Spring in Vermont (or, Why Progress on the House is So Slow)

Spring in Vermont comes late. It was a long hard winter. We were pounded with snow over and over again. Then, when the snow melted, our long dirt driveway became impassible. In case you were wondering, it's somewhat inconvenient to have to hike in a quarter mile laden with baby, carseat, and groceries. And then you run the risk of getting stuck in a ditch, like my friend Sarah. That's Charles pulling her car out with the skid steer.


And just when things were starting to look up, we got pounded by thunderstorms and heavy spring rains that caused our road to partially wash out.

But in between, we've managed to go on lots of little adventures and walks:








Christine, Bob, and Cara came to visit, and Cara had so much fun hugging Susannah!




And Susannah is enjoying running around on the lawn and sniffing the flowers.

With her grandma Jacklyn and cousin Julia:

Uh-oh!

Susannah is doing fun new things almost every day. She now says Mama and Dada pretty consistently, and for a couple of weeks she's been saying her first real word: uh-oh! How fitting.



She's getting really mischievous. She can climb up the stairs now, and as soon as you turn your back, she bolts across the room as fast as she can towards the bathroom (which she is not allowed to enter) and the stove (which she is not allowed to climb). Lately, she's been pulling up our shirts and pinching our skin underneath.



A major new skill, which I hesitate to even write about for fear of jinxing it, is sleeping through the night. After the nightmare of April, we really started working on sleep in May. I gradually started teaching her to fall asleep on her own at night, and also stopped nursing her if she wakes up before 4 am. She has been sleeping from 8:30 or 9 pm until 4 or 5 am pretty consistently for about two weeks. Fingers crossed that the progress continues, but I'm trying not to get too attached. I have learned that everything in parenting is two steps forward and one step back - if you are lucky!

She also has four teeth now, and is eating just about everything, including wheat, dairy (yogurt), and even chicken. She loves to eat rice cakes. They make a lot of crumbs, and sometimes she needs to be vacuumed.



She is getting so grown-up!

Winter Highlights

Here are some cute highlights from the late winter.

Susannah and Grandma Sally:


Susannah meets draft horses:


Susannah eats snow:


Susannah eats beets for the first time:


Susannah tries out her new backpack:


Susannah is not pleased about playing in the snow:

Where Did the Time Go?

It's been almost four months since I last updated! Embarrassing. Let me explain. No, let me sum up:
March: Snow, snow, snow. Mud, mud, mud. Driveway impassible.
April: No sleep. Teething. Sick.
May: Recovering. Thank goodness for spring and sleep.

Yeah. March and April were really hard. If Judith and Rachel hadn't come to help out for 3 weeks, we wouldn't have survived. Susannah started teething a lot and got a cold, and her sleep completely fell apart. I traveled out of town to Washington, DC for two days for work. That was fun and I got to see some spring flowers and catch up with good friends. BUT, while I was enjoying myself, Charles was having a rough go of it. One night he had to sleep on the floor rocking Susannah against his chest because she was so upset. I felt very guilty that I was away while she was having so much trouble. That was rough. J & R helped us hold things together by cooking for us and helping care for Susannah day and night. Thank you, Judith and Rachel!!!

I was also busy arranging child care for Susannah. Our wonderful nanny, Lindsay, had her own baby in early April, so we needed to find a new arrangement starting in May. We've been lucky to find a local mom of a 1.5 year old who wanted to take in another baby, so Susannah's been going to her house three days a week. It's going really well. Susannah loves it and is learning to share her toys. She plays a new game where she hands you a toy over and over again.

Susannah's toy shelf: