Ode to other mothers

As Emmett gets more mobile (14 months now), I find it harder to keep up with this blog and my Facebook account. Classes end at Bowdoin College on May 6th; I have student course opinion forms to manage and parties to plan. When I get home with Emmett, Eugene and I have diner to make (I'm on a falafel kick) and a bedtime routine to reinvent. By the time Em is asleep, I'm pooped. But I have nothing to juggle compared to Megan M in Texas (3 boys), Alex S in Portland, ME (new mom to triplets), and Sarah M in Massachusetts (3 kids and working on her Ph. D. full-time). Now Sarah's blog includes what she is reading at the time. She's a voracious reader; was even when we were roommates in college.

In honor of Sarah, I provide her with the CAMPAIGN FOR THE AMERICAN READER blog for inspiration. Some day soon she will have read everything on the Pulitzer Prize list. It is inevitable.

What has been on my night stand lately is Good Night Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann, The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp, Picasso by Norman Mailer, The Nursing Mother's Guide to Weaning by Kathleen Huggins, and the latest issue of Real Simple magazine (a guilty pleasure). And I have to recommend The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. I've also been talking a lot about Wandering Home: A Long Walk Across America's Most Hopeful Landscape:Vermont's Champlain Valley and New York's Adirondacks by Bill McKibbon, which I read a bit ago. Well there you have it Sarah. If you have any books to recommend, let me know.

Over and out - Catey

New Sneakers on the Beach

Yesterday was the first time that Emmett walked around outside. It makes my heart flutter!

Emmett's Second 1st Birthday Party

Emmett has began to entertain himself lately.

Cousin Ben, Nana D., and Emmett.

Emmett on the move.

Ben on the move.

One for Emmett, and the other numbers for Nana.

Catey, Sarah, Lily, Paul, Linda, and Ben.

Party hats.

Birthday boy.

Lots of photos.

Papa Draper.

Aunt Sarah.

Making wishes.

Birthday cupcake.

Emmett's first birthday

FIRST THOUGH, SOME PICTURES FROM EARLY FEBRUARY. Pardon me, i'm typing while i hold Emmett. He's kicking ny arm. Here is a common sight in our house...

The blissful moments of a nap...

One of our many big snowfalls this winter.

And now for Emmett's first birthday. Here are 2 small cakes from Scratch Bakery in South Portland. Mmmm.

Our friends the Ostwalds threw a party for Emmett. Here is the cupcake tower. Claire and Maddie made and decorated the cupcakes.

Here's Ann and Emmett with Nicola, Emily, Alex, and Claire.

Emmett experiences his first cupcake. Check out the rats nest hair.

Ann, Alex, Claire, Emily, Dodie, Kathi (standing), Gail and Jeanne. What a great crew! And Emmett in the center.

A bath mitt puppet.

Chewing bubbles.

Bubbles

Emmett got a bottle of bubbles at daycare for Valentine's Day. We played with them on Friday at lunch. It is really funny when the cats and dog start chasing the bubbles. Ah, the simple things in life.

More Emmett - 11 months

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