March 2013: How is it possible that the 19 inch long, 7 pound baby girl we brought home from the hospital is about to head off to kindergarten in a few months?
Aurora was deemed to be a healthy girl at her 5 year old check-up with Dr. Brown. Her stats are BP 88/56, 43.25 inches in height, 43 pounds in weight, and a BMI of 16.2. She got all the remaining vaccinations she needed to start public school in the fall (prompting her to miss a day or two of daycare due to a fever).

March 1, 2013: Happy Birthday Aurora! After school and work, we met up with Greer's family for a birthday dinner at Uno's. Aurora got some great gifts from Greer!


Here is the birthday girl explaining her drawing to Jon.



March 2, 2013: The next night, Aurora got another birthday dinner. This time she dined with Uncle Anthony at Margarita's. Perhaps because it was a Saturday night, but the restaurant handed out free mustaches, which Aurora had fun playing with.

Aurora helps Jon get accessorized for the occasion. As if he needs any more facial hair!


Uncle Anthony even brought gifts for Aurora to open!



March 3, 2012: We finally made it out to Nashoba Valley and the tubing park. It was a bit slushy that day, which resulted in a slower track and (despite snow suits/pants for everyone) much wetter bottoms! Aurora loved the whole experience - both the way up and the way down.


Video: Aurora's solo ride

Video: Aurora in the lead

Video: Aurora in the middle

Video: Jon's solo ride


March 8, 2013: Aurora's new favorite restaurant? Uno's! After writing a short story for Jon, she decided to make her own pizza for dinner that night.



March 9, 2013: Another Peek Week at ballet class.


Video: Skipping

Video: Scarves

Video: Scarves 2

Video: Ballerina walk



Aurora's excited to try skiing for the first time! After lunch, we took her for a few hours at Nashoba Valley. Carrying her skis was not a problem. Walking with them on, however, took some practice.


How did the actual skiing go? Not as well as Jon had hoped. But we'll try again next winter.

Video: Skiing 1

Video: Skiing 2

Since Aurora was having so much difficulty skiing on her own, Jon helped her down the bunny slope. She loved skiing this way!


Video: Magic carpet ride

Video: Skiing 3


March 10, 2013: Aurora experienced Chucky Cheese for the first time. We attended a birthday party there. Aurora, of course, had a great time. The only negative? The loud noises from all the games.


Believe it or not, that afternoon Aurora attended another birthday party, this time at a gymnastics studio.



March 14, 2013: Aurora got to open a few more birthday presents.


That evening, we caught a (much delayed) flight to Baltimore.



March 15, 2013: We took a tour of the Leisure World Club House. Jon taught Aurora how to play pool.


The main reason we went to DC? To help Heather celebrate her 40th birthday! It was a fun reunion of many old friends from Cornell and Boston.



March 16, 2013: We finally got to meet Miss Ania and catch up with her new parents over brunch. As usual, Aurora became very needy and jealous around the baby. And as usual, Jon was a natural holding the little one.


After brunch, we headed in to the the National Mall to meet up with other friends.


At dinner, Aurora was fascinated with the chicken head that showed up with one of the dishes.



March 17, 2013: All good things must come to an end. After a fun weekend with Wai Po and Wai Gong, we enjoyed brunch at the Club House and then headed to the airport to return home (on another delayed flight).



March 19, 2013: Another snowstorm in Boston. Aurora enjoyed playing the snow, even though it was already dark outside by the time we got home that evening.

Video: Oops

Video: Sledding attempt 2



Video: Sledding success


March 24, 2013: Aurora lost her first tooth. And she almost lost it for good too! We were having sandwiches at a cafe and after Aurora was done, we noticed that her tooth was gone! We searched all over the table, and even asked her if she could have swallowed it by mistake. Good thing her friend noticed it on the floor!



March 30, 2013: The Tooth Fairy finally visited Aurora the night before. In addition to taking her tooth, the Tooth Fairy left Aurora a certificate, a note, a new book, and $5. Aurora was most excited about the book.


Later, we met up with a good friend and her parents at the Wellesley Congregational Church for Easter festivities. In addition to decorating an Easter bag and an Egg Hunt, there was a baby animal petting zoo. Aurora knew how to handle the animals very gently and was a good mom.



March 31, 2013: Happy Easter! While Aurora enjoyed the living room egg hunt, she kept stating that she thought Mama had hidden the eggs. In response, Mama asked Aurora if she usually gets to eat candy for breakfast. Since that answer to that is "no", Aurora decided that the Easter Bunny and Mama might not be the same person.

Video: The start of the hunt