Two Months?!?!

On Saturday, Hazel accompanied us to Steve and Molly's Meat Fever 2008. Steve smoked ribs, brisket, chickens and pulled pork for seventeen hours. We drank too much beer, ate too many ribs, stayed out way too late and had so much fun with our good friends Natalie, Derek, Molly, Steve, Jeff and Stephanie. The visiting lymie blokes Dan and Nigel couldn't handle the American Meat; they were passed out and sweating when we arrived around 7pm and did not wake up all night. The most we got was a grunt and a wave when we left around midnight. Hazel also passed out when we arrived and only grunted all night.

Jamie using Hazel's head as a cookie plate.

(Hazel, if you're reading this in fifteen years, I love you, honey.)

Jamie obviously took this picture, since it is his favorite angle to photograph. All the better to capture ones double chin in the most flattering manner.

Natalie and Derek

Molly

Hazel also got to spend the day with her grandma Sandy who returned from Florida on Monday. We went over for lunch and stayed all afternoon to show her off.

On Sunday, Hazels other grandparents Mike and Ellie came for a visit. We entertained them with a walk around Newburyport and dinner at Agave Mexican Bistro. Mama was happy to get a couple of pomegranate martinis into herself, of course.

Unfortunately, Bad Mama forgot to get pictures of Hazel with her (great) aunt Audrey (Ani). Ani came up from Brookline to Ipswich bearing a ridiculous cheese borek. It was off the hook delicious, but I fear that I now need bypass surgery. Ani and I took Hazel out for a walk in the carriage in downtown Ipswich and had a nice lunch at Stone Soup Cafe. We love visitors, and Ani was particularly patient with an especially fussy Hazel.

Yesterday, before going to grandma Sandy's, Hazel and I attended our Neurotic Mother's Group in Beverly. A bunch of women have returned to work and some have "graduated" to the Thursday morning group because their children are now four months old. The group felt much smaller so it was a bit more relaxed. There was a large turn-out of brand new moms last week. One woman was there with her five day old baby, after having a c-section, and she has 21 month old twins at home!! I'm shocked at how tiny and new the babies look compared to Hazel, who is now getting to be one of the Big Kids. I remember when she would just sleep through the whole group, but now she is wide awake and a trouble-maker!

This coming week is a big one for Hazel. She is having a vaccination on Friday, and we are terribly nervous about it. Because we are doing the Sears Alternative Vaccine Schedule, Hazel is only getting DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis), but we still are sick to our stomachs. (The current CDC schedule recommends Hepatitis B, rotavirus, haemophilus influenzae type B, pneumococcal and polio in addition to the DTaP all at once at her 8 week visit.) Please keep your fingers crossed for us on Friday morning.