The Holidays!

So since we only spend the first two weeks of December at home (before we travel to VT and ME) we (mainly me) try to pack in the holiday cheer while in CT. So, last weekend, I had high hopes that Alice would help me bake some cranberry bread. After snapping a few early pictures, she really lost interest, and I lost my little helper to other more engaging activities!


The next day we celebrated the holidays with the youngest of the KO community. Alice had a great time decorating a bag and had much less fun visiting with Santa. Even through the blurry picture you can tell it wasn't a hit!


The only other thing to report is that Alice's hair can now, officially, be pulled back into a ponytail. I think it makes her look a lot older! Here are a few pics.



Tomorrow is our last day of daycare until after the new year. We are looking forward to spending the weekend at home and then heading to VT on Sunday.

Lookin' Good!

Alice looked pretty sharp for school today! She donned a new pair of uggs and a new sweater for no special reason. I thought she looked pretty cute so here is a picture from this morning.


Don't hate me for posting this next picture. She is just too funny when she gets worked up. And I did give her a hug immediately after snapping this!


Everything is ok. We are back to pretending to eat out of our cup!


We go in for her 18 month appointment tomorrow. We'll let you know how it goes!

Holiday fun!

Alice had a great Thanksgiving holiday in Maine. We were able to spend several days up there and she had a great time. She was obsessed with opening and shutting the doors to the kitchen and library which became a little tiresome for us, obviously not for her! Now that we are home and she doesn't have doors to open and close, she is shutting herself in the closet!! So funny.

Here are a few pictures from Thanksgiving. Alice was dressed up in a cute corduroy dress. She didn't seem to mind the shoes either. We had a great meal (of which Alice ate very little - however she did enjoy a huge piece of chocolate cake!!).


Over the weekend we stopped by Nini's and had a great visit. Alice loved the swing by the window and made Nini read her one of her favorite books several times! She also really loved the stairs to the kitchen!


Alice enjoyed hanging out with her cousins who are getting so big! Lauren was very tolerant of Alice and Ryan stealing toys from her. Alice and Ryan will definitely come to blows over Christmas...it's just a matter of time!


Alice wasn't quite sure what to make of the Christmas tree. She didn't really get the concept of leaving the ornaments up to hang. She thought they were put up, to then immediately take down. Thus, the bare bottom third of the tree.

WNBA future star?

What a nice weekend!

We had a great weekend in CT. It was so nice to have the weekend at home to get things done and to enjoy the beautiful weather. Saturday was gorgeous. Alice and I went on a long walk around the neighborhood. She is a great walker. The loop we did is over a mile and she walked almost all of it! Then we had a nice family dinner where Alice actually ate what she was served, including her vegetables!

Sunday was really fun for me and Alice. Reeves had an open house at school, so of course, we girls went shopping! On our way to the Toys R Us, we stopped at a nice park and walked around and ate our snack. I snapped these pictures while we were hanging out on the park bench!





On our list of things to buy was a basketball hoop! Alice's friend Cam had a great one and I decided it was time to get Alice practicing!! We had lots of fun playing with this - dunking and exclaiming, "YES," with our hands up in the air! I think I like the hoop more than Alice... :)



We are gearing up for a busy week. I fly out on Wednesday for a conference and Reeves has playoffs for soccer starting Wednesday. Sue is planning a trip down to help out, thank goodness! I'll be gone until late Sunday so I'm a bit nervous that Alice won't recognize me when I come back! Usually when I leave it means I give up my Mommy's girl status and she becomes a Daddy's girl for at least 2 weeks. Oh, the sacrifices for work!

Have a great week!

Not much news to report...

It was a good week. Alice is doing great. Not much to report other than her hair is getting longer. Check out the pic with her new half up do! Reeves doesn't have a game this weekend so we are looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend at home.

Happy Halloween!

What a weekend! We had such fun visiting family in VT. It was a fun filled weekend with no lack of activities. Saturday we had a nice leisurely morning and then a jam packed afternoon with Spooktacular festivities in town, followed by the opening of the bridge, capped off by fireworks and cake in the evening. Alice wore her cousin's pumpkin suit for the big day. She was fairly accommodating, allowing us to put her in the suit and pants, but put her foot down when we tried to get her to wear the pumpkin hat. She still looked pretty cute!

Having a great time with Aunt Kristi outside the food tent, just before the parade.

Lots of excitement over the bridge opening! Love this picture!

Alice walked like this all the way back to the car (maybe half a mile). She was very content, just holding our hands and blabbing to herself the whole way.

Two happy girls!

Alice was mesmerized by the candles!

To cap off the weekend we were able to cheer on the field hockey team to victory over Middlebury. Alice showed her spirit with her beautiful "T" sweater, courtesy of Michelle's grandmother. It was so cute and will surely be a winter favorite this year!

Weekend Visitors!

Alice had a great weekend with her Maine grandparents! We had fairly good weather so we were able to go for nice walks both Saturday and Sunday. Alice was great. She loves walking on the trails on her own and gets a little side tracked checking out the acorns!

She's had a good week at daycare. She continues to get good daily reports, but I'm pretty sure they don't ever send bad ones! Either way she seems happy to be dropped off in the morning and happy when I pick her up so things must be going well! The latest development is her desire to climb anything and everything. We are on our toes trying to keep her from a major tumble!!


Alice loves to hold hands while walking...most of the time! She is cute about reaching for your hand when she wants it. Once she grabs a hold, she has a pretty good grip!

Showing Grandma Sue one of her favorite toys. She's really into her toys these days. Her attention span continues to impress me!

I forced everyone into this shot!! While I didn't get full cooperation from Alice, it's still really cute!

We had a great weekend. Kristi came up to visit from Philly which was so great. Alice warmed up to her quickly and they had lots of fun hang time! Alice is continuing to work on her words. She really likes "NO" but we are trying to encourage an equal amount of "YES." She also likes to say "oh no" and "uh oh" and other funny things. She has added "up" and "down" to her list of words but what's really exciting is her comprehension. She really seems to understand what I'm saying when I say "It's time for a bath"or "it's time to go outside." When it's bath time, she finds her towel and drags it to the bottom of the stairs. When it's time to go outside she reaches for my hand and walks me to the door. It's the cutest. Here are some recent pics!


Alice enjoyed playing with our weekend visitor!


Our first attempt at a pony tail!!

Enjoying some free time with Daddy!

Pumpkin Patch

Grandma Carolyn came down for Sunday and Monday which was awesome. Reeves and I both had Monday off so we kept Alice home from daycare and enjoyed a long weekend. It was a gorgeous fall weekend in CT! We took full advantage and went to the local pumpkin patch on Sunday. So many pumpkins...so many people! But the free hayride was great! Alice didn't show much interest in the pumpkins but it gave us a chance to walk around outside and enjoy the beautiful weather.












We played outside while Reeves raked some leaves. Alice liked kicking the leaves while walking but was less enthusiastic when the leaves were piled high. She is pretty funny. She loves to walk outside but also likes to take off for the road any chance she gets. We are going to really have to watch this one! In between her trying to make a run for it, we had a pretty good time outside!! She played with some pine cones and got sticky fingers!

Making a run for it before Reeves caught up!




Lastly, Alice is finally a Kookaburra (that's the name of her new room)! She has successfully (well, that depends on your definition) transitioned to the toddler room. While she was in tragic tears this morning when I dropped her off, she does seem to enjoy this new setting when she gets settled in. Today is her first full day there. I'll let you know how it goes.

One more thing...I know I told many of you how I was worried about Alice's lack of words. Well, she has several now! She says "Hi," "Yay"(with clapping) "Agua" (our lovely multicultural daycare can take credit for that!) and "All Done" (while signing). She also can say her name which is really sweet. She is also really expressing herself. Just this morning, when she clearly didn't want to be dropped off at school, she took my hand and guided me to the coat rack, basically telling me, "get my stuff and let's go!" Very funny girl!

Alice loves yogurt!

Besides just loving the taste of yogurt (she has it at least twice a day) Alice loves the independence of feeding herself this gloopy goo. Here is a clip from a month ago when she first fed herself this delightful treat. Pretty funny! Thought it was worth a post...

Cousin Fun!

We had a great weekend visit from the Quinns (minus Josh). Jenn came down with Cooper and Isabel on Friday and stayed through the weekend. It was a great chance for the cousins to catch up while also helping us manage our last weekend conflict with games. We were grateful to Jenn for taking all three munchkins for a good portion of the day while we took care of our various obligations. While I was on the sidelines of the field hockey game, Jenn had the kids hanging out in the shade for a halftime picnic! It was a total kiddy corner, as Cameron Catarazolo joined them for a good chunk of the game. Afterward we checked out the local Canton library and found a new playground that Cooper and Isabel really enjoyed. It was a bit too big for Alice so she and I just ran around on the soccer field. Sunday we took the Quinns to our favorite playground - that's where most of the pictures are from. While the kids were a little sleep deprived on Saturday, they generally got along really well and had a ton of fun playing together! We are looking forward to hanging out again soon!
Bath Time! It was a little crowded but tons of fun!

Cookies after dinner. Alice had her first chocolate chip cookie and loved it! Cooper and Isabel were pretty pleased as well. Cooper even snuck an extra one before we moved them out of reach!


At the playground on Sunday morning. We had a great time playing and exploring the path to the soccer fields. It was a perfect morning activity before the Quinns hit the road to go back to Midd.

Alice thought this was a fun position on the swing. A little odd if you ask me...

Quinn group hug!
Alice being Alice...

The gang!