2 Violets High

Total Snowfall in Boston for Winter of 2010-2011




Shaq-o-meter courtesy of the Boston Globe.
Interesting that the all-time record was set the first year that I lived here. Can't believe it didn't scare me away. New Englanders are hearty people. Day care was OPEN today and a crew of 10 strong men descended on my house this morning and shoveled us out of a fresh 10" in about 10 minutes. Then the sun came out. It was a good day.

Sick

The return to the North East hasn't been easy. Wednesday we were hit with a pretty big snow storm - we got a little over a foot which hasn't melted and just makes getting around extra hard. Thursday I had jury duty at 8am in Lowell, MA which is about an hour north of Boston. I was really concerned about getting there on time (not to mention being empanelled!) and had arranged with Violet's teacher to meet her at daycare at 7am. But because we were off the day before, she got confused and we ended up waiting outside of daycare for 1/2 hr in 20 degree temps minus V's mittens which she hates to wear (she also did not want to stay in her car seat in the warm car). I was late to jury duty, but it ended up being OK because they actually cancelled it after I had checked. Because I went up there, I got cleared for 3 years - phew! Friday was the first time I've gotten the call from daycare to come get V because of fever. We got home at around 3pm on Friday and haven't left since. V has progressively gotten worse and today we finally went to the doctor when she had a 104.5° fever. It took the doctor about 2 seconds to diagnose a double ear infection. It was quite a relief to find such a clear cause and to be able to start antibiotics right away. He said that our 3 week sojourn in Florida probably allowed her to let her immunity guard down so that when we returned to daycare, she was extra vulnerable. So for the last 124 hours I've been quarantined here with my sick girl. No play dates, minimal outside time in 18 degree weather and continual snow and sleet. V has spent a lot of the time stuck to me because she just doesn't feel good. It's amazing how much time you have when you can't go anywhere. I've have fully embraced the power of that little red devil Elmo and today I let her take tissues out of a box one by one and take them into the kitchen to thrown them away. Now that we've got her started on antibiotics we hopefully only have one more day in our little apartment. Not sure what we're going to do tomorrow. Another day of terrible weather is forecast, so I'm pretty sure it will involve more indoor activities.

Snow Day

We're back in Cambridge and back to reality. Today we were slammed by a foot of sloppy wet snow that downed trees and power lines. Day care was closed and I attempted to work from home although it was hard even with Sophia babysitting in the morning and V taking a 3 hour nap after lunch. We tried to get her to play in the snow, but she was a bit freaked out by it all. I guess I can understand. Just last week she was wearing sandals and learning about sand at the beach with her Grandmom and this morning she woke up and her entire world was white and cold and her daycare routine ground to a halt. I took her out a couple times to play in the snow, but she would have none of it - just wanted to be carried. I did catch her sampling a few of the flakes on her tongue though!

17 months!

Dear Violet,
Happy New Year! Today you are 17 months old! We are in Florida with Grandmommy and Grandaddy for a few weeks during the holidays. It has been wonderful to spend so much time with you and with our family. You have grown so much even since we've been here. You are talking and talking and it is so fun to hear you learn new words. You know more words than I can even count any more and you love to point out every bird (lots) and cars that you see and it makes my heart melt a little bit each time you scream "Mama!" when you see a picture of me. You know the names of many of your friends like Nina and Patrick. This morning you even said "Gorilla" ! All that growing sometimes makes it hard to sleep. You were doing really well when we first got here, but then you somehow got off track and the night before last you woke up at 3am and didn't go back to sleep until dawn. Luckily your Grandmommy is often up anyway and your Granddaddy has good ear plugs. Mama is tired, so she's going to bed now, but she will try to write more in this new year. Here are some pictures of our time here.