Happy 60th Birthday Grandpa!

Practice makes perfect...maybe next year I'll be able to play "Happy Birthday" for you.

19 Months!

This month...Ellie wanted Baby to ride on the dolphin and join in the photo shoot!

Apple Picking!

This past weekend, with the very slightest hint of a chill in the air, we all headed out to the orchard (about 20 miles out of the city) for an afternoon fun of apple picking. Due to the weird weather of the New England this summer (drought followed by very heavy rains) the apple season was moved up a few weeks. So, without sweaters on, we headed out to pick our peck of apples!

The orchard was a lot of fun. Besides the Gala, Cortland, and Mcintosh apples ripe for picking, the farm also offered cider donuts, cider, hayrides, hay maze, and a petting zoo. Ellie adored the goats, sheep, and llama and couldn't get enough of them. However, she was a little too little and young for the hayride and maze.

We also discovered that Ellie can and loves to eat her own apples. She actually ate two (!) by herself while we were at the orchard.

Since we got to go apple picking so early this year and Aunt Susie missed the visit, we are hoping to get out there again for some Red Delicious, or Yellow Delicious, or to pick our pumpkin!

Last Days of Summer

Over Labor Day weekend, we opted to explore a wading pool/playground on the Esplanade along the Charles River. Its a shame that we didn't learn of or head to this park earlier in the summer. It took Ellie a little while to warm up to the wading pool...but she had a blast once she ventured in.

Yep, that's the Zakim Bridge right behind us!   And that's the Charles River!

Be There or Be Square!

EAT at ELLIE'S!

If you don't like our food.. Daddy will eat it for you.

Our basement renovation is done and Ellie's Diner is open for business. Thank you very much to Grandma & Grandpa Harrer for offering to get Ellie this '50s diner playset. She has a lot of fun dancing to the juke box's music, making and pouring imaginary coffee, and frying up everything from hamburgers to slices of pie to scoops of ice cream. She likes sitting on the bench and "eating" a bit more. I must say, though, the cheese is a bit too realistic in its look and feel. She tries biting a piece off of it pretty much every time we're down there.

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Here's a look at our new-look basement. Those orange walls are all new, as are the closet doors. All the boxes that used to be strewn about are now neatly packed in the four feet of space between the walls and the basement's *actual* wall. We have less space, but a lot more useable space.. and it looks a lot bigger even though it isn't. Eventually there will be Ellie toys on those bookshelves, as there are in the little, tiered white bin-holding shelves.

You'll also notice Annie's birthday present -- a full-sized (88 keys) digital piano. The keys have the feel and weight of an actual piano, but this thing can do all the fancy stuff keyboards can.. with over 600 different sound settings, stored beats, the option to record your playing, etc.

Needless to say we're no longer reluctant to spend time downstairs. It's cooler than the rest of the house (speaking of temperature) and now that the boxes are properly stored it's a fun place to be.

Perhaps I'll even have some of the guys over for a proper poker game one of these days...

Lord Stanley, We Meet at Last

Thanks to a friend from the WHDH softball team (he's good friends with former Blackhawks Assistant Coach.. and current Atlanta Thrashers Associate Head Coach John Torchetti).. I was able to hoist the Stanley Cup over my own head just as I'd watched my beloved Blackhawks do only months before -- for the first time in 49 years.


This was during Coach Torchetti's day with the cup in his hometown of Marshfield, MA. He's the one serving me the best Bud Light I've ever tasted in my life.

GO 'HAWKS! (How about another round in '11?)

Busy Bee

Wow how fast time flies. Ellie is now 18 months old and she is developing by leaps and bounds. A quick summary of some of the latest things going on with her:

• She has 6 teeth and is currently working on getting the 7th (lower left) and the 8th (her first molar). It's pretty evident when shes teething as she gets frustrated REALLY easy and is on edge.
• She won't eat meat...well only if we kinda trick her with chicken tortellini otherwise she picks out the meat and throws it on the floor. But she LOVES tofu and black beans.
• She is very attached to her baby. She has a baby doll that she loves. She loves feeding (with and without putting on a bib), dressing, undressing, pushing her in a stroller, reading to, carrying around, and anything that comes with a baby or baby doll.
• She is currently working really hard on mastering taking off and putting back on her shoes.
• Her love for her baby doll translates to love of any baby that she sees.
• She is starting to run, skip, and trying really hard to jump
• Her vocabulary is increasing daily. Everyday she has a new word. Some of her new favorites are, "me", "mine", "off", "shirt", "shoes", "Elmo", and "hello". She will point to something and ask for a word and then once you give it to her she practices it over and over and over.
• She has started combining words such as, "bye bye baby", "dada shirt", and "shoes off"
• She eats corn off of the cob! Seriously!
• She's getting better and better at using a spoon and fork to eat. Its still a bit messy, but practice makes perfect...

• She is shy around adults and waits for cues from us when in a group setting. She is shy in large kid groups, but if there is only one or two other kids on the playground, she will go and say "hi".
• She enjoys dancing! Put on music and she will dance for you. She has a handful of moves including, "raising the roof".
• She is thriving in daycare and gets so excited to see her friends. The teachers at daycare call her "Goldilocks" and tells us everyday what a happy kid she is and how she makes them smile and laugh (mostly having to do with water play or the baby dolls they have there).
• Books are probably her favorite toy (besides the baby doll). She loves to "read" and be read to.
• She is a fairly light sleeper and we have never been sucessful in moving a sleeping girl from her carseat to her bed. In fact, if you stop the car she will wake up!

She's growing so fast and her personality is so fun to watch develop. She is so much fun and has the best laugh! And yes, she still has dimples!