Happy Birthday to Your Mom

Dear Sonia,

Yesterday was your mom's 33rd birthday. It's her Jesus Year. Once, I had a colleague who said that if you make it to 33, you're doing great because you've made it longer than Jesus. Or something like that. Anyway, that year was a really great year for me, so I hope your mom will have an equally good year.

With you around, how could she not?

Love,

Auntie K

P.S. Next Wednesday, I get to pick you up from the airport at 1 p.m. when you arrive for Uncle S and other Auntie K's wedding. I can hardly wait!

Too chill

Dear Sonia,

Well, here I am again, not having posted in 13 days. And I hardly noticed that much time went by. Perhaps this is a sign of being too busy. And, I am not even really that bothered by the fact that I haven't posted, which is not a good thing.

We will have to remember not to become too chill about living far away from each other and not seeing each other every day. We need to remember to keep in touch and I need to remember to insist that your mom and dad send photos regularly.

I cannot wait to see you in only 16 days! You are coming for Uncle S and your other Auntie K's wedding. You will be totally worn out, girl, since you are going to meet everyone in the world. All your family and all our friends and everyone! They are going to love you so much!

Your mom had to find someone to hold you during the ceremony in the church because she is in the wedding and your daddy is walking your Nana down the aisle, so unless you are going to hang out in your bucket in a pew somewhere, someone had to be in charge of you. Your Great Auntie P and Great Uncle P and your second cousins L & M will take care of you. You should have seen your Great Auntie P's face when she told me that she gets to have you in the church. She is so excited! Isn't that nice to know how excited everyone is about you?

Okay, chick. It's late and I'm tired, so that's all for now.

Love,

Auntie K

Your Daddy

Dear Sonia,

Let's talk about your Daddy for a moment, shall we? He's a really amazing guy and you should hear about him here. Of course, you are going to totally love him more than you can even believe, but it's always nice to read something that someone else has to say about someone you love, right?

When your Mom met your Dad, she and I were living together in Los Angeles. We'd been living there for about 2 years and she had another sort-of boyfriend who lived in Argentina (the country! I know!) who she had met in Europe when she was travelling that summer. Anyway, she was trying to figure out how in the world to have a relationship between LA and Buenos Aires and then, quick as that, it didn't matter anymore. Because she met your Daddy at the UCLA hospital and that was the end of that discussion. She loved him! A lot!

At this time, he was living in an apartment with a mattress on the floor and a cardboard box for a table. That's what happens when you are a resident. You have no money and you are never home, so it hardly matters what your table is made out of. We hung out a little bit, but I was busy working at a college and I had tons of my own friends and stuff going on, and they were in a new relationship, so we didn't spend too much time together. About 6 months later, I left LA to go travelling (another story - another time). Then your Daddy left! And your Mom had to stay to finish graduate school. So they did the long distance thing between LA and Houston. It went well. It was hard for them to be apart, but they managed it. Then your Mom finished school and she moved to Houston too. She stayed for almost 2 years, and then moved back to Boston in with your Nana and Papa. This is the only point where your Mom and Dad weren't sure things were going to work out. But they did, of course!

Your Dad matched for a fellowship at Yale and moved to Connecticut, so he was only about 2 hours away from your Mom. And when he finished that year, he joined a practice in Northern New Jersey, adding only about another half hour to the trip. So they did that for 3 years until they got married in 2006. It took them almost 7 years, but they knew it would work out!

Your Daddy is very generous and very loving. He fit right into our family very quickly. He's a little like your Papa in that sometimes he just sits there and watches the chaos that is the women in our family, but he also contributes to the chaos sometimes (like when he's late, or he went to Cosco and he's not home yet even though we totally have to leave to go somewhere!). One year, your Mommy had to work on Christmas Eve, so your Daddy came to Christmas at your Great Auntie P and Great Uncle P's house without her! That's when we knew he was in!

He's a phenomenal skier. You'll be on skis very soon (let's see -- born in April 08, so you'll be on skis for December 09!). He has made your Mommy a much better skier than she would be otherwise. (They both make fun of me because I'm perfectly happy NOT climbing up a cliff to ski.)

Your Daddy has had Simba for a million years (okay, only 14 - but that's a lot). He used to go in his pocket to class with him and he had a terrible motorcycle accident when he was a puppy, too! Stuff of legend!

Your Daddy always is willing to talk to someone who needs help. He loves you a lot. And even more, he loves your mom a lot. It's pretty great to be born into that kind of love.

You are one lucky girl to have a Daddy like that.

Love,

Auntie K

Kayak happiness!

Dear Sonia,

I had promised you back on Mother's Day that I would update you after I took your Nana kayaking in Maine. We had a great time!

Your Nana is notorious for loving the ocean and also not liking to get her face wet. So this combination makes for an interesting life. She has never been in a kayak in her life and your Papa was a little worried (as was she, but her sense of adventure allows her to pretty much try anything -- good trait to have!). I've been kayaking a good bit so I wasn't worried and I knew she'd love it.

We met up with the two LLBean guides at 6. This was a new program for them this year, Women's Wednesday Kayak Trips. We were actually the first one ever! There were 12 of us in 6 boats, plus the guides. Your Nana sat in the front, so I could be in charge of steering in the back. After she really believed that the boat wasn't going to tip, she really settled in. She paddled like a champ as we made our way the 1.5 miles across Portland harbor to Fort Gorges. We arrived as the sun was going down and explored the fort a little bit and then had crackers, cheese, shrimp, and Martenelli's sparkling apple cider. It was really nice.

Your Nana refused to take off her life jacket or kayak skirt because she thought it would be too much work. So she looked like this as she walked around on the island (she wasn't the only one...):



I forced her to put on a jacket for the trip back because I was convinced she must be cold. (Who did I think I was, really?) On the way back, we lit up the front of our kayaks with LLBean lanterns in the front, so we looked like little fireflies going across the water. It was dark, then! Dark! It was 10 when we got back to shore on the other side. Your Papa was, of course, worried about us. He had called both our cell phones! We called him right away. (You'll learn this about your Papa. He's a worrier.)

It was a great trip. So much fun! I love getting out on the water no matter what, and your Nana loves Casco Bay harbor. Someday, I'll take you kayaking too! (And there's always canoeing at Cobbett's. Your mom and I have done that a bunch of times.)

By the way, your other Auntie K has declared you the cutest baby ever! We all can't wait until you come to visit in August.

Love,

Auntie K

Twelve days is too long to go without a post

Dear Sonia,

I just realized it's been 12 whole days since I wrote. Jeez. Slacker Auntie. I've been busy, though.

First, we had your Uncle S and other Auntie K's big party to celebrate their upcoming wedding. It was very fun. Out at Cobbett's, which is a pond in New Hampshire. Your great-great grandparents (Papa's grandparents) bought the house in 1920something and now Great Aunt F and Great Uncle J own it. They are tearing it down this year, so there's lots of parties happening there this summer.

Then, I had to go to Ohio to a wedding. That was a whirlwind trip. You can read about it here.

In the middle of all this, your Mom was getting ready to go back to work, which she did yesterday. She was having a hard time leaving you with your new nanny. She was so sad! She would call me up and cry a little because you were having trouble eating from the bottle. (You really like to snuggle up to your mom and breast feed. Who wouldn't?) I kept assuring her that you'd both be okay.

Yesterday, she had 18 physicals in one day! On her first day back! I think she didn't even have a moment to think about how sad she was, except when all the doctors and nurses kept asking her how you are and she had to tell them she couldn't talk about you because it was going to make her cry! (And nobody wants a physical from a NP who looks like she's been bawling, now do they?) She loves you that much!

When she got to the office yesterday morning, there was a special plant waiting for her with a note from me and you! I thought that if you had been able, you'd've sent her something pretty for her first day back. So I helped you out. It is a bamboo plant, like the photo here. She heard I had bought one and had mentioned getting one. It'll last for a really long time, so when you go to visit her in the office, you'll see it there!

Oh, you have to hear this story! Your mom and I were talking and she told me that you are a genius. Now, every mom thinks their kid is a genius, but after hearing this story, I think you might be! Your mom changed the little hanging toys on your bouncy seat. When she put you in with the new ones for the first time, you looked up, furrowed your brow, looked at your mom, and then when she cooed "Yeah, those are new friends for you" then you smiled. You knew they were new and you checked to make sure that was cool! Hilarious. Smartie pants. What are we going to do with you?

I'm so looking forward to seeing you again! You are coming to Boston in only 5 more weeks. I can't wait!

Love,

Auntie K