldest and best friends recently came to CT to visit us and meet Lucas for the first time. We had a nice time catching up, which included her cooking us some wonderful meals and hanging out during our day-to-day parenting routine. We managed to fit in a little sightseeing as well.

I took the plunge and spent my first night away from Lucas since he was born. Jera and I went into NYC overnight. We had a great - but hot - day walking around the city and planned a big night out... however on my first night away from my baby boy, instead of partying it up I was really looking forward to the dark, quiet, comfortable hotel bed! Becoming a mom has redefined my idea of "Big Night." Now it means I get to sleep! we had a nice dinner in Soho, a few drinks at a neighborhood bar, and then taxied our way back to mid-town and our waiting pillows.

It figures that pretty much the only picture of me is this one - eating a hot dog from a street vendor. I hate hot dogs, but I believe that if one is in NYC, one must indulge in the street food. I was not disappointed.

We took a day trip to the shore, and found ourselves in typical bumper to bumper East Coast traffic. Everyone wants to get out of the cities and onto the beaches. So we detoured and ended up in this nice shore-side park.

Lucas has a new BFF!

On the way home we took a nice drive through the countryside and saw some traditional New England homes. We stopped at Avery's Soda Factory, one of the oldest soda companies in the US.

Father's Day

2010-07-05T06:22:00.000-07:00

We had a nice relaxing Father's Day in our backyard with Greg's family. Lucas wasn't so sure about the blow-up pool we filled for him. The water was pretty cold, but he liked to dip his feet in.

A little chill time in the new bouncer

For his Father's Day gift, I had a picture of Lucas transformed into a Warhol-esque digital image on stretched canvas. We love this piece of art and it's now displayed in our office space.

Visit from Poland

2010-07-05T06:16:00.000-07:00

Greg's cousin Kasia, her husband, Martin, and their 5-year old daughter, Ola, recently visited from Poland. We had a great time hanging out with them and introducing Lucas to some of his relatives from across the pond.

Ola and Lucas

Martin and Ola on Father's Day

Ola's new red hat

Play Date

2010-07-02T11:45:00.001-07:00

The line up, from left: Lucas, Patrick, Grace, Riley, & Kelsa

I've made good friends with several women who gave birth during the same week I did. We get together to chat and let the babies roll around and stare at one another. The last play date was at my house. Lucas slept through half of his playtime while his friends entertained themselves with his toys. When he woke up he was shocked to find all these other babies in his house.
As you can see here, he is carefully guarding his prized posession: Puff the Magic Dragon. All the other babies wanted to gaze at it and suck on Puff's paws, but Lucas would have none of it! He is lying next to Patrick, whom he adores. They like to hang out together at Mom's Group. But still, Lucas does not look ready to let Patrick have access to Puff.

We are going to have to work on sharing...

Lucas Loves to Read

2010-07-02T11:23:00.000-07:00

Some of Lucas' favorite toys are his books. He loves to stare at the pictures, turn the pages, and touch the images.

FOOD

2010-06-18T05:51:00.000-07:00

Lucas has taken a big interest in food. He stares and salivates at everything Greg and I eat or drink. For example...

As much as we think he'll love beer (in a little less than 21 years from now), we decided to start by giving him a little banana:

Growing

2010-06-18T05:47:00.000-07:00

Lucas is growing and changing everyday. He is now 4 months old and 16 pounds.

This is currently one of his favorite toys. He can grab onto it easily and put it in his mouth. EVERYTHING is going into his mouth these days. Greg calls it the "inspect and insert" phase.

Little Fish

2010-06-18T05:35:00.000-07:00

In Spokane a few weeks ago, Greg and I took Lucas to the pool. He loves bath time so much that we hoped he'd enjoy it. He loves the water, but was a little overwhelmed by all the noise, and the pool water was a little chilly for him. Still, he was a trooper, floating around until his little fingers and toes were turning blue.

Newman Lake, WA

2010-05-26T08:04:00.000-07:00

Lucas likes to get up REALLY early... the upside is that this is my morning view

Lucas and I have been spending time with my parents out at the lake while Greg is working in Hawaii.

Lucas has taken over Grandma's big chair.

Sydney and Nash meet their new baby cousin for the first time

Grandma took Lucas to the local farmer's market.

The weather is a little chilly here at the lake right now, but Lucas loves to be outside. So we bundle him up and he plays outdoors.

Lucas' first poker game. He was really drooling at all those chips!

Reading Hour

2010-05-14T04:00:00.001-07:00

At 3 months old, Lucas already loves books. Right now his favorite is The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which he sits and stares at for long periods of time. He's getting good at turning the pages!

Lucas at Home

2010-05-09T17:56:00.000-07:00

Lucas already loves to talk on the phone. He chats with his Grandpa here and we finally have to take the phone back...

When he's not doing business on the phone, Lucas likes to relax in his crib - ha!

Future Rock Star

2010-04-28T06:05:00.000-07:00

Lucas IS already a rock star: he slept for 8.5 hours straight last night!!!

Irresistable!

2010-04-28T06:02:00.000-07:00

Practicing the art of sticking my tongue out...

Play Time

2010-04-28T03:32:00.000-07:00

Lucas is now able to sit or lay for a while on his own and play.
He is working hard at being able to roll over... he's so close!

2010-04-25T09:24:00.001-07:00

Lucas - Weeks 8 & 9

2010-04-20T12:10:00.000-07:00

Some pictures of Lucas as he grows...

The bath is now Lucas' favorite time of day!

He loves the water and can float and push himself up if his face gets wet. He's ready for the lake!

A contemplative moment: what is Lucas thinking?? My best guess: "Why is mommy making me wear this plaid shirt, and where is my bottle?!"

Relaxing after a long nap...

...and smiling after a bunch of milk

EASTER

2010-04-09T16:15:00.000-07:00

Ben and Kelly joined us for Easter at Greg's parent's house. We had a wonderful day full of delicious food, sangria, and very competitive games of bocce ball.

Grandma Gardner sent Lucas this cute little bunny outfit. He wore it for a little while, but the feathers kept tickling his chin and he didn't tolerate that very well. At least we got a picture!

After he changed, Lucas spent much of the day lounging on Grandma and Grandpa's bed

We played some bocce ball but spiced it up by throwing balls off the balcony, into constructions zones, and across pavement.

Disputes were solved by rock,scissors,paper.

Lucas was super excited about his new swing! Ben and Greg used their rock climbing equipment to fashion a swing from the upstairs loft balcony. It looks precarious, but actually it was very solid... we all wished we could have gotten in the car seat!

Making Sangria:

The spread:

EASTER BEER HUNT

2010-04-09T15:39:00.001-07:00

Greg started a new tradition: The beer hunt. Rather than hide eggs, Greg feels - rightly so - that Easter should really be about beer. We had so much fun decorating the beer bottles and hiding them around the yard.

Kelly looks for good hiding spots

Greg and Brian are confident they can fill those big boxes...

...and Matt enlisted the help of his 2-year old son, Nate, with the hopes that a child's finely tuned ability to find hidden things might help out.

...But it was Ben who found the most beers.

VISIT FROM BEN AND KELLY

2010-04-09T15:39:00.000-07:00

Our good friends Ben and Kelly flew out from California for their first trip to the East Coast and their first meeting with little Lucas. We had a wonderful week hanging out with them. We enjoyed good talks, good food, and Lucas loved all the extra arms that were always ready to hold him.

Ben starts the night shift with Lucas

We took one day and drove to the CT shoreline. It was Lucas' first time seeing the ocean. He slept to the sound of the waves while the adults enjoyed some freshly made Sangria and took in the sun.

Lucas has a contemplative moment at the beach... actually he was sleeping the whole time.

BOSTON

2010-03-28T15:10:00.000-07:00

We recently took a day trip to Boston. Lucas is just 6 weeks old but we want to get him used to being out and about. His parents are big travelers, after all, and he needs to be ready to explore! The weather was a pretty windy, so we bundled him up and hit the city. Lucas did great! We even took some extra time and visited friends for dinner before heading home.
In front of the Paul Revere House:

There was only one major meltdown during the 10-hour day. This was the very beginning of it. You can see that Lucas is not happy about hanging out in the passenger seat of the car while we were parked. He likes the car to be MOVING at all times. In fact, the meltdown got considerably worse when we got stuck in downtown traffic. I guess he has a point though: nobody likes rush hour traffic!

6 weeks and counting...

2010-03-24T17:41:00.000-07:00

One Month Old

2010-03-13T15:31:00.000-08:00

Lucas is one month old! He's growing everyday, his personality is emerging, and he still has lots of hair.

Bath Time

2010-03-13T15:20:00.000-08:00

Bath Time is not Lucas' favorite activity yet. He still acts shocked every time we put him in water... but we're hoping that soon he'll enjoy the ritual.

Family

2010-03-13T15:18:00.001-08:00

My sister Darby flew out from Spokane to spend the week with me and help take care of Lucas. I don't know what I would do without my family!! First my Mom and Dad flew out and spent 2 weeks helping to take care of Lucas. Then Aunt Darby spend her whole vacation changing diapers and rocking the baby in the middle of the night. Thank you, sis!

A Day in the Life

2010-03-04T16:55:00.000-08:00

Some of you have asked what Lucas does during the day, or what our days look like. Well, I won't post photos of diaper changes or nursing... so the following is what a Day in the Life of Lucas Kozbinski looks like right now:

Morning nap in the car seat:

An afternoon doze on Mom and Dad's bed:

...And finally, before a busy night terrorizing Mom and Dad, a nice long evening nap after his winter walk (again, in the car seat).

Still Need Two Hands

2010-03-02T14:28:00.000-08:00

Greg doesn't have to give up the computer if Lucas needs to be held...

We call this the "Who am I, Where am I" expression that Lucas gets frequently during his 2nd week of life.

Proud Grandparents

2010-03-02T14:25:00.001-08:00

Les uses his Iphone to find out why Lucas is crying... yes, there is an app for that!

Lucas - First Week

2010-02-17T06:24:00.001-08:00

A Very Proud New Dad

Exhausted, Overwhelmed, Overjoyed

Baby Koz is Here!!

2010-02-14T10:46:00.001-08:00

Lucas Alexander was born on February 11 at 8:30 a.m., weighing 7lbs, 13 oz and measuring 20 3/4 inches long. He is perfectly healthy and already has a huge appetite! Both Greg and I are extremely thrilled and utterly exhausted.
We will post new pictures soon. For now, here are a few camera phone shots we took the day he was born.

Connecticut Baby Shower

2010-01-21T08:19:00.000-08:00

Last week my mother-in-law, Krystyna, threw a wonderful baby shower for me. Greg and I don't know many people in Connecticut yet, but my in-law's community of friends here are very tight knit and supportive. Everyone was so generous. While my Denver baby shower served as both a celebration of the baby and a "good-bye" of sorts, the Connecticut baby shower served as a celebration of the baby and a "welcome."
I've been lucky to have 3 - count 'em - baby showers (Denver, Spokane, Connecticut) for this baby. Thanks to the generosity and support from all our friends and family, we feel very well-stocked and prepared for BabyKoz to make his (or her, if the doctors are wrong!) appearance soon.

The warm and welcoming group of women at the CT baby shower:

Koz's 35th Birthday

2010-01-13T07:39:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's a fact: Koz is 35! His birthday (Jan 12) was exactly one month before the estimated due date for BabyKoz (Feb. 12), so this was truly a big milestone. I wished we could have flown off to a beach or gone to a bar - or better yet, found a beach with a bar on it! But that simply wasn't going to happen for us this year. Maybe next year we'll strap on the Baby Bjorn and fly somewhere exotic to celebrate his birthday. For now, we took things easy and had a quiet, relaxing dinner at Greg's parent's house. I cooked a big Indian feast, and we enjoyed just being together.

A little B-day love from mom and wife:

Les, Krystyna, our good friend Darla, and the Birthday Koz

A lot of you have been asking, so here it is: 36 weeks pregnant (4 to go!) I'm doing great, feeling fairly good considering I have a busy little person in my stomach, and am getting READY to meet my son!

New Year's in D.C.

2010-01-08T16:11:00.000-08:00

Here is a shot of part of the Arlington Cemetery, Pentagon and Washington Monument

Greg and I drove to D.C. for New Year's Eve. Our good friend Chris was in town from London and invited us to the capitol for a big NYE party. Unfortunately we hit a huge snowstorm on our drive to D.C. and what should have been a 5 hour drive turned into about 9 hours in the car... not fun for me at 8 1/2 months pregnant! By the time we got into our hotel room we barely had time to make our dinner reservation, and then I was just too tired to party. Greg enjoyed the festivities but I stayed behind in a warm and comfortable hotel room!

We still managed to have a great time in D.C. Here are a few photos of our time with old friends and some site seeing.
Air Force Memorial

Here, Greg and I visit with Chris at The Light Horse, our friend John's bar in D.C.
It was great to see you both, John and Chris!!

Weekend in Wyomissing

2009-12-22T10:34:00.001-08:00

Greg and I spent last weekend visiting our friend Caitlin and her family at their home in Wyomissing, PA. It was so nice to see Caitlin, who lives in London with her husband, for a few days. We don't get to see each other often, and I'm glad we had some time together before BabyKoz comes!
The last time I was at Caitlin's family's house it was over my 30th Birthday, for Caitlin's wedding last summer. Greg wasn't able to be there then, so it was great that he could finally spend some time with the family.
Thanks for a great weekend Rothsteins!
Caitlin and I at her parents annual holiday party

Caitlin's brother Michael and his girlfriend Analilly recently adopted this dog: Yoda. This picture makes it look like Yoda really took a liking to Greg, but in fact Yoda just totally loves this comfy chair. Whoever else happens to be sitting in it gets some cuddles too.

Spokane Baby Shower

2009-11-30T08:41:00.000-08:00

I spent the last week in Spokane, Wash. with my family for Thanksgiving. While I was there my Mom, Sister, and Aunt threw a hometown baby shower for me.

Thanks so much for all the great baby clothes and supplies!

It's hard to see, but this is a picture of the jogging stroller that we were given. My goal is to run a half marathon within a year of giving birth, so this stroller will help me start training right away!

Cara, Jera, and Sara: no, we're not kidding. All our names really rhyme. We've known each other for years and sometimes in bars or restaurants when we introduce ourselves to people (particularly men, for some reason) they think we're lying or making up names and they get mad. Great to see you both!!

Cara's Pregnancy: Week 26

2009-11-07T16:10:00.000-08:00

I had fully intended to take pictures of my growing belly every week of this pregnancy. That was waaaaay too ambitious of me! I just realized I haven't had a photo taken of me since I was 15 weeks along! So here it is: my 26 week belly shot.