The Zoe and Silas Show

Going places is fun, but getting there is not always so fun. I would say this is especially when traveling with two (nearly) 8-month-old infants! I've been plotting and planning the details of our (first flying) trip to Minnesota and North Dakota for sometime now, and the big day of traveling was Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend. I spent all day Friday packing and organizing and we managed to get by with two backpack carry-ons and 3 pieces of checked luggage (one for me, one for Derek, and one for S&Z). The total weight of the 3 checked bags was 122 pounds! Our flight was at 1:30pm on Saturday, so Derek dropped me & the babies off at the Delta terminal around 11am and he went to park the car. We waited for Derek inside the terminal, had bottles, and talked to a couple of nice women who were traveling home from Aruba. Silas & Zoe are very curious about new people these days... Derek arrived back at the terminal with the rest of the luggage lickety-split and we were ready

And so it begins... Around 2 months they became aware of one another. At 4 months they started holding hands and grabbing faces. At 5 months they started smiling at one another and looking for each other right when they get up in the morning. The last few weeks they've been stealing toys. And as of tonight they can share a good laugh and a good toy (Thanks, Emily & Maddie for the "Musini"!). I had been out of the nursery for a couple of minutes and when I started around the corner this is what I happened upon. I grabbed the video camera to try and catch them without breaking up the party. I was successful; the only sad part is that we can't see Silas' face, but I think his laugh says it all...

I had an appointment at Brigham and Women's Hospital today, where Silas and Zoe were born and Zoe subsequently spent 21 days in the NICU. I realized as I walked to the allergy clinic that I have not been to BW since Zoe was discharged. I was caught off guard by how emotional I felt: first, when I pulled into the parking garage where we hurried to park each morning in order to make it to the unit in time for one of her feedings, always with Silas in tow, sometimes sleeping and sometimes screaming; I choked up again when I walked past the security desk we exited out of every day, going home without one of our babies. Finally, I couldn't believe when I went to check in for my appointment this morning and there was Antonio, the man who had worked at the security desk more days than not during our stint. He was SO nice and SO wonderful to us during that stressful time; he always remembered that we had our newborn son with us who also needed a badge. Antonio recently got promoted to

One of the great things about Boston is the public transportation system, referred to by locals simply as "the T" . When I moved to Boston 5 years ago, I came without a car. It was very freeing for me to sell my car before coming here, because living a car-free life in the midwest is pretty difficult. People definitely do it, but it's pretty rare... Since public transportation is such an integral part of my daily existence, it's kind of funny that Silas and Zoe escaped the bus or train until just recently. Having Dana here was the perfect excuse to work out the kinks of navigating a double stroller on the bus and subway. The weather was gorgeous over the weekend she stayed with us so we decided to go on an adventure to the Boston Harbor . First we had to take a bus in order to get to the Forest Hills T station. One of the not-so-great things about Boston is that people can be mean (bus drivers, in this case) and the subway system is generally not handicapped accessi

I have loved skype since Dana moved to Europe six years ago. I think it is the primary reason that we have stayed such close friends even though we live far apart. We use it both as a chat program as well as for voice and video calls. As Rachel is moving to Nashville tomorrow (WAAAHHHHHHH!!!!), I look forward to staying close with her via skype as well. I love skype even more now that Silas and Zoe here! It is so hard living far away from my family, but skype eases some of that pain. Now that the babies are getting bigger, we skype with my parents and friends much more often. They have even started "talking" to the computer! This year was the first Christmas that I couldn't go home, but I was able to skype with everyone and feel more a part of the celebration even though I wasn't there in person. Here is Auntie Stephanie and Uncle Jim at Sue's house talking to S&Z. For friends who are reading this and want to skype with us, my username is 'alissa.westerlun

We were so happy to have Auntie Dana recently come to Boston for a visit! Dana and I worked together years ago at the U of MN and have been the best of friends ever since. She has lived in Europe (Italy and now Belgium) since 2004, but we have continued to collaborate on research projects that have afforded us many visits in the U.S. and abroad over the years. Most recently she came to Boston to work and stay with us for 8 days! It was so great to see her and work on projects together, as always, but the best part was all the time that Silas & Zoe got to spend with her. We played every day when we got home from work. And there was lots of great hanging out time over the weekend! It is pretty challenging for me to take S&Z out shopping alone, so we decided to take them to Target one day while she was here. The babies recently graduated to "big kid" carseats and as a result have foregone the snap-and-go stroller, so they were much more comfortable in the City Mini for t

Silas and Zoe were baptized along with their cousin, Kaylan, at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Mansfield, MA on April 24th. Since I have not yet found a neighborhood church in our area, we decided to have the babies' baptized at the church that Derek grew up in. Derek's mom coordinated to have the priest that baptized Derek, Father Pat, come back to St. Mary's to baptize Silas, Zoe & Kaylan in a private ceremony. I was so fortunate to have family christening gowns passed down to me from my mother for Zoe and Silas to wear. Zoe wore the gown I was baptized in and Silas wore one that I thought belonged to my grandfather (I actually found out later that it was Stephanie's gown!). Here they are getting dressed at the church. Silas and Zoe's godparents are Derek's brother, Doug, and my sister, Stephanie. Doug is local and is the father of Kaylan who was also being baptized, so he was at the service. Stephanie (aka, the Buddha Mother) was unable to attend, so