Gingerbread Throw-down

In some homes, everybody's a winner. The Kemsley home is not one of those homes. No, indeed. Despite the desperate ploy by one team to play on people's religious sympathies to garner votes ("how can you vote against the baby Jesus?" Chris asked), the winner of the first ever Kemsley gingerbread house decorating contest was...

Christmas Morning

Snowy Day

Elliot experiencing snow for the first time this winter on our apartment building's roof-deck.

Mommy, Daddy

So Elliot doesn't say mama. Nor does he say mom, mommy, mamasita, ma, or marmie. Instead, he calls me daddy. That's right, daddy. And it's not like Chris is daddy, too. Nope, just me. I'm daddy when he wants out of bed in the morning. I'm daddy when he's standing outside the bathroom door. And I'm daddy when Daddy is holding him and he wants me instead.

So as you might imagine, we're trying to work on this. Today, while he was eating, Chris and I were doing a rather animated demonstration of who was mommy and who was daddy. When, after five minutes of this, we got nothing back from him but a few cheers of "yay!" (apparently he found our performance praise-worthy), Chris turned to me and said, "He may not say it, but I think he knows." To which Elliot responded, quite proudly, by pointing to his nose.

I think we may have a hopeless case on our hands.

First Santa Visit

Today Elliot and I went with our friends, Jill and Oscar, to Macy's Santaland. And much to my surprise, Elliot quite enjoyed it (and since the line was short, so did I)! That's Elliot waving "hi" to the teddy-bear carolers on the left.

It'll Grow Back, Right?

I miss the curls already.

Thanksgiving

First of all, don't you think my turkey is pretty? Second of all, Elliot loves dogs. Adores them. Wants to marry them. Unfortunately, his parents aren't dog people. Fortunately, however, his grandparents are. Elliot had a great week with Hildy, Rosie, Ginger, and Hudson.

The Reason I've Started Working on my Resume

This is what the past three weeks have been like at our house. Multiply this video by every time I turn off the tv, try to feed Elliot, try to put Elliot in the stroller, try to play with Elliot, try to dress or change Elliot, or try to take Elliot to a friend's house.

Condolences and expressions of sympathy are welcome. I need them. My boss is really crabby.

Martha

Kara and I went to a taping of the Martha Stewart show today. Here are my thoughts:

1. Stephen Colbert is funny, but even funnier when interviewed by someone who doesn't understand that he is funny.
2. I'd like to have a person follow me around all day with a lint brush, lip gloss and bottle of hairspray. Also, would it be too much to ask to be perpetually shrouded in perfect studio lighting?
3. I don't think I'll ever be saving the seeds from a cheese pumpkin I have growing in the garden, but if you've been itching to do it, I can now tell you how.
4. I like living so close to my sister because we get to do fun things like this.

Chris Passed the Bar

I Just Thought This Picture Was Funny

Elliot really likes the firemen hats at the children's museum. He does not, however, like it when you try to show him which end of the hat is the front.

Chris Wins

On his way to work, he saw Jerry Seinfeld for the second time today. I'm so jealous.

Walked Past

Michael J. Fox on Central Park West today. Oddly enough, he was wearing a Back to the Future t-shirt.

One Sick Kiddo

I watched Cars two and half times, viewed 3 different Handy Manny episodes, and topped it off with a smattering of Curious George. I also learned how to use the half-nelson hold to take the temperature of an unwilling subject, AND spilled hot pink children's tylenol on my couch.

All and all, I'd call it a productive day.

Happy Halloween

Rain Gaurd or Plastic Prison?

Some people have a time-out chair. We have this.

All right. We don't really lock our child up in his stroller. But Elliot sure seemed to think that was what was going on when we went for a walk this morning. My thought? Kid, you don't know how lucky you are. All I have to keep the rain off is my Red Sox hat.

Also, might I add, you have to be some kind of moron to wear a Red Sox hat in Manhattan. Oops.

Buddies

Steve, Sariah, and Benjamin were our inaugural visitors this weekend. It was great to see them, but no one was more excited than Elliot. He squealed with joy for about the first 45 minutes after they got here. Needless to say, he misses Benjamin already.

Bronx Zoo

We Are Alive

And we live in New York.

We finally found an apartment (after a painful search) and moved in on Monday. And we're surprisingly glad to be back.

Elliot likes to chase pigeons and stand on a little stool by the window and watch the cars.

Chris and I like to eat Magnolia cupcakes and catch up with all our old friends.

We do miss our friends in DC, our car, and our rent that was less than half what we are paying now -- but overall, we're doing pretty good. Here's a picture I took at the park the other day.

(Catherine, thank you SO much for this coat. It's come in quite handy since it's started to get cold).

Ponytails and Apartments

We're off to New York tomorrow to, as my mom put it, spend our weekend "looking at a bunch of dumps that we will have to sell our first-born child in order to afford." In other words, we're going apartment hunting.

In other news, look what we can do with Elliot's hair. That's gotta make him worth a bit more, don't you think? Hmmm... maybe we can get a dishwasher.

Utah

Notes from our trip:
1. Elliot finds riding in boats stressful
2. Same with petting goats
3. Getting in and then out (and in and out) of toy cars, however, is thrilling
4. So is spending time with Grandma, Grandpa, the uncles, and the puppies

Elliot Thinks Great-Grandpa Bill is Huh-larious

Home Alone

I slept until noon. I stayed in my pajamas until 4 p.m. I worked uninterrupted on a story for 4 hours. How is all this possible? Because, my friends, I am home alone. Chris took Elliot out to Utah, leaving me the veritable queen of my castle. I'll be joining them in a few days, after I've finished summer semester, but in the meantime I plan to do a lot of reading by the pool.

Oh, indolence, how I've missed thee...

Six Years...

And we still like each other.

Nantucket

Notes:
Let's hope Elliot gets my Grandpa Kemsley's hair genes. The man is 76.
Watching Curious George is a great way to bond with your uncles.
Another great way to bond with your uncles is to dig a big hole and then all try to fit in it.
A good way NOT to bond is to try and get two grandparents, two parents, nine kids, two spouses, and one grandchild to smile for a family picture.
Eating sand does, in fact, result in sandy diapers.
And I know my kid has a mullet, but could you bear to cut those curls?

My Brilliant Child

More from our vacation is on the way, but in the meantime...

For Real.

My sister Tamarra is spending the summer working as an intern at The Source magazine in NY. Yep, a hip-hop magazine. For those of you that know her, you can imagine the hilarity that might ensue from such a combination. For those of you that don't, see the picture and imagine the hilarity that might ensue.

Anyway, her must recent post about interviewing Daddy Yankee is really quite amusing. Check it out here.

Tamarra, you crack me up. I love you, kiddo.

Grumpy

Elliot is getting his molars. Plus his canines. And he's been sick. In other words, he hasn't been the most pleasant companion the past few weeks. But I only realized how bad it had gotten when, the other day in the car, I was listening to Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. The host was talking about a recent study that had concluded that couples without children are actually happier than couples with children--that little bundles of joy are, in reality, little packets of misery. The host then commented that, unfortunately, despite what he tells his children, you can't take them back to the hospital for a refund. My thought at that moment? Dang it -- I guess I'm going to need a plan B.

An Update

Here's a few facts about Elliot lately:

1. He loves to walk around with one of my large tupperware containers on his head. Occasionally he shares and lets me wear it.
2. If we tell him to go get a book, he will go into his room, spend five minutes flipping through his options and then bring one back for us to read.
3. He loves broccoli. Who'd have guessed?
4. Due to dying batteries in some farm animals we have, he thinks that cows say "Raaar!"
5. He has a cold and has learned he can blow snot bubbles the size of his fist. We're not necessarily proud of that one.

Say "Uncle"

In an effort to give Chris some quiet bar-study time, Elliot and I decided to head up to Connecticut to visit my family for the week. We've been having lots of fun. Elliot has loved playing with his uncles and his uncles have loved playing with him. Today we went to the park for lunch. When I was about halfway through my sandwich, I heard Elliot's uncle Caleb (7) yelling furiously at a couple of other small boys. "You STINK! " He was saying. "You are pure EVIL!" Concerned, I walked over to investigate. Well, it turns out the boys had been making some rude comments about Elliot, and Caleb decided he just couldn't stand for that. Josh was indignant as well, and kept saying, "Why would they say that? Elliot is the cutest baby in the world!"

Isn't Elliot lucky to have uncles?

TV Head

Let's just say that both Chris and I have the Curious George theme song memorized.

Outerbanks

We just got back from a weekend in the Outerbanks.
Elliot loved: the beach, spinning the wheel on an old bike our friend brought to the beach, getting to stay up late, and sleeping in the same room as his mom and dad (there was a gleeful squeal each morning at 6:15 a.m. when he discovered us there).
We loved: getting to see old friends (Doug and Katrina) and make new ones (their adorable son, Sampson, among others), eating mountains of peanut m&ms, playing some intense games of Bohnanza (or, "that stupid German game"), staying up way too late chatting and then arguing over who had to get up with Elliot, and completely avoiding sunburn of any kind.