On 1/31, the snow had finally become packable enough to form into a perfect snowman, so we built one out back.  Blaine decided we should name him Humpty.

Humpty was a fireman (not the best occupation for a snowman, I suppose), with blueberry eyes, a jalapeno nose, and pasta for a mouth.  If you’re wondering why he has so many sticks in his abdomen, it’s because Blaine thought he should have four hands (“like Curious George!”).

That afternoon, Reece came over to keep us company and joined Blaine for some tent time.  We also went out for a yummy Mexican dinner in town, where we discovered Sarah has a taste for salsa.  She hogged the entire dish.

Daddy had his first trip to India since the move at the end of January, so Mom-mom and Aunt Molly came up to visit and help with the kids for a few nights.  We had a great time at music class on Friday (Aunt Molly was a huge hit, of course) and at the bonfire at Manor Beach on Saturday night, to celebrate Larchmont’s 125th Anniversary.

Aunt Suzanne stayed with us for a night on 1/26, and Blaine broke out the doctor’s kit so she could teach him a thing or two (and submit to having her blood pressure taken).

We were all so impressed when this giant snow-scooper and dump trucks arrived to remove all the snow that had been plowed to the side of our street

The big snowstorm on 1/23 dumped roughly two feet of snow on us.  Luckily, we’d already procured snow gear for the kids, though we should have gotten a child-sized shovel for Blaine so he wouldn’t hog our single regular-sized one.  (BTW thank you to Mom-mom for subsequently getting him one – he loves it!)  Sarah was not thrilled to be out in the storm, but Blaine didn’t want to come back inside.

Once we did get him back inside, though, he loved this fancy drinking chocolate (thanks, Gram!).  I wasn’t sure he’d like it when I heard that he’d rejected the hot chocolate they had at school in favor of water, but I guess he has a taste for good chocolate.

And, here’s one more shot of Blaine in the hat…why not?

I bought the kids an easel to keep them occupied during our long cold winter, and here they are for our first attempt at painting (Sarah’s first ever, I believe).  Blaine painted a “ferocious lion”.

Painting’s a lot of work (for me) so we’ve been making more use of the chalkboard and the magnetic side which don’t require (much) cleanup.

Great Grandmother Dorothy and Great Grandfather Fritz gave Blaine this adorable conductor’s outfit.  There’s a photo of Andrew at roughly the same age in a similar outfit that we’ll have to compare these to!

We went to the winter train show at the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx on 1/12.  The highlight was a show featuring Thomas the train, and Blaine insisted we hang around to get a picture with him.  We also saw the miniature train show in the botanical gardens, with detailed replicas of NY landmarks.

The weather was fairly mild in early January, we just had to break out the tuffo suit to keep Sarah dry at the playground.

But our Thursday playgroup moved inside to an indoor play area in a martial arts studio in town.  Sarah loves practicing climbing on this set of stairs.

We’ve also been spending a lot of time at home, so it’s always thrilling when the kids play nicely together, like so.

Sarah also got a new pair of boots in preparation for some serious weather.

One last shot of Sarah enjoying her new chair from Mom-mom:

I just realized I took a bunch of pictures in January of the kids in various hats.  So, here you go.