Today we took Elena to one of our favorite places in Boston - the Children's Museum. She seemed to enjoy it as much as Seth does.
Sadly, Maria, Sitso and Elena are leaving us tomorrow. We had such a fantastic time with them visiting!!!
Three of our best friends came to visit us in Boston! Maria and Sitso moved to Minnesota almost three years ago. We miss them so much. It was such a treat for them and there almost 1 year old, Elena to come and stay with us for a few days. Elena is such an adorable wonderful little girl. We weren't surprised because her parents are so great! It was really sweet to see Seth and Elena running around together. Seth was so sweet to her. He shared his toys and even would bring Elena a sippy cup with water when she was thirsty. How cute?
Today was a big day for Exercise. Jerald spent the first half of the day skiing! This is the first time he went skiing in many years. He said he picked it back up pretty quickly and had a great day on the mountain. He went down the mountain 6 times! I am so impressed.
Seth and Nana spent the morning at a toddler indoor gym running around while I recovered on the couch.
In the afternoon we all went to the pool. Seth hasn't been in a pool since we were on the Cape in August. He was a little tentative at first - and then LOVED IT! 
Jerald was beyond amazing today. I was still recovering from my stomach bug. Somehow Jerald packed all of our luggage, packed the car, and prepared the house for our departure. I don't know how he did it (because I slept through most of it) - but it is truly amazing!!!
And then he drove us and Nana up to New Hampshire for our four day vacation in the mountains. It felt sooooo good to breathe the clean mountain air and to realize we had nothing to do but relax and enjoy each others company.
On Wednesday, I came down with a horrible case of the stomach flu. I ended up in bed for 4+ days. It was the worst illness I have had in a very long time. Fortunately, neither Jerald nor Seth seemed to catch it. I am so lucky that I had Jerald, my Mom, and my Dad to come to my rescue. Jerald came home from work an hour after I started feeling sick! - and took care of Seth. Jerald was amazing through all of this - somehow taking care of me and Seth at the same time. My hero! Thank you Jerald!!!
My Mom came up the next day and was amazing - taking care of Seth, taking care of me, cooking, cleaning - and a million other things. My Mom truly is the best!!! Unfortunately, she suffered with a bit of the stomach bug herself.
My Dad came up the following day and helped Jerald with entertaining Seth and even changing his diapers! All in all - it was night the visit we envisioned - but I know I couldn't have made it through the illness without all of them. I am a very lucky girl! And I am feeling much better.
Seth thinks the running through the house is hysterical. Tonight after Jerald finished giving him a bath - Seth escaped, running naked, with only his frog towel on his head. Seth's favorite thing to do after running through the house naked? Sitting on his red chair - naked!
Seth loves the kitchen. He loves measuring cups, counting ingredients (he can count to 10!), and of course stirring. Over the weekend Seth helped me make pancakes. 
Today, Seth and I were once again stuck at home so we decided to go out and explore. But first we needed to get suited up.
Seth was first unsure of this thing we call "snow." He surveyed the landscape and then started to tentatively explore.
He does not love the gloves - but I batted to keep them on his little hands.
Once we started stepping, touching and throwing the snow, Seth started to really enjoy himself.
Or maybe he was just happy to finally be out of the house!
From Jerald: So this is a picture of Storrow drive today. Actually, it might be a video, because nobody was moving. For some reason that nobody can quite figure out, yesterday was the worst traffic day in Boston in anyone's memory. Everyone left work early and the roads were at a complete standstill. People would just sit in the middle of the intersection blocking cars going the other way, but ahead of them someone else would be blocking the intersection - I'm sure from above it looked like a giant puzzle. At one point, there was a cop car next to me that wanted to turn left, only cars kept blocking the intersection so that literally nobody got through for five successive lights. One of the two cops then got out of the car just to hold up traffic long enough so a few people (including his partner) could turn left. I think at that point the cop got back in the car and left people to their own devices. Way to help. It was enough to let me through though so I shouldn't complain.
So anyway, after spending over 4 hours in the car (and going approximately 8 miles) Lauren suggested I find somewhere to stop and get something to eat. Realizing that I wasn't going to get home before Seth went to sleep anyway (having left work at 2:45!) I decided to pull into a movie theater (covered) parking lot, got food, and went into the next movie. Two and a half hours later, the streets were moving a little better and it only took me another 45 minutes to get home - at which point Lauren came out and helped me dig out a spot to park. All told, including the movie and shoveling, it took just a tad more than 8 hours door to door (for ~11 miles).
Ready to climb into bed...
Seth has been loving his new kitchen from Nana. It is so cute to see him at work. Thanks Nana!
As you can see, we went to Nana's house for the 6th night of Chanukah. (Of course, if you asked Seth he might tell you it was the seventh night because he likes to skip the number 5. Counting is one of his newest tricks, but his favorite two numbers are 4 and 6 and he doesn't like to let anything get in between them).
Another trip to one of our favorite places in Boston, The Children's Museum! We met Ronak there and the kids had a blast.
Last night our neighbor and friend Ellah came over with her Mom to celebrate Chanukah. We lit the menorah, sang songs, and played with dreidels. It was a lot of fun.
Ronak came over last week for a playdate. I never got a chance to post this adorable picture.
First, Ronak sat in Seth's chair and then asked Seth to sit with him. How cute!
We celebrated the first night of Chanukah with Nana, presents, and homemade latkes and apple sauce! Seth loved the potato latkes and apple sauce. He ate them so fast, I lost count of how many he had. We had a really wonderful night celebrating together.
Last night it snowed in Boston. Not too bad - but enough for Seth and I to stay in for most of the day. Seth's word of the day was "snow." Every time he passed the window - he would point and say "snow!"
