Ethan's First Day of School

Monday was Ethan's first day of school. Ok, so it's not really school, since he is only 19 months old, it is technically a daycare--but we are really excited.
He even got a new backpack and lunchbox!


Getting into this school was quite a challenge--it is affiliated with the hospital I am working at. Ethan has been on the wait list since I was pregnant, and when we called last January to make sure there was going to be a spot for him this year, we were told "oh, i don't think so!". Luckily, a few more pleading calls plus a couple of kids dropping out led to a spot for us. We had no idea how competitive daycare could be. Ah, city living!

Anyway, we took Ethan in for a few pre-visits before the first day--but saying goodbye on the first day was still really hard! Ethan and I were both crying!!
But we got over it quickly, and from what the teachers told us, he had a pretty good day. He even manged to nap for 40 min (we were worried since he is used to a quiet crib that he would not sleep on a mat on the floor with other children!) And today, he napped for an hour. Hopefully tomorrow will be even longer.

We'll see.....

Back in the Bay

We're Back!! On-line and in SF that is....Whew, it has been quite a trip.....Let's back up....

Jason and I finished our fellowships on August 4. We then packed up and headed for a long weekend on Cape Cod, since we had not had a chance to explore it earlier, and wanted some warm weather and beach time before we headed to foggy San Francisco.
We had a nice time on "The Cape"--Ethan enjoyed playing in the sand--but our hotel was not so nice, and so we truncated our trip by a night.



We then headed back to Cambridge to finish packing up, and say our goodbyes to our neighbors and Lilia. It was pretty tough saying good-bye to Lilia--we sure miss her already!

Next was a week long visit in Chicago.


We had a great time visiting with my family--highlights included heading to Milwaukee to see extended family, swimming in the kiddie pool in the backyard, and a trip to Lincoln Park Zoo. At the zoo, Ethan got to feed a cow, pet some goats and sit in a big tractor.



We also visited with 3 sets of friends who have had recent additions to their families--Jason's friend Mark, who has a new daughter Abby, my friend Janet, who has a new son Tobey, and my friend Meredith, who recently adopted twin 2-year old boys from Russia. So cute!
Also during the week, I had a short side trip to Nashville for my friend Laura's wedding. So as you can see we had a very busy week!

On Tues Aug 24, we flew into San Francisco--and headed to our new home for the year. We are subleasing a condo from a colleague at UCSF. It is a great place, close to both Jason and my new work, as well as Ethan's new daycare (more about that later).
Settling in has been a bit of a challenge, but we are getting there.
Here are a few pics:

Living Room

Kitchen

Now all we need is a new name for the blog...ideas????

Happy 1/2 Birthday

Today Ethan is 18 months!



Too bad we are almost all packed, I couldn't make him a cake. But happy half-birthday anyway, Ethan!!