DAY IN THE LIFE // WEDNESDAY EDITION

wednesday, january 30

// the high today is 57, alternating between bright + sunny and misty + soupy. i take my coat off.

//we meet up with a girlfriend and her small dude in central park when we realize we are both in the area  at the same time.

// bizarre highlight of the morning: a sweet tourist from japan asks if she can have a photo with huck (this happens . . . often). i say sure! huck is like . . . whatever, i'm chasing pigeons. so this girl chases huck all over while huck chases pigeons all over, while her boyfriend attempts dutifully to get a clean shot. eventually, this draws a crowd. nobody is sure what is going on, but they all seem to need to take a few photos of it in case whatever it us turns out to be something important. my friend elise (who is a day overdue with her baby--get out of there, baby!) and i sort of scratch our heads and enjoy the moment. 

// a ham + cheese crepe for lunch, followed by these mini bomboloni and that enormous hunk of a levain cookie (indulging my pregnant friend . . . right?). blammo.

// i always think i can eek one more day out of a shampoo before it's time to wash it again. tonight, shampoo. you and me. 

// no nap today. a little nemo instead.

// dream baby.

// we check the weather forecast in the afternoon. snow and rain and gunk. bring it on, mother nature!

// little bits around the house making me smile today. my surfaces need dusting. that candle is from notre dame in paris, it was a christmas gift from my mother. one of these days when i need an extra prayer, i think i'll light it. 

// fried rice with a little scrambled egg for dinner. and then the rest of that cookie, too. blammo.

p.s. i've fallen hard for the new #vineapp these days--have you tried it? (it seems to be available only on iphones for now). i have a goal of somehow finagling brandon into waving awkwardly in a vine with me, you know, like a photo you'd see at hogwarts or something. it's a genius idea. it'll never happen. my username is natthefatrat. you know.

TWOS-DAYS WITH HENRY HOLBROOK

you know, being temporarily infertile is kind of a bummer. i'll cop to it. even though, actually, i'm okay with not being pregnant right now, and i've made peace with my dusty baby box for the time being. but i sure do miss having a newborn around.

caring for a newborn is my kind of schedule. a finite set of things to do every day, feedings and changings and nap times and snuggles . . . it's not particularly challenging, but you do go to bed tired to the bone and really feeling like you accomplished something.

the twos are a whole different kind of deal. rewarding, yes. but nebulous. sometimes you're sort of not sure if you're really accomplishing anything from day to day, even though you mostly suspect that you are. toddlers have their own time table, so it's hard to measure your progress. instead of counting feedings and naps and diapers, i've started to count whole-face smiles, good belly laughs (the kind that make the whole air feel lighter), flushed cheeks from running so fast, and that proud spark huck gets in his eye when he's learned something new. it's more involved, and it's harder to track, but deeply satisfying in a whole new crazy way.

here's what we did today with our do-nothing-tuesday:

♥ split a lamb platter from the truck on 67th for lunch.

♥ had a conversation with an astrologist, who told me huck was a classic scorpio. "he has such dark, turbulent eyes."

♥ split a black and white cookie because we are on a major black and white jag these days

♥ helped a tourist find the coffee bean and tea leaf on broadway (we were standing right in front of it).

♥ walked up to the playground to sit in some swings and slide down some slides and say "remember, mama said no sand" five (hundred) times.

♥ met up with a girlfriend and accompanied her to h&m.

♥ tested out my old tripod with huck and his toy subway train.
♥ came home just in time for huck to catch a little nap and for mama to catch a few handfuls of peace and quiet peanut m&ms.

i'm gonna love yo up all over, two! just you try and stop me!

ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS

tonight while henny was falling asleep he told me for the very first time, in his sweet little toddler english, "i yuh you, mommy."

just like that, out of the blue. it was HUGE. it was like the earth stopped spinning and the room stood still and i just grinned like a loon. it made me so goofy the rest of the afternoon. and then i asked him to say it again. like, three times. the third time he kind of looked at me like, MOM.

to mark the occasion,
a photo of henny on the first day i said i love you

and a photo of henny on the first day he said it back.

your mama loves you too, ya turkey.

HAPPY WEEKEND, WE'VE NEARLY MADE IT!

and here we have huck, accurately reflecting the way january makes all of us feel, inside.

oh but it's almost over! we've made it to the last weekend! january . . . i don't know you're just a jerk january.

but here is some more good news! tonight, we are finally seeing the new bond movie. date night, what-what! and also this: peanut butter m&ms and welch's strawberry fruit snacks go surprisingly amazing together. 

on family style this week:

WHAT YOU SHOULD BE BUYING AT FOREVER 21 THIS WEEK

WOULD YOU WEAR A BOW IN YOUR HAIR?

11 GOOD-LOOKING, GOOD-FOR-YOU SHOES

and on the great beauty experiment:

BEAUTY CRUTCHES: COULD YOU GIVE YOURS UP?

AROUND OUR HOUSE LATELY

we awake in the mornings after brandon leaves for work. we ask with sleepy voices, what should we do today? what's sounds good for breakfast? i tickle that spot just under his chin, it's still chubby and soft and it still makes him lie still for a minute and smile while i tell him all about our plans.

we shuffle out to fetch cups of yogurt and start the heaters. we find the remote for the dvd player for our favorite morning cartoons and we point our toes once from the couch. we stretch our arms and brush our teeth. we get dressed.

we go outside and freeze. we run about til our chins are numb and errands are done, then we come inside to thaw. our cheeks buzz softly until the brisk pink fades. 

we fetch drinks from the fridge, we tidy up the mess. we clean the bathrooms, we build block towers, we vacuum the rugs. we count to ten, we sing our ABCs. we stop to check instagram or text something funny to brandon.

we start up dinner, we start up cartoons. we abandon cartoons, we start up choo choo trains. we start up emails. we abandon emails. we start up a load of dishes. 

we give daddy kisses, we admire him in his suit and tie. we ask "how was your day?" we re-enact our comings and goings. we put on our stretchiest pants. we write up a silly little blog post and hope the internet is kind. 

we stay up late and watch another movie. 

the boy is softly breathing from the other side of the door. 

p.s. 

my goonies shirt is from HERE.
(huck's boots are from the gap!)

WHEN IT'S THIS COLD OUT

the high today was 25 and the high tomorrow will be 23. we are slowly, slowly but surely, turning into icicles. so here's some stuff and things! geez january. 

huck likes sleeping in his stroller when it's freezing out so i like to try and find silly things to do once all the errands are run and i still need to stay out longer. like try on maxi skirts i have zero intention of buying and then answering emails in the dressing room. 

my favorite part of stroller naps is when huck starts to stir and for those few minutes he's between sleeping and waking and he's floppy and warm and cuddly. it's like stroller nap newborn time travel.

when it's this cold out i end up cooking more. my bum appreciates this. i might be the only human in existence who loses weight in the winter and gains in the summer. this is one of my favorite speedy winter meals. warm quinoa, bitter arugula, roasted beets, some goat cheese, and a little newman's own olive oil + balsamic vinegar dressing drizzled on top. BAM.  

huck digs the quinoa because huck is a quinoa artist. you should have seen the floor after this, what a masterpiece! will you look at that sense of humor. this boy is just the goofiest. also he looks thirteen in these photos, i know, what is this crap.

p.s.

my sweater is from madewell

DAY IN THE LIFE // SUNDAY EDITION

// henny gets a hair cut, isn't pleased about it

// the holbrooks hit church wearing all of the patterns

// watercolors while we eat the tops off all the steamed broccoli

// mama finally finishes a christmas cross stitch project while catching up on season 2 of portlandia (which, after going to high school in portland, that show isn't kidding.)

// weekends are for eating! (recipe for pumpkin sage pasta HERE)

// bath time smooches

// grainy photo what whaaaaat

// one last smooch before bed, and crank the heaters up! it's coooold this week.

hope your weekend was the bees knees. let's do this, monday!