Happy 4th of July!!

Urban Babies (Part Two)

A second edition of Ellie's urban adventures previously described here.

Urban babies know the best way to cool off is to head to the local public sprinkler playground!

Urban babies know the second best way to cool off is to eat a popsicle (in your bathing suit because it'll make a huge mess).

Urban babies know that even if you don' have a driveway, you can still make sidewalk chalk art on the wall.

Urban babies love to hang out and grill in the backyard with friends and family on hot days.

Urban babies know that putting pitted cherries on your fingers before you eat them is a fun summer treat!

Urban babies use squirt bottles full of water to beat the heat (when home from the public sprinklers and have finished your popsicle...hey! squirting yourself with water from the squirt bottle is a great way to clean up after eating the popsicle so mommy will let you back in the house!)

Celebrating my Birthday

A few weeks late, but here is a summary of how we celebrated my birthday.

The weekend before the actual date, we went strawberry picking during a local farm's Strawberry Festival. It wasn't quite as awesome as strawberry picking in previous years partly due to the horrible crop the farmers got this year (early heat wave, lots of rain, a shorter season with smaller berries) and the fact that we went at the end of the day, after the fields had been picked over. That didn't stop Ellie from trying really hard to find the berries (once we explained what she was doing there). She did actually find a few. Nick stopped her from eating the white or green ones. It was also ridiculously hot, like August in St. Louis hot, not middle of June in Boston weather.

On my birthday Aunt Susie came over for a nice dinner of pizza and cake. We did end up eating after Ellie went to bed, but we let her have some cake as her dessert too.

I actually used a mini-bundt cake pan which shapes the cakes as bugs (dragonfly, butterfly, bee, ladybug) that my mom got me for mother's day (thanks mom!). Susie, Nick, and I all decorated our own cakes before we ate them. Definitely a lot of fun.

It was a great birthday. Thanks Everyone!

Happy 29th Birthday Mommy!

Happy Birthday...now let's eat cake!

16 Months...and now a toddler

Ellie is now 16 months. In these photos she was taking her hats and sunglasses and putting them on the dolphin. She is currently really into sharing and adding accessories to her toys.

In related news, Ellie has moved up to the Toddler Room at daycare. Gone are the days of napping when she wanted to and ruling the Infant Room, but now she has more toys, more outside time on the playground, and popsicles on Fridays! The transition was a little hard for Ellie who was a little overwhelmed by the other toddlers. However, in her first full day the teachers reported that she did pretty well and her only freak-outs were when everyone was supposed to grab a handle on the rope to go outside.

Ellen now has 4 teeth! Her third tooth cme in while we were out in California and the fourth just broke through. These two have really caused her a bit of discomfort and both are on the top.

She also had a check-up with the doctor last week. She is 5th percentile in height, 95th in head circumference, and 50th in weight. That's my kid all right!

Bunker Hill Day Parade

June 17th is Bunker Hill Day, to remember the Battle of Bunker Hill in which the American's fought the British on the hill we now live on, and lost. It is a holiday within Suffolk County, which means no school (right before the end of the school year I might add) and the City takes a break. The Sunday before the holiday Charlestown celebrates with a fantastically long parade.

We have been to the parade several times before, but never with a toddler in tow. This was the first year we realized how long it actually was (over 90 minutes). The parade is filled with local ROTC, politicians, local bands, every town's reenactment group, and several bagpipe groups, of course along with the fire trucks and police cars. Some of the highlights to include the entire crew (minus those still watching the ship) of the USS Constitution, the model of the USS Constitution, and the Friends of Charlestown Dog Parks (if you are Ellie and currently fascinated by dogs).

Oh yeah, even the "Red Coats" came out for the parade.

Surf, Sand, and Tangerines!

Yep we went to Santa Barbara, California a couple weeks ago. We all had a blast hanging out with family and celebrating birthdays and anniversaries! My grandparents (and parents) really enjoyed visiting with Ellie and were fascinated at how much she had changed since they last saw her at Christmas.

Again, Ellie proved to us that she is a real trooper when travelling. Our flight leaving Boston was delayed by over 2 hours. We were supposed to leave right after her typical bedtime, but the little girl was up till after 9:45pm! She had fun running around the waiting area and making friends with a couple other over-exhausted toddlers. Her favorite place though, was the "make sure your carry-on fits" stand!

Ellie loved running around my grandma's backyard. My parents yard is a little full of trees, vegetable and herb gardens, and flowers. But Grandma Dolly has wide open grass areas! At my other grandparent's place, Ellie enjoyed the fish pond, although I was paranoid they would jump out and get her (or she would fall in trying to hug them)! These Koi were literally as big as she was! But her Grandpa kept her safe.

While out in Santa Barbara we couldn't let Ellie miss the sights! She visited the Mission, the zoo, the beach, and ate some terrific Mexican food! The zoo was awesome, I mean where else can you see the giraffes and ocean at the same time? Ellie wasn't a fan of the beach. She didn't walking in the sand at all (one day Ellie...). And the famous "June gloom" made for the visit a little chilly (but we didn't stress out too much about sunburns!) And the Mexican food, well we already knew she loved beans, cheese, and tomatoes, so it wasn't that much of a leap!

Although, I think her favorite things about California were playing with my old wagon and eating tangerines fresh off my grandma's tree! She loved riding in, pushing people in, and pulling the wagon. She was so sad to leave it behind! The tangerines! She couldn't get enough. We even let her (with a little help!) take them off the tree herself.

 

 

But the best part about visiting Santa Barbara, was seeing Ellie with my grandparents. Grandpa Van just turned 90 and Ellie even shared her (well, my dad's) ducks! Ellie loved showing how to care for her baby doll with Grandma Dolly. And Ellie would lead Grandma Van around outside!

 

We all had a terrific time and can't wait to visit everyone next time!