in mid-october, we took a family trip with our friends, shahrzad and scott, to long beach island on the new jersey coast. we rented a house for the weekend. although we were looking forward to it, the weekend turned out to be a bit of a bust. not one, but two nor'easters decided to move in on the east coast that weekend, which led to non-stop rain and coastal flooding the entire time we were there. brian and i were also fairly sick with a bad case of the cold....so i imagine it was a miserable weekend for our friends. at least they didn't catch our illnesses! here's a photo to commemorate our third official family trip (first was to arizona in february and the second was to wellesley in june for my 10-year college reunion).
later that month was avery's first halloween. for the record, i wanted to buy avery a costume, but brian was opposed to it given that she wouldn't even realize that she's wearing a costume. acknowledging that it was a relatively frivolous purchase, i didn't push for it. fast forward to halloween - there's a halloween parade at avery's daycare. at the time, avery was in the young infant room, so we weren't really expecting a big to-do for the holiday in her classroom. since she didn't have a costume, we simply dressed her in a halloween-themed t-shirt that said "got candy?". brian left work early to attend the parade and...well, let's just say that avery was sorely under dressed for the day. not only was she the only infant notdressed in a costume, but she seemed to be the only infant without both parents and extended family present to witness the momentous event. to say the least, brian conceded that we should have purchased a costume. here's another halloween-themed shirt that grandma goesling sent from arizona.
in december, we celebrated avery's first birthday with a (more or less) traditional korean
"dol" with a couple dozen of our friends and family. the party was held at gaya, a korean restaurant near my parents' house in blue bell on sat, december 12th. minus a diaper blowout with no backup outfits and some projectile vomit, the evening was a success. the food was delicious and everyone seemed to have a great time. at the end of the party, the birthday girl donned a korean hanbok and partook in a korean tradition during which she was seated in front of a table that consisted of a variety of items that represented her future (e.g., stethoscope = doctor, pen = scholar, stack of cash = wealth). the first item that she reaches for indicates her future - apparently, she is going to be a (famous) doctor. brian and i ignore the fact that the first object on the table that she really reached for was a plastic replica of korean candy...so perhaps, she'll actual become a baker, which isn't too bad if you think about it. here's a photo of the table (before the symbolic objects were placed on it).
the various (plastic) foods represent prosperous things like long life and good health.
the next day, avery (brian and i) opened the bounty of gifts that she received. that red sled, a gift from her aunt (second cousin, or whatever) jennifer and now-uncle ben was her obsession for at least a month or two following her birthday. we considered installing a mattress in it so that she could spend all 24 hours of the day in it.
a couple of weeks later, brian's parents arrived for the holidays. because brian's sister in law, jenna, was completing the internship of her clinical psych program in jersey, brian's brother, jeff, flew out to the east coast to spend the holidays with us. on christmas morning, we announced to them that we were expecting our second child in june 2010 via this snazzy little t-shirt that i purchased through etsy.com.
brian's mom cried once her shock had subsided. we used the same photo in our holiday cards....and thus, we ended 2009 in a bang.
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