so, it snowed yesterday! quite a bit, but by this morning, we were all dug out and plowed and shoveled. alden and i braved a few deep, curbside puddles to make it over to the Y for our playgroup, only to find the place e m p t y. here's als, all alone, the whole room to himself.

ah, but some of our favorite buddies showed up eventually and we ended up going out for tea, which was nice, though alden is losing patience for outings that involve too much time spent sitting in one place. he cannot wait to be running around, getting into trouble.

on that note, i am sorry to report that he already understands the word no. we have yet to baby-proof and alden is no longer content to sit or roll about in the same place for long, so i am constantly pulling him away from various stacks of cds and books, dirty street shoes and tangles of electrical cords. last week some time i said, quite firmly, "no alden," as he scooted toward a stack of diapers on the floor. he paused, looked at me, looked back at the diapers, looked at me again, then inched toward them again. when i repeated my disapproval, he paused, looked at me, looked back at the diapers, then frowned and slapped at the floor with his right hand. ha! i feel terrible, saying no to a baby--he's not even seven months old yet--but, i must admit to also being quite proud of his understanding and also super amused by his frustrated response. seriously though, we need to make this place more exploration-friendly. i don't want him to lose his natural curiosity or feel too confined in our little home.