"Fiesty Alice"

Alice has taken on several nicknames in the last couple of months. She started out as "Fierce Alice" mainly because of her very red and angry fussy face. This was also referred to as the "angry gnome face." Here is a shot of this from a few weeks ago:
Recently, I would characterize her as "Fiesty Alice" as she continues to move and squirm with real gusto! In the picture sequence below you'll see her in her scratching/clawing phase. When fussy, she loves to grab and claw at the face/hair. You'll see a victimized father in this sequence...hysterical!
Another emerging activity for her is sucking on her hand. While she still refuses the pacifier, she has at least developed the hand sucking to soothe her during fussy moments. It's quite amusing to hold her and all of a sudden hear a lip smacking sound and realize she is basically trying to swallow her little fist. Here are a few examples below:
If you're concerned for us that most of her nicknames involve a description of her fussy behavior, you should be! She has certainly kept things interesting for her folks in these last couple of months and we are anticipating more of the same as she continues to grow!

Smiley Face

Alice is beginning to smile with some frequency which is so exciting. Her little smile is adorable and makes up for some non-smiley faces that often occur in the middle of the night! It's difficult to capture all of the cuteness of her smile with the camera but here are a couple of attempts. Hope they make you smile!

Weekend on the Vineyard!

Alice survived the second bachelorette weekend of her young life as we celebrated Leah's upcoming wedding out on the Vineyard this past weekend. She was the life of the party upon our arrival - dancing on the counter tops and wearing these very stylish sunglasses. (note her displeasure!)

The best part of the weekend for little Alice was having the chance to spend some quality time with her grandmother. Grandma Carolyn was able to attend the weekend as well and THANK GOODNESS. We would not have been able to enjoy the weekend to the extent that we did, without her. Alice loved seeing her grandmother and even more, loved being with her at such a beautiful place. The Cumsky-Whitlocks have an amazing place on the Vineyard!

Chapes and Alice cuddling Saturday morning. They are quickly becoming great buddies!

Alice continues to impress me with her ability to move comfortably from place to place without being a total wreck - far from it. While she has still been struggling with some gas issues, she really has been an easy traveler and has embraced her surroundings. We are hoping to get to Maine and Vermont once more this summer so hopefully she will continue to accommodate!

On the Ferry headed home!

This last picture is from Alice today. She found a funny sleeping position early this morning after a difficult night of sleeping. We are hoping that her sleeping routine will start to figure itself out very soon...!

Back in CT!

It's been a busy couple of weeks in the life of Alice as she made her first visits to Maine and Boston. We spent a week in Brunswick visiting family and then capped off our vacation by spending the weekend in Boston for Aunt Karen's baby shower.

Me and Alice - there is a hint of a smile there!

Alice continues to have new "firsts" every day. While in Maine she had her first boat ride out to the island. She was a trooper - her life jacket was nearly as big as she was but she handled the ride with great ease. While most of the pictures show an unhappy girl, she did calm down and enjoyed most of the ride!

Grandma Sue kept Alice a little happier on her return trip!

On the island Alice practiced her observation skills. She is becoming more and more alert everyday - her stare is impressive!

Alice looking wide eyed up at her Grandfather



Alice made her first furry friend when she met Terra for the first time. While Alice couldn't actually play with Terra (much to Terra's disappointment), they had a good time getting acquainted with one another.

Terra was really optimistic that Alice would throw the ball for her !

Alice meeting her Great Grandmother Patricia for the first time!

Our trip to Boston was another great family occasion for Alice. While she did sleep through most of the baby shower, she had some great time with her cousin Isabel in the morning. Alice was a little bigger for their meeting this time and didn't look quite so small in comparison to her older cousin. She really seems to enjoy her time with Isabel, as it was one of the only ways to comfort her during her fussy moments.

Alice and Isabel enjoying some time together side by side

Kristi and Alice hanging out in Kristi's apartment before the shower!

Alice with her VT Grandparents!

Alice continues to grow at a rapid rate and we are just loving all of these new developments. She is starting to smile on a regular basis and we are really excited to see more of her happy face (and less of the fussy one!). She is an active little one and is keeping us on our toes as she grows!

Alice working on her observation skills - looking out at the view from the Island

Hi everyone. Here are just a couple of pictures from today. Alice has been sleeping the day away after being up for a good portion of last night. We are a little fearful of a repeat performance tonight... On the right she is napping next to Reeves during a mid-afternoon hail/thunderstorm.

Alice has been well outfitted by her Trinity lacrosse family. On the left you can see her onesie from Mish - 'just hatched' - our little baby Bant! She's also wrapped up in a cute, and very soft blanket from Bruno. Alice is really looking forward to meeting all of her Trin Lax buddies.

Hello to VT Relatives

Good morning, everyone! I am having a great Monday. I just spent some time in my bouncy seat and now I'm playing on my play mat (playing consists of squirming, grunting and heavy breathing!). I wanted to give a shout out to my relatives in VT who gave me this great onesie. It's my favorite!

My First Blog!

Welcome to all things Alice! Since her birth (exactly 5 weeks ago) CT feels further away than ever before! Facing the reality that we will not be able to visit VT and ME as much as we'd like to (and rather than flood your email inbox with big pictures) we thought we would follow Jenn's lead and create a blog to keep you posted on the recent life happenings of our little Alice.

She has had a monumental first month of life. It took her less than 2 weeks to attend her first party - Aunt Kristi's bachelorette! Shortly after this first road trip, we ventured to VT for the first time. Alice loved meeting all of her Aunts and Uncles and of course loved meeting her Great Grandmothers.

Alice with her Great Great Grandmother Momere - quite a pair!

She had a particularly great time at Kristi's wedding, getting to spend time with her Grandparents and having a chance to meet more family members. Isabel and Alice had quite a bonding experience over the weekend, holding hands while sharing floor space and dressing like twins for the big event!

Alice and Cousin Isabel at a post reception photo shoot!

While Alice loved all the excitement of the family wedding, she was excited to get back home. Here are some pics of her first bath and our very low key 4th of July weekend.

Alice's first bath!

Dressed up in a cute outfit from Pam and Mark!

Alice and Reeves at Nod Brook Park