Fun With the Cousins!

Yesterday, we went over to Auntie Shannon and Uncle Matt's house to play with Lorelai and Gabriella. I had so much fun playing with Lorelai and Oliver. I enjoyed spending time with Gabriella too but she is still so little that all she does is watch us. Although, I must say her neck strength is pretty incredible! Mommy took a picture of me with Auntie Carolyn.

Auntie Shannon had a very special activity planned for us. After eating lunch, we got to paint new dog dishes for Lorelai and Charley. I was really the only one who got into painting the dog dish. As you can see, Oliver and Lorelai were more into getting the water from the bowl. I got to do it "all myself!!!"

Pigtails and the Children's Museum

So, a major development in my life this week was that my hair is finally long enough to go into pigtails! Mommy got some very tiny elastics that she puts in my hair to keep it in place. I'm not ready to get my hair cut yet so this is a good option while I am growing all my hair!

Today mommy took us to the Boston Children's Museum. Mommy had a hard time getting a good picture of me because I was just so busy going from activity to activity. One of my favorites though was playing with the balls and watching them go around and around. I had a great time!

I also liked playing in the sandbox. The only problem is that I wasn't quite tall enough to reach in without the help of my mom. Soon I'll be tall enough and then it will be REALLY fun! We spent about two hours at the museum and then had lunch. After lunch, mommy took us out for an ice cream cone. I think she does that because she loves ice cream so much. Even though she says it's a treat for us, she seems to enjoy it just as much! I am such a happy little toddler right now. Life is fun!!!

To: Adelaide Love: Mommy

Dear Adelaide,

Now that you are almost 18 months old, I thought I would take over your blog and write an entry to you about how much you mean to me. When you were born, our lives changed forever! We had no idea if you were going to be a boy or a girl, but we were so excited for you to arrive. We couldn't wait for Oliver to have a sibling, and we knew that regardless of if his sibling was a boy or a girl, that little person would bring us joy. When the doctor held you up in the delivery room and told us you were a girl we were OVERJOYED. We could not believe that you had arrived in this world and that you were a girl. We already had a name picked out for you: Adelaide Cheryl. The name Adelaide came to me one day when Oliver was about six months old. It popped into my head and I mentioned it to your daddy that day. We decided that if we ever had a girl, we would name her Adelaide. We also decided on Cheryl after your Grammi. Because we were using Sweatman for your last name, we decided that your middle name would be after mommy's side of the family.

From the moment you were born, you've made your presence known. When you were a little baby, I would spend endless hours holding you and cuddling you! You were such a cuddly baby. I loved spending time with you. Your brother was so happy to have a little sister. From a very early age, you had an alertness about you that was just captivating. Your eyes were so engaging. It was as though you were taking everything in, just waiting patiently for the day you could talk back to us! You were such a great little baby. We took you everywhere with us! A few weeks after you were born, we all went down to the Cape for Thanksgiving and the adventures have continued since then. You have spent lots of time at the Cape and in Maine. You are surrounded by so many people who love you...your Nonna and Papa, Grammi and Dzia Dzia, all your aunts and uncles. You are so fortunate to have all of these people in your life.

You are a little chatterbox at 18 months of age and you were talking at 9 months. You had words like hi, dada, bye. You love to be able to communicate with all of us. You are learning how to count...you even counted to 12 a few weeks ago. You love the song Twinkle Twinkle. You answer yes and no to questions and you put 3-4 words together when articulating what you want. You didn't walk until 14 months but the day you did it was like you'd been walking forever. You never looked back!

You have such an adventurous spirit already. Nothing scares you! You love to go down the slide all by yourself. You will be our little independent soul. I hope that you take this adventurous spirit and make the most out of life doing whatever it is that will make you incredibly happy because you have already made our family so happy. You are so funny! We just laugh and laugh at you because you like to make us smile. Some of the faces you make and things you say just crack us up!

Adelaide, you are such a neat little girl. We feel so lucky to have you as a part of our family. You've added to our lives in more ways than I could ever possibly express. You've brought endless amounts of joy to us in the short, almost 18 months that you've been a part of our lives!!! We love you.

The Past Week

So, the past week has been a busy but fun one for us! One night daddy came home and we decided that we would make lots of funny faces for the camera. I really wanted one with mommy so I gave it my biggest smiley face when daddy took the picture! I am really happy here because life as a 17 month old is just so much fun. I might be a little petite but I totally understand what is going on. I can put 3-4 word sentences together, I can count (sometimes to 12, sometimes to 5...whatever number I fancy that day), I can sing 2 lines of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, I say Yes or No when asked a question and my two favorite books are Click Clack Moo and Go Dog Go. Life is good!

Daddy told us to make a face like we were afraid of him so that is what I did. Turns out we all made some pretty good scared faces for the camera.

You know, sometimes I just think my mommy is camera happy. She takes pictures of me doing the most unexciting things, like standing next to the brown chair. Why she felt the need to take a picture of me I just don't know but I went along with it. I really like my headband though so maybe that's why.

Last Friday, mommy, Oliver and I took an overnight trip to see Grammi and Dzia Dzia in Maine. Daddy had a lot of schoolwork so it was just the three of us plus Charley. I had lots of fun with Grammi. She let me help her knit a blanket. I was a BIG help as you can imagine!!!

Grammi also taught me how to put on makeup...something that every modern girl really need to know about.

Here is the end result. A little bit of lip gloss and I am ready for the day!!!!

Here is a picture of me in the pack and play waking up on Saturday morning. Mommy said she is very proud of how well I have been sleeping. Look, the reality is that I am just a tired girl who will sleep wherever there is a crib, or bed, or pack and play. I go to bed every night at 7:30 and no one hears a peep from me until I wake up at 6:15 or so. All I need is the blanket Grammi made for me and my baby doll and I am happy to go to sleep!

Nonna sent us a VERY exciting package that we got this weekend. The package contained new pajamas for Oliver and me...we loved them!!!

In fact, I loved them so much that I kept on trying to call Nonna on my Cinderella phone that daddy brought back from Florida for me. But for some reason she never answered:)

I also got to see my cousin Gabriella this week. She is so cute and I was completely fascinated by her. I couldn't stop looking at her when she came over for a visit.

This afternoon, mommy, Oliver and I got together with Auntie Shannon and Lorelai. We went out for lunch and then went to a park in Danvers. We had a blast running around and entertaining everyone.

Easter and Silly Times

I had a great time on Easter with the whole family! I got to see Grammi, Dzia Dzia, my aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins and friends. It was a great day.

One of the highlights for me was climbing up this play structure by myself and going down the slide without any help. Luckily for me, daddy saw me going up and was waiting at the bottom. He's got my back! Thanks Daddy. You didn't know I was so brave, did you?

Grammi put together a table for us kids and Lorelai and I had a great time eating all the delicious food!

Oliver was too busy running around with everyone to get a picture with mommy and daddy so I figured I'd seize the opportunity to get some alone time with mommy and daddy.

This morning I woke up to Oliver watching me outside of my crib! He told me that the Easter Bunny came and that I should wake up. Once mommy got me out of my crib, the Easter egg hunt started. I have no self control and couldn't stop eating the eggs as I found them. Here I am covered in chocolate. It sure tasted good!

Lounging at the end of the day enjoying a treat from the Easter bunny!

Mommy looked like she could use a good laugh so after I finished my entire bowl of pasta I put my bowl on my head and told mommy that I was wearing a hat.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the blanket that Grammi made for me. She told me she made it just for me and that same night when I went in my crib to go to bed, mommy asked me if I wanted my old blanket or the one from Grammi. I said "Grammi blanket please" and I've been sleeping with that and my baby since then.

Bad hair day!

Better hair day!

Today was a fun day. Oliver, mommy and I went to the Museum of Science in Boston. Now I'm wiped. Love, Adelaide

Cape Cod Adventure

Whew! What an interesting and fun few days we had on Cape Cod. As usual, Nonna and Papa did a great job of entertaining us and making sure we were well fed. In exciting news, I am now old enough to sit on the bench all by myself and eat blueberries with my brother Oliver.

On Sunday, mommy, daddy, Oliver and I headed to the Mashpee Woodlands with our Super Cool Nature Boxes. We did this last year too only I was too little to find things for my nature box. This year I was ready to explore. I found pinecones, leaves, moss and some other interesting things for my box. I was very excited to be able to walk all over by myself.

Here's a picture of me with Mommy and Oliver exploring the Woodlands.

Here's one with Daddy and Oliver. Please note my boots. I LOVE LOVE LOVE them. I won't take them off for anything. I wear them during the day and I wear them when I have my pajamas on too!!!

One of our other favorite things to do is eat dates on the stairs at Nonna and Papa's house. It may look like life is calm but we also had quite the adventure in Nonna and Papa's bathroom. We were getting ready for our bath with the water running when the faucet exploded and water was everywhere...shooting up like a fountain. We all started screaming, including mommy until Papa came and fixed the faucet!!!

Poor Charley got bit by another dog right when we got to Cape Cod and spent two nights in the animal hospital. I spared you the pictures of his injury but it was not pretty!!! Here he is wearing my onesie to prevent him from scratching his wound. He does look cute wearing hearts!!!

Mommy, Oliver and I went to the Cape Cod Children's Museum and had a blast!!!

Here I am driving the submarine.

Obviously, if you are going to go in a submarine you need to make sure you take groceries with you. Again, please notice my boots. Don't you love them!!!

What better way to end our Cape Cod vacation than with strawberry shortcake. I told Nonna "so happy" after I devoured my entire shortcake. Life if good!!!!