Visit From Grandpa Rick and Grandma Lesley

We had a wonderful visit from Rick and Lesley this past weekend.  On Friday night, we introduced them to our favorite spicy pizza which they both really enjoyed.  Saturday we went apple and blackberry picking which was a blast.  That night we played Scrabble and Yatzee which was a total blast.  I think we need to find a local group to do game night with.   Then Sunday we fixed the hole that was accidently created in our bedroom ceiling.  While we were walking around the attic, scoping out a future ceiling fan project, Rick tripped over a pipe, missed the plank we were walking on and put his foot through the ceiling.  Once we realized that he was OK, it was actually kind of funny.  One of those events that you only see on TV.  I would post pictures but somehow Alyssa and I misplaced our camera for the weekend.  Hopefully Lesley preserves the pictures we took on their camera.  And it was interesting to learn how to drywall.  :)

Overall it was a great weekend that went by way too fast.  And we can’t wait for them to come visit again.

Bye, Dad!

Andrew is going to be out of town for work for most of the next five weeks or so.  I’m not looking forward to it and apparently neither is Julia.  Looks like he might have a tag-along!

A Rare Treat

Julia is not exactly a “cuddly” child.  She is constantly on the go and wants to be exploring, moving, or checking things out at all times.  She is not one to sit on our laps or to lay next to us in bed.  A very positive side to this for us is that she is getting very content with putting herself to sleep.  She usually lets us rock her for a few minutes while she drinks her bottle, then she pushes it away and turns her head toward her crib.  It becomes quite obvious that she would rather be in there playing with her stuffed animals than cuddling in the rocking chair with me.  So in she goes and she plays for a few minutes and then falls asleep.  Today I got a rare treat from her.  She woke up after napping for a little while and I went up to soothe her.  She was a little restless so I rocked her and she actually let me rock her for almost an hour while she slept!  Every other time I try to do this she ends up waking up within a few minutes and immediately wanting to play but today she slept peacefully in my arms.  It was definitely a highlight of my week!

Here Julia is in a much more normal pose – looking out her favorite window!

Our First Family Vacation

Everyone tells you that travel really changes after you have kids but it doesn’t really hit home until you leave home for a week with a minivan packed to the gills.  That is right Alyssa, Julia and I packed up the family van and at 3am we got in the car and headed for RI.  It was pretty amazing that we managed to get there with only 1 quick stop.  Julia did great, she and I played in the back seat while Alyssa drove the entire way!

We started off the vacation with a bang having a great lobster dinner.  Then the next day we headed over to our “beach” house (it was actually on a pond).  It was amazing, we had a great view and the house was very comfortable.  Of course, the first night we decided we just had to throw a party for all the family.  We had a huge crowd probably about 25 people.  We cooked them all hamburgers and hot dogs, and they brought sides.  It was a ton of fun and a great way to start the vacation.

Helki stayed with us for the first few days and my mother ended her New England vacation with us as well.  It was great having Alyssa’s and my family hanging out together for the week.  It really made me wish that our families lived closer together.  The rest of the vacation was a blitz of wonderful visits from Alyssa’s family.  Including several sits for Julia that allowed Alyssa and I to go out and have some wonderful dinners.

One of the highlights of the trip was our visit to the mystic aquarium.  And even though one of the employees made a warning about hanging arms and legs over the sea lions I am sure they weren’t talking to me holding Julia near the railing.  Although just to be on the safe side I moved her back some.  Anyway, it was amazing to watch Julia looking at all the fish.  It is going to continue to be such a treat to bring her to the zoo and the aquarium as she gets older.  On a different topic I really don’t see how anyone could steal a penguin, particularly a 6 year old (if you haven’t heard the story ask one of us to fill you in!).

There are a dozen other things I could talk about and maybe I will post a part 2.  In any case, we will definitely add some pictures later.  All in all it was a great first family vacation.  I wish we were still on it!

6 Months

We can’t believe it but Julia turned 6 months old this past Sunday!  While it seems like the time has flown by she has also been very busy in the past few weeks and has accomplished a few feats that make her seem older than 6 months.  She is sitting up unassisted very well but she is also pulling herself up when we hold our hands out, not just to sitting but to standing… and then taking steps!  In fact that is probably her favorite thing to do right now (well, eating might be her favorite but standing and walking is a close second!).  Here she is combining both of those activities!

On the topic of eating, Julia loves solid food and has had quite a variety of fruits and vegetables.  She especially likes peas and peaches (not together, although she’d probably like that too) and oatmeal.  She also decided that she was advanced enough to drink from a cup like Mom and Dad’s and has been practicing that as well.  She does pretty well – it’s a lot messier than the sippy cup but she has fun.

But by far the best step that Julia has taken in the last few weeks is starting to laugh.  It is the best sound in the world and I can’t get enough of it.

Julia’s Sixth Sense

Ever since Julia was born she has had the most amazing 6th sense.  However it appears this was a temporary ability and has started to weaken as she turns 6 months old.

What is this amazing ability?  Well it first manifested itself when Julia slept in the co-sleeper next to us.  She would be sound asleep while Alyssa and I got ready for bed and read our books.  But the minute I would turn my light off and lay my head down she would wake up.  She would repeat this performance 3 or 4 times before finally drifting off to sleep.  One night I “fooled” her by laying down then lifting my head and looking at her.  I saw her open her eyes look at me then quickly lay her head down.   So you might think that she was just “playing a game”.  But shortly after this we moved her into her nursery and she still managed this amazing trick for months.

The other way it manifested was at dinnertime.  Julia, who has always gone to bed early, would be fast asleep in her crib while Alyssa and I prepared dinner.  We wouldn’t hear a peep from her that entire time.  We would sit down and I would go to put the first bite of food in my mouth and she would wakeup.  The amazing part was that food preparation period would vary every night.  Sometimes it would be 10 minutes other times it would be more than an hour, her timing was always precise with my first bite of food.  Thankfully as she approaches 6 months this ability seems to be waning and I have had some hot meals.

Visitors!!

Our Fourth of July weekend was extra special this year because my sister, Merrill, and niece, Alex, came to spend the holiday with us.  It was great to see them and Julia loved spending time with her cousin and her aunt.  The girls were very cute.  They were mostly wonderful together but there were times when each seemed very unsure of what to make of another kid getting attention from their parent! 

We spent the actual holiday hanging out and relaxing.  We made chocolate covered pretzels which Alex used to gain favor with the many kids in the neighborhood at the big party that night.  Smart girl – she has learned the power of food early!  The party was a lot of fun and Julia lasted through the whole thing with just a short nap on Mom to get her second wind.  She even loved the fireworks!

 

On Sunday, Merrill was nice enough to watch both kids while Andrew and I had a dinner out together.  It was a very nice treat for us!

We were very sad to see them go on Monday but we’ll see them again soon as we’re going to be up in Rhode Island in a few weeks to spend some time at the beach.