First Shots

Emma had her 2 month checkup today.  Mommy has been a little concerned with the difficulty of getting Emma to have good eye contact over the last couple weeks.  However, she has quite improved over the last week (probably from not being put down at all during our vacation in Virginia, thanks to so much doting family), but I still mentioned it to the doctor.  As I was expressing my concern, Emma was busy looking the medical student (who happens to be our friend Amanda!) directly in the eyes and smiling.  She then proceeded to turn her head and look directly into the doctor's eyes and smile again.  That little rascal!!!  Apparently she was just pulling mommy's leg and is now easily engaged and quite smily.  The doctor said she is very socially engaging for a 2 month old!  I guess she put me in my place!

She's 13 lbs, 5 oz, and in the 95th% for both weight and height.  Yes, she is growing quite well!   The rest of Emma's checkup was great (minus the shots at the end).   If you've ever heard Emma cry, she can really put her voice to good use.  I've done many shots with my kids in the past, but this was by far the worst/loudest reaction I've heard yet.  Emma's scream was SO loud I am surprised that Josh didn't hear it in Burlington.  Her face was so red from not breathing I thought her eyes might pop out!  Fortunately I was able to nurse her and calm her down quickly, but it was quite an insult on the ears.  I think I'll send Josh for the next round of shots!

All wiped out! 

The band-aids to prove it!  

Sam and Blankie

About 3 weeks ago, Cooper forgot to bring his blankie and teddy bear "Sam" to school with him.  This was a pretty big event as those two accessories go almost everywhere with Cooper especially if he's going to be sleeping.  But he did indeed forget them one day and as I noticed this in the car on the way to school, I prayed he would not remember until after I dropped him off, so I could avoid the meltdown.  (I know, real nice of me).  When I picked him up that day, I asked him if he forgot something and he nonchalantly said "Sam and blankie", and that was it!  He ended up forgetting them a couple more times and then one morning I said I guess you don't need them at school anymore.  And he surprisingly agreed!  I was just thankful to have just a little less stuff to haul around with us.  Unfortunately as a result of Sam being home alone during the day, he lost an ear.  That's right, Sadie chewed off Sam's ear.  Sadie didn't rip off the head, or pull out the stuffing, just nipped off his ear, with a very clean cut!  Sadly, Cooper was quite devastated for one evening, but has recovered quickly and now he just has his blankie for sleeping.  Josh said we could look for another teddy bear for him, but I discouraged it as there are too many things to keep track of with these kids!  So yes, a selfish reason, for sure.  RIP Sam...

Casey & Marc's wedding

Last weekend we celebrated a wonderful family event- Casey & Marc's wedding.  It was a beautiful and special setting at the family/friends sugarhouse in the woods.  It was a hot day, but a fun and memorable one no less.  Casey looked stunning (unfortunately don't have a good picture to post as I didn't bring my camera with me!), but take my word for it!  Despite the 90 degree heat, the dance floor was packed the whole night.  The kids had an absolute blast dancing, literally until we left for home after 9 pm.  Emma as usual was a very good little girl, and we got lots of great help from people holding her, especially her Gramma Joycie!  As you can see from the pictures, Isabel and Alice LITERALLY held hands or at least were by each other's side the whole night.  It was quite sweet.  We also loved playing with cousin Eva, but getting a picture of her is a little more difficult as she is in CONSTANT motion!!!   Perhaps the best part of the night was in the very beginning of the night when Isabel went up to Josh and said (in her sweet little high pitched voice) "Daddy, will you dance with me?"  So Isabel and Daddy the dance floor to themselves for a very special dance.  Josh was choking back the tears (as was I) it was so sweet!  Check out the videos and pictures below!   Actually the videos took too long to upload so below are the You Tube links.

 Great Gramma Joycie and sweet Emma

Mommy and her favorite boy

Cheers!!!  I came prepared with champagne to share!  I waited 9 months for this!!  (And it was good!)

The "special" dance

BFFs

Yes, she was awake for some of the wedding! 

A proud papa

Gumma and Gogo with cousin Janet

Here she is, the hard to catch Eva!  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc457C0aGh0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPEfLkkB85Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2FaOGU3b78

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxFNLTgJbvU

And finally!  A picture of all the cousins (oops, minus Emma), the morning after the wedding

A Day Out With Thomas

I've heard about the event "A Day Out With Thomas" for over a year now from a few other mothers.  They claim it is a great event and with Cooper's (and now Isabel's) intense love of Thomas the Train, I have been trying to find a time and place for us to attend it.  Unfortunately there really is no close destination for us, so we ended up settling on Conway, New Hampshire (a 3 1/2 to 4 hour drive).  We did it all in one day, and yes, it was a lot of driving, but it was beautiful scenery.  We drove though beautiful mountains (I think we were on the back side of Mount Washington), little lakes, and adorable little towns.   It's definitely an area that we would like to get back to.  Back to Thomas...overall, it was a great day, despite the 90 degree heat!   Without much shade at the event, the sun and heat were a bit taxing and it definitely drained some of the energy/enthusiasm out of us all.  But the highlight of the event was the ride on Thomas.  The kids enjoyed the train display, the bouncy house, getting tattoos, the random live turtle that was there, and of course, the ice-cream at the end of the day!  Emma was a trooper and was very content to hang out in the stroller most of the time which was a huge help!   

The North Conway Rail Station

Adorable North Conway Rail Station

Our conductor (this hat only lasted about 20 minutes due to the heat)

Finally meeting Thomas with our ride to follow

Our beautiful ride on Thomas (Cooper was so tired/hot he almost feel asleep)

Our scenic train ride

Hay Maze

Bouncy House

Random live turtle...very cool though.  He was very large and just walked around eating the grass. 

Showing off the Thomas tattoos

Emma's First Bottle

About a week ago we tried a bottle with Emma for the first time.  Cooper had been asking to feed Emma a bottle for a few weeks, so with his help Daddy gave Emma her first successful bottle meal.  Unfortunately, the following 2 bottles that Dad tried to give Emma were unsuccessful, and very frustrating.  Since then, Gumma and my neighborhood "mommy's helper", Megan, have both been able to give her a 4 ounce bottle without difficulty.  And with Casey Leggett's wedding coming up this weekend, Mommy is very happy that Emma can take a bottle so she can have a few cocktails!!!

Check out the expanding belly!  

Visit to Cousin Eva's House

Two weekends ago we got to spend a quick but very enjoyable time at Chan and Karen's house in Hingham, Mass.  Kristi and Peter made the short trip from Boston to hang out with us on Saturday.  It was great to see them, but even more great to meet baby Janet!  She's an absolute doll and it was fun to have the babies together.  We got to spend a few hours at the beach near their house and both Cooper and Isabel did not want to leave.  They absolutely  love the beach and the water.  We will definitely have to be making at least one ocean vacation a year!  We had a wonderful dinner on Saturday night, and Josh even got to play golf with Chan on Sunday morning before we headed home.  A little fun for everyone!   Chan and Karen were great hosts and we hope to get back there soon! 

Emma and Janet's first meeting!  

The Ryan, Perine and Quinn crew!  

My bathing beauty

Cousin Eva 

Emma's first dip in the ocean...

...not very impressed (with the cold water, nor her mother).  Though I blame this idea on her Uncle Peter as he introduced Janet to the ocean a few minutes before this, and Janet had about the same reaction.  

The two babes

Uncle Peter and Cooper looking for shells

Uncle Chan and Cousin Eva

Emma

Hard to believe that Emma is 6 weeks old!  She continues to grow like a weed and is still a very good baby.  Don't get me wrong, she does cry, but thank goodness it's not very often, as it is quite the ear piercing scream!  We've had some success with getting her to use the pacifier, but most of the time she just purses her lips together and doesn't even let us get it in her mouth.  She is sleeping well at night and most of the morning, and likes to be awake most of the afternoon and evening.  She loves being in her swing, but really loves to be held.  She also loves tummy time, but mostly to nap!  Apparently she likes to be naked, as she loves her bathes and loves to get her diaper changed.  She's starting to give us a couple of intentional smiles which melt her mommy's heart!  Here are a couple pictures...