Easter egg hunt, state #10, and Fiona's first foreign country...

We started off this month with a visit from Grandma & Grampa Cooney and the concentration of Cooneys proved too strong to resist, and Auntie Kim came down to visit too. Their visit coincided with our neighborhood's Easter Egg Hunt, about which I may have been a tiny bit more excited than Fiona was.

She was pretty game to collect eggs and carry her basket though, as shown to the right. She was very excited to see the Easter Bunny although, as it turned out, only from a distance...

Our next adventure was a trip down to Charleston, SC. I went to give a talk at MUSC, and Jeff & Fiona came along for the ride. They took a ferry out to Ft. Sumter and enjoyed a horse & carriage ride around old Charleston. The next day we all went out to Magnolia Gardens, an old rice plantation, where Fiona especially enjoyed the petting barnyard. She didn't say so in words, but we got the impression that it was the best day of her life. We'll try to post the video evidence shortly. To the left she is saying hello to the goose that joined us for lunch.

Back at home, we were soon joined by Grammie Boettiger. We took advantage of the extra pair of eyes & hands to get some long delayed and much needed yardwork done. Here is Fiona "helping" out.

Our next adventure entailed driving to D.C. with Fiona and my mom. I attended a translational science meeting while they visited the zoo and various monuments & museums (Jeff was back at home doing his final med school rotation in the MICU). Somehow I have no photos of the DC trip, but our next adventure was much bigger: Fiona, Grammie & I flew to Montreal. While I attended the CNS meeting, they did things like exploring Montreal and watching french cartoons (left). By the end of April, the two of them were pretty well bonded, which is nice for everybody.

Finally: here is our sweet girl at 14 months. More photos of our month's adventures are here.

Butterflies, brews, and the arrival of Spring

Fiona kept getting presents for weeks it seemed after her big day. Shown to the left is a particular favorite: her awesome teapot from the Mannings. The whole tea set is recycled! She likes to pour tea, complete with "ssshusssh" sound for pouring.

We finally got ourselves over to the Durham Museum of Life & Science and after visiting the barnyard animals, butterfly house, checking out the bears, and riding the steam train, we were sold. The photo to the right is one that Jeff took in the butterfly house.

 

Fiona was fascinated by the butterflies and birds and tropical flowers and was content to sit on a bench for quite a while just watching everything, as shown to the left.

A big event (with no photos!) this month was that Jeff matched to the UNC Neurology program. Fiona & I attended the match day ceremony and we all had a nice lunch afterward. Jeff won't set off on his path to his new vocation for another few months, but he decided to get started on his new avocation: brewmaster! He's shown to the right hugging his first batch of beer in active fermentation (a bock style). We've sampled a bit since and find it's not bad. He's eager to get his next attempt going: this time a hefeweizen!

Springtime weather arrived before the official start of spring and we took the opportunity to take Fiona out to Duke gardens to run around. We've been imagining her running around on this big lawn since before she was born and it was really fun to experience that idea becoming a reality. She is very social and we had to herd her away from stealing the flip-flops of the Duke girls sunbathing and the balls of bigger kids playing. Luckily everyone finds her cute!

And finally, here is our girl at 13 months. She's getting longish hair and looking more like a little girl and less like a little baby all the time. More photos of this month are here.

And now she is one!

February was a pretty low-key month for us, punctuated by the excitement of Fiona's first birthday. The photo to the left is from her birthday morning, capturing two of her current great loves: her monkey & books.

After school/work we came home, had a little dinner and then the cake and presents-fest began. We Skyped with both sets of grandparents, burned Fiona's yearly candle, ate carrot cake, and opened presents. For those awaiting the cake-smeared face photos, I'm sorry to disappoint. When it comes to cake, at least mama's carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, Fiona takes care of business: the cake goes in the mouth! She ate nearly all of the slice shown in the photo, which seems like a lot of cake for a little baby, but on the other hand, she remains in the 90th+ percentile in terms of size...

 In the photo to the right, we have captured how she was immediately transfixed by her new play phone. Not shown was her second move after punching buttons: holding it up to her neck. Also note the ubiquitous monkey.

 And finally: here's our sweet girl at one. For more photos, follow this link.