Summer Fun!

Alice has grown SO much over the last month. She is walking like a champ these days. Almost running now that she has established better balance with her walking. She is nonstop from when she wakes up until when we put her to bed. But, because she can move so independently, she is actually much easier to entertain. She is becoming a little kid right before our eyes!

I was reminded of this at lunchtime today. I went to feed her at daycare and my heart melted when I entered the room and she was sitting like a big girl at the table with all the older boys, eating her puffs. No high chair for this growing girl! But, the highlight of the meal was 2/3rds of the way through lunch, when she became quite fussy. I thought she was just tired so I stopped trying to feed her yogurt. Well, apparently, she was just annoyed at me trying to feed her. As soon as I dropped the spoon, she picked it up and started to feed herself! She had obviously been watching the big boys and felt that she could do just as much as they could. From then on, she had a white knuckle grip of the spoon and was annoyed even when I tried to tilt her yogurt so that it was easier to spoon out! Watch out...this girl knows what she wants! And right now, she wants to be a big girl, which is pretty cool. Loving her independence!

Here are some pictures of our recent trip to Maine. We had such a great time with the Perines and the Ryans. It was so disappointing not to have the Quinns join us. Poor Isabel just couldn't kick her fever. We are hoping for a complete gathering next summer! The highlight of the weekend for the adults was the lobster (except for Karen and Reeves who enjoyed grill food instead!). But the highlight for the little girls was the whale pool! It received tons of action all weekend (even by a raccoon on the last night!).

Summer begins!

Hi everyone! Sorry for the lapse in posts. We have been busy, busy, settling into our summer routine. Reeves just started his summer course at Wesleyan and my recruiting schedule is finally calming down. However, we have a busy month of July ahead as we are hoping to visit relatives in Maine and Vermont. I think we will be traveling for the next three weekends, starting today as we head to Brunswick in the late afternoon.

Alice has been SO much fun after hitting her one year mark. She is beginning to walk which is really cool. We also can tell that she's really processing things. For example, when she used to run into things with a walker toy she would instantly get upset and frustrated. Now, she completely understands how to maneuver the toy to change direction so that she can stay on the move. We are especially excited about this bit of understanding as it has translated into fewer bouts of expressed frustration!!

Alice's hair has been growing too, which is pretty fun. At daycare, they gave her a little sprout pony tail. I thought it was cute so here it is!

We just got back from visiting Jody in Spencer, MA. What was really fun about our trip was taking Alice to the playground for the first time. The weather has been so hot and humid in CT, that the only outside activity we've really been able to do is hang out in the kiddy pool. But with a nice cool day at Jody's we took advantage and found a local playground. Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera but Alice loved it! We had a great time! Reeves and I have since checked out a few local playgrounds near us so I think we have some fun play time ahead!

She's ONE (and then some...)!

So Alice has had an eventful couple of weeks. We went to Vermont to have an early birthday celebration with all the VT relatives! It was a hot few days but tons and tons of fun. We had lots of pool time and a little bit of cake too!




The first cupcake (BEFORE...)


AFTER!!


On Alice's REAL birthday we were excited to drop her off at daycare so she could celebrate with her buddies at Trinity. That was not to be, as we discovered the night before her bday that she had spiked a fever. After being under the weather for her birthday, we visited the doctor the following day for her 1 year check up. We then discovered, not only did she have a fever, she had a mild case of croup and a bad ear infection in her left ear. YIKES! For a girl who hadn't been sick much in the first year of her life, she sure made up for it!


The real birthday (she wouldn't even eat her cupcake!)


Check out those shades! Thanks Rob and Joanne!


Alice couldn't go to daycare at all last week but is happy to be back today. She is now on a two day/week schedule, going on Tuesday and Thursdays. I'm loving the extra time with Alice, although a week straight with no daycare and a sick girl was a little exhausting!

Birthday present from Michelle. Her very own cell phone!


She LOVES it!


All is well (at last!). Reeves wraps up with school this week. We are excited for summer!

The Stairs!

Alice with the newspaper!

Alice Update

Random Pics

Hi Everyone! Yes, Alice still exists...despite not updating the blog she is growing and changing all the time. Almost immediately following her crawling, she began pulling herself up on everything and walking while holding on to the wall, the couch, the table, etc. She now can CRUISE up the stairs which is pretty frightening. We are baby proofing like crazy and are just barely able to keep her from really staying out of trouble.

The season came to an end on Sunday, unfortunately. I am, however, very excited to start to spend my days with Alice as she approaches her 1st birthday. No plans for the occasion yet but we are excited about this milestone.

Here are some random shots of her. I can't get over her camera face. She is too funny.