The Oscar Files: April 2009

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Spring Springs

Last fall John planted some bulbs in the front yard. The recent sunshine has finally begun to coax them out of the ground. It is wonderful to see our little yard coming to life again.

Our Penn Relay experience in the sun warranted this new hat purchase.

Valley Green Run

Inspired by the Penn Relays, Oscar and I went for a run at Valley Green with a few regular "run" friends.

Tom Jordan, John's "Big Brother" and long-time friend (to both of us!), came to Philadelphia this last weekend for the Penn Relays. We were so happy for the chance to catch up with him over dinner at our house.

Tom Jordan also gave us passes to see some of the races at the Penn Relays. It was a beautiful day, but we weren't as prepared as we should have been for all that sun. We watched several races before the heat finally got the best of us.

This is what Oscar thought of all the action.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Cole & Oscar

We can't exactly call it a "play date", as they didn't seem all that aware of each other, but we are sure it was the first of many future get-togethers for Oscar and his friend, Cole, the son of my fellow teacher and friend, Christine. Oscar and Cole also share the same birth month -- Cole was born exactly one week after Oscar (on Valentine's Day!).

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

10+ Week Old Smiles (for Dad)

Monday, April 20, 2009

Clean Air Run

Last year John and I ran the Clean Air 5k Run with some friends from the Y. The run was this last Saturday, and this year, John stayed home with Oscar. I didn't run it as fast as last year (23 minutes 40 seconds--yes, I'm bragging cuz that's good for me), but I did run the whole way and managed to do it in 28 minutes 16 seconds...my goal was to come in under 30 minutes, so I'm satisfied--for THIS run, anyway.

Oscar and his Ugly Doll, "Big Toe"

Oscar has started becoming aware of his toys. Today he played with Big Toe (well, Mom did most of the actual playing, while Oscar waved his arms around and smiled a whole lot).

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

A Family Reunion

This weekend we went to East Haddom, Connecticut, to visit John's brother, Jason, his wife, Gizelle, their two daughters, his aunt Jane (his dad's sister), and his cousins, Suzie, Sarah, and David. His aunt lives in a spacious home out in the "woods". We exchanged stories and got (re)acquainted over dinner and into the evening. John was eleven or twelve years old the last time he saw this side of his family.

John's Aunt Jane made Oscar smile.

Jason and John hang out in the kitchen. Isn't that what brothers do?

Our nieces, Brianna (age 6), and Crystal (age 9). We enjoyed spending some time getting to know their bright personalities!

Jason, John's cousin, Suzie, and John.

We also had the chance to look at some old pictures of John's dad, aunt Jane, and John's grandfather. John had never seen these pictures before.

John's Aunt Jane and his dad, Joe.

"Joey", John's dad.

John's grandfather, Joe, and his aunt Jane.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

A Night Out

We had our first night out as Parents on our seventh wedding anniversary (thank you, Gum and Gus!). We went to a yummy restaurant in our neighborhood called Distrito and then saw a film at an old art house movie theater. It hit us we won't be going to movies too often in the days (years) ahead...

Steak tacos

Shrimp and Avocado Ceviche

2 Months Old!

We celebrated Oscar's 2 months with two fancy cupcakes from Isgro's Bakery (sometimes ironically called "It's Gross" Bakery).

Perhaps Oscar was a little annoyed he wasn't going to get to eat any.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Ahh, Family...

With all the extra cuddles, diaper changes, smiles, and oohs & ahhs they've brought (not to mention unending support of us as parents, as well as FREE babysitting!). Oscar has enjoyed their visit as much as we have...