Christmas Travel

We travelled to Co Limerick, Ireland over the weekend to spend Eoin's first Christmas with the Murphys. Francis and I were a bit nerous for the flight because Eoin had a cold, Eoin didn't have a seat, and it was a single aisle plane. The flight got off to a rough start when we were delayed because the equipment used to push back the plane was broken so we were stuck at the gate. We left about an hour and a half late, which meant we we'd be arriving at 10am instead of 8:30am and it meant the likelihood of catching our 11am train had decreased dramatically. Luckily the delay was the only problem with the flight. Eoin's ears didn't bother him and he slept on our laps or in the baby bjorn on Francis most of the way. When he was awake he was happy out and entertaining his fellow passengers. We arrived in Dublin and raced to get our bags, but of course they were last coming out so by the time we got a taxi to the train station the train was gone. We had to wait another 2 hours for the train. At this point Francis and I were getting tired, but we got an Irish breakfast to keep us going. I also got a Butlers Hot Chocolate which I love and miss so much living in Chicago. Eoin was holding up well too. He wanted to get down on the ground and play pretty badly, but he settled for playing with mom and dad. Finally, we got on the train and Eoin, Francis and I all took a much needed nap. The train ride went smoothly with Eoin again providing entertainment to his fellow passengers. He also had an opportunity to roll around on the train so he was delighted. We arrived in Charvelville just after 3pm Irish time. Eoin's grandparents met us off the train and helped us carry our bags to the car. Finally, the weary Murphy family arrived in Derraulin, Co Limerick at 4pm Irish time (10am Chicago time) after 17 hours of travelling. Francis and I were so impressed with Eoin's ability to cope with the long day, lack of sleep, and the travel. And now he's in the care of his adoring Grandparents so he is being well rewarded for his efforts.

Below are pictures of Eoin waiting patiently for his train, Francis and Eoin enjoying the train ride, and Francis and Eoin recovering from the long day of travel.

Visit from the GodFather

Francis's brother came to visit us for a week on his way home from Australia. It was great to have him here. It was a bit of a shock for him to go from Australia where the temperature was over 100 degrees to Chicago where the temp was below freezing. However, we still managed to show him a good time. We love visitors!

Urban babies drink latte

At least so says one of Eoin's books. Well he took it to heart today and decided to make a grab for my starbucks - thankfully it was a decaf!

PS: Yes, that is a munster rugby jersey I am wearing - it should be an interesting season.

Urban thanksgiving 2009

The start of holiday season is upon here in the US with Thanksgiving this Thursday (the 4th Thursday in November) which we will spend in Minnesota with Biz's family.

However as a prelude to that, we had urban thankgiving yesterday - where our 'urban family', i.e friends, celebrated all that we can be thankful for this year. Kristin Davies kindly hosted and we had a smashing time with plenty of food (turkey and lots of sides, including lithuanian Kugalis, a potato, bacon and onion dish) beverages and craic which is the way of it. Eoin and has friend Matthew got reacquainted at their first thanksgiving event.

UCC & Friends in Chicago

My alma mater, University College Cork (UCC), started up alumni chapters across a number of US cities last year including Chicago - now UCC has been around since 1845 so they were presumably waiting for me to migrate before expanding into the US!

We held our second annual reception tonight at Chief O'Neills bar and restaurant in Chicago with over 80 people attending including alumni, the college president, faculty members and friends. It was a great evening where we caught up on key events happening at UCC (it is going from strength to strength and I found out it even has ties to my wifes alma mater, Notre Dame) and also to celebrate the musical recordings of Chief O'Neill. He was the Chief of Police in Chicago many many years ago but also spent a considerable part of his life recording traditional Irish music played in and around Chicago. Mel Mercer, head of the school of music in UCC and leader of a project to digitize the original wax recordings, two of his very accomplished students and some local musicians played (and even Irish danced) beautifully for us - it reminded Biz and I that we miss Ireland alot.



Unfortunately it was not all good news on the night - severe rain in Ireland on Thursday and Friday has caused flooding in many parts of the country, but particularly in Cork, and many of the university buildings were flooded causing much damage and closing much of the campus down for the coming week and possibly longer. Photos can be seen on http://www.rte.ie/

Houston we have a roller!

Last night when I went to check on Eoin I discovered him sleeping on his tummy. I had put him to bed on his back! From that I gathered he had rolled over, but it wasn't until this afternoon that he let loose the roll. He rolled all over the floor, changing directions and rolling toward things he wanted. I was amazed! Of course the video camera was not charged, so I missed him at his best. By the time I got the video camera working he was tired, but you can still get an idea of what he was doing. I've also included a video of him in his exersaucer. He loves it. He stares at it until we put him in it. Today he even rolled towards it.

Halloween in Old Town

We took to the streets to 'trick or treat' around our Old Town neighbourhood on Saturday afternoon with Eoin (he was decked out in his cow costume and making cow faces!). Eoin is a bit too young for the candy so we passed on all the treats on offer. It was fun to watch all the kids in their outfits with bags full on sweets and their parents in toe and to see the efforts some households go to for halloween.







It was also a delight to see the last of the autumn leaves on the trees in the sunshine as we walked along the streets and we popped into nearby Oz Park (as in Wizard of Oz).

Cheer cheer for old Notre Dame

We spent another invigorating (cold and rainy) but fun day at Notre Dame ('ND') on Saturday. It started early in the day with tailgating (a form of car boot party in the carpark alongside the college stadium where the car boots (trunks) are full of beer and food and everyone stands around, catches up with friends and generally has a merry time) followed by the game at 3:30pm against Boston College ('BC'). I understand that BC has had the better record in recent games and over their history it stood at 9 games a piece - so important bragging rights were at stake.

This was also Eoin's first ND game and he was well up for the partying and took a keen interest in the game (for which the sun kindly came out!). He wasn't too happy when ND were down 13 to 16 with about 10 minutes to go but he was soon in better spirits when ND scored a touchdown and survived some tense final minutes to win 20 to 16. He also really enjoyed the half time entertainment provided by the ND school marching band.

Eireann go baby!

We are not long back from a two weeks trip to Eire - a nice amount of time (even though we were sad to see it end) to meet with family and friends, enjoy some of the best that the Emerald Isle has to offer (luckily for us during some fine late summer weather) and simply relax away from it all.

This was a big trip for Eoin - his first visit to his other homeland and a chance to meet all his Irish relatives who were keen to make his acquaintance. He is a superb traveller, not fazed by multiple changes of location nor by the lengthy journeys on planes and automobiles and the many changes to his routine!

We had a lovely time with some of our great friends in Dublin, Wexford and Limerick, were delighted to be able to attend my cousin Rachael's wedding (to Alan Murphy!) and see such a happy couple who will have a great life together, there was a fabulous 'welcome to Derraulin' party for Eoin and it was such fun to have many generations of Murphys, Hunts and Tierneys in one place and it was especially nice to spend time with my family whose kindness and love are always in abundance and never more so than for the newest member of the family!

Something old, something new, something U2!!!

We went to U2's 360 degree tour at soldier field in Chicago just before our trip to Ireland. What a show, probably the best U2 stadium concert I have been to (their Slane Castle concert still the best overall). Like alot of people I am a little indifferent to their new album but they enthusiastically belted out some of the best songs from their many back albums. This was a night to remember.

PS: Thanks Brig and Mike for babysitting!

Getting Bigger Every Day!

Eoin is getting so big! He recently started eating solid (more like mushy) food and is even big enough for the swings at the park. Sometimes I wish I could freeze his age right now because he is so smiley and happy and he is relatively easy since he doesn't walk or talk. My friends assure me parenthood just gets better and better. I hope they're right, because it is great right now.

And yes I know we owe everyone pictures from Ireland. They are coming I swear! I'll use the fact that I just went back to work last week as my excuse.

Frequent Flyer

We took Eoin to Ireland and he was great on both the plane rides. We were lucky that the seat between Francis and I was free so Eoin had his own seat. He slept most of the way and didn't cry at all. Check back for more Ireland pictures next week.

Short Video of Eoin

This video was taken just before nap time. Does he look tired?! It took quite a bit of rocking, but he's asleep now so I can update the blog. Eoin is sleeping from 10pm to 7am this week. He wakes twice during the night, but I'm able to get him back to sleep without having to feed him. He takes a long morning nap, which is nice. It is harder to convince him to take an afternoon nap. He just wants to play!

Jail breaker

Liking the converse but not sure about the jumpsuit - I am thinking prison break!

Is it safe to come out?

Another Trip to Minnesota

Francis had to go back to Germany for work so Eoin and I hitched a ride to Minnesota with Aunt Molly. It was a quick trip, but well worth it. One of the highlights of the trip was introducing Eoin to his friend Oscar Melander. Eoin also got some new toys in Minnesota. The exersaucer is a little big for him, but he was getting the hang of it. Most of all Eoin enjoyed being doted on by his grandparents and Godmother.

What's another year : - (

Limerick played Tipperary today in the Senior Hurling Champioship semi final which was held in Croke Park, Dublin. Our expectations were low (the team's performances have been pretty muted all year) but since they managed, by some twist of fate, to get this far we thought it only right to get a little excited and watch the game this morning. Eoin was (more or less) dressed in the Limerick colors (green and white) - his real Limerick jersey as yet too big for him - for his first 'big' hurling game.

We settled down at home to watch it (in our comfy chairs) and I am glad he didn't understand what was going on - Limerick were annihilated! Hopefully by the time he is old enough to know Limerick will have improved! At least I can empathise with the long suffering Chicago Cubs fans!

Modest Eoin

Official Twins Fan!

Eoin is now the proud owner of his first Twins t-shirt as part of his initiation to being a Twins fan (this is baseball by the way for those on the other side of the pond). He may rue the day the Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago Cubs, much to the delight of Biz, and decided where his loyalty would lie - I hope they pay back such young devotion! Given how fast he is growing however he will have plenty of opportunities for a future wardrobe change!!!

Eoin's First Trip to Minnesota

Eoin and I went to Minnesota last week to see his grandparents, God Mother Molly, Uncle Mike and many friends. Francis was in Germany for work so he missed out on the fun. Eoin and I flew and he was great on the plane. He didn't make a peep. Staying at my parents was wonderful. Eoin had his own room that was decked out with a nice crib, changing table and lounge chair. He also had the choice of three different strollers! We walked the lakes, went to a Saints baseball game, went to the pool and visited a lot of friends. Between my mom, dad and Molly Hayden Eoin was well looked after. It felt like a vacation for me! Attached are a few pictures.

Cool Dude

Cool Dude!

Soap anyone?

July 4th Independence Day

We celebrated Independence Day this weekend - I had a five day long weekend which was fantastic and got to spend lots of time with Biz and Eoin. Aside from watching fireworks and barbequeing we spent much of the weekend at the rooftop pool and sundeck of our club sitting in the sunshine and relaxing - nice : - ). And Eoin went for his first dip in the pool - Michael Phelps be afraid - and then chilled out on his lounger afterward!

The thinker, the laugher and the stick out my tonguer!

Eoin is so entertaining (for us) and largely for the silly and small things that he does on a daily basis, which by no means set him apart but merely inform us more about our little son who currently has no way to communicate with us other than by facial expressions and other gestures.

Some of these caught on camera over the last two weeks:

Mooney Fest 2009

We headed to Kelleys Island on Lake Erie, Ohio this weekend for Mooney Fest 2009 - the Mooney family reunion held every two years and hosted by a different member of the family each time - this year by Buster and Eileen Mooney and their family and about 55 people attended.

It was Francis and Eoin's first Mooney Fest and we all had a great time - a particular highlight was the sunset cruise around the island on a beautiful calm Saturday evening. Eoin rode in his baby born (with his godmother, Molly Hayden, a qualified life guard in charge of him)! I liked the theme on the back of the t-shirts - 'From Eire to Erie'! Some photos from the weekend: