2024 A Year in Review: Welcome to the World Elle

PersonalYear in Review
Written By Joel

As I sit down to write this year-in-review, I’m cognisant that this might be the one I go back and read the most. What a monumental year. It had the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. It was a year that Jenn and I had to look inward, reevaluate what we wanted, and work together as a team more than ever before. There are moments in 2024 that I will cherish for the rest of my life and others that I wouldn’t mind forgetting about after I finish this write-up. Without further ado, let's look back on the year 2024.

The year couldn’t have started any better. Jenn was beginning to feel better after a brutal first trimester. The medicine she took for her nausea seemed to work, and her energy returned. We started to get out more, went to a few Broadway shows, had lovely brunches and dinners, and enjoyed walks together even in the frigid January weather. On January 17th, I remember receiving a frantic call from Jenn, saying she had fallen on some ice in Riverside Park and hit the ice hard. She got up, dusted herself off, and dropped Frasier off before going to urgent care and then to the emergency maternity ward at NY Prespertarian. We stayed at the hospital for most of the night while they monitored Elle and got x-rays of Jenn’s elbow. She had a minor fracture and was given a sling for a few weeks, but the best news was Elle was doing just fine. 

Only three days later, Jenn boarded a plane to Dublin for a work trip for her team. I remember wondering if it was still a good idea for her to go, but her elbow was feeling better, and after another detailed anatomy scan a few days prior, we were sure Elle was also thriving. Jenn got through her work week without incident, even if she was exhausted from the pregnancy. Elle, if you ever read this, your Mom is one of the strongest, hardest working people I know. Even at 5 months pregnant, she led an entire week offsite in Dublin and got on a cheap Ryanair flight to meet me in Vienna for her babymoon. 

I arrived in Vienna a few hours ahead of Jenn and got us checked into a suite at the Park Hyatt. Over the next few days, we ate like kings and queens and enjoyed a cold but beautiful few days in Vienna. My lasting memory of Vienna was Jenn taking baths in our hotel room. It had a gorgeous soaker tub, and after each day of walking around Vienna, Jenn would plop in the tub and let the swelling of her body come down. We continue to love Vienna; it's such a great city, and we are so glad we were able to come back. 

From there, Jenn joined me on my work trip to London and Paris. We stayed at The Four Seasons at Tower Bridge, where Jenn spent her time while I worked. My favorite day in London was when Jenn finished getting her hair done at The Four Seasons and met me for a steak dinner right after. She had grand plans to go shopping for Elle that day, but her hair took so long that she had to meet me straight at dinner. I took her to a restaurant I’ve been to many times, and it was great to share with her. We finished the trip with a few days in Paris, still one of my favorite cities. Jenn was starting to deal with more swelling in her feet, so we tried our best to limit our walking around but were able to see everything. We knew this would be our last Europe trip before Elle, so we spent more time sitting in parks and enjoying each other's company than trying to rush to see things. Two of my favorite memories come from the last day we saw Giulio Caesar at the Palais Garnier and had dinner at Colvert that evening. It was a dream day for me. 

We flew home the next day on separate flights. Jenn had terrible swelling from the flight home, and when she called her doctor, they recommended that she go to the hospital immediately. By the time I landed, she was already off to the hospital, so I dropped off my suitcase and met her there. We stayed at the hospital for most of the day, and thankfully, all the tests for Elle and Jenn came back fine. It was one of the scarier incidents during Jenn’s pregnancy, just given how swollen her leg and feet were. 

That didn’t slow Jenn down. The very next week Jenn flew to San Jose to oversee one of the most significant events her company hosts for the year. She had been working quite hard on it in the months leading up to it, and I’m proud to report that it went great. But that was only a part of her journey west; the other was to host her baby shower. We debated the best way to celebrate the upcoming arrival of Elle and landed on hosting a day at Pelican Hill. It was off to the races once Jenn got the concept nailed down. I flew to California to meet Jenn, and on February 17th, she hosted what can only be described as a perfect baby shower. Not only did Amy, Ally, and Holly all get spa treatments, but they were whisked away to a beautiful beach villa overlooking the ocean. What made it even more special was that my sisters were also pregnant, so three of the four in the party were pregnant and due in 2024. That evening Jenn planned a tasting menu experience at Broadway by Amar Santana in Laguna. Jake, Ryan, and I met them for dinner, and for 2+ hours, we all celebrated the upcoming arrival of Elle with great food, fantastic wine (and mocktails), and a lot of laughs. It was perfect. 

We enjoyed the rest of our time in California before returning home to a cold New York City. We celebrated Frasier’s 6th birthday, and only a week after we celebrated Elle, Jake came to spend the week in New York. He wanted a change of pace and decided to work out of the city for a week and experience what an actual NYC week in February feels like. Fortunately for him, the weather wasn’t too bad, and we had a lovely time having him with us. He spent a lot of the week with Jenn at her office in Lincoln Center, hearing her very loud neighbor yell at his employees. Jake left on March 2nd, the same day I was flying to Paris for another work trip. I’ll never forget the three of us going to Bad Roman and Jake and I splitting the Bellini tower. It wasn’t even good, but we both finished it, which was likely not the best choice before an international trip. The trip to Paris and London was relatively uneventful, but I remember being even more nervous being away from Jenn than I had been on previous ones. 

One of the worst moments of 2024 came right after I returned from Europe. Jenn was heavily debating whether she should attend her last leadership team meeting in San Francisco until the morning of her flight on March 11th. That morning, she decided to make her flight in the afternoon to give her a few hours more sleep after a restless night. She decided to go to San Francisco, and I remember her saying she wasn’t feeling great on the flight. When she arrived in San Francisco at the One Hotel, she realized she was bleeding. I’ll never forget the phone call; after calming down, she called her OB, who told her to rush to the emergency room. I spent a few minutes finding the best one near her, and she was off to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. Jenn was brave through this ordeal and knew she had to get there. The team at UCSF was quite worried when she arrived. Jenn and I had a moment where we thought they might deliver Elle immediately. One of the primary doctors told us that was a very possible outcome. I was a wreck and in full-blown panic. I remembered calling Jenn’s Dad and Jake to see if they could fly to SF to be there with Jenn as there weren’t any more flights from NY that evening. Fortunately, Jenn’s Dad got on a flight that evening and arrived early the next day. By then, the panic had lessened, and the bleeding had stopped. That evening, I booked the first flight out to SF and dropped Frasier off at Camp Canine. I arrived in SF that next morning, and she was released from the hospital that evening. Per the doctor's recommendation, we stayed in San Francisco for a few days. By far, the best moment was the last evening Jenn felt up to going for a short walk to see Dune Part II and having a nice casual Italian dinner. We flew home together on March 14th, relieved that we had gotten through it and that both Elle and Jenn were OK. 

San Francisco was a wake-up call for us in more ways than one. We knew that Elle could come at any point, and it was time to finish getting the apartment ready for her arrival and focus on making sure we prioritized Jenn’s health even more than we were. Throughout the first few months of the year, we changed out a lot of furniture that we had had since we moved to NY, including a new bedroom set, a new sectional sofa, and an entertainment center. The apartment in April looked completely different than when we moved into the apartment in June 2021. That also meant we moved Jenn’s office furniture to her office in Lincoln Center to make way for the nursery. Jenn spent many mornings designing and re-designing what she wanted Elle’s nursery to look like. In the end, the nursery turned out stunning. It turned out perfect, from the beautiful crib to the two hot air balloons hanging in the corner with stuffed animals in the baskets. Jenn spent much time sitting in the room, envisioning how life would come after Elle’s arrival.

As excited as we were for Elle’s arrival (and nervous), we knew how much our lives would change once she arrived. We did our best to go out and see shows on Broadway and saw one last opera in (La Rodine) in early April. I remember, even at the time, talking with Jenn about how excited we would be to one day take Elle to the Met Opera or to see a Ballet at Lincon Center. We’ve had 6+ years of opportunities to do it, and one day, we will share those with our daughter. Jake flew out for the third time in 2024 to join us on a road trip to Cape Cod on April 12th. We took Frasier with us, and we stayed at Wequassett Resort & Golf Club for two nights. Getting away and seeing a new part of the northeast was nice. We went for many drives, saw a light of lighthouses, and enjoyed walking through several quaint areas. Frasier did terrific the entire time, and I think they enjoyed getting away. When we arrived back in New York, we enjoyed a few more days with Jake, going to two of our favorite restaurants in the city, Cote and Rezdora. 

The end of April brought me to my last work trip before Elle arrived. I was nervous about even going on this trip. Fortunately, Jenn’s Dad came to spend the week with her while I was away. I’ll never forget getting to London on Sunday, April 21st, early in the morning, dropping off my bags at the Andaz, and walking through the London marathon traffic to Pepa London to buy Elle an outfit and a book. I’m not sure when Elle’s first trip to London will be, but I want her to experience the world, and I felt like bringing her home something from London was a nice way to start that. The rest of the trip was uneventful, and thankfully, it ended up being the same for Jenn and her dad in New York. 

When May arrived, the final preparations for Elle were underway. Before the month would turn to June, we’d be parents. Jenn went out on maternity leave on the second week of May, which was good given that she now has twice-weekly doctor appointments. We had our last few classes to prep for Jenn’s delivery and get to know our doula, Tymaree. As the month continued, we were all consumed by the upcoming arrival of Elle. We tried our best to go out and keep ourselves active. We went to a few Broadway shows (Uncle Vanya, Home and The Great Gatsby) and had great meals at restaurants like Don Angie and Il Buco. The most “stressful” appointments were always the “non-stress tests” where we’d go to the hospital, they’d hook Jenn up to the machine, and fifteen minutes later, we’d find out if she passed or not. Most of the time, they were quick, and she passed, but on May 21st, she failed, and we spent a few hours in triage making sure Elle was OK. 

Jenn did enjoy some of her maternity leave before Elle’s arrival. She spent a lot of time on our new sectional sofa with Frasier or sitting in the nursery on the lounger, imagining what life with our daughter would look like. She even had a prenatal massage at The Peninsula, which she said was one of the best ones of her life. On May 28th, we got word that Jenn would be on the schedule to be induced the next day, although we were warned that given the backlog from the holiday weekend, it might be pushed to Friday. We dropped Frasier at Camp Canine and had our bags packed. Unfortunately, as expected, when we called at 3 AM on the 29th, we were told not to come. Going back to sleep after that was tough, but we managed. 

The wait continued. Jenn had a “non-stress test” scheduled on May 30th at 9:30 AM, but we felt this might be the opportunity for them to start the induction, so we brought our bags and left them in the car just in case. Jenn failed the test again, and we returned to the triage floor. Jenn’s OB (Dr. Nabizadeh) was working at the hospital that day and stopped by a few times. She said that if we were patient, she’d get us a room and start the induction. That proved to be difficult, but we did our best. I’ll never forget going to the parking garage and walking with the valet to find our car and grab our bags. I realized the next time I saw this car, it would be to drive Elle home. My favorite memory of May 30th was Jenn and I walking up and down the halls. Some of the best memories of our 20+ year relationship have been on long walks, and this was no different. Jenn was glowing, obviously nervous but excited. When we weren’t walking, Jenn was sleeping, and I watched Back to the Future. Ironically, the Friends episode was on in the afternoon when Chandler and Monica adopted kids.

At around 4 PM, we were told there was a chance we would be sent home because a room hadn’t opened up. Jenn was half relieved and half devastated.  However, right before 6 PM, a corner room opened, and we were in it and getting set up for the induction process. We called our doula, who planned to come later that evening once the process had started in full. Jenn handled the next couple of hours better than I could have imagined. The start of the induction process, we were told, could be some of the worst, but she was able to get through it quite well. The contractions began to increase through the night, and with it, she was able to get an epidural. Tymaree, her doula, was there before the day ended and was able to help Jenn start working on positioning and breathing. Jenn’s Dad, who came out a few days prior for the big event, stopped by for a bit before things got too serious. 

We slept for a few hours as the day turned to May 31st. I’ve written a detailed account of what transpired in Elle’s baby book, but the first 12+ hours of May 31st were terrific. Jenn was handling the contractions well, and everything seemed to be on track. She was in good spirits and was greatly encouraged by everyone at NYP. Things went south at around 4 PM, right after she got a top off of epidural. Jenn got violently sick, shaking uncontrollably and throwing up, and both her and Elle’s heart rates were severely raised. The emergency bells in the hospital went off right after 5 PM as they ran her to an emergency c-section. I’ll never forget kissing Jenn right before they took her back and telling her I’d be there. I got into the hospital gear within 30 seconds but was only then told I wouldn’t be allowed back. 

Elle Maria Szerlip was born at 5:09 PM on May 31, 2024, only 5 minutes after the alarms went off to take her Mom back. They brought her out to me at 5:33 PM, and I’ve never felt anything like that moment. It was the most potent combination of love and fear I’ve ever felt. I didn’t want to have this moment without Jenn, but I also knew I was responsible for this perfect, beautiful little girl in my arms. I was given updates on Jenn as I held Elle, who wouldn’t stop staring directly at me. Jenn had come out of surgery well, and they had given her a slew of antibiotics. We later learned that she went septic during delivery and that it was far more serious than we had initially thought. I never let Elle out of my sight, and eventually, we went to the NICU together, where Elle would stay for monitoring, given her heart rate at delivery. Tymaree gave me updates on Jenn and let me know at 6:30 PM that she’d been given a room in the maternal ICU. She was pretty out of it but started crying at the first few pictures of Elle before falling back asleep. The amount of guilt I felt for having these moments with Elle without her is something that, even as I write this, is difficult to come to terms with. The first few hours of Elle’s life were tough, but they were made a lot better by having Tymaree there, who was a great partner to me as we navigated these tumultuous few hours. 

Jenn started regaining strength as she came out of the anesthesia and began comprehending what happened. I split my time between Elle’s crib in the NICU and Jenn’s room. My favorite memory of that time was feeding Elle for the first time. The wonderful nurses handed me a bottle, showed me how to feed her, and left me to it. They didn’t say how much to give her, and of course, she polished the entire bottle, later learning that I was only supposed to give her a few ounces. This is the first of many mistakes I will make as a Dad. We slept a few hours, and things started to look much better in the morning. The doctors felt like the worst of the infection that caused Jenn to go septic was past her and that she would day by day regain her strength. The worst part of June 1st was the wait for Jenn to get the clearance to be moved to a higher support room in the maternity ward. We watched the French Open in her room while we waited for the good news, which didn’t come until nearly 2 PM. But then the heavens parted, and Jenn went upstairs to meet Elle. Those first few moments of the three of us as a family are some of the best of my life. Jenn became a mom instantly and has never let Elle out of her sight since.

Jenn’s Dad met Elle a few hours later, and we started a small routine at the hospital for the next few days. The team there was the best; they couldn’t have been friendlier or more helpful. We stayed in the hospital for four nights, and each day, Jenn continued to feel better, and we got more and more comfortable being parents. When we left the hospital and struggled to put Elle into her car seat (a moment I will never forget), Jenn felt much better, and we were ready for our next adventure. 

We left New York Prespertarian with Elle in tow and made our way after a brief stop at home to Boram, a post-natal retreat in The Thompson Hotel. We thought long and hard about going to Boram but felt it would be a nice way to ease into life with Elle. We spent 5 nights there, and it was perfect. Their team took Elle away at night to the nursery so we could get some sleep and came to our room throughout the day to help us with any questions and get Jenn set up with foot baths. For the most part, though, we only used their team at night instead resting as a family in the hotel room and going for walks during the day. Jenn had her first glass of wine at the bar in The Thompson, and we did go away for a few dinners, including a very memorable sushi and sake night. 

And like that, 5 nights had passed, and we packed up the Mercedes and drove home. I picked up Frasier, and our family of three became a family of four. The transition home wasn’t nearly as bad as either of us thought it would be. Elle was thriving, eating well, and sleeping well, but she couldn’t get enough of her brother Frasier, who also couldn’t get enough of her. We started to find a rhythm between going on walks, getting Elle into a nap routine, and doing plenty of activities with Elle. The first few weeks at home with Elle were as good as you could ever hope for.

On Father's Day, Jenn started not feeling well; her stomach was quite upset, and she couldn’t hold down food. This was after two weeks of every day feeling better than the previous. She had a few virtual appointments, but nothing she took was helping at all. On June 22nd, it got much worse, with significant abdominal pain. She went to urgent care, which then sent her immediately to the emergency room at Mt Sinai. She was instantly admitted and underwent a barrage of testing while I was at home with Elle and Frasier. Once the testing was done, they realized that she had both E. coli and C-Diff. They told us she would be there for a few days, so I flew my parents (who were in Tucson) out earlier than their planned visit to come and help. They came the next day and spent 3 days with Elle. Jenn was finally on the road to recovery with the right medicine and was discharged a few days later. I felt so guilty for not being able to see her in the hospital, but we spent almost every minute on the phone. I’ll never forget meeting her outside Mount Sinai when she was finally released. Jenn and I are a team, and not having her home with us was so hard. 

My parents left a few days later, and Jake arrived shortly after on June 28th and spent a few days with us and meeting Elle for the first time. Jenn wasn’t fully recovered and was still eating a very restrictive diet, but the energy that being around Elle gave her was apparent. Thankfully, Elle was a fantastic sleeper, so she did give Jenn some time to try and recover from two horrific infections. The medicine helped a lot, and we even went as a family to The Met Cloisters, Elle’s first of many museums, in 2024. After doing some research, we knew that c-diff can be challenging to eradicate, which proved to be the case with Jenn. By the 12th of July, Jenn had the same symptoms and began looking for a specialist to help. She went to a handful of doctors, including one my work put us in touch with. Fortunately, all said the same thing: the next step was a heavier-duty medication. Thankfully, our insurance covered it entirely (it can be pretty expensive), and after a few days of taking it, her symptoms began to improve. Jenn ate chicken, rice, and fish for a few weeks. 

All the while, I was back at work, and Jenn was trying her best to care for Elle while dealing with her infections. Thankfully, by the end of July, she felt like she had recovered even more than after the first round of medicine. So much so that she started to get more adventurous with food, even going to Le Coucou with me for my birthday. August ended up much like what we had planned for June and July. Jenn was feeling much better, and we could enjoy being parents in New York. One of my favorite memories of the month was taking Elle to brunch in the UWS and then going to the Natural History Museum. It was one of our first “real outings” as a family, and it couldn’t have happened on a more beautiful August day. We enjoyed it so much that we went to the New York Botanical Gardens a few weeks later. 

Before Jenn got sick, we planned to hire a night nurse to watch Elle at night. But because Elle was a great sleeper and Jenn was sick, we did not go forward with it. However, one of the nannies we had interviewed was liked a lot, so we hired her part-time to come and watch Elle a few times during August so we could go out on dates. We went to see our first Broadway show as parents, Once Upon a Mattress, which was the perfect re-introduction back to live theater. August was the month we all found our stride. Jenn was feeling better, Elle was developing, and I was improving at balancing work and home. 

I left for my first work trip as a Dad on August 24th, starting in Paris and ending in London. As much as I enjoy these trips, leaving Elle made this trip nearly unbearable. I was OK for the first day or two in Paris, but I just wanted to be home when I got to London. Thankfully, Jenn’s Dad visited and spent time with Elle and Jenn while I was away. The trip went by like a flash, and I was home on Thursday morning. The next day, we packed up the Mercedes, dropped off Frasier at Camp Canine, and drove to Montreal. 

This was a trip that I’ve wanted to do since we moved to New York, and it felt like the perfect one to take with Elle. The drive to Montreal was straightforward. Elle slept almost the entire time, and we arrived there safely at 4 PM, making a few pit stops along the way. We spent the night in Montreal at The Vogue Hotel, going to the fine art museum in the morning and lunch at the Ritz before getting back in the car and driving to The Fairmont in Quebec City. What a stunning hotel/castle this turned out to be. I’m so glad we made the two-hour drive to Quebec City, which was a great surprise. Elle once again did fantastic, and by the time we had room service that night, Elle was asleep in her crib, and we were ready for two great days there. Everything went quite well for our entire time in Quebec City until the last night/morning when the fire alarm went off at 4 AM, and sure enough, there was a fire in the hotel. We spent two hours outside and in the ballroom before being let back up to our room. When we got back to our room we packed up and drove back to Montreal to the stunning Four Seasons for one last day in Montreal. 

It was a beautiful trip that proved that Jenn and I could travel with Elle, even if it were more work than before. We made memories on this trip that I’ll never forget. We arrived home on September 5th, leading us to a very busy September. I was back at work in full, and Jenn was doing the best she had been in over a year. I knew Jenn would be a great Mom, but seeing her flourish in September and fully embrace every aspect of it was beautiful. It coincided perfectly with Elle starting to mature, interact, and thrive. September was when we started to see her personality grow; smirks turned to full-blown smiles, and toys became things to interact with. 

Jake came for his second to last visit of 2024 in late September. We went out to two amazing dinners at Kono (a yakitori restaurant) and Jungsik (a two now three Michelin-starred restaurant). Outside of great food, the highlight might have been going to the US Open to play on the outer courts for an hour and a half. Talk about a dream come true. 

As Elle continued to grow, we tried to get out more and more as the year went on. That worked out great because October is by far one of the best months in New York City. We took Elle to the Central Park Zoo in early October. She slept for the first bit, but she was amazed once we got to the penguins. The zoo was much smaller than we had initially thought so that we could see it all in under two hours. The following weekend, we drove the entire family, including Frasier, an hour upstate to go apple-picking. Both Elle and Frasier loved it and were perfect the whole time. It was quite the family outing and we returned with a large bag of delicious apples that only I ate. 

The big event in October came toward the end of the month when Jenn, Elle, and I boarded a Delta flight from JFK to LAX. This was Elle’s first flight, and after finishing her bottle, she slept there. We arrived late and went to the Hyatt across the street that night before renting a car and driving to Riverside for Elle to meet her aunt, uncle, and cousins. It was a great meeting/reunion that continued for the entire week. From Riverside, we drove to Newport Beach to The Pendry, the newly opened hotel right across the street from where we lived at The Villas. We spent the week bouncing between Laguna to see Jenn’s Dad and Joan, Menifee to see my parents and grandma, and Riverside to see Amy, Ryan, and the kids. It was such an exhausting but rewarding week. To see Elle around family, smiling, and taking it all in made the long drives worth it. One of the best memories of the week was taking full family photos in Temecula that had all of us together for the first time. 

After celebrating Halloween in Fashion Island, Elle got a cold, so we had to take it easy on the last day in California before driving to LAX and flying home. The flight home was not as easy as the way in, given it was during the day, but we could keep her occupied and fed throughout. This brought us to the last few weeks of Jenn’s maternity leave. Her leave flew by, but we are grateful for the time she could take and that the last few months were mostly healthy. We went on a few dates, saw some shows, and continued to try and get Elle out as much as possible. My favorite adventure might have been to MoMa where we saw her eyes amazed at all of the world-class artwork.

After much debate, we landed on returning to Gramercy Tavern for Thanksgiving. It was a very rainy Thanksgiving, so we drove ourselves there, and while Elle did great, it made the meal a bit more stressful than last year. But now, as I sit back and look at the photos of my beautiful wife and daughter, the stress and work that went along with our exquisite three-course meal was worth it a thousand times over. The next day, we continued our day-after-Thanksgiving tradition of decorating the apartment for Christmas. We got Elle her own stocking and ornament and had her help where she could while we enjoyed champagne and popcorn. I remember talking to Jenn about what it would be like to have Elle here with us this year and it far exceeded my expectations.

I left a few days later for my last work trip of the year. This one began in London, where I arrived on Monday morning and departed for home Friday afternoon from Paris. This is always one of my busier trips of the year, and this one did not disappoint. During my trip, Jenn returned to work after 6+ months off. Being away and unable to share in this big moment for our family was hard. Fortunately, we hired Tamar as our full-time nanny for Elle, who is a phenomenal substitute. I arrived home late on Friday, and a few days later, Jenn was off to Carmel, California, for her year-end leadership meeting and I was with Elle and Frasier. It wasn’t until December 13th that the entire family was back together. 

The good news was I had the last few weeks of the year off with paternity leave, so while Jenn was back at work, I was on full-time Dad duty. It wasn’t always pretty; it wasn’t always easy, but I remember telling Jenn when the week ended that spending the week with Elle was by far the best week of my year. We went on long walks, went to the swings (her new favorite) and enjoyed playing with her toys and reading her books. That following weekend brought our first snowstorm of the year so we of course made our way to Central Park to let Frasier romp and Elle experience her first snow. 

We had an unbelievable Christmas. We decided early on that we wouldn’t travel for Christmas and that was the right decision. I loved opening gifts as a family in the morning, having a full breakfast, enjoying Christmas Vacation, and a nice Christmas dinner of short rib tagliatelle. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect Christmas. 

We closed out the year by having Jake visit again. He arrived on the 29th, and we spent most of it in or near our apartment with Elle and Frasier. We did go out and had a full day of great food, drinks, and shopping. As Elle turned 7 months old, that also ushered in the last day of the year. After much debate, we decided to stick with The Modern for our NYE dinner. Everyone got dressed up, and at 5 PM, we jumped in a taxi and made our way to midtown to enjoy their spectacular NYE dinner. This was Jake’s first time joining us for this, but it was Jenn and my fourth year in a row. The team there could not have been more accommodating of having Elle there with us, allowing us to go at our own pace while still caring for Elle. It was a tremendous evening, even better when I closed it out by watching When Harry Met Sally. 

And that is how we ended 2024. What an unforgettable year it was. I was so nervous going into this year and what it would entail. But as I write this in early 2025, I’ve never been more grateful. We have a beautiful, intelligent, kind, and funny daughter growing up before our eyes. Frasier is so good with her. He’s patient, loves to give her kisses, and is just starting to interact with her more. Jenn has been tremendous. She’s gone through so much in 2024, from being pregnant to having an emergency C-section to multiple bouts of C-diff and infections to going back to work. Through it all, we’ve remained best friends and partners on each other's side. I am so proud of how we’ve gone through 2025 together. Our relationship is stronger today than ever, and I am excited about our future. The next stop is 2025, and I can’t wait to see what’s next for our family. 

Joel

https://www.worldofjoel.com
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