The Family *roll

My father and stepmother are in town for the week to take care of Ellie while daycare is closed for new new Mommy’s March break. My father has spent significant portions of the past two days showing Eleanor his stock portfolio. She loves it. He is teaching her new ways to tell the difference between [...]

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We got back yesterday from a four day trip to New York City, where we met my parents. While we have both been to New York since Em moved from there to Chicago in 2003, we haven’t been there together since then. We had an amazing time. First of all, Eleanor was a champ the [...]

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Our friend Dan H. coined the term “dad style” to refer to anything remotely lame, prematurely middle-aged or outdated we do. For example, Dan H. called our Subaru’s snow tires “total dad style.” Daniel’s winter coat (which may or may not be a woman’s coat but sure does keep him warm): dad style. Daniel complaining [...]

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I’m off to Ottawa for Bridget’s wedding tomorrow after class. Dan and Ellie are on their own for the first time (Dan has had 3 trips away from home since Ellie was born). There is only 1 banana left in the house. I am taking the cellphone. Two thirds of daycare ishome sick with a [...]

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I was reluctant to post this video I took last night since it doesn’t reflect well on any of us. I look bad: I allow my kid to drink the dregs of the dog’s water and I sound really annoying. Why do I have to say inane things when I am taking a video? It [...]

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I often feel compelled to defend Northfield (it’s so much more than a typical small town! it smells like waffles! ) and Minnesota (it’s not that cold! it’s more cosmopolitan than you think! nature is beautiful! they don’t all talk like that!). January, however, is not a great time of year for these cheerful assertions. [...]

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We’re very festive in December. The family *roll doesn’t subscribe completely to any one religion or its end-of-year festival; instead, we dedicate ourselves to celebrating all of them. 1) Hannukah. We did the cultural Jewish thing and had a last-minute latke party with Tam and Mike. We did the religious thing and attended a menorah-lighting [...]

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Eleanor is in daycare 4 days a week. This means she spends a great deal of time with her own friends and carrying out her own business. At home, Eleanor spends a lot of time being read to or pushing around her dolly in a stroller or making and destroying a tower of blocks with [...]

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Sorry for the slow posting. We have been painting the kitchen (done), shoveling snow (ongoing) and battling a norwalk virus (hopefeully done. At one point three nights ago, Eleanor’s bathtub, the toilet, the bathtub and the sink were all barf-filled in a matter of about two minutes. TMI?). Moreover, we’ve misplaced the cable that connects [...]

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Eleanor is starting to string some words together. This really jazzes her up. Her two favorite words in the English language are “Bye Dada” (no “cellar door” for her). She says these two words with complete delight since she knows that they often mean Daniel is going to sneak up on her and tickle her [...]

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