Happy Birthday, Mama!

Things started out being crazy this week, but slowed down nicely by the weekend. Last weekend we had a lovely time getting ready for and going to Julia and Wayne's wedding. The ceremony was wonderful, Julia looked stunning, and they had an incredible party to celebrate afterward! Aidan got a lot of complements in his (rediculously cute) tuxedo, and was a great sport throughout the party, finally passing out while dancing with Daddy on the dance floor.
After flying back on Monday morning, things went into high gear. Mommy had a good time at her conference on Monday through Wednesday, despite it being hectic. She heard a great panel on teaching in IR, enjoyed lunches, dinners, and coffees with friends, was thrilled to pick up her national teaching award, and got some great job seaching advice. Meanwhile, Aidan was happy to see his babysitter Laurie again and was totally happy to hang out with her and Daddy while Mommy was at her conference. On Wednesday, Aidan stayed with a neighbor and then Laurie picked him up, so that Mommy could go to her conference and Daddy could take the train down to Washington D.C. for a World Bank presentation of his Bangladesh work. Fortunately, everything worked out for the most part, and we were all happy on Thursday that the conference and D.C. travel were over and we could all slow down a bit.

Friday night, we drove up to the Catskills to see Grandma and Grandpa Ruane and celebrate Mommy's birthday. (Mommy turned 29 on Tuesday, but she had her conference to attend, so we postponed celebrations until the weekend.) We had a very nice weekend. Mommy was thrilled to have the massage (from Elaine Grandy - a masseuse with magical hands!) thanks to Grandma, eat the chocolate mousse cake that Daddy bought, go snow-shoeing through the woods with Daddy, and take a long bubble bath in Grandma's wonderful bathroom (while looking out on softly falling snow). Aidan loved seeing Grandma and Grandpa ("Mi-ma" and "Boppa" at the moment), and they loved seeing how much his language has jumped (he has been going through a language burst recently and is talking up a storm), and playing with him (he played "cocoa party" for half an hour with Grandma and Daddy, and loved throwing pingpong balls down the stairs with Grandpa). We love being able to get away up here!