Second Child Syndrome

Poor Isabel...second child syndrome.  We've been preparing Isabel for her transition to preschool which will happen in the next couple months.  Everyone's very excited for this to happen.  Isabel has just started to show interest in learning her letters (she's known how to sing the alphabet for a while, but is quite interested in her name now).  And to my dismay, I realized that when Cooper started preschool, he knew a lot of his letters, especially those that spelled his name (due to lots of practice and undivided attention from his parents)!   But she's proven to be a quick learner and with just a few practices, she just about knows how to spell her name and identify the letters.  (We have an awesome letter mat which is so fun to learn with- I highly recommend to all parents of young children)!  Had to put in another video of Emma talking, though she seems to be doing a bit less in the last few days.  I think she knows something's going to be changing soon.  We've been taking her to daycare a few times for short visits, and hoping that she makes a smooth transition!  

Surprise!

This past weekend we threw a surprise (and early) 60th birthday party for Gogo.  It was also the weekend of the Gordie Perine Alumni Tourney and all the family was planning to be in town, so we thought it would be good timing for an early celebration.  It was a beautiful weekend with lots of sun and fun!  We hosted everyone here and even got in a celebration for cousin Eva who turned 2 last week.  The cousins continue to love each other and get along really well.  Can't wait for the next two to be born!

The party-goers awaiting Gogo's arrival at the party

Double-fisting! 

A Dora Happy Birthday banner for Gogo and Eva! 

Just a couple of the photos we had around the house

Dad and his siblings (minus Perry who couldn't make it).  We had a golf themed party and encouraged costumes!  

The "Canoe Group"

The (early) Birthday Boy! 

Love

 The kids are so fun right now.  We're all enjoying the end of summer.  Everyone's back at school and daycare so we're enjoying being back on a schedule.  2 more weeks and counting for me to get back to work.  Here are some recent photos.  Emma is just growing up way too fast.  She's so expressive now and is cooing and talking constantly.  She's happiest when she just sitting with someone who's paying attention to her and having a conversation.  

 

      

                                         

                                                  

Visit from Aunt Cary

  We were lucky to have a short but sweet visit from Aunt Cary on Wednesday night.  She was in Burlington for a few days for work, and was kind enough to drive down and have dinner with me and the kids on Wednesday.  It was also Josh's night for class, so I was especially happy to have the company and extra hands!  Cooper showed off his dance moves for her and she got some good Emma holding time!

                                       






Ever since seeing his cousin Ryan do his dance to Dynamite, Cooper has been obsessed.  He can now open iTunes and play Dynamite on his own, which I'm not so sure is a good thing...

Labor Day Weekend

We had a great Labor Day weekend.  We were supposed to have my cousin Will's men's night at deer camp, and his fiance's wedding shower for the ladies last weekend, but it was rescheduled for this weekend due to Hurricane Irene.   It was a wonderful surprise to have Kate and Alice here again for a couple nights. They have been such trooper's to spend so much time here this summer, despite Kate being ready to pop with baby #2!  The kids have so enjoyed getting to play with their cousin Alice so much.  Isabel now refers to her as "Alice, my best friend!"  So cute!  The boys had a great time Saturday night at camp and us girls had a great time at Joanne's to celebrate Jane and her upcoming wedding!  All the girls, (Isabel, Alice and Emma) were all very well behaved.  Emma seems to be getting out of her crankiness and blood curdling screaming which is very nice!  It was a phase that didn't last too long, but a week or two is long enough!

Cooper on his way to camp.  Full camo with his new Thomas the Train boots!  

"Tough guy" pose

It was quite a warm afternoon/evening for the shower.  We can unprepared without bathing suits, but Joanne was kind enough to lend me and Casey her old ones so we could cool off with the girls. 

Happy!  

On Saturday morning, we went and picked the first apples of the season.  It was a lot of fun and we even made applesauce later that weekend.

Happy Valley Orchard

Tuckered out by the end of the adventure

Gumma and the kiddies

My pretty girl

My handsome boy

The crew (including 8 1/2 month pregnant Kate)! 

We had a great visit with Great-great grandma Momere.  Emma was very content in her arms.  She's held quite a few babies in her time!  She has not lost her touch!

A happy mama!  

We wrapped up the weekend with a large gathering of about 10 kids and 30 adults on Sunday night at our house.  While it was quite a zoo, it was a lot of fun to catch up with friends that we haven't seen much this summer.  Needless to say, I didn't get a chance to take many pictures until the end of the night when we were left with just the Brushs for some down time before bed.  

And finally, Emma is growing quickly.  About 2/3 of the time she sleeps through the night (about 10 hours), and has become more easy going.  She's taking the bottle a lot better, now that we've found the right one for her (which I think is contributing to less gas, therefore less of the fussiness).   She's started to sit in the Bumbo, and is also starting to use her hands to knock the hanging toys on her playmate.  I am going to try to savor (and relax) a bit with her for the last few weeks before I go back to work!

Cousins!

Story time in Alice's room

The "twins", Emma and Janet

I'm very late in my posts, as we've had a very busy few weeks.  We enjoyed having all the family in town again for Jody and Kyle's wedding.  The kids and I went to pick up Alice and Kate in Connecticut to bring them to Middlebury because Kate had to get here earlier than Reeves was able to.  We had a very fun sleepover at their house and then lots of good cousin time the rest of the weekend.  It was great to have cousin Eva here too as the kids just love their cousins.  The wedding was great, but unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from that!  The kids were all with babysitters (including Emma), so I was just enjoying my hands-free time!   Here are some pictures from the weekend!

Making spaghetti sauce!