We be Parents

Catching up on some things that happened over the past month…starting off with my brother’s wedding! We flew across the country bright and early one Thursday morning to Virginia – early enough that Hazel (who still sleeps on a teenagers schedule) slept almost the whole way…aside from waking up at four something in the morning, this was traveling with a baby at its best.

The whole extended weekend was spent hanging out with my family, meeting Andrea’s family, and spending time with both of their friends. A couple photos of the company we were keeping:

They had their rehearsal dinner at a beautiful organic restaurant where the waiter (in a fake British accent) overwhelmed us with all the details about where the butter was made, how awesome it was, and how it was accompanied by the homemade bread…yup, the butter was accompanied by the bread, not the opposite. The dinner was incredibly tasty, the scenery beautiful, and the company excellent:

It was at this rehearsal dinner where Hazel met Coralie, her best friend of the trip:

On the day of the wedding, the weather did not look like it was going to cooperate…the sky was filled with clouds and it was raining on our way to Weather Lea Farm, the beautiful wedding spot. Somehow, magically, the sky cleared just in time to decide to do the ceremony outdoors instead of the backup indoors spot. We got Hazel all geared up in her princess dress:

Hazel had so much fun seeing everyone that she totally passed out right before the ceremony. We walked down the aisle with other family members to kickoff the ceremony, Hazel passed out on my should for the whole walk. She stayed sleeping as I held her over to Yenari so that I could hand over a ring, kept up the sleeping as Yenari held her back, and continued sleeping as we marched out after the ceremony…totally passed out. Some photos of the ceremony I caught from the front row:

and sleepy Hazel…

After a cocktail hour we head into the barn for the reception, and almost on cue the rain resumed, having cooperated for the whole ceremony and cocktail hour. Hazel bounced around from table to table, stolen away by friends and family…giving us a chance to actually eat our food without rushing and without having to keep an eye on her. Hazel awake and ready to party:

We all joined the crowd on the dance floor and Hazel had an awesome time moving to the music, spinning around, and seeing everyone else having so much fun. After a couple hours of dancing Hazel was worn out again and totally passed out…on the dance floor…Lady Gaga blasting away. We had to tone down the dancing a bit while she was asleep, but we stayed on the dance floor and kept on moving! Here’s the crowd:

The wedding was great – a beautiful ceremony, such great people on all sides, a great Thai dinner, and so much time to spend with family. Hazel was wasn’t always the center of attention – the bride and groom took that honor – but I’d say she ranked quite high on the list. Not only did Hazel have a blast entertaining and being entertained, but she got herself a new Aunt! Welcome to the family Aunt Andrea!

Coming to you live from Framingham Massachusetts…where I’m on a business trip and Yenari and Hazel have come along for the ride.  We’ve been a bit lacking on updates recently despite a number of visitors, first meetings, and this trip.  Here’s a quick recap:

First off, we had a visit from my Aunt Janet (Janet Brown that is…two Aunt Janet’s if you’re counting) and cousin Morgan.  Here they are playing with Hazel:

Two days after the visit from Janet and Morgan, we drove up to Yenari’s Aunt JungHae’s house to see Yenari’s grandfather who had just arrived from Korea.  This was Hazel’s first introduction to her great grandfather and my first introduction to my grandfather in law.  Because this was the first time I saw him (and the first time Yenari saw him after getting married) we bowed to him and he gave us advice on how to have a good marriage.  When he came from Korea both of his checked bags were for us: a big and colorful playmat sent by Yenari’s mom and the second suitcase filled with food from Yenari’s grandmother.  He is a very sweet man and it was great to finally get to meet him and to see him playing with Hazel and keeping her entertained:

Hazel on her great grandfather's lap

Hazel hanging on the couch with her great grandfather

Just a couple days later my brother Andrew arrived for a short trip from DC to come see his niece for the first time.  Andrew balances a pretty wild schedule between work, law school, and breathing, so it was great that he was able to make it out to see us in one of his few free moments of the year.  Just after picking my brother up at the airport and visiting Yoni, his friend from college, we went to the Button’s house in Alameda for the annual bbq which was a lot of fun (as usual).  Hazel saw her first competitive croquet match! Here are a couple shots of my brother playing with Hazel and a video he took of her dancing (with a bit of Yenari’s help) to the Flight of the Conchords’ The Humans are Dead:

And finally…catching up to the present…we made our first big trip with Hazel yesterday, flying from San Francisco to Boston (yay direct flight, yay Jet Blue) and Hazel was a real champ.  She didn’t cry much – she spent most of her time sitting happily on our laps watching tv, sleeping, and eating…all the things ‘real’ people do on flights!

She and Yenari spent their time in the hotel today, and then when I came back from work we brought her down to the pool for her first swimming experience.  Here she is, decked out in her bathing suit doing her thing:

I can’t say that Hazel loved her first swimming experience, but at the same time she wasn’t crying, so it must not have been too bad.  The water was a little cold for her, but we made the best of the short experiment by taking a lot of photos.  And yes, Hazel has the fanciest swimsuit in the family – thanks to Sarah Lee for Hazel’s stylin’ Juicy Couture suit!  After the swimming we brought her back to the room and Yenari took a warm bath with her – definitely a more enjoyable experience for her.

And next up?  After I finish work tomorrow afternoon I’m going to pickup my sister Liza at the train station and we’re going to drive down to Connecticut to spend the weekend at my mom’s house and then drive back up to Boston on Sunday evening to fly home…

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We’re in Connecticut right now at my mom’s house celebrating Thanksgiving.  High on Yenari’s to do list was finding baby pictures of me to see what we might be in store for.  Here are a couple of her favorites:

Newborn Gregory with Mom

Baby Gregory with Mom

Greg (right) and his younger brother Andrew

Greg (center), his brother Andrew, and his sister Liza

And as a special bonus, here’s a picture of my mom when she was about 3 years old…

Greg's mother Connie at 3 years old