This Weekend in Jersey City

Greetings from Jersey City, where it is a comfortable 70 degree, partly sunny day. We just got back from a stroll in the park. This past week, we took Owen to see the pediatrician for a check-up. He has doubled his birth weight, now weighing in at a healthy 16 pounds! He is in the 50th percentile of weight for his age. Our Dr. said he looked great, other than having more teething pain and discomfort. His gums are white, but there aren't any sharp spots poking through. Just an unending pool of drool drool drool...

Owen's latest tricks are rolling over in every direction. He can scoot himself around on his tummy, although that is somewhat up for debate between Chris and myself. You see, I have laid him down at one end of Owen's crib, only to come in and find him at the opposite end, completely turned around. Chris thinks he is scooting himself, but I am not willing to rule out levitation, since I haven't witnessed how he is changing position. Could be the scooting thing too, I guess.

Owen reaches out for things with both hands now...like Mommy's necklace, HAIR, oh and another favorite...Daddy's nose. He giggles if you make any funny sounds near his belly. Doesn't have to touch. And, his Daddy just taught him how to stick out his tongue. When Daddy was playing Peek-a-boo with him the other day, Owen stuck out his tongue every time his Daddy reappeared...the universal symbol for Daddy now??

We called him "Scar" that day

here's a funny picture following Owen's afternoon nap this past week. He looks tough, no?

Editor's Note: One of the readers of Boonesandsquirrels notified us that the picture of Owen with the crease on his face from a bedsheet during a nap was too graphically misleading to remain posted on the page. Owen is a beautiful child, and should be displayed as such. We chose to offer this compromise.

Happy Grandma?

Back from North Carolina

Back from our trip to North Carolina, where we spent a week vacationing in New Bern, with the Moms, then a weekend visit with our friend, Amir, in Durham. While we were there, we celebrated Chris's 30th Birthday. Here are some photo highlights:





Thanks to all of you who sent pictures and movies for Chris to view on his big day. He was really surprised, and had such a laugh from all of the submissions!

We had a special visitor, Chris's sister, Jessie, came to see us from Savannah, Georgia. Jessie got to meet Owen for the first time. They definitely hit it off from the start!





We toured the small town of New Bern one day, and drove about 45 minutes to the beach on another afternoon. Chris was really looking forward to introducing Owen to the Ocean...one of his favorite places to be. In the pictures, it looks cloudy...but the sun came through a few minutes later, and we got to play in the water for a little while.

Owen was so exhausted from the excitement, that he promptly fell asleep on Grandma Crystal's shoulder before she even made it back to her beach chair.

Chris and I had a little time to swim with the fishies. The water was pretty warm!

We went on to see Amir in Durham. We ate falafel, and he made us homemade chocolate lava cake at his lovely home. Yum! I like Durham!





now we have to get back to life at home. Chris said he needed to get back to the office, so he could rest from all of our travels!

Annabelle is going to be OK

Just a quick update for those of you who know that my "Squirreliebelle" had to go into the animal hospital a couple days before we left for vacation. She is going to be okay. Her blood panel was rechecked yesterday morning, and all of her levels that were dangerously elevated are now back to normal. She is still on antibiotics and a special diet, and is being boarded at the hospital for the duration of our time away...sad for Phoebe...but the good news is that she will be just fine. I am quite relieved!!

We had an ocean adventure with Owen today. He responded by promptly conking out to sleep in Grandma Crystal's arms for an hour, while Chris and I romped in the waves and collected pretty shells. It was a good day, and we are all very happy and sleepy now.

The birthday celebration was a great success...thanks to everyone who participated! Chris just laughed from one post to the next; it was definitely a surprise he enjoyed. I will post pictures and some update movies probably tomorrow.

Have a good evening!

CHRIS BOONE TURNS 30 YEARS OLD SEPTEMBER 16th, 2007!

From Tim and Jan


From Donnita


From Bob and Lee



Story time with Jess and Owen


How old is Daddy?


You expect me to read this?


I'll hide the evidence...no one will ever know!


Drat, paper cut!


The Flanders wish you Happy Birthday!


So do Paul and Suzanne


The Neighborhood Guys do too!



Birthday thoughts from the Squirrelies


Birthday wishes from Nancy and Eric; An homage to Mimes
(okay, I made that up...couldn't get the sound to work...)
It was supposed to say, in a growly voice, "Happy 30th Birthday, Chris. GRRRR!"


Prostrate or Prostate, fellas?
Frankly, I'm not sure how I feel about a company that requires either one of those.


Birthday Greetings from the folks from work

Production Design Group, a Jack Morton Company...they are amazing; actually giving Chris an Emmy for his birthday!

(In truth, PDG has so many, they keep a supply closet full of them. Everyone has one on their desk because they make great paperweights, and if you need to use the restroom down the hall...there's a key attached to one that you pick up near Katie's desk, so you don't lose it when you go to powder your nose!)

Boones in Hotlanta

Greetings from the TBS studio where Chris is doing a load-in for Major League Baseball! Owen is napping in a corner of the Green Room, so I have a few moments to write about our adventures in Atlanta this week. I have thoroughly enjoyed our trip!

We stayed at the Omni Hotel at the CNN center in downtown Atlanta, with a view of Olympic park out our window. It was blissfully quiet in our corner room, so we had few distractions for Owen's nap schedule...and hopefully, we caused few distractions to the other hotel patrons as well...

Our flight here went very smoothly...Owen likes to sleep when he is in the sling, so he napped most of the flight. Tonight, we might have a bit more of a challenge, since we will still be traveling when he is usually already off to sleep for the night. During the days, I have spent at least one long nap in the room with Owen, reading or beading. One cannot do any laundry when one is not at home, hurray! :) On Wednesday, my big afternoon outing was a 3 minute walk across the Olympic Park to the Georgia Aquarium. It was great! I had Owen in the sling, so when it was time for his nap, he just fell asleep on me, and I could continue to look around and see wonderful sites.
They had beluga whales, and a most impressive tank of colorful fish from a reef setting.
There was even a "theater" sized tank, where one could sit and observe fish as large as the on-looking people!

I was really impressed, and I am not even usually such a big fan of Aquariums.


At the end of the day, Owen, Chris and I had our first family swimming pool experience at the hotel pool. Owen loved kicking around in the water, and boy did he sleep well after swimming!!


Yesterday, Owen and I took a bus to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Historical Site. The church where he preached, Ebenezer Baptist Church, is preserved as a monument.

There is a separate building that has a multi-media history of MLK's life and the civil rights movement, with a beautiful "peace" rose garden out front. Across the street is a large pool, with the tombs of both Martin Luther and Coretta Scott in the middle.

I have always been very moved by hearing the speeches of Martin Luther King Jr.'s, but I was not prepared for the wave of emotion that hit me even before I knew where I was standing. I got a lump in my throat just after walking a few paces from the bus stop, only to look up and see the familiar Ebenezer Baptist Church sign that I know I have seen in photos and documentaries about MLK's life.

When I walked into the sanctuary of the church, there was a recording of one of his sermons being played on a P.A. system, so I sat down with Owen and listened for a bit. The sermon was about how some people are like Cadillacs and some people are like Fords, and it does not matter which you are, as long as you recognize it, and choose to be the best Cadillac or Ford that you can be. Be the best sidewalk-sweeper, or shoe-shiner, and do your work with pride and dignity. I cried like I was really hearing him speak in person! Mostly, I cried because Martin Luther King Jr. had a message that I think people needed to hear (that people still need to hear) and I am amazed that he lived such a short time ago, that his message was heard, and that he was able to influence many. He was a leader worthy of being followed, and I am sad that such a man was murdered when his life's work was about peace through non-violence and love. I cannot explain why, but I have always felt particularly connected to the civil rights movement; perhaps just because I share the belief that all people are equal and I abhore seeing how racial discrimination played-out in this country in the 60's, just a few short decades ago...and is still playing-out today. I am really grateful that I was able to visit this important place while here in Atlanta these few days.

Our flight home to NJ leaves at 6:30 this evening. Fortunately, Owen is getting a really long afternoon nap right now, despite all of the noise in the hallways leading into the studio space where all the set construction is taking place. We look forward to seeing squirrelies when we return home, and having the weekend ahead of us, possibly for some apartment hunting.

A Busy Week

Good afternoon on this lovely day!

Chris, Owen and I had a very full week, and we are so happy that it is a 3 day weekend. I made my first solo trip with Owen to Boston on Monday, where we got to stop in and visit with a few of my former students and families. Owen was great and slept the whole way up, making my drive a lot easier! On Tuesday, we met our friend, Suzanne, who kept Owen entertained while I tuned 6 pianos at Wellesley College. Owen and I were both really tired by the time the day was over, and neither of us had had much sleep the night before. By the second day of tunings, we started the day well-rested, and a little more prepared for the schedule. I got another 6 pianos done, and at the end of the workday, we all loaded into the car and drove home to NYC. (Suzanne lives in Brooklyn, but was already visiting Boston.) We arrived in Jersey City around 9:30pm, and after bathing and nursing, a near-comatose Owen poured into his co-sleeper at 10:30pm! He had mega bags under his eyes, and we kept Thursday a very quiet, stay-at-home day. He caught up on his rest somewhat.

Today, we took an excursion to the town of Nutley. It is a place we have passed through for shopping, and had thought was residential and conveniently located. We drove around for a little while to get a view of the place, and commented at how similar it was to Belmont, MA...where we enjoyed living for several years while in Boston. There is a town center where the post office is, banks, the middle and high schools, shops and restaurants, and a large municipal park. It is so green, and even the houses on the main avenues are well cared for and imminently more suburban than our current neighborhood. There are no security bars on any homes and no heavy metal roll-down doors on any of the stores. We sat outside at a little cafe and ate breakfast, and marveled that the food was inexpensive yet tasty, and even our meter for parking was 25 cents for 45 minutes! I exchanged numbers with a realtor, and we shall see what happens next.

In other news...I have purchased a series of piano recital tickets at Carnegie Hall this season. I was just giddy after booking my balcony seats for 5 different concerts: Andras Schiff, Mitsuko Uchida, Emanuel Ax, Murray Perahia, and my favorite, Yefim Bronfman. Bronfman is playing Balakirev's "Islamey", for you piano enthusiasts out there...you know will ROCK. This is the true way to enjoy living in NYC! And, I am still planning on getting tickets for the Vienna Phil. with Bronfman performing Prokofiev's 2nd piano Concerto. Drool, drool, drool!

We are all off to Atlanta this coming Tuesday. Chris has a trip for work, and Owen and I are coming along for fun. We will be departing on Tuesday, and returning on Friday night. I have never been to Atlanta before, much less just flown to a new city with no agenda but to hang-out at a spiffy hotel and explore the neighboring area. A real mini-vacation! Cross your fingers that Chris's work time there is smooth and predictable.

Enjoy your holiday, Everyone!