Autumn

Esmé gave Kristopher a kite for his birthday. We celebrated by taking it out for a spin.


It's been a particularly busy, yet fun, autumn here. Esmé has completely thrown herself into all the rituals... pumpkins, apples, changing leaves, etc. She's loving that she has to wear a coat now. "It's chilly, Mommy." Every time we point out a pumpkin, she holds up her thumb. It took me a while, but I finally figured it out: Thumbkin, of course. We talk about the colors of the leaves and, inevitably she suggests "Pink" as one of them. I don't argue.

She's communicating so well now, and this has made her such a fun companion. She has something to say about everything. As we drive, she loves to comment on the traffic lights. "Mommy, it's red now." and "The light is green, Mommy. It's green." Such a backseat driver.


Pizza making. She also helped Kristopher make ice cream. Yes, pink ice cream.

And she has become absolutely obsessed with the moon. About a month or so ago, Kristopher took her to pajama storytime at our library, and as they were walking back he pointed out the moon to her. It was love at first sight. She has a favorite book that's a sort of take on the "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" song where the star takes a little girl on a journey through space. Every time we get to the end where the star brings the little girl back home, Esmé cries. She gets so emotional. And all she can talk about is going up into the sky and visiting the stars and moon. Finally she asked me for her own star and moon-- in pink, of course -- so I obliged by making her little pillows in each shape. They've become favorites. And now we've now moved on to reading books about planets. She's starting to recognize them on sight, and the other day as I pointed to Uranus in the book, she declared, "That's My-ranus, Mommy!"

She's very excited about the prospect of a little brother. She talks about how the baby is growing and how we have to wait. We have some great books that have really helped her understand the whole process. So much so that anytime we mention leaving her with her grandparents, she thinks it means I'm going to the hospital and the baby is, to use her terms, "coming out."

So she went pumpkin picking at Pop and Sarah's recently. She was also able to check out the playhouse Pop built exclusively for her. Sarah made a strawberry cake which Esmé helped her ice, with pink icing, of course.

















And she also went apple and pumpkin picking with her cousins. She loved pulling the apples right off the tree and eating them right on the spot.


Ella + Esmé contemplating the shapes of clouds + the meaning of life

Roll out the Barrels...

It's hard to believe that another Oktoberfest has come and gone. And this year will be tough to beat. I'm amazed at how this celebration has grown, from our very first in our tiny Manhattan apartment with a modest six guests to the 40+ people we had a few weeks ago. Marc and Lori made the trip from Cambridge. Christy and Eric set aside wedding prep in order to share a sausage or two (or three or four) with us. Court, Kate and Chloe– so happy to have finally made Chloe's acquaintance, she's a doll– were there. The Pfeiffer-Edwards family braved the turnpike to come– Krista, my oldest friend, is a vegetarian so she gets bonus points. And then many of our newer neighborhood friends who already seem like old friends also represented. And of course, siblings, parents, a niece and a couple of nephews were all there to raise a glass or sippy cup. Plus everyone contributed to the feast which was much appreciated.

This year we had so many more kids in the mix which only added to the fun factor. We hired a face painter since sausages and Oom-pah music will only get you so far in terms of keeping the little ones amused. It seemed to do the trick.

And speaking of sausages, if so inclined, we could host numerous Oktoberfests throughout the year thanks to a miscommunication between us and the butcher. Where we thought we were ordering sausage by the link, they believed we were ordering by the pound. Nine links of bratwurst? Nope. Try nine pounds. With dozens of hungry festers, much of the larder was consumed, however the freezer is stocked to say the least. Until next year!