Bye Bye Bushie, Hello Barack

2 Months Old!

I can't believe how quickly the 2 months flew by! Yet at the same time it feels like he's been a part of our lives forever.

We're all doing splendidly well. The little guy is such a good baby. He's very happy and laid back, and I can't get over how cute he is. I LOVE being a mother! And I'm so happy the Hub is an excellent father and very involved. He came to every single prenatal appointment with me, and so far has gone to every pediatric appointment as well.

--Flying over Daddy

We have one tomorrow morning and I'm curious to see how much Thomas has grown. Earlier this week he had a growth spurt and was feeding like crazy and seemed to not sleep as much as normal, though he's still giving me 4-5 hour stretches at night; usually from 1-2am to 5-6-7am.

Today I tried to put him in an outfit he was wearing on December 22nd when Elizabeth and Joanna came to visit and he can barely fit into it. We had to retire one shirt yesterday that doesn't fit him anymore. Good thing it's so much fun shopping for clothes for him and I have a friend who works at Gap and showers him with Baby Gap clothes every time she sees him! The Hub also found some really cute Baby Gap ones for him around Christmas time, and we've gotten good finds at Old Navy. I love dressing him in cute outfits; it's kind of like having a doll again =) and I do enjoy fashion.

Moon Dance

It's a marvelous night for a moon dance...

My astronomy class at BU was pretty cool and furthered my interest in the subject. It's hard living in cities and trying to stargaze, but the high powered telescope on the roof of the CAS building along with the IMAX theater at the Museum of Science made learning easier and much more fun than any text book. So if you get a chance this evening peek your head at the moon.


Saturday Night Special: Biggest Full Moon of 2009

Robert Roy Britt
Editorial Director SPACE.com
space.com – Fri Jan 9, 12:56 pm ET

If skies are clear Saturday, go out at sunset and look for the giant moon rising in the east. It will be the biggest and brightest one of 2009, sure to wow even seasoned observers.

Earth, the moon and the sun are all bound together by gravity, which keeps us going around the sun and keeps the moon going around us as it goes through phases. The moon makes a trip around Earth every 29.5 days.

But the orbit is not a perfect circle. One portion is about 31,000 miles (50,000 km) closer to our planet than the farthest part, so the moon's apparent size in the sky changes. Saturday night (Jan. 10) the moon will be at perigee, the closest point to us on this orbit.

It will appear about 14 percent bigger in our sky and 30 percent brighter than some other full moons during 2009, according to NASA. (A similar setup occurred in December, making that month's full moon the largest of 2008.)

High tides

Tides will be higher, too. Earth's oceans are pulled by the gravity of the moon and the sun. So when the moon is closer, tides are pulled higher. Scientists call these perigean tides, because they occur when the moon is at or near perigee. (The farthest point on the lunar orbit is called apogee.)

This month's full moon is known as the Wolf Moon from Native American folklore. The full moon's of each month are named. January's is also known as the Old Moon and the Snow Moon.

A full moon rises right around sunset, no matter where you are. That's because of the celestial mechanics that produce a full moon: The moon and the sun are on opposite sides of the Earth, so that sunlight hits the full face of the moon and bounces back to our eyes.

At moonrise, the moon will appear even larger than it will later in the night when it's higher in the sky. This is an illusion that scientists can't fully explain. Some think it has to do with our perception of things on the horizon vs. stuff overhead.

Try this trick, though: Using a pencil eraser or similar object held at arm's length, gauge the size of the moon when it's near the horizon and again later when it's higher up and seems smaller. You'll see that when compared to a fixed object, the moon will be the same size in both cases.

More lunacy

If you have other plans for Saturday night, take heart: You can see all this on each night surrounding the full moon, too, because the moon will be nearly full, rising earlier Friday night and later Sunday night.

Interestingly, because of the mechanics of all this, the moon is never truly 100 percent full. For that to happen, all three objects have to be in a perfect line, and when that rare circumstance occurs, there is a total eclipse of the moon.

A departing fact: The moon is moving away as you read this, by about 1.6 inches (4 centimeters) a year. Eventually this drift will force the moon to take 47 days to circle our world.

Fire Destroys Fenway Restaurants

I was sad to see this on the news yesterday. These restaurants were good and nicely tucked away behind Fenway Park. They were such a nice alternative to all the chain options that abound. My friend JiYeon is the one who first introduced me to them years ago when we first met Woojin and they weren't as crowded since it was off the beaten path. My favorites were Rod-Dee and the Taqueria. Here's hoping they rebuild.

Fire Destroys Fenway Restaurants
BOSTON

An early morning fire in Boston's Fenway neighborhood destroyed a block of restaurants and forced dozens of people out into the cold Tuesday.

FAST MOVING FIRE

The fire broke out inside Thornton's Fenway Grill at the corner of Peterborough and Kilmarnock Streets around 2 a.m.

It quickly spread to the ceiling and then throughout the block, gutting five other restaurants and a dry cleaner.

"When we first got in there, we thought we had the fire contained in the first building," Robert Dunderdell of the Boston Fire Department said. "But there were no firewalls between the businesses, and it had raced across the building."

DOZENS EVACUATED

About 100 families were forced to evacuate their homes in the neighborhood because of the smoke, heat, and carbon monoxide danger generated by the four-alarm fire.

100 firefighters were called in and they struggled with the icy conditions.

Two of them were hurt when they slipped and fell. No one else was hurt.

CEILING COLLAPSED

Firefighters were forced to pull back at one point because an air conditioning unit crashed through the ceiling of one of the businesses.

Damage is estimated at $5 million.

There's no word yet on how the fire started.

The restaurants destroyed are:

1. Thornton's Fenway Grill
2. Sorento's Italian Gourmet
3. Umi Japanese Restaurant
4. Greek Isles
5. Rod-Dee Thai Cuisine II
6. El Pelon Taqueria

The Mom Song

To All the Moms Out There...

So much ahead...
=)