She is 3 months & it is fall!

3 months!!

just the three ladies

...excuse the photo shoot, just SO cute...

lazying around

bonjour!

little feet, loving hands

Nonna & Me

Big smiles

Seeing Howard Dean speak on health care at Atticus

Fun times with Nonna

OK, I'm all ready. So where are we going?

Isla is officially 3 months old. It has seriously flown by. Nonna was here through this week, and it was SO amazing to have her here & have this special time with her & Isla. Taylor & I loved it. Most days started out the same, with Nonna coming in and taking Isla for some quality one-on-one early morning bonding. Giving mom & dad some extra sleep time. Then we would all have coffee & breakfast. Nonna discovered Isla's newly needed morning nap, which she enjoys in her crib. Around this time Taylor would head to work, and me to study the rest of the morning, likely at LuLu's. I would meet up with Nonna & Isla around lunchtime and we would relax a bit, and maybe head out of the house for some errands or cafe chatting. So nice to have a daily partner for hanging out with Isla. And, so amazing to see my mom with Isla, and learn nice little tricks from her expertise. I think I have discovered that Isla almost does better when she has more going on in the day. This may seem obvious, but as the new parents, all this is learned via each day's experiences. Walks with the dogs, keeping Isla content at cafes around town, and a viewing of Howard Dean speaking at Atticus on his book about healthcare reform, these were our days. Nights were cozy with yummy meals and relaxation. Likely we'd watch a Netflix episode of "Friday Night Lights," which is allowing me a newfound appreciation of football (and Texas). Speaking of football...

I welcome the fall wholeheartedly, every year. The weather is absolutely amazing right now. With that first gust of refreshingly crisp air and the scatter of a few leaves across the pavement I am energized and always reminded of a new year ahead. Seems I will always see the years as unfolding in academic semesters. Each year as the fall commences I reminisce about driving Christina, my very little (at the time) sister, to school listening to music with the windows rolled down (and maybe the heat on too) and driving up Pleasant Valley Drive, watching the leaves swirl in the wind as I pass. The fall is all about possibilities.

This week has been an interesting one here in New Haven since the pharmacology grad student went missing & then was found dead. She lived around the corner from here, so my cafe studying was often interrupted by community comments and speculations regarding her murder. It was a creepy week in New Haven, to say the least. Such a sad, sad situation. An interesting time for my mom to be here for sure.

Isla is just getting so much bigger & seems a bit older with each new day. She has such a personality and such an assortment of facial expressions. She is a joy to entertain & it is certainly a joy to be in her audience.