Tummy Time and other happenings
Saturday was blistering cold, as if the Winter was telling us that it was not quite done yet. It dropped into the low teens Friday evening to Saturday morning--a stark difference between last week's 72 San Francisco-esque weather.
On Saturday morning I fired up my PS3 and started to play. Then it happened. Peanut and Bianca were sitting next to me on the couch and he kicked me, as if to say "DAD PAY ATTENTION!" The controller went down, the PS3 went off, and for the next half hour Bianca and I played with Peanut. He responded to a flashlight, which studies have shown stimulates a baby. The instant the light came on, an Arc6, if you must know, Peanut gave me a strong, visible karate kick. This the first action-reaction we have ever had with Peanut. It was pretty darn cool.
Because of the frigid weather Saturday was an indoor day. We have been on a Pixar kick recently. It started when we realized last weekend that we both hadn't seen Cars. Thinking that there is an off chance that Peanut will like all things Cars, we bought the Blu Ray (which looks gorgeous). This week we bought Toy Store on Blu Ray. Hopefully by the time Peanut is ready we'll have the complete collection of Pixar movies in HD. Toy Store was really, really good. Car was good too, but not quite as original. Had it come out BEFORE Toy Store, Pixar would have still been famous and it would be heralded as a groundbreaking, game changing movie. Great stuff and I can't wait to share it with Peanut.
We also took a trip to a small, rural town in Massachusetts called Groton. Groton is an ancient hamlet, with one restaurant being in continuous operation in the same place since 1687. If this restaurant is halfway through its life it will close in 2333! How is that for a crazy fact? Our destination was a slightly newer place--Gibbet Hill Grill. The place is a steakhouse, reception hall (in a separate building, which is also resplendent), and working farm with a CSA associated with it. It is kind of like the super cool PolyFace Farm of Omnivore's Dilemma fame, but with a restaurant attached. Everything is sustainable, local, and mostly organic. I really don't care about any of the that--the burger was AMAZING. It was on a ciabatti roll which was extra great. Even the cornbread and butter were great, though they were cut and not broken, which we all know is bad luck. The grounds around the restaurant were idyllic and there is a long trail through the countryside. Everything was just splendid. Peanut really like the protein from the beef, BTW.
After that we took a tour in the Subaru of the grounds of Groton School, a super-exclusive prep school, kinda like Hogwarts for Episcopalians. The list of alumni is incredible. Both of the Roosevelt presidents were Groton School grads. Seven senators or congressmen were Groton School grads. The endowment is around $368 million AFTER the Great Recession. They have had five Olympic rowers come out of their school. The campus was beautiful, after all it should be, it was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. The school is nestled on top of a rolling hill with a bunch of nice gathering places. It is touched by a bend in the Nashua River for their famous crew teams to practice. And the cost for all of the perfectness? It depends, but the average student pays $47,000 plus a year. The best part of the elite institution is there slogan: To Serve God is to Rule. At least they aren't hiding it.
Grandma Vickie and G-Daddy are on vacation which means no iChat sessions or phone calls on the way home, but they do seem to be enjoying themselves. Vickie, high priestess of a Sun God cult, was seen sunning, while G-Daddy was caught checking out mile markers, his Clark Griswold instincts getting the best of him. Have fun!
Ten weeks and counting.
On Saturday morning I fired up my PS3 and started to play. Then it happened. Peanut and Bianca were sitting next to me on the couch and he kicked me, as if to say "DAD PAY ATTENTION!" The controller went down, the PS3 went off, and for the next half hour Bianca and I played with Peanut. He responded to a flashlight, which studies have shown stimulates a baby. The instant the light came on, an Arc6, if you must know, Peanut gave me a strong, visible karate kick. This the first action-reaction we have ever had with Peanut. It was pretty darn cool.
Because of the frigid weather Saturday was an indoor day. We have been on a Pixar kick recently. It started when we realized last weekend that we both hadn't seen Cars. Thinking that there is an off chance that Peanut will like all things Cars, we bought the Blu Ray (which looks gorgeous). This week we bought Toy Store on Blu Ray. Hopefully by the time Peanut is ready we'll have the complete collection of Pixar movies in HD. Toy Store was really, really good. Car was good too, but not quite as original. Had it come out BEFORE Toy Store, Pixar would have still been famous and it would be heralded as a groundbreaking, game changing movie. Great stuff and I can't wait to share it with Peanut.
We also took a trip to a small, rural town in Massachusetts called Groton. Groton is an ancient hamlet, with one restaurant being in continuous operation in the same place since 1687. If this restaurant is halfway through its life it will close in 2333! How is that for a crazy fact? Our destination was a slightly newer place--Gibbet Hill Grill. The place is a steakhouse, reception hall (in a separate building, which is also resplendent), and working farm with a CSA associated with it. It is kind of like the super cool PolyFace Farm of Omnivore's Dilemma fame, but with a restaurant attached. Everything is sustainable, local, and mostly organic. I really don't care about any of the that--the burger was AMAZING. It was on a ciabatti roll which was extra great. Even the cornbread and butter were great, though they were cut and not broken, which we all know is bad luck. The grounds around the restaurant were idyllic and there is a long trail through the countryside. Everything was just splendid. Peanut really like the protein from the beef, BTW.
After that we took a tour in the Subaru of the grounds of Groton School, a super-exclusive prep school, kinda like Hogwarts for Episcopalians. The list of alumni is incredible. Both of the Roosevelt presidents were Groton School grads. Seven senators or congressmen were Groton School grads. The endowment is around $368 million AFTER the Great Recession. They have had five Olympic rowers come out of their school. The campus was beautiful, after all it should be, it was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. The school is nestled on top of a rolling hill with a bunch of nice gathering places. It is touched by a bend in the Nashua River for their famous crew teams to practice. And the cost for all of the perfectness? It depends, but the average student pays $47,000 plus a year. The best part of the elite institution is there slogan: To Serve God is to Rule. At least they aren't hiding it.
Grandma Vickie and G-Daddy are on vacation which means no iChat sessions or phone calls on the way home, but they do seem to be enjoying themselves. Vickie, high priestess of a Sun God cult, was seen sunning, while G-Daddy was caught checking out mile markers, his Clark Griswold instincts getting the best of him. Have fun!
Ten weeks and counting.