I Miss

Nate's use of language is exploding; he's even conveying feelings. Like recently, before bed, we had this exchange that nearly tore my heart out:

Nate: I miss O-a (sad face)

Me: I miss Mimi.

Nate: Yeah...

Me: And Mommy too.

Nate: Yeah, Mommy too... I miss Nana (shy smile)

Me: Yeah, me too. I miss Papa

Nate: Me too. I miss Emma (bigger smile)

Me: Yeah. I miss Brookie

Nate: Yeah Brookie too. I miss A-ee (smiling)

Me: Yeah. I miss Mae.

Nate: Mae! Me too. I miss Say-ee (biggest smile)

Thank you Family

We are not out of the woods yet, but it feels like a good time to thank the fam for the tremendous and ridiculous love and support these last 7 1/2 weeks. We'd be a puddle of goop without you. We are incredibly lucky. And Mack and Nate are so lucky to have you guys as grandparents.

Cousins

We planned to take a 10 day holiday in Love's Folly prior to and including Labor Day. But Hurricane Irene had other plans. So we bailed from Love's Folly and headed to DC until the storm passed, staying with Opa and Mimmy. Before the full brunt of the hurricane was felt -- it was pretty intense for us east coasters -- Nate and I popped over the Brook and Avi's where we hung with the Gessers. Here's Nate with his cousins, the purple-clad Gesser girls.

Family BBQ in Tarrytown

We had a family BBQ -- something this family rarely if ever does -- at Cousin Debra, Kenny, Drew, Nina and Cole's lovely house in Tarrytown, NY, about 45 minutes drive up wooded and rolling-hilled Westchester. Erik, Kim and Mai-Ling from Boston attended, as did Uncle Paul and Aunt Rochelle and Mom/Dad. There was excellent BBQ (plus ridiculous margaritas) and a thrilling ping pong tournament (I crushed Shana, my mom and Aunt Rochelle to face off with Kenny in the finals and won a close one).

Nate, meanwhile, had a tough time of it. We forgot to change his diaper before the trip up from Brooklyn, so when we arrived in Tarrytown, he was soaked through. We didn't have a change of clothes and he didn't nap, so he was mostly a wreck. Mai-Ling, however, was dry and well-rested. Anyway, despite the distance between them, I am hopeful Nate and Mai-Ling become good friends.

Nate managed a few good moments. He played catch with Cole:

He played with Cole's old matchbook cars with Mai-Ling:

And he posed for a family picture:

Thanksgiving

This was Nate's 2nd Thanksgiving with the Moshans, Gessers, Weissbergs and Bernsteins, a tradition that goes back more than 40 years. It's a great crew. In addition to Shana, Nate and me, there's Mom, Dad, Brook and Avi and Sadie and Mae. Then there's Uncle Paul, Aunt Rochelle, Cousins Debra and Kenny and their kids -- 2nd cousins? cousins once removed? -- Drew, Nina and Cole. Then there's cousin Erik and Kim who were married two summers ago and their little daughter Mei-Ling, who is about 5 or so months younger than Nate. That Erik and I had our first kid within a few months of each other is no coincidence; we are similar in many ways actually. We both needed to find the right woman and grow into a mature-enough adult. And then we really needed to find the really right woman. And then we needed to be given some sort of ultimatum. Anyway, here is Nate and Mai-Ling on the changing bed together. They are going to be good friends I think. They will be similar in many ways...