[Nicolas] Cooker Baby

jazzfest 2009 , originally uploaded by nolafilm . It's festival season in New Orleans! Last weekend we took in the French Quarter Festival - along with half a million other people. This weekend we're at the 40th Annual Jazz and Heritage Festival. Today we saw Mardi Gras Indians, Third World, Irma Thomas, Rebirth Brass Band with Kermit Ruffins, and James Taylor - plus we caught some amazing gospel on the way out. We also had some incredible food - even for a gluten-free vegan like me! Nicolas skipped his nap, but actually did great and had a fantastic time. Tomorrow we get to do it all over again. Video and more pics from this weekend (and last weekend's French Quarter Festival) coming soon.

so first the bad news, nicolas has another nasty double ear infection. yuck. we're strongly considering tubes or taking him out of daycare for a little while. our new doctor here is concerned about nicolas' hearing and speech development ultimately, so we're trying to make a decision by early next week. it would be an easy call if he didn't have such a great time at school and wasn't really opening up with new friends and his teachers. we'll keep you posted on that, and in the meantime, we'll try to keep nicolas content with children's tylenol, a new round of amoxicillin, and garlic drops for his ears (the post-drop cotton ball application is his favorite part of that I think): and hopefully we won't have to resort to antibiotic shots like we did last month, though nicolas did get a new song out of that painful experience: the good news is we had a great time at french quarter fest here last sunday, and jazzfest starts tomorrow! pics and updates

lunch with jk , originally uploaded by nolafilm . we may be fighting off another ear infection - we're not 100% sure - but we felt well enough to have a nice lunch at Lebanon's Cafe yesterday with our friends Brian and Julie and JK. Afterward, Nicolas and JK posed with their friends, Lammie and MoMo outside. trying to catch the last bit of French Quarter Fest today, if our little guy wakes up in time. will keep you posted. . .

**** Happy Easter - we'll post an update on today's fun later this evening or tomorrow. **** just two days after nicolas turned 3, we celebrated mary's birthday. and we did it in style, taking nicolas for the first time to one of our all-time favorite restaurants (right up there with Irene's), the mecca of new orleans cuisine and fun: jacques-imo's. he relished every moment, from the sweet buttery cornbread muffins to the oyster and brie soup ( note the spoon in EACH hand look at this dish: its rich, creamy goodness is enough to give even the most stalwart vegans pause, but i was able to resist. and just when we thought he might be full, nicolas promptly demanded whatever i had on my plate besides having some of the most amazing food in the world, jacques-imo's is an incredibly fun place to dine. especially when you have a 3 year old entertaining you in the main dining room: even vacuum pioneer david oreck came over to our table to comment on how much he and

Sincere apologies for taking a week to update you on nicolas' birthday. the next day and the rest of that week got completely crazy with work and other commitments. but i'm thrilled to reflect here and let you know we had a fantastic time. the weather was perfect, city park's amusement park looked beautiful and wasn't even that crowded, and nicolas got to enjoy some quality time with his grandparents, classmates and some of our friends' kids. all in all, we couldn't have asked for a more perfect way for him to celebrate his 3rd birthday. despite the almost neon, stubborn blue icing that just wouldn't wash off (think lady macbeth at a kids' birthday party), the cake from Robert's (that's RO-bears for any non-New Orleanians reading this) was delicious, or at least that's what everyone told me - they don't make vegan cakes, so i was out of luck on that one. and even though nicolas specifically requested a chocolate cake, he seemed pretty co

Happy Birthday Nicolas! , originally uploaded by nolafilm . from earlier today:

nicolas is turning 3 in 2 days! what better way to celebrate than a morning dance in the mirror?