It’s hard to imagine what we will be writing in June of 2024, but for now, all we can do is be grateful for what an incredible month November was and look forward to all the exciting adventures that await us.

I can’t believe I’m about to type this, but Jenn and I are going to be parents! Of course we’ve known now for a couple of months but we officially announced the amazing news to our family and friends over Thanksgiving and its been a surreal experience. I’m capturing a week-to-week commemoration of our pregnancy journey so we don’t forget a moment of it. To summarize though it has been the most inspiring, scary, and exciting experience of my life. There’s not a moment of any day I’m not thinking about our future child, although I can’t imagine how Jenn feels. She’s had a tough first trimester but its starting to feel like we’re coming out of the worst of it (we hope). We’re going to be parents!!!

I wanted to start with the incredible news because it has shaped our lives since Jenn found out she was pregnant. I returned from Europe after a long work week to a beautiful fall in New York. Jenn, Frasier, and I got our annual Christmas card photos taken in Central Park where we also brought the sonogram of our baby with us to be photographed. It was one of the first times in months that Jenn had been out of the house, and thankfully you couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day.

For much of November, Jenn was stuck at home, working, but having a tough time keeping food down. When she was able to eat, she was quite lethargic and slept for good swaths of the day. That meant many Frasier responsibilities landed on me so we made many walks down Riverside Park and a rare solo trip to Central Park.

We did get out a few times during the month which always felt like a massive triumph. I’ll never forget going across the street to Empellon and having a brief brunch there and even the walk from our apartment to the restaurant had Jenn breathless. She had to take a nap directly after brunch. It was still so nice to be out of the house together. That same weekend we saw our first play in a while (The Refuge Play) which although was a massive accomplishment to get to was probably our least favorite performance of the year. The following weekend Jenn continued to improve and we went to The Musket Room to celebrate all of the good baby updates. Jenn had to have a slightly altered menu but it continues to be one of the best restaurants in the world and our personal favorite in the city.

A few days before Thanksgiving we had Jenn’s first big ultrasound which was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. After a long wait in the waiting room they took us back to a beautiful room with a massive TV and for 15 minutes the technician moved the ultrasound around Jenn’s belly and didn’t say a word. Eventually, she said she’d call for the doctor which made my heart drop, I thought for sure that was bad news. The doctor came in a few seconds later and said everything was perfect. That week we also received the last of Jenn’s blood results that too came back perfect but contained some big news, our baby’s gender. Jenn drove to the doctor’s office and picked up an envelope that held the answer were we having a boy or a girl? She waited for me to come home and after a lot of nerves and even a few tears before we even opened the envelope we found out. We will be announcing the gender next month to everyone so for now all I will say is we couldn’t be more excited. On Thanksgiving, we went to Gramercy Tavern for our Thanksgiving feast which was out of this world. Jenn got a mocktail, I had a martini and we enjoyed a perfect 3-course meal with steak, soup, and pie. It was exactly what we wanted out of the day. Jenn did get to watch a lot of the parade from our apartment and in the afternoon we showed our entire family the gender and name of our baby. What a perfect day to be thankful and to share in the great news.

The month wrapped up with us doing our holiday tradition of decorating the Christmas tree after Thanksgiving. We delayed it a day when both Jenn and I were feeling exhausted on the day after Thanksgiving but were able to put up what I think is our best-looking tree yet. We also finally got around to updating a lot of our apartment furniture. We bought a new bed with a dresser and side tables, a couch, and the pinnacle of them all an Eames Lounge Chair. It has been my dream to buy an Eames Lounge Chair for at least a decade (thanks to Mad Men and Frasier) and this was the moment to do it. Thankfully I didn’t have to wait long because before the month even ended they delivered my beautiful chair and I haven't left it since. Could there be a better month? I doubt it!

TV WE WATCHED

We’ve gotten back into the swing of things and are watching some great shows. We completed the third and final season of Starstruck which was a fun easy 30-minute show. We watched the only season of Lessons in Chemistry which wasn’t as good as the book but was still a fun watch. One of the best shows of 2023 was the first season of Silo which was just as intense as the book.

I tend to find The Bear to be a show that goes a bit over the top and the second season has great moments like the episode in Copenhagen (one of my favorite cities in the world) but others are just 30 minutes of yelling uncontrollably. We wrapped up the month starting the second season of The Gilded Age which continues to be fantastic.

BOOKS I READ (OR LISTENED TO)

I surpassed my goal of 35 books this year and it feels great. I read what might be my favorite book of the year The Heart’s Invisible Furies which was a beautiful story of two boys growing up together. It’s a book that will stick with me for a long time and I’ve already started recommending it to others. I also read the second book in the Fourth Wing series, Iron Flame which I found to be a bit exhausting in its pace but still a fun fantasy read.

And then of course there were two parenting books that I read this month. The first was the expectant father which I found a little too clinical. I got a few insights from it but wasn’t one I’d recommend to others in fathers-to-be. The book I found more useful was Bringing up Bebe which describes the French style of parenting which is completely counter to how I think about it. I love control and this book is all about understanding a more balanced firm but fair approach. I loved this book and found it to be incredibly helpful, especially around sleep training and young kids.

MOVIES WE WATCHED

Most of my movie watching happened on planes to and from Europe this month, but the best movie we saw was in theaters, and that was The Holdovers. I’m sure it will be nominated for a lot of academy awards next year and it deserves it. It was just a lovely movie and one that I enjoyed from start to finish. The rest of the movies were mostly plane movies and thus weren’t overly memorable but helped pass the time. I wish the Sly documentary was longer.

THEATER WE SAW

Have I mentioned how much I love the theater? Even when I go see plays I don’t like, like The Refuge Plays at the start of November I still come out of them glad I went. We did go see Here We Are, Sondheim’s last performance which starred Niles (David Hyde Pierce) from Frasier. Jenn and I both loved the first act but the second was so odd and off the wall that it completely lost us.

But the show that we loved this month and one whose soundtrack I’ve had on repeat since was Merrily We Roll Along. A famous flop for Sondheim was re-staged with incredible actors (including Daniel Radcliffe) and has become a massive hit. It might be my favorite of the year it was a beautiful story told in reverse and the music was sensational.

GAMES I'VE BEEN PLAYING

The main game I played this month was Assassin’s Creed Mirage which was a game that goes back to the series roots. The other good news was that it was significantly shorter than the previous three games and made for one of my favorite games of the year.