Letter to my Little Bear

Quick detour from the Cape Cod blogs...

Bear Baby,

Monday, you were 6 months old. I was going to write this the other

day, but well, you were having a cranky day and I got basically nothing accomplished. Right now, though, you're sleeping in your swing and have been having a lovely day. I'm thinking we got the nap situation sorted out. 

Other than the occasional cranky day (and they really are few and far between), you're such an awesome baby. You are happy and cheerful and love people. You will smile at anyone and just love interacting. I've become more and more aware of this recently; you would much rather interact with people than play with toys. Oh- except for your fingers. Those guys are the trump cards of entertainment. You just discovered your fingers about two weeks ago, and you love staring at and talking to them. I've been trying to capture it on my camera and phone every chance I get. It's hilarious. Gran cracked me up at Cape Cod when she would commend you on your good decision to take those fingers with you when we were out and about: you just never knew when you might need to be entertained!

You've been rolling over a little bit more these days, but you're still not terribly interested. That's something I've noticed, too: you can do the things that babies are supposed to do at your age (I've seen you), but you generally don't find too much motivation to do them. For example: you can roll over. You just usually choose not to unless it serves a purpose for you, like getting you off of your tummy. You still hate being on your tummy. A few weeks ago, you accidentally rolled from your back to your tummy, and I watched your thought process play out on your face. Your face said, "Wait a second. I don't like being on my tummy. How did this happen? I must fix this. Stat." And you rolled back onto your back. The same thing goes with reaching for things. If you don't have an immediate interest in something, you won't reach out for it. No matter how hard I try. Your paci is pretty much the only thing you consistently reach for. And, good news, you've figured out how to put it in your mouth (like, 75% of the time you get it right). We love this new skill. Go, Bear!

You've been laughing a lot more recently, and it makes us die a little. We can't handle it. It's just THE cutest thing in the whole world ever and always. We used to think your babbling/cooing was the cutest, but laughing wins. And, when you get started laughing, you usually can't stop yourself for a while. The only sure way to get you to stop is to try and video it. Seriously, I found that you would laugh hysterically while I sang "Hello Dolly" to you (substituting "Bearsy" for "Dolly," of course), but because of your propensity to stop laughing when I video you, I have a gem of a video where you laugh for 3 seconds...and I keep singing the song and end by saying, "Aw, come on, Bear..." Your dad thinks it's funny.

You've also started sitting up some, too. It's definitely a joint effort, me and you. You hold on to my finger, and I make sure you don't whack your head when you topple over.

One of the funniest things was when we offered you rice cereal for the first time. We thought you were going to love it; you'd been watching us eat with rapt attention for weeks, but you basically just rolled it around in your mouth for about ten minutes before it dissolved, I guess. You looked kind of confused but definitely not interested. Bless you.

One of our favorite things that you've been doing is, as Daddy says, crumpling your whole face up when you smile your big smiles. It's SO cute. It's like you don't even know how to smile only halfheartedly. It melts me. 

We love morning time because it means we get to see you again and spend the whole day with you. It's just the best. Because you're the very bestest bear, and we love you SO much!

23 weeks

24 weeks

25 weeks

6 months old

What we've been up to.

I had great intentions of blogging well last week, but...

We were actually at Cape Cod! Technically, we had internet at our hotel, but in actuality, it didn't work very well. The upside to this situation is that I have some good blogs in the making for this week.

Brad's parents came and made this whole quintessential New England vacation happen. Thanks so much, Gran and Grandpa! Claire has been so blessed this summer with opportunities to see her extended family, and we are so grateful.

I don't know how many of y'all will ever be planning a Cape Cod adventure, but just in case you do, I thought I'd include things that we found helpful to know (some of which were definitely a hindsight kind of helpful).

This was the first vacation of my life where I did the chunk of the research and planning, which was overwhelming but also really fun and informative (I rather like research. Mock me, if you must.). I did sort of crack myself up when we actually got there: we kept passing restaurants and places of interest, and I would point and say things like, "Oh yeah...that was on the Top 10 list for putt putt places and that one was rated highly for breakfasts. Hm...didn't read anything about that place. It must not be very good, y'all." Oh yes...I was delightful to have in the car.

I spent many an hour reading about places of interest, restaurants, deals, and everyone's take on everything. The more research I did, the more I realized that I had apparently created a Cape Cod in my head that doesn't actually exist. I'm not sure when I sat and thought about Cape Cod, but as I learned more about it, I found myself thinking, "Huh...that's not what I thought it was."

Anyway, I'll break it down for y'all over the next few days. Unless, of course, I continue having days like today where basically nothing gets done. Oi.

Boston Baked Boswells

I actually started this blog over a month ago. I started it in my head, while pushing Claire's stroller uphill, drenched in sweat, knowing that I would not have a comfortably cool apartment awaiting me at home.

When we announced we were moving to Boston, one of the most common things folks said to us was, "You're going to have to learn to handle those harsh winters." Now, having lived here for a winter (and a cold, snowy one at that), I can say that Ukraine was still worse. Both years that I lived there. That's not saying that Boston isn't cold in the winter: it is. It just wasn't something new to me. Additionally, this past winter, I was pregnant and running on a ridiculously high internal temperature that made me not want to wear a coat at all. I may or may not have asked Brad once or twice whether or not I actually had to wear a coat out into the snow. I was warm, y'all.

Anyway, we survived the winter just fine.

The summer has been another story.

I am from Alabama. I have lived in Tennessee, the Middle East, and in the Sahel Desert of Africa. I have done really hot weather. Goodness, even Ukraine can be unbearably hot in the summers. But LAW...Boston can be straight misery. Like, crack an egg on the sidewalk and fry it hot. And, air conditioning is not the norm here.

Friends, when I live in foreign countries, I can wrap my mind around no air conditioning. When I live in the United States, I just can't comprehend it. It makes no sense to me at all. 

Please note, I have heard the reasonings:
1) It's not hot enough for long enough to warrant air conditioning.
2) Boston's architecture is so old that air conditioning isn't compatible.
3) There are probably others, but I have no patience for any of the reasons anyway. The bottom line is that I do not like to sweat, and I like air conditioning. And Boston is stodgy about it.

In our apartment, we have a monster of a window unit (that sucker hangs out the window about a foot or so), which is a blessing. The only thing is that it really only cools off the living room and sometimes the kitchen. It doesn't reach any of the rest of the apartment. Thanks to our friend, Karl, we have a box fan for our bedroom, and thanks to the fact that the back of our apartment is underground, Bearsy's room is automatically cooler (we do have a little table-top fan back there, too). If we use the stove or oven, the whole house is a furnace. We're like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednago. 

It's humid, too. Thank you, Charles River. We're so grateful.

And, Bear and I missed the worst part while we were in Alabama; the whole three weeks we were south, it was hotter in Boston than it was in AL. Seriously?? Not ok, Boston. Not ok.

There's absolutely no point in fixing my hair, so I've been sporting the ponytail/bun/headband combo. I definitely look like I'm 16, rather than pushing 30, but hey...you do what you have to, right?

Also, Claire is extremely hot-natured. She sweats, bless her. Church is the worst for heat, I hate to say. Our church building is beautiful and old and classic. It also has high ceilings that trap the heat and let it stagnate. It was pretty much the epitome of heat-induced misery. I actually took her and sat in the balcony stairwell for a while, as it was about ten degrees cooler in there. Desperate times.

All that to say, next time you hear someone say they're moving north and feel compelled to mention the harsh winters, pause a moment and continue that thought with "...and the summers are brutal. Best of luck."

To: Kylie From: Bearsy

Dear Kylie,

My mom tells me that you wrote something on her Facebook wall this week. About my faces. From what she and my Bo tell me about you, I think I would LOVE to meet you in person! You seem very fun and smart. And they both like your hair. I just wish I had hair. 

I thought that I'd go through Mommy's computer and find some of my outtake shots from the past couples of months. These are some really good faces that I thought you might like. I hope you do!

This is my "Hey man...I'm tough. I can take you." face.

Then I realized that I'm not actually that tough and got a little worried...

This is my "Whoa. I'm sitting up like Mommy and Daddy. How did that happen?" face.

This is my "More pictures?? Oh boy!" face.

And this is my "More pictures?? NOOOOOOOO!" face. I'm not too discriminatory about when I use these two faces. I like to keep everyone on their toes.

This is my "Say what?" face. I use this one a lot.

This is my "Um...I don't know where I am, and Daddy's not paying attention" look. He can't help it; there were books distracting him. I'm used to it.

This is Mom, trying to be like me.

This is another face I made for Granddaddy. It's my "Eeeeee...so happy to be out of the car and be held!" face.

This is another one with Mamaw and Papaw. It's my "Yes, yes...everyone says I have big eyes. Do you like them, too?" face.

This is my Daddy. I think you know him, too. Here, I'm showing you my "Isn't my Daddy awesome?" face? Mom and I think he's the best. We think we're right.

I'm sure there are more pictures, but these were just a few that I found really quickly. Do you like them? I hope so!

Also, Mommy apologizes for being so behind in blogging. It's probably my fault; I create a lot of laundry for her. I think she likes it, though.

I hope I can meet you one day! I'm sure I'll be jealous of your hair. I'll show you the seven hairs that I have. I'm very proud of them.

Love,
Bearsy

And then we tried to go home...

Bearsy and I had a great visit to Alabama. I love the South and miss it whilst living in the Northeast (although, I am enjoying my time in the Northeast). However, as much as I love my homeland, I love Brad more, and it came time to return.

For our return flight, we had gotten a direct flight, leaving out of Nashville. Our hope was that the direct flight would cut down on our chances of having issues while traveling, so Daddy used his off day to drive us to Nashville (Grammy came, too!)

Even though I had checked in online the night before, because Claire was traveling in my lap, I had to check in again with her birth certificate in order to get a valid boarding pass. I was a little annoyed by this but made small talk with the agent anyway. Come to find out, he lived in Boston for 11 years, and we swapped tales of living in Boston. As he was finishing up with our boarding pass, he glanced at Daddy and Grammy, leaned toward me, and asked, "Do you want them to go to the gate with you?" 

I was a little stunned and said something clever like, "Um...can they?" He asked for their driver's licenses, did some things on his computer, and printed passes for them. What?? It was awesome. They got to walk all the way to the gate with us and hang out for about half an hour before our flight. 

When it was time for us to board, we said our goodbyes, and Claire and I got settled on the plane. She was in good spirits. I had a bottle ready for take off. She had a fresh diaper (because she'd blown out right as we were getting out of the car in the parking garage. We did a quick diaper and outfit change. Excellent timing, though.). All was well with the world.

Everything was going well until the pilot came on the speakers and announced that we were not clear for takeoff, needed to deplane, and would not be leaving for two more hours.

I knew it. Even with a direct flight, there was no hope for me. 

Just as in my last post about flight issues, this is your warning that the following may not be interesting to everyone (it has to do with yet another feeding and yet another bathroom). 

I needed to feed Claire. But, they had told us not to wander too far away, as the control tower could very well clear us without much notice. Great.

I asked the flight attendant if she thought I had time to go to the bathroom and feed Claire. She said yes, so we headed off in search of a roomy stall. When I walked into the bathroom, I had a moment of panic when I saw a custodian unlocking a bathroom stall. Seriously? Does this happen often? 

I made sure to make a lot of noise and draw attention to myself so that she would be very aware of my presence in the bathroom. I did not want a repeat of the Charlotte incident. So, there I was- sitting on yet another toilet (fully clothed), hopping up every few minutes when the toilet automatically flushed, nursing Claire, and talking on the phone. That last thing was to make sure that Ms. Custodian Lady didn't try any shenanigans. It was not my finest moment (although, it was significantly better than my previous airport experience).

We eventually got on the plane (almost exactly two hours later) and eventually got back to Boston, where Brad met me with flowers and a Nutella shake from Boloco. That's my man, y'all.

Of course, just to round off our travel, Claire wet all over herself and had yet another costume change before we even left the airport. Sheesh.

Someday, I'm sure, I'll have a boring travel scenario. I will love it when that day comes.

I was so ashamed.

My family is really into Auburn football. We love football season, and we love Auburn. Even during the rocky years. Ask me sometime about how the Brassart Patriarch became an Auburn fan. It's a fun story.

Anyway, the University of Alabama uses houndstooth as its pattern of choice, because Bear Bryant wore it back in the day. Two notes: a) Bear Bryant coached football at Union (my alma mater) in the '50's when UU actually had a football team, and b) Bear Bryant did not own the rights to houndstooth. Nor was he the only person to ever wear it. Ergo, folks other than Alabama fans can appreciate it without pledging loyalty to the University of Alabama. 

Unfortunately, those of us who love both Auburn and houndstooth generally avoid wearing it while in the land of SEC football. It's sad but true. 

With all of that being said, I have a travel wallet made from the Deco Daisy Vera Bradley pattern. It's an awesome wallet (especially for traveling...hence the name). The outside has a red background with black and white daisies, and the inside pattern is black and white houndstooth. I love my wallet, and using it in Massachusetts causes me no trouble whatsoever.

I sort of forgot about the houndstooth while I was in Alabama.

On our way to Chattanooga to visit with our Boswell family, we stopped at the McDonald's in Scottsboro, AL to get sweet tea (obviously). While I was standing in line to pay, I had the horrible realization that I was holding my houndstooth wallet wide open...and a man in an Auburn hat was standing right next to me.

I felt like I had been unfaithful. And gotten caught. I was so ashamed.

Family time.

I need to be up front and admit my shortcoming in not taking pictures of Brassarts/McPhersons/Warren/Goulets. I am such a bad family member. My mom got a few, but I wasn't on my game. My sincerest apologies to my family. 

My mom scheduled get-togethers with all of my Alabama family (as opposed to my/Brad's Tennessee family), which was great. We got to see almost all of my family and a LOT of friends. Bearsy met her two maternal great-grandparents, two great-aunts, two great-uncles, and quite a few cousins. So much fun to introduce her to my people! Claire was such a great little social bear. She LOVED meeting family and new friends (Thanks to my home church, she met gobs and gobs of friends! Gobs, I tell you.). 

My Granddaddy. Her Great-Granddaddy.

Some dear Huntsville friends, Mrs. Tidwell and Mrs. Berry (who became a Nana herself the week after this picture was taken!)

 These two ladies, Mrs. Wendy and Mrs. Angel, have been rockin' it at my dad's office for years. They are very beloved by the Brassarts.

Our close friend, Kyleigh, came from Tennessee to see Bearsy. They were buddies from the first moment.

In addition to our Alabama family, we spent a day traveling to Chattanooga to visit our Boswell/Tennessee family for a few hours. A Brassart family favorite is The Acropolis, which is a wooooonderful Greek restaurant. Bearsy turned on her charm for her family and seemed to enjoy meeting everyone as much as they enjoyed meeting her. Out of the Tennessee clan, she met her two paternal great-grandparents, two great-aunts, and a great-uncle (she already knew Gran and Grandpa, of course, and missed seeing Aunt Rachael.). She was a little doll baby during lunch and even took a nap in Grandpa's lap- sitting right straight up. Bless. Uncle J.D. had us all in stitches by playing in the mirror with her, getting her to make the most hilarious faces. I should have videoed, but I was laughing too much.

With Mamaw and Papaw.

Chatting with the great-grandparents.

This is a fun shot because this represents two members of Mamaw's "Elizabeth Club." There are many women on Brad's side of the family with Elizabeth as their middle name. It's mine and Claire's, too.

So, technically, Papaw is holding her in this shot, but right before this, Uncle J.D. (to Papaw's right) was the instigator.

I love this shot: Brad called during lunch, and Barbara (my mother-in-law) held the phone up to Claire for Brad to talk to her. She got SO excited! It was presh.

Thanks so much to all of our family and friends that made the effort to visit with us. We enjoyed it so much and are really grateful for the opportunity! We're also so thankful for all of the sweet gifts for the bear. She's already worn many of them...and has christened some of them. Oi.

Gratuitous shot with Poppy. Just reading the paper.