Fourth of July weekend

We had quite a busy fourth of July weekend. Joe and I were determined to bring Scarlett to see her first fireworks show, despite the fact that every fireworks display started a good 2 hours after Bubsy's bedtime. So we did what every other [determined to have their children stay up way past bedtime] parent would do - loaded her up with sugar and hoped for the best. We went to the Milford fireworks which were awesome. There was a whole festival going on before the fireworks...with music and everything. Bubsy got down. She was the life of the party.And then she made this face. I have yet to determine whether I love or hate this face...but it's good - regardless.Nan and Larry showed up with Penny Lane. (Nan's dog - which used to be my dog - but which is now Nan's dog.) It was great to see them, but Penny Lane was petrified of the fireworks. They scared the *poop* out of her. (Very literally.) So they went home. Scarlett loved the show. We were naming all the fireworks' colors. Check 'em out...

Then on Saturday we went to Joe's Aunt and Uncle's house for a picnic. It was absolutely beautiful out so we went swimming (Well...Joe and Scarlett did). Scarlett loved it, and while she hadn't swam in a pool for quite some time I was seriously impressed with how comfortable Scarlett was in the water. I guess I'll have to suck it up(...but more importantly, suck it in) and put on a bathing suit. (Groan.) Swim lessons here we come!

I bought Scarlett a special Speedo bathing suit that has floatie inserts on the tummy and the back. ($6.99 at Marshalls!) It was hilarious. Despite the bathing suit's directions to not necessarily blow the floatie inserts up to the max - Joe blew them up to the max. She was bobbing around and giggling non-stop.

The pool was very relaxing. (Well...it looked very relaxing to me and Holden.)Basketball should always involve a boat...no?We literally had to drag Bubs out of the pool. And then, of course, there was Holden. Doing what he does best...chillin'.Well...and hammin' it up. Yes. It was quite the weekend. Even Scarlett's "princess girls" were beat.

Lighthouse Point

After Aunt Katrina and Grandad left last Saturday, Joe and I wanted to bring Scarlett somewhere pretty fun so that she wouldn't have such a rough time with them leaving. We brought her to Lighthouse Point - a beach in New Haven. The last time we went there Scarlett was not quite into the beach. Or the Sand/Water/everything it contained. To see that post, click here. Oh, the difference a year makes.) Man did Scarlett like the beach this year. In fact, I think we will be going here almost every weekend for the whole summer. It pretty much rocked and it felt like we were on a mini vacation for the day. Though next time, we'll remember the poor kids sand toys. And money for the ice cream truck. And food. But other than that it rocked.
Scarlett ran back and forth between the waterpark, the playground and the ocean. Joe and I could not believe that Scarlett liked the ocean. (I mean honestly. Doesn't she know it's gross?!) Check out this video! Scarlett walked out in the ocean until it was up to her neck! She literally led Joe out there as if she was a pro. You can see the point where Joe actually gets uncomfortable being out that far - and he's twice her height. He said the water was freezing and there was so much seaweed on the bottom that he was getting a wicked case of the heebie jeebies.

Even Holden was impressed.
Afterwards, Scarlett wanted to get "comb and wozy" (warm and cozy). So did Holden. Yay beach!! We'll be back. Probably this weekend even. And next. And next.

Holden's first day of daycare

Today Holden went to his first day of daycare. (I also went back to work, but honestly, that's not nearly as interesting.) Holden is attending the same center as Scarlett, but she's in the "big girl" room while Holden is in the "baby room." This morning before we left, Scarlett decided to tell Holden all about school so he'd know the ropes before we got there."Baby Hoe-den...you go to baby school, baby Hoe-den? I too big baby school, baby Hoe-den. I go to big school, baby Hoe-den." Holden started to think that this baby school sounded pretty fun. He got excited.But when Scarlett told him that there were other babies to play with at baby school and that his days would no longer consist of sitting in Mommy's lap watching reruns of "A Baby Story" on TLC, "baby Hoe-den" got very excited. Very excited indeed. Check out this ham!! (How could you not smile while looking at this picture?!)

So that's it folks. I've got two kids. And now I've got two kids in daycare. Holden did very well for his first day. But how could he not? He's got a big sister just down the hall to look after him.

And just for old times sake, here's a picture of Scarlett on her first day of daycare almost exactly 2 years ago. Craziness.

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!

Alexandra's birthday party!

Oh man, we have gone to some cool birthday parties these past 2 weekends. This past Saturday we went to Alexandra's 2nd birthday party. It was a carnival themed party. Scarlett was very excited to go to the party because she knew Radhika and Alex would be there. (Although Alex was so busy I didn't get any pictures of her. This was a huge party!) She is starting to really recognize the difference between her little girl friends and boy friends (with the exception of Carson, of course, who is her best friend regardless of the fact that he does not seem to be interested in "princess girls"). Check out all the fun stuff at Alex's party...
Sno-cones. They could have just ended right there. Sno-cones people. Sno-cones. How cool?!But no...they had a moon bounce. Like a giant one. Scarlett was in heaven.She and Radhika bounced next to each other...and then sat next to each other...for quite some time. Seriously. The moms had to drag them out of there.Scarlett ran around barefoot for the rest of the party. Ahh, my little party girl. She and Rada were so cute together! Then Scarlett got a little crazy with the carnival top hats. Hey...at least it's not a lampshade.
The girls were trying to get us moms into the hat action.They tried very hard.We also had a pretty big first at Alex's party. Scarlett got her face painted! She sat so still and loved every second of it! She's such a girl. I thought she would smear the paint off in a matter of seconds but she was very careful not to ruin her "make-up." Come on...just look at her face in this picture. She is so proud of her star!
A little too proud maybe.Scarlett was not ready for the party to end. On the car ride home she decided to do back-up shrieking for Cypress Hill's "Jump Around." (And I came really close to crashing the car while trying to get her "singing" on video.)


Happy birthday Alex! We had a blast!

Check out this head control!

This morning I decided to introduce Holden to a little thing we mothers like to call "tummy time." I hated tummy time with Scarlett. Well...I hated it because she HATED it. I was shocked at today's results. With ease, Holden lifts his head and starts to look around. No struggle. No pained expression. Complete control. At his 2 week check-up, Holden's Dr. said that she thought he might be the strongest newborn she's ever seen. I snickered thinking she probably said that to everyone. Ummm...she might have been serious. Check this out... Pretty darn impressive for a five week old, if I do say so myself. Holden makes tummy time look good...quite literally.