The Big E - 2008

Last Sunday we went to The Big E with Joyce and Dan, Scarlett's Godparents. (To see the last time Scarlett went to The Big E - click here. Ah...the difference a year makes!) Man did we have fun. The weather was gorgeous...gorgeously hot. Check out Scarlett donning mama's sunglasses.

We went to the petting zoo. Scarlett, however, was not allowed to pet. While adorable...these animals were a little...um, ripe. Then we went to see some sheep. And I got this ethereal-esque photo of the Bubsy.Joe took Scarlett on a big slide. Scarlett is a pro at these slides now though....our friend Lisa took her on one in the middle of the summer. It didn't even phase her this time around. See...

The highlight of Scarlett's day was, however, the eating of (drum roll please) du-du du-dah....DEEP FRIED OREOS.

Oh yeah...she ate 'em up good. Powdered sugar and all.I found it so cute that she got so dirty that I didn't even wipe off her mouth for a whole twenty minutes after she was through. Do you know I almost punched a woman in the face to get this table? I'm not even kidding. Ask anyone. I was SO there first. We also played the duck grab game. Scarlett loves this game! You can tell by the loud "Whee!"

And lastly, we rode the carousel.

So that's it. That was our day! Same time next year everyone?

Some good news!

Scarlett had her appointment at Yale Hospital Wednesday to reevaluate her Ventricular Septal Defect, better referred to as a VSD, but best known as a "hole in the heart." (To read more about them, click here.)
Scarlett was diagnosed with a heart murmur at birth. When she was four months old I brought her to Yale Children's Hospital Cardiology Center for testing. The process was grueling. She had to have an EKG done, but even worse was the ultrasound. At four months old I had trouble pinning her down on the table so the technician could get an accurate view. It took 45 minutes and she screamed and thrashed the whole time despite the best efforts of all the dancing, and funny-face making nurses. She was tired and hungry and cranky by the end, and so was I. After 5 hours, they determined she had this congenital heart defect. It was obviously rough news for everyone. Open heart surgery was discussed; fears were instilled; and I only had to wait an entire year before she could be reevaluated. I still remember walking back to the car with my tiny baby girl and calling Joe on my cell phone to tell him the bad news. I could cry just thinking about it. "What does that mean," he said. "What's wrong with my baby?"
Last Wednesday was the reevaluation. I went into the appointment fully prepared for a 5 hour long visit. I brought juice, fruit loops, her favorite Etch-a-Sketch doodler, and Mickey (her nuh-nights buddy)...and tissues for me - being fully prepared to cry...especially when I was trying to restrain my 16-month old toddler on the ultrasound table. How could she possibly understand why these people were holding her down while squirting cold jelly and rolling scary machinery on her bare little chest?! We saw Dr. Friedman, same as last year. He took one listen to Scarlett's heart (after calling her a little pickle - how cute?!), he looked me in the eyes and said "this will close on its own, I promise you. Go home." That's that. No EKG. No Ultrasound. No scheduling of open heart surgery. We went home 30 minutes after we got there - and we still had over two hours left on the parking meter.
We have one more reevaluation same time next year. The possibility of surgery has not been ruled out, but it is looking far less likely. (They like for these holes to be closed up by age two - either closed by themselves, or with the help of surgery.) After all is said and done, I feel very (very very) fortunate that Scarlett is as healthy as she is - heart defect and all. It is definitely a reality check when you walk into a children's hospital and see families that must endure this kind of fear everyday. I can't imagine.

Scarlett appears in the Yale Daily News!

As you all know, Scarlett participates in infant cognition research at Yale. Well, last time we went to visit the center to participate in a study there were reporters there from the Yale Daily News ready to interview us for an upcoming article! The article will be printed in today's issue of the paper. To see the article posted on the newspaper's website, click here. Yay Scarlett!

Milford Irish Festival

To celebrate Scarlett's 1/16th (if that)% Irish heritage, we went to the Milford Irish Festival Saturday evening with Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Craig. We didn't stay too long...just about long enough to see the parade of bagpipers that pushed their way through the (very very drunk) crowds. Scarlett just stared at all the mayhem. I don't think we'll ever see a man double fisting beers with a baby strapped onto his chest in an infant carrier all while doing the Irish jig ever again.

Yay for our very very small percentage of Irish heritage!

Amber and Steve's wedding

This past Friday, Scarlett attended a fourth wedding of the summer. Our friends Amber and Steve got married, and it was tons of fun! Scarlett partied strong until 10:30. I tell ya, this kid can hang.
Oh...and we love spinning in dresses. We are such a girl.Here's Scarlett and Aunt Stephanie with Amber.Scarlett was absolutely obsessed with the flower girl's flower petals. She collected them all night and would then randomly distribute them to people...who had absolutely no idea what to do with a lone flower petal. And of course, we danced a lot. Especially with Lee...he's Scarlett's favorite dance partner...ever.

And then Scarlett got tired.

But there's always time for one more picture with Aunt Stephanie!Yay weddings! Congratulations Amber and Steve!

Scarlett with a monkey on her back...quite literally

Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Craig brought Scarlett a toy monkey back from their honeymoon to Costa Rica. It has been on Scarlett's back ever since.

Family membership at Kidcity!

We made a quick pit stop at Kidcity this past Sunday and purchased a family membership. That's right folks, we're part of the Kidcity clan now. The last time we visited, Scarlett had just learned to stand...well, a lot has changed since then. She can run. (To see our last visit to Kidcity, click here. It's worth clicking...the difference that 6 months makes is shocking!) Scarlett could hardly wait for me to sign the paperwork sealing our membership deal. She wanted to "go go go." We started off at the rocket ship.

We made bubbles...with the help of daddy.We played with crystals that glow in the dark.Then we drove cars.
We played with steam.
And played "Attack of the Fifty Foot Baby." I was amazed that Scarlett was taking the toy people and putting them into the cars. Admittedly, she was putting them in upside down, but she's got the idea. People drive cars...and they can drive them upside down if they darn well feel like it. But this was Scarlett's favorite part of the museum. This little four foot by four foot corner containing an oversized funnel that you could drop balls into. Figures.
We almost didn't go into the room next to the funnel because there was a crazy couple in there laughing their heads off with their even crazier daughter who randomly became obsessed with shoving balls down an air tunnel until they shot back up and...well, just watch this video. I don't know who these crazy people were, but I would be so happy if we never ever bumped into them again. Ever. They're crazy.

So, last time we went to Kidcity I proclaimed that we'd be back, but next time we'd have better hair...yeah...not so much.

So that's it. "This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship...here's looking at you Kid[city]."

Weeknight playdate

Tonight Scarlett and Carson (or "Car-key," as Scarlett now calls him) had a weeknight playdate. Usually they're limited to weekends, but not tonight. We met at a local park and played it up. Check out how cute they are in their little motorcycle and sidecar... Best buddies...

Touch-a-Truck

Today we went to a touch-a-truck event in Branford with Carson and his parents. I didn't quite know if Scarlett would care about trucks or not, being a girl and all, but she actually really liked the event. She loves steering wheels, and kept saying "ba ba ba" when she was turning them. I can only assume she meant to say "beep beep beep."
I made a video about our trip to touch trucks. Val did too (to see her video, click here)...and ironically we used the same song by Laurie Berkner. I guess it's not so ironic seeing as the name of the song is "Trucks," we both own the CD, and this was an event about trucks.

The wedding photos are in!!

Hooray for pictures!

In case you forgot, I'll give you a little refresher. Steph (my sister/Scarlett's aunt) got married to Craig (my now brother-in-law/Scarlett's now uncle) last Sunday. Scarlett was asked to be one of the (absolutely adorable and perfectly behaved) flower girls. Here's the proof...

I mean really, how cute are they?!Scarlett walked down the entire aisle holding Erin's hand the whole time. All the warnings I gave Steph about how toddlers sometimes run...or sometimes run and scream simultaneously all in the wrong direction...were all is vain. She was so good...and Erin was a great line leader. If you look at the pictures and listen very quietly you can hear all the "oohhhs" and "aahhhs" of the people in the pews. Hey, it's not everyday you see a 15 1/2 month old flower girl!

Here are some shots of us right after the wedding. (Steph, you look so beautiful! The day went by too quickly! I miss it already.)

Here is my mom (Scarlett's Nan) with Steph and Craig, and Joe, Scarlett and IAnd here is my Dad (Scarlett's Grandad) and my stepmother Mai (Scarlett's Mormor) and my Gran (Scarlett's Great Gran) with Steph and Craig, and Jonathan and Katrina (her aunt and uncle)...and me...her mom...whew. I have to say again how nice it was to be able to hang out with Jonathan and Katrina, who we only get to see about once a year...if we're lucky. Scarlett adores them both. Obviously! Here's Scarlett stealing the groom for a few minutes...or maybe this was the groom keeping Scarlett preoccupied while I readied a juice box. And here's the whole wedding party. Then we're on to the reception! Woo hoo! Scarlett and Erin had so much fun on the dance floor.

Erin even managed to have fun with Scarlett while she was strapped into her high chair!

Man...having fun can wear a baby out. Awwww....Steph and Craig's first dance.Now Scarlett...that's not nice.We got to see our Aunt Jane at the wedding, which was awesome. We haven't seen each other in years! We also finally got to meet Aunt Jane's boyfriend, Al. Scarlett loved them both! They gave her a stuffed cat (which instigated Scarlett's first "MEOW"...adorable video to come) and a toy laptop which Scarlett still can't get enough of. Thanks guys! It was great seeing you! Mwah!Scarlett's Godparents sure know how to get down. They're the kind of dancers that make you want to run out and take dance lessons...even though you know you never will...sigh. The important men in Scarlett's life...Godfather Dan, Uncle Craig, and Daddy Joe.Look how beautiful Aunt Stephanie looks!

And then Scarlett starts to get a little sleepy...

going...

going...gone...thanks Nancy!a moment alone. So that was Steph and Craig's wedding. We all had a blast!