Visitors!

This past week we were visited by some of our Canadian relatives. (To see their last visit, click here.) Scarlett and Holden's Grandad and Aunt Katrina came down - and Scarlett was in absolute heaven with all the attention. (I'm sure Holden was too, but he's a baby blob and couldn't really show it.) Scarlett followed her Aunt Katrina around everywhere, and even requested that Aunt Katrina sing her a lullaby at bedtime instead of me. (I shouldn't be offended, right?) We got quite used to Scarlett saying "my Grandad. My Aunt Katrina." Aunt Nachie (my other sister, Stephanie) was starting to feel left out. After all, Scarlett usually follows her around everywhere and says "my Aunt Nachie." Don't worry guys...Scarlett has enough pestering capabilities for all the Aunts in her family...and probably some other families too.
The first night we went out for Hibachi. Because Scarlett is petrified of seemingly random things (random things which currently include her own dog) we thought she would either love the Hibachi chef, or hate him. We were wrong. She did both simultaneously. With every giant flame or clang of the knife, Scarlett would shriek with joy (or fear) and grab Joe's arm like the girliest girl you'd ever see. Then the second it was over she'd ask for more. It was a definite hate/love relationship.
But then came the chopsticks. And the miso soup. And the lo mein.And the rice. Scarlett loves rice. In fact, she would eat it at every meal if I let her. (And I'm getting seriously close to letting her these days.) Hibachi = huge success. A few days later we went to a Bridgeport Bluefish game. I usually get so bored at sporting events, but we had a blast! We had an entire row of seats to ourselves - and we needed the room. Scarlett started off a little tired (we were running around so much that she had only gotten to take a 1 hour nap in the car).
This is accurately displayed in exhibit A).

But Uncle Keg knows just what to do to liven Scarlett up...

And so do mommy and daddy...heeellllllllloo cotton candy"Dear God, please let this cotton candy never ever end. Ever. Thank you. Love, Scarlett."Even baby Holden had a seat.
And looked dashing in his Yankees uniform.Aunt Nachie got some much needed attention.And, of course, so did Aunt Katrina. I started to feel bad that about 100 lb. Aunt Katrina had to carry about 28 lb. Scarlett around for most of the day...all day...everyday - but Aunt Katrina was pretty good about realizing that all hell would break loose if she put Scarlett down. The tickets to the baseball game were a Father's Day present to my dad from Stephanie and I. Because it was Father's Day, they were having some special events going on after the game. They were letting kids actually run the bases. Joe thought Scarlett might be too young - but I whole heartedly disagreed...and, of course, Aunt Katrina would run around the bases with her. (I volunteered her.) Poor Aunt Katrina. Poor, poor Aunt Katrina.

Please note the strict woman - screaming for everyone to "keep off the grass."

Please note my daughter - sprinting across said grass, happy as can be to have found a short cut.

Please note my youngest sister - sprinting after my daughter and looking in fear at all the staff who were yelling to keep off the grass. Stay Off The Grass. DO ANYTHING BUT PUT FOOT ON THAT GRASS PEOPLE!!!!

Oy. And we thought Scarlett might be an athlete.

And to sum things up, here's an adorable picture of my dad meeting his new grandson for the first time. Does it get any better? Thanks for the visit Grandad and Aunt Katrina. We all had a blast!

A beautiful day

Saturday was such a beautiful day. The only time we were indoors was for nap time. We started the day at the Beardsley Zoo. Scarlett rode the carousel with Joe. She is quite possibly the only child I know who gets excited about riding the bench on the carousel. Scarlett and Joe also got a close look at some prairie dogs. They had to go back into the tunnel about 4 times because Scarlett fell in love with the little critters.

After the zoo we went to the playground at Beardsley Park and played. Then we fed ducks. There are no pictures of the ducks because, quite frankly, the ducks could have cared less about the bread we brought for them. It was very unexciting. We gave up and let Scarlett eat the leftover roll on the way home. It was actually far more entertaining, and was definitely done in a desperate attempt to keep her awake for the car ride home. Whenever she falls asleep in the car around nap time she never falls back asleep once she gets into the house. She lost interest in the roll, so Joe gave her his phone. Check out the look on her face. Tired?
Quite possibly.Ummm...definitely.

After Scarlett woke up we brought her to the beach. She was in heaven. In fact, we couldn't get her to leave. She loved the "wa-dee" (water).And the sand.
After the beach we went to a burger joint on the water and actually ate dinner outside. Can you believe it?! It was great. In fact, the whole day was great. As we were finishing dinner and getting ready to go home, Joe and I came to the realization that this might be one of the last few family days we spend as a family of three instead of four. One day I'll be showing Scarlett these very pictures explaining to her that her baby brother was born about 3 weeks later. If even possible, it made me enjoy the day just that much more.

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]."

Kid City...again!

This weekend, Scarlett brought her dad to Kid City. We were all prepared to go to our regular New Haven Children's Museum for story hour, but they were closed for the holiday (which very much fell on Sunday and not on Saturday, but I didn't argue). When learning that there would be no story hour, I had a brief moment of panic at the possibility of Scarlett having a weekend without culture. We had to get somewhere quick. So quick, in fact, that we made no attempt to soothe the savage beast that was Scarlett's hair on this particular day. She was having some seriously crazy baby hair. Here are some pictures of Scarlett showing her dad the ropes...with crazy baby hair.Scarlett was being a little cheeky, so we made her crawl the plank. There she is, folks, my cheeky baby.
Up to something fishy.
What can I say? The girl likes steam...and bowls for banging. Who doesn't? Scarlett was having a bad hair day, which is nothing but obvious in the picture below. Even mom spit wasn't helping. Quoting my friend Val - she was having a "Nick Nolte mugshot" hair day. They're the best kind.
I won't even tell you how long it took to get this picture. Long enough that my camera died three minutes later. We'll just leave it at that. Kid City...you never let us down. We'll be back Kid City...we'll be back. But next time, we'll have better hair.

Some quality nan time

Scarlett got to see her nan this weekend. She babysat for Scarlett twice...which is as good for Scarlett as it is for Joe and I. Scarlett was acting a little crazy...which has come to be quite typical behavior of her royal cheekiness. We caught her craziness on film. Observe... Oh Scarlett...nan is supposed to pinch your cheeks.

A Cueto family get-together

We went to Aunt Sue and Uncle Joe's this weekend and everybody was there...including Scarlett's Great Grandpa Joe! Everyone got a chance to hold her, which is surprising because Grandma never wants to let her go. But, who can blame her! :) I mean...just look at that baby!