arwyn loves parties; mom & dad are nuts

Arwyn is really into parties these days, no questions asked. she's constantly asking to read her "party book", which is a book we picked up at the library on how to throw kids parties. deciding that wasn't nearly enough to sate her appetite, and considering the dreary weather, we took the next step. Arwyn's birthday still 2.5 months out, we thought we'd throw a party for her favorite stuffed animal/blanket/constant companion, Karl.

i baked the cake before she got up in the morning, decorated it during her nap, and Lorri and i made a few crude party hats (including one for Karl, of course - look carefully in the picture below) as well. all we had to do was wait for her to wake up from what turned out to be a long nap - which was fine, as the DVR is getting pretty fully of TV shows these busy days.

















she was pretty excited when she came out, though a little apprehensive about the candles this time around for some reason. needless to say, when it came to the cake, she was excited. this clip doesn't really make that quite clear but it's cute in any case.




Arwyn's really been into singing of late, which is handy at party time. she wasn't so into it on this occasion but here's a (very short) rendition of Happy Birthday - along with a request for more cake.




anyhow, it was a fun way to spend part of our afternoon today. she clearly got a kick out of it, and hopefully so did Karl. then again, this shot of him makes us wonder what he thought of the whole thing - especially the eerily familiar cake...

more proof - everyone likes Rock Band

yep, here's me providing more fodder for Eric. R. to use in picking on me. no worries, i can take it. anyhow, some of you know we picked up Rock Band a few weeks ago. if you haven't heard, it's the latest in a series of music sim games, much like the Guitar Hero series - which we also have and love. anyhow, the differentiating factor here is that in addition to guitar, vocals, bass, and yes - drums, are all represented. who doesn't want to be a drummer, right? we've known for a while that Arwyn loves playing drums, so this is just another instrument to bang on. i've got a better clip of her on the video camera (as opposed to this snippet from our regular camera) but this will work for now. in case you're wondering - yes, the kitty cat ears do provide a +5 to agility [bad Dungeons & Dragons / World of Warcraft / etc humor].

thankful for family visits

what better time than Thanksgiving (ok, i'm almost two weeks too late posting - we've all been afflicted with various colds of late...) to have nice visits with family? specifically, Dad and Patty visited one weekend, and my Mom the next. during the latter, my mother's parents (Grandma Anna and Poppy Gio, if you've lost track of all the names!) came over on the ferry from NY. we're truly thankful anytime people are willing to make the trip down/up/over to see us, and we had a really nice time both weekends.

first came Grandpa and Patty's visit. i think it's fair to say that all were impressed by how much the wee one has grown - and just how much she likes her "bug coat" - i.e. the ladybug coat that Arwyn has been wearing during most waking hours for the last two months. we spent some time outside checking out the ducks (the chickens were still inside at that point) which meant wheelbarrow rides for Arwyn.




no visit would be complete without a trip to our neighborhood park, right? this video (shot by Patty, much as the previous one - thanks!) shows off Arwyn's acrobatics skills as she tackles the mini-climbing wall on the gym.




the next weekend my mother came to visit. here's a picture of Arwyn and her Nana working on a puzzle.
















Arwyn really enjoyed the visit from her great grandparents, who took the ferry over to CT from Long Island. always happy to have a captive audience, she happily showed off her skills with Play Doh. later in the day, she enjoyed reading one of the books my grandparents brought her as a gift as you see here.

just a cute picture

i really like the combination of this hat and coat, both of which are a bit big. Arwyn also frequently sports a headband that i should really get a picture of, as it's really cute. anyhow, this is just a snapshot i grabbed while we were outside playing one evening (she's still really into walking & just being outside when it's dark out).

TWO halloweens?

what could be better from a kid's perspective, right? first we had our town's Halloween parade, which was held the friday before the big day. Arwyn had just started to come down with a nasty bug (oh, it got much worse...thankfully she is finally coming around now) but she was still pretty excited. basically, the town children all got dressed up in their costumes and took part in a short parade with their parents through the center of town. where the parade ended there was lots of excitement, music, and treats from the local businesses. Arwyn definitely enjoyed herself and we think looked super cute in her pink kitty cat costume. we had hoped to stay out with Lorri's parents in town a little longer but Arwyn was pretty tired after the parade.





















by the time Halloween rolled around Arwyn still wasn't sleeping well (stomach bug = frequent waking for all) but she perked up when it came to wearing her costume & getting outside a little. here's a cute picture of her and her mommy after getting ready to head out for trick or treating :)





















not surprisingly, Arwyn got the hang of the routine very quickly - or almost, i should say. she didn't quite grasp that she should wait for someone to answer the door and instead would say "trick or treat" right after knocking. one thing she did get was that you got treats at every house! i think we may have a little chocolate fiend on our hands, it seems. we did the tour of our little neighborhood and then called it a night. we felt bad the next day because Arwyn wanted to go out and do it all again (she kept saying "treats" and was knocking on our door) but didn't quite grasp our explanation that Halloween was over until next year. thankfully she seems to have moved on from that now!

a poultry update!

ok, let's break it down what's up with the poultry in our world:

1) the ducks have grown...a LOT. this picture doesn't have anything to help with scale but i assure you, they're getting big. their feathers are coming in nicely now and they finally sound "like ducks" after all the weeks we've had of peeping.
















here's a short video clip showing one of their favorite pastimes, which is following us (especially Arwyn) around the yard when they're out of the coop. it's a few weeks old at this point so they're a bit small here but you'll get the point.




2) the coop is done! thanks to much hard work by Lorri and her dad (they let me help a little but they did nearly all of it), casa de fowl is finished. the ducks moved out from their basement home to there full-time today. the picture below is from the 90% complete stage, before the door between the two sections and the floor was installed, but you get the idea. i think it came out great!
















3) the chickens have arrived so we're on to phase II! we got three each of two different breeds, Buff Orpingtons and Silver-Laced Wyandottes. they've grown a lot in the last two weeks but they've still got some more to go before they can join the ducks out in the coop.

nana visits & we pick apples

ok, so i got a few weeks behind on the blog again... we had a nice visit with my mom a few weeks ago when she came to CT. Arwyn certainly enjoyed the extra attention :) one thing we did, in keeping with the season, was to go apple picking at a nearby orchard. Arwyn loves apples so of course this was a great fit.
















we also went for a nice hike during the weekend to an area park that has a "fairy village", in which children paint small houses for the forest spirits and leave toys. needless to say Arwyn got a big kick out of that.







































in all we had a great weekend. Arwyn really enjoyed her time with her Nana (and enjoys saying her name) and i think my mom was impressed with just how much the little one has grown up in recent months. i'll finish with a short video clip of my efforts to capture Arwyn drawing with Nana. i failed miserably as i was caught red-handed try to be sneaky, so of course she stopped drawing :)



PS - post #50! wow, didn't think i'd stick with it this long...

PPS - if you hadn't heard by now, yes, i (obviously) cut my hair. time for a change, right?

she loves pumpkins

she loves pumpkins
Originally uploaded by topoisomerase

just a picture from last weekend's pumpkin finding expedition.

sporting her pink vest

...and a blue popsicle stain on her head.

sporting her pink vest
Originally uploaded by topoisomerase

a look back in time...

...well, about a year ago at least. i've been organizing all of our (THOUSANDS) of pictures lately using google's picasa, which i love. anyhow, i got to October 2006, and was amazed as usual thinking about how much this little peanut has changed over the past year. a handy feature of picasa is that you can post to blogger blogs from inside the software, so here we are. if you hadn't guessed, this gem is from Arwyn's first Halloween.

and yes, we have this year's costume ready to go. stay tuned!

the nutty professor

not much to say here, just a few cute pics of Arwyn trying on some gag glasses (which she calls "grokkies") that she got at a friend's birthday party. that hat's pretty cute too, eh? she's reasonably obsessed with pumpkins of late ('tis the season after all), so thankfully it's easy to get her to wear a much-needed hat, given the cold weather we've been experiencing.

phase I - ducks

if i've not mentioned it before, Lorri's latest undertaking is raising some ducks and chickens. last thursday we received the first shipment, which contained our three female Rouen (basically giant mallard) ducklings as well as three female Pekins for our friends. this first clip is from the evening of the day they arrived, in which you can get a look at the black (ours) and yellow (our friends') ducklings. pretty cute, eh?




as you can imagine, Arwyn is really into the ducks. when i came home from work the day they arrived, she just kept repeating "baby ducks" - which is super cute, and also a great example of how she's stringing together words these days, which is cool to see (and you'll get a sampling of that towards the end of this clip). of course her interactions with the ducklings have to be quite supervised, but generally she understands that she has to be very gentle with them.




stay tuned for updates on phase II - chickens. you'll have to wait a little while as i don't think they'll arrive until the end of the month...

PS - next time i'll post some pictures of the coop that Lorri and her dad have been building. the framework is nearly complete and it looks great!

at work and at play

just a couple of short videos from a typical morning's activities. after a very typical breakfast of cereal (still obsessed with Yogurt Burst Cheerios) and some bananas, playtime resumed. the first clip is one i'm happy i was able to get after hearing her scribbling away on her easel. i think she realized drawing with one hand at a time is a little easier than using both simultaneously.




this second video is just a short clip of Arwyn having with with (mostly popping) bubbles. she has been asking about them during breakfast since the bottle is easily within her sight while she's at the table.



it's worth pointing out that Arwyn is completely obsessed with The Wonder Pets. it's a pretty cute show, i've got to agree.

one reason that it's good...

one reason that it's good...
Originally uploaded by topoisomerase

to be back in CT? lots of good concerts - like moe. tonight. awesome.

daddy finally got his Science paper

yep, now i can die, right? ok, just kidding. in the field of scientific research, whether academic or industrial (though certainly more so in the former), our work - and by extension, we - are recognized/judged by publications in peer-reviewed journals. one such (prominent) journal is the weekly Science. one of the projects on which i have worked the longest during my year at 454 Life Sciences was published last week in this journal - electronically for now, but it will be in the print edition next month. needless to say it is always rewarding to see one's work in "print", especially when it is the culmination of many months of hard work. i (along with Lorri) have been on some nice papers in the past (but not tons due to my mostly industry-based career), but it's great to be one of the primary authors on a publication of this quality and potential impact.

this project, which was done in collaboration with a number of researchers at Yale University, concerned a new approach for looking at the differences in our genomes - the collection of DNA that comprises our chromosomes, found in (nearly) all of our cells. you have likely heard that you and i are >99% similar at the DNA level, so that makes that 1% difference pretty interesting, right? for some more background on this topic and the study, i'd recommend Scientific American's take on this, a 454 press release, or perhaps this ScienceDaily article.

as far as the paper itself, i'll summarize: at 454 we developed a new technology which we applied to look in detail at the human genome, specifically with respect to uncovering structural variation. we used this approach to study the genomes of two women - one European, one African, and looked at the differences between them and also as compared to the latest human genome reference sequence (remember the Human Genome Project?). this involved an enormous amount of computation and data analysis, which was carried out by our collaborators at Yale. in total we identified more than 1000 structural variants, many of which could potentially affect genes based upon their location - and therefore disease susceptibility, drug reponse, etc. what does this all mean? it's impossible to say right now. however, what we have done is created a powerful new tool/approach, and a very large set of data on which we and other scientists can follow up. like any good study this is only the beginning...

PS - see, Jarod? i'm trying hard to write about topics other than Arwyn :) stay tuned for a post on Lorri's latest project: the chicken/duck coop!

she's definitely a thrill seeker

i've been saying it for a long time, but there's no question after whom Arwyn takes with respect to her thrill seeking & lack of fear (yes, that would be Mom). we went on a really nice trip to Hershey Park with Lorri's parents (GiGi and Poppy) as well as Auntie Lisa, Mark, and cousin Nora (with whom Arwyn is obsessed, often asking for her when she's not around). we spent two days visiting the park and all the attractions, and needless to see, the children (both young, and, um mature?) all enjoyed themselves. unfortunately my group picture didn't come out very good so to avoid violence against me by family members, i won't post it here :)

and yes, we confirmed that Arwyn loves rides, but that both waiting in line for rides, and later having to get off the rides, is a problem for the wee one...





















see, this is what i mean. look at this ride! i really didn't think she'd be interested in this but she really enjoyed it. in case you're wondering, the pacifier was deployed a few minutes earlier due to a meltdown about another ride, if memory serves me well.



what was really nice about the second day in Hershey is that we got to meet up with Eric, Sandy, Hailey and Kennedy, who live in Pennsylvania. i was really happy that they made the drive over to meet us at the Hershey ZooAmerica. while i wish we had more time together it was great to see them. you can keep trying your little tricks, Kennedy, but i'm used to Arwyn's attempts to win me over with sad eyes or a big smile, so you won't win either :)

since approximately 2 or 3 of you care

yes, i finally beat Guitar Hero 2 on Expert. phew. yes, guildies, that leaves more time for World of Warcraft. then again, Halo 3 did just come out. yikes.

obsessed with boots - briefly, at least

for a few weeks Arwyn was completely obsessed with her boots. she would walk up to you, holding her yellow galoshes repeating "boots, boots". yeah, it was super cute. i tried my best to get video of her doing this but never pulled it off. in the picture to the left you can plainly see she wanted one boot and one sandal on. yes, walking was challenging, but i didn't have the heart to film her in that state. instead, you'll see below a clip from earlier when she was still clomping around with both boots on.




like all good obsessions, i think she's moved on. i haven't seen the boots make an appearance lately...

tales of racing pigs and plastic geese...

we had a nice visit from Dad and Patty at the end of august. one of the things we did was to visit The Chester Fair. as we'd never been before, we weren't sure what to expect. as it turns out, it's a nice, fairly typical small to medium sized fair. all the usual fair staples were represented: the food, the rides, and everyone's favorite, Robinson's Racing Pigs. :) to no one's surprise, Arwyn loved the rides. she did not, however, like to get off the rides. yes, much crying ensued, but she recovered quickly. like any good fair there were plenty of animals to visit.

in one of the more amusing events of the weekend, Arwyn acquired a plastic goose from an estate sale in town. thanks to Grandpa for finding this gem and for buying it - a dollar well spent! a month later the goose is generally seen hanging out in our living room, often adorned with a hat. don't worry, animal activists, he gets outdoors time as well. we're cage free here, ok?


no day would be complete without a day at the park, of course. Arwyn's just as big as fan as ever of swings and slides. it can be a little challenging to get her to leave the park, especially if other kids are around - or if the town fife and drum corps is practicing. that said, a walk to the park and the ensuing flurry of playtime can be just the thing to wind down an energetic child, right? :)

ok, so we're a little behind

sorry for the break in the action, folks, but you know how summer can be! here comes a flurry of activity in the hopes of catching up a little...

um, the next mozart?

or something like that... anyhow, this is a strange one. i was in the kitchen cleaning up after Arwyn's dinner, when i heard some interesting piano music coming from the front room. now i knew i'd left the (digital) piano turned on, but this didn't sound like one of the demos on the instrument. lo and behold, it turned out to be Arwyn! she often sits with me and bangs on the piano - as kids are wont to do - but this was a bit different. i only caught the tail end of the really interesting bit (i had to quickly - and sneakily - grab the camera & catch what i could before she noticed) but hopefully you get the idea. she's quite fond of music so i'm not surprised she enjoys messing around on the piano. i really hope she keeps it up! anyhow, enjoy...


(i know it's a little dark, but like i said, i had to be sneaky & turning on the lights seemed like a bad idea.)

celebrating birthdays on the other side of the pond

as part of the nice visit we're having with Nana (my mom) this weekend, we headed over to Long Island on the ferry yesterday to visit my grandparents, Arwyn's (great-)Grandma Anna and Poppy Gio. while it was a shorter day than we would have all liked, we had a great time celebrating Poppy's 81st birthday.

i present below for your viewing pleasure, two videos from our trip. the first is a funny clip, showing the outcome of a recent example of Arwyn's endless pursuit of lemons. given that her taste buds are now a bit more developed, she may want to rethink the wisdom of this quest...

the second video is a short montage that i put together from several different clips. Arwyn had a good time running around on the lawn, especially once she noticed the different types of windchimes hanging from a tree. particularly touching is the footage at the end of the clip of Arwyn being held by her great grandfather.

in all, it was a great visit, and a trip we need to make again soon.

PS - as evidenced by the lemon clip, Arwyn has become quite verbal. in addition to the many words she knows well and uses without prompting, Arwyn is getting very adept at hearing words once and repeating (and of course, storing) them. why, just today i taught Arwyn her name (score one point for dear ol' dad!) i guess mom and i need to think a bit more carefully about what comes out of our own mouths, eh? ;) more to come on this breaking news story...

this? this is a ferry...

this? this is a ferry...
Originally uploaded by topoisomerase

on the ferry making our way across Long Island Sound with Nana, who is visiting us in CT this weekend, to see Grandma Anna and Poppy Gio! see the next posting for more details!

two of the three on a rare night out...

two of the three on a rare night out...
Originally uploaded by topoisomerase

one of the few people that reads our humble blog reminded me the site is called the triforce - and yet we generally only feature Arwyn. so here you have it. - a picture from last night where Lorri and I are waiting for a Beastie Boys show to start in Brooklyn. yeah, it was that good. even better, it didn't pour!

a great picture!

a great picture!, originally uploaded by topoisomerase.

did i not upload this earlier? i am surprised...definitely one of my favorites from the last month or so.

another picture, daddy?

another picture daddy?, originally uploaded by topoisomerase.

enjoying a nice - albeit very humid - walk in the woods at Chatfield Hollow State Park.

the master chef

the master chef, originally uploaded by topoisomerase.

working in the kitchen at the children's museum in west hartford this afternoon.

dancing queen

for some reason Arwyn was really into dancing along to the songs from her leapfrog fridge farm magnetic animal set thingy this evening. here's a short clip of her demonstrating her showing off her sweet moves. pretty cute, no?

her new summer 'do

you got a preview in the last post, but here's a shot from earlier in the day showing off Arwyn's new hairstyle. both mom and I have been looking forward to the time when we could do more with her hair so of course we're both enjoying the pigtails!

after a nice hike

after a nice hike, originally uploaded by topoisomerase.

Arwyn proved her fortitude today, hiking half a mile with her own two feet! we had a nice hike in Lyme this afternoon and didn't have to put her in the backpack until the end! such an outdoors woman, like her mom!

she's got the hang of this horsey now

it took a little while but these days Arwyn really seems to be enjoying her rocking horse, given to her by GiGi and Poppy some time ago. here's a little clip of her rocking away yesterday morning. she still needs a little help getting on and getting going; occasionally she will also request harmonica accompaniment to achieve the proper motivation, as seen here. her great grandmother must assuredly be proud of her taste in music :)

breakfast is tasty

especially when you're finally over the stomach bug that you had for the last week. a scrambled egg followed by some yogurt and granola: cornerstones of any Arwyn breakfast.


(and then some more yogurt and granola that you steal from your mother's own breakfast later on...)

a geocaching we will go...

geocaching. something few of you may know of, but definitely something lorri and i are glad to be getting back into. similar to letterboxing, which you may have heard of, geocaching is essentially a treasure hunt (generally) involving a GPS. a few years back lorri bought me a garmin etrex legend, facilitating our entry into geocaching. thanks to websites like geocaching.com, it's really easy to locate caches most places (except bar harbor, ME, which is why we haven't gone since we moved away from guilford, CT). there are a ton within even 10 miles of our current home, so we thought it was about time we get back in the game, especially since Arwyn enjoys the outdoors so much.

we did a quick cache yesterday, involving a short hike in cockaponset state forest. while it was Arwyn's first cache, daddy wasn't smart enough to bring a camera. anyhow, we set out again today on two more hunts in the next town over. handily, both of these sites were within the distance of an easy bike ride.


we found the first cache fairly easily, though some stealth was involved. you see, it was hidden in a very public place with lots of people around, and tradition dictates discretion when non-cachers ("muggles", much like in Harry Potter) are around. silly, perhaps, but who am i to break the rules? anyhow, the second cache was good too. it was found near a small gazebo at which we gave Arwyn a snack and let her run around a bit. she was particularly fond of a small monument set in the ground, as this video shows. she demonstrates one of her amusing mom-taught mannerisms here, that being "relaxing".

a return to bar harbor

ok, so this post is two weeks late but i'm finally getting it done. we went to visit the reinholdts way up in bar harbor, me, our former home, and had a great time. those of you following their efforts to build a new home know just how hard they're working to get things done. now that i've seen it firsthand, i can tell you they've got a really nice piece of land and i think it will be well worth all the effort and associated headaches in the end. i'm also happy to say that the abrasions on my left forearm have now nearly healed - those being the battle scars well-earned from helping Eric out for a few hours with some chainsaw fun coupled with the hauling of scratch-inducing log bits. :) thanks for getting my normally desk/lab-bound self out doing some real work!

one of the fun aspects of our trip was seeing just how much Eric and Laura's sons, Henning and Sig, have grown. answer? a lot! also a treat was seeing Arwyn interact with the boys. of course we know she's a social butterfly but it seems she's also quite the flirt. this fact has caused the population of gray hair already present on dear old dad's head to further expand! as the pictures below demonstrate, first she hung out with Sig (younger guys are easier to manipulate, right?), playing the innocent little girl (note the presence of her blanket monkey, Karl. nice prop!). she then moved on to the older man, Henning, taking a more deliberate, confident approach. Just look at that pose - and his response!



to sum it up before i write too much more, we had a really great trip. we were grateful for all the hospitality Eric and Laura provided, and we had a wonderful time visiting with them. also nice was getting to visit with our former colleagues and friends from The Jackson Laboratory. while we didn't get to spend time with everyone we'd have liked to see, there's always next time! see you in a few months, i hope!

happy to be outside

happy to be outside, originally uploaded by topoisomerase.

hanging out after our morning walk. still a bit grumpy since she's getting over a stomach bug.

a day at hammonasset

a day at hammonasset
Originally uploaded by thesalmonofdoubt.

butterflies all 'round

howdy, everyone! we had a nice time this weekend at a family wedding in the catskills, where we stayed at a nice bed and breakfast. check this out for further details, if you're interested in visiting the area and need somewhere to stay. Arwyn did really well, and seemed to very much enjoy visiting with all her relatives. of course she did her best to be the center of attention at the wedding reception. i don't have any pictures to share yet but i'm sure i'll locate some from family members.

anyhow, on our way home we decided to make a little detour through massachussetts to a butterfly sanctuary. Arwyn has always seemed to like butterflies, at least in her books and in the many stickers she's applying to everything these days. Lorri and I have previously visited Butterfly World in florida - allegedly the world's largest live butterfly sanctuary - but weren't sure what to expect here. needless to say, Magic Wings didn't disappoint!



Arwyn was definitely into the butterflies once she got over the initial awe of the place - all the children, big open space, things flying around... here's a little video of her getting up close and personal with one of the sanctuary's residents. don't worry, he/she managed to escape without any injury!

after a bunch of roaming around looking at things, Arwyn became much more interested in the various walkways (running up and down, up and down...), the other children, and the always-exciting koi pond. it took a lot of effort to get her attention away from the water and the fish but here's proof positive that i managed to do it - at least for an instant.

yep, she's a tree hugger

...and i mean that quite literally. i don't think i've blogged on this before so it's probably about time. perhaps it's our fault for encouraging Arwyn to love the outdoors, perhaps it's Lorri teaching her to touch the leaves and bark of trees, or maybe it's something else? in any case, our daughter is really into hugging, patting, and even kissing trees. here is Arwyn visiting a few of the trees in our front yard.



note: the mismatched outfit is all dad's fault.


undoubtedly her favorite tree is this one, found along our daily walking route. if one (read: daddy) forgets to stop the stroller and let her visit this tree, you'll always get a response - ranging from a sad little hand extended in silence, to full-on moaning and fussing. warning - there are lots of mommy/nana "aaaawwws" in this clip!

a visit from nana & some fun in the sun

last weekend we had a nice visit from my mother, Arwyn's Nana. while it was a bit hot outside for my taste, the nice weather gave us ample opportunities to have fun outside, including a nice trip to our town lake and so-called "beach". not surprisingly, this child of ours wasted no time and ran right into the water. perhaps she wanted to show off her new bathing suit?






while we didn't spend the whole weekend at the beach, we managed to fill our time with plenty of other fun activities. of course we took a lot of walks (see the next post) and visited our neighborhood park.



in all, it was a great weekend, and of course we were sad to see Nana go. here's a parting shot of two generations of our family sharing a quiet moment together.