The Moshans, Gessers and Liebmans spent a long weekend together on Labor Day weekend, 2011, to be together and celebrate various birthdays (Nate among them). Fun! These family gatherings feel important. With half of us in New York and the other half in DC, it's not often we get together like this. At one point, Sadie and Mae were pretending to be waitresses in a bad restaurant -- Mae urged us to be critical -- and the crew complained obnoxiously of the bad food and sloppy service. We were laughing, all together, an extended family truly enjoying each other's company. That is no small thing actually and I very much treasure it.
It's an understatement that Nate was showered with love from all sides. It was just the best best best weekend.
Here's Nate eating birthday cake with Opa:
Here's Avi and Mae (she fell asleep standing up) on a sunset boat cruise:
Here's dad, Sadie, Mae and I outside the ice-cream store, after a ferry ride to Royal Oak:
Here's the kids in the bath:
Nate started school 2 days a week at Williamsburg Northside Preschool. It's a beautiful school; the 3 teachers -- Hana, Caroline and Sabrina -- are so lovely and sweet it's blinding. Nate no doubt will have a blast. One day. Currently though, he's having a rough time of it. He says "no school" on the way to school. He screams for us not to leave, clinging to us, then reaching for us as we hand him to one of his teachers. We're told he recovers quickly though and so -- heartbreaking as it is -- we let him go and bolt out of the classroom sweating and red-faced. We hang around in the hallway and try and peak in. We worry. And then we leave and think about Nate all day. We reassure each other that he will have a blast. One day...
For his birthday, Nate got a green scooter, which he adores. I never grew up with one and so I look at them -- wrongly -- with disapproval. Also, he likes wearing his helmet when he scoots, which ratchets up my disapproval to something approaching contempt. I keep it inside though. I behave. 
The Moshans, Gessers and Liebmans spent a long weekend together on Labor Day weekend, 2011, to be together and celebrate various birthdays (Nate among them). Fun! These family gatherings feel important. With half of us in New York and the other half in DC, it's not often we get together like this. At one point, Sadie and Mae were pretending to be waitresses in a bad restaurant -- Mae urged us to be critical -- and the crew complained obnoxiously of the bad food and sloppy service. We were laughing, all together, an extended family truly enjoying each other's company. That is no small thing actually and I very much treasure it.
