Sweet relief! For a little while.....

I was beginning to think that we would be in a perpetual state of freezing temperatures for the rest of our time here in Boston. Thankfully, this week we were given a two day reprieve from the cold and boy was it nice. For two days the sun shone brightly with highs in the mid 50s and almost reaching 60. It was great and we certainly took advantage of the opportunity to get out and do some walking!

Here you can see the Commons with the snow finally beginning to melt (don't worry, we're scheduled to get another 6 inches next week!)

 The warmer weather didn't stop folks from ice skating

 Jen got a great shot of the Capitol

 One of the great, narrow streets of Beacon Hill....

 Kenzie upgraded to a 'big girl stroller' for light traveling. She loves getting to see everything around her and smiling at everyone that passes on the sidewalk. By the way, Daddy picked out that coat!

Here are a few pics from this week of Kenzie doing what she is known best for: SMILING!

In a Valentine's outfit from Honey-

 Relaxing in her travel crib-

 Having a great time in the mall in Braintree, MA

For the last several weeks I have been working with a group of neurologists and geriatricians who are considered some of the leading experts in dementia. Part of this included an opportunity to examine the brains of individuals enrolled in studies designed to better understand dementia. In medicine we are frequently so overwhelmed by the day to day 'business' of things that we forget what an amazing, miraculous thing the human body is. I was reminded of that this week while working with the human brain. What an amazing organ and grouping of cells that allows us to see, hear, and touch our world. Most amazing is our ability to make memories and remember faces and names of people we have known and love. As a geriatrician I see the tragedy of dementia and the burden it puts on patients and their families. I will always try to remember the gift of experiencing the world as made possible by the brain-don't take it for granted!

A few fun facts about the human brain:

Weighs about 3 lbs

Has about 100,000 miles of blood vessels 

Has about 100,000,000,000 (100 billion) neurons (that's still less than the federal deficit)

This week's featured flashback will take us back to May of 2003. Jennifer was visiting Water Valley to meet my parents for the first time. 

I will wrap this blog up with another great picture of Kenzie-we all know that's why you are reading this in the first place! (I don't blame you)

Ashley

What a great thing to come home to!!

My favorite part of the day is coming home after work. Kenzie always greets me with the best smiles. Here she is right after I came in after a tough day this week...

 It's amazing how any burden or stress I am feeling can just be melted away by that smile. Speaking of melting, we have managed to get rid of some of the snow that is piled up everywhere in the city. There is still plenty hanging around though. Here you can see one of the sidewalks at the hospital where I am currently working. You can see some cars in the background to give you an idea of the scale of the snow buildup.

 At least some folks have a good sense of humor about it....I had to get a picture of this "Free Snow" sign in the yard of a house on my way to work.

 I've written previously about the steep learning curve that I experienced regarding driving in Boston. Well just as I was getting comfortable driving here, the Winter weather completely changed everything. I have nearly no experience driving in snow and ice. My instinct is to slow down dramatically but most everyone else in the city doesn't seem to like that. I've been receiving a lot of horn blows, glares, and "finger gestures" pointed in my direction lately. When I mentioned this to a colleague at work their reply was, "Just ignore those Masshole drivers". Well needless to say I got a kick out of combining the words Massachusetts and a__hole and unfortunately that just about sums them up!

I found a more technical definition in the 'urban dictionary':

1. For residents of Massachusetts, it is an achieved title for driving faster, being wreckless, cutting other drivers off often, and having no patience for other drivers on the road.

2. For non-residents of Massachusetts, it is a term of dislike for the people of Massachusetts that drive like an a__hole.

1. I was such a masshole today when I went down route 128 at 98 mph.

2. Don't even think about cutting me off, you masshole!

Every month the group of Gerontology fellows gets together for dinner. This month the restaurant of choice was Fin's, a great sushi place. Here you can see Kenzie getting ready for an evening out on the town. I bought that dress for her, when Jennifer was about 8 months pregnant. I can't believe she is wearing it now-time really does fly!

 Here's Kenzie and Jen at the restaurant. Kenzie decided to spend the evening chewing on a miso soup spoon!

 It had been way too long since I've had sashimi. It was fantastic!

Here is Kenzie with Diana, Tia, and Jesse

 Kenzie likes Tia!

 We stayed out a little past Kenzie's bedtime. She couldn't make it home without falling asleep.

 Even after I carried her upstairs, she didn't budge!

I thought this was a sweet picture. She fell asleep holding Jen's button.

We are definitely in the full swing of teething these days. Drool is just a normal part of life now. Here is a cute picture of Kenzie with drool everywhere-

I happened upon this old picture of me drooling back in the day. Like father like daughter!

Valentine's Day brought us packages from Honey and Pops, Nana and PawPaw-

Honey sent a box of goodies for everyone.

 Nana sent these great mugs filled with candy. You can see that the candy is gone-Jennifer claimed mine too! Anyone that knows us knows that anything that you can drink coffee from is always a great gift for us!

This week's 'Featured Flashback' will have you longing for greener days. Here is a picture of my parents guest cabin in late summer. Oh I can't wait to sleep in that bed again soon! Click on the picture for a better view....

 And here is one last picture of Kenzie to end this post! 

Ashley

Kenzie's Science Lesson!

We had a great, uneventful week and it really seemed to go by very fast. I had a lecture to give on healthcare reform so a lot of my free time was spent working on that. That doesn't mean that Kenzie didn't have time for a science lesson. Here she is learning all about static electricity.... she now has a complete grasp of electron transfer and positive and negative charges!

 The biggest topic of conversation around Boston these days is the weather. It's been quite a winter season! A growing concern around here is the increasing number of roof collapses due to the massive weight of snow. Many of you have probably already seen this video of a roof collapse in Easton, MA on the national news.

I've actually seen folks shoveling snow off their roofs! I'm just happy that Punxsutawney Phil gave us some good news on Groundhog's day. We can expect an early Spring this year. (You just have to ignore the fact that over the 121 years of predictions, the groundhogs have only been right about 39% of the time!)

We have no major plans this weekend and that's a good thing. After the past two weeks we are ready to kick back and relax. The repairs on the building lobby and first 9 floors continue. Fortunately our new apartment is high enough that we don't really have to deal with any of the noise. Of course we will be watching the Superbowl with everyone else-have you seen the early release Darth Vader Superbowl commercial? I think it's pretty funny...

Several weeks ago it was unbelievable cold here-the temperature was down around -5 at one point. I intended to post this picture awhile ago. After parking my car to run some errands, I returned an hour later to find my coffee frozen solid! Now that is cold!

A couple of days ago I caught Kenzie sitting up on the couch like a big girl....

 I also took this picture which is now my favorite of Kenzie!

 I hope that everyone has a great weekend! Enjoy the Superbowl!

Ashley