Snow Angels

In true Pennsylvana/New England fashion, this week dawned with elusive promises of spring. Last Sunday, when Dan and I took Andrew for a Sunday afternoon walk, we spotted crocuses beginning to bloom. The air was growing palpably warmer and that spring smell was in the air. By Tuesday, the temperatures had risen to 60+ degrees, and we took Andrew downtown to the library and then to a newly opened Italian ice place (not, alas, gelatto, but water ice, which will suffice). Not surprisingly, Andrew liked my chocolate chip mint custard blend better than Dan's rootbeer flavored water ice. (Give him a year or two, however, and I'm sure Dan will have taught him to appreciate rootbeer's distinctive taste). However, by Thursday the temperatures were beginning to chill, and Friday we had an official winter storm warning for our area. It then (as you may have guessed from our opening photo, or as you may already know if you a) live in Pennsylvania or b) follow the weather at all) proceeded to snow all day, leaving us with at least six inches of snow. Saturday morning, Dan was obliging enough to shovel off the walk before he went in to work. However, realizing that we needed to go grocery shopping (for one thing, Andrew's milk wouldn't last through Sunday--the kid is drinking about a quart of milk a day!), I decided to suit Andrew up in his snowsuit and take him outside while I shovelled off the car (literally) and shovelled out a path to the street. Andrew seemed to enjoy following me around--and he was so well padded that the few times he fell over didn't faze him. Andrew also made the obligatory snow angel for the sole purpose of recording it in photo (last time I wrote about making snow angels with Andrew, someone lamented that we didn't have pictures). Of course, what this really meant was that I picked him up, laid him in the snow and moved his arms around (he's not terribly mobile in the snow suit) while he looked at me in mild bemusement. At any rate, I hope this is our last major snowstorm of the season.

This week has also been one of culinary experiences. Earlier this week (Monday, I think), I made lasagna for probably the first time in my life. (I know--it's pathetic. I'm thirty years old and have never made lasagna before). Although I won't speak to my culinary abilities (we still have leftovers, which may say something about Dan's enjoyment of the lasagna!), Andrew seemed to enjoy it thoroughly. And I do mean thoroughly. In true child fashion, he managed to get it all over.



Wednesday night, I convinced Dan that we needed to celebrate his new job offer (see last post) by going to dinner (really, I was looking for an excuse not to cook). Given the limited range of restaurants in State College, we opted for Olive Garden and quite enjoyed our experience. Andrew was actually pretty good. He ate lots of croutons, some bread and some tomato, and about a third of his portion of macaroni and cheese (which was more than I expected him to eat!). Friday night, Dan made chicken katsu, which Andrew and I also enjoyed. This allowed Andrew to experience a true epicurean moment--his first taste of bulldog sauce. We put a little bit on his chicken, and then, as an alternative to actually giving him the sauce bottle (which is what he really wanted), we put a little bit of straight sauce on his tray. He loved it. He kept dipping his finger in it and then sucking it off, as you can see in this picture. (We had to record this for his Bubby and Poppy, who we knew would appreciate it!). Today, in the spirit of Saint Patrick's Day (yes, we know it was really yesterday, but Dan was gone all afternoon and into the evening to Huntington), I made corned beef and cabbage. It was actually pretty good--but then, there's not much you can do to ruin something that you simmer for a couple of hours.



Aside from Dan's job and dealing with the snow, not much of note happened during the week. This was Penn State's spring break, which we celebrated by staying in town and working. Well, Dan worked. I watched Andrew and tried to work on some presentations (I have a conference next week in NYC and workshops after I get back). Oh, and I went shopping. (Of course. But since Dan doesn't think I need to bore other people with this detail, I'll stop there!). So we thought we'd fill up the rest of today's entry with, naturally, pictures of Andrew.

Believe it or not, he did this to himself!



He still continues to enjoy his hidey-hole box. Often, unprompted, he'll climb in and try to pull the "door" shut (his feet usually stick out too far for the box to actually close, but he tries anyway).



Here he is standing not on, but in his pooh boat. For some reason this particular pose (it may just be the binkie) reminds me of his cousin Joshua.


And these last two simply demonstrate what a fun, joyous little boy Andrew is. If you look closely at the first one you can even see the two teeth that are coming in on the bottom.