Why can't we be friends?

We are very sorry for the prolonged absence. But as some of you know, we've been preoccupied with some big news. Let's get to the picshas!


Nik loves to wear his Elton John Glasses during breakfast.


Easter morning arrived with the beloved Elmo. Honestly, I think they embedded a chip into his brain that would not let his parents rest until Elmo was under our roof.


Nik cleaned himself up, found his Easter sweater and got to work on his basket.


And by get to work, I mean cover his head in green confetti.


When you're 18 months old, this is really the only way to travel.


This photo was taken about 50 hours before......


these little feet entered the world.


Rhys Carter Dhingra. Born April 19th at 4:14 AM. He weighed 5 lbs. 1 oz.


Our latest tax write off enjoying his first bottle.


At first Nik didn't seem bothered by Rhys moving in on his turf.


But he soon needed to lean on his friend Catherine for emotional support.



He quickly warmed to the news


And we were ready to go back and see Rhys as a family.


Nik made one quick run for the door, but we were able to convince him to stick around.


And, by the looks of it, things will work out just fine.

Hello again

So we took WAY longer off than we intended. Without further adieu....

Nik and Emma riding in the sled together. Nik's getting to the restless stage, where being held is losing it's luster.


Trucking through the snow with his big cus' is definitely more his speed these days.

The boys did some couch surfing with me up on the couch at the ski condo.

We took Nik to one of those indoor playgrounds......

...where he decided to start gnawing on some plastic balls that were probably last disinfected in 2005.


Is there any way this could be comfortable?


He's been loving some new books of late like "Ten Fingers and ten toes"


Reading with mom seems to keep him momentarily still.

Nik, don't feed the dogs please.


Got this picture of him in the middle of "breakdancing practice"!

Wearing his favorite player's jersey. Rondo!

Winter Follies

I know, I know. Too much time between updates. Consider one New Year's resolution broken. Onto the pics!

Nik's buddy Jack invited him over for a book swap around the holidays. You can see them here keeping an eye on the "suspicious" neighbors.

We also got a visit from Isiah O'Keefe all the way from Dallas!


Here are Emma and Nik getting some sage advice from Grampy.


And here is the twosome in their matching Christmas PJs.


Emma.....you've hit the motherload.


Christmas morning was briefly interrupted when the cousins engaged in a "dance-off". Thankfully no injuries were reported.

Nik stopped moving long enough to get some quality time with Uncle Pete.


Christmas with my family included Story Time with Uncle Anand.


We had another visitor from the Left Coast too. Miles Nanda came out from Seattle. Here are the two little guys at the Museum of Science.

Nik decided to do some longjohn lounging after we did some sledding up at Sunday River.



I had to take care of Catherine , our neighbor, the other night. Despite my vocal recommedations, no food fight broke out. Maybe next time.
Nik's lumberjack shirt has been a big hit this holiday season.


Today's snowstorm got Nik the chance to do some more sledding!

Here is Catherine towing the lil' guy. This time next year, we'll be towing two kids in that sled.


This was our brief experiment with convering Gil to a sled dog. He needs more mushing and less sniffing.

New haircut. See you guys later and enjoy the video!

Naughty and Nice

Back in November, Nik's buddy Alex came out for a visit. I love the band aid on Alex's forehead here. He asked for one that day, "just because".


This is Nik's unnatural, "natural" pose.


Each piece of furniture is another "toy" these days. Our house will be destroyed by March.

Christmas sweater, right side up.


Christmas sweater, right side up.

Christmas sweater, sneaking sips of beer.

Nik's wearing one of the party favors from our friend's annual cookie swap. I think he kept the hat on for 17 seconds.


Back to "furniture" toys. He's turned the Ottoman into his crypt.


"Be honest Santa. Do you ever get sick of Christmas music?"

Boo!!

Here's Nik relaxing over by the outskirts of the "cage". That sweater he's wearing is a Mabs Harris hand knit original.


His first costume was to dress as a Beatnik poet.


But in the end, he decided to go with a bat costume.


"Bee Happy"? Doesn't really seem to be the case here.


Catherine was Nik's parter in crime on Halloween night. Eight tentacles means eight pieces of candy per house. Smart girl.


The happy lil' bat.


For authenticity's sake, we hung him upside for about 12 hours.