Oliver's Birthday

So, I can't neglect to mention that my brother Oliver turned three last week! I have to admit, I was a little bit jealous that it was his birthday. It also made me REALLY excited to celebrate my special day in November. I sat with him when he started to open his present from Auntie Erin and Uncle Dan.

Then, he didn't need my help anymore and spent some time looking at it by himself.

Here I am looking at him open his present. It was a pretty cool gift...a globe! We spent some time looking at different places throughout the world.

The next day it was time for his party. We had lots of guests, lots of presents, yummy cake but...what I really enjoyed the most was....

Sitting in the corner, in the bumbo, holding Oliver's new fishing pole that he got for the tub!

Fourth of July Weekend- Part 2

I don't remember the Fourth of July last year. Probably because I was only 8 months old at the time. This year, however, I was in for quite the adventure. First we went over to Mimi and Papa's for breakfast. After breakfast, I was sitting in the chair just playing by myself when all of the sudden I saw mommy holding the camera so I said "cheese" and started acting very silly!

The day before, we decorate our little car with all sorts of decorations. Oliver said he wanted to walk, so I got to take the easy road and lounge in my car. Here I am posing with my super cool car:) We didn't realize quite how long of a walk it was to the start of the parade.

Oliver was super excited about the whole experience but I definitely played it cool. It was tough to get a smile from me the entire time we were in the parade.

Eventually, Oliver got so tired from all of his running that he needed to go in the car so daddy put me on his shoulders. I was keeping a lookout for the mudslides and slushees!

At last we arrived! We spent some time with Grammi, Dzia Dzia, Mimia and Papa before heading down the street to see Mimi's friend Julia.

We got distracted once again by Uncle Sam. Dzia Dzia and Oliver LOVED this little guy but again, I kind of just humored everyone and got my picture taken too!

After visiting Julia, we walked with Grammi back to the house to get ready for an afternoon at the beach.

I picked my spot and just sat. I didn't really move once I was placed in the sand.

At the end of the day, Oliver had this brilliant idea to make a train on the porch. As you can tell, I made it my sole mission to take the train apart while everyone else was playing along with my brother!

Overall, it was a really great weekend! I can't wait to do it again!

Fourth of July Weekend- Part 1

Oliver and I started off with a pleasant surprise- our cousin Gabriella came over for a visit. We spent a few hours keeping her entertained. She really liked when I played peek-a-boo with her. I also invited her to a tea party, which she gladly accepted. We spent some time playing with my tea set before Uncle Mike came to pick her up!

After Gabriella left, mommy, daddy and I headed up to Maine. Dzia Dzia had left a little bit earlier with Oliver so I had the backseat all to myself! I took a nap, had a snack and talked to mommy and daddy. When we got there, we went right down to the water. Dzia Dzia helped Oliver catch some fish.

I entertained myself by playing in the sand. I am not sure that I like the water. I am still undecided about that one. Sometimes I like it and sometimes I don't. I did like emptying the water can though.

Mimi and Papa have these fake ducks in the water. I guess they are fake. I thought they were real. I kind of have this thing where I don't like animals all that much. I have no idea where that comes from but animals aren't my favorite. When I saw these ducks I started yelling at them. Mommy calmly told me they weren't real and I kind of got it. But not totally.

After an afternoon at the beach, I heard music. Not just any music, but the oh so sweet sounds of the ice cream truck. Oliver and I looked at mommy and daddy and they said that we could get an ice cream treat. We all held hands walking to the street...but then I just couldn't contain myself.

I started RUNNING after the ice cream truck. Mommy and daddy told me that it was making it's way back to us but, just to be sure...

I stood in the middle of the street just so the truck wouldn't miss me. Don't worry, mommy and daddy got me back to the side of the street in plenty of time.

Finally the truck arrived and we got to pick a pop. I picked Dora and Oliver picked Sponge Bob. They were huge.

Seeing the ice cream truck was a really wonderful way to end the day.

Oh wait, the night wasn't QUITE over yet. After dinner, Dzia Dzia told us he had this really great idea to market pillows as hats. Daddy was a good sport and went along with it. Does anyone else notice just how excited about this Dzia Dzia is? I had to put one on my head too...I didn't want to miss the fun.

The next day we went for a boat ride. When I get in the boat I tend to just sit wherever I'm placed.

Daddy also swam with Oliver. I wanted NOTHING to do with the water which surprised mommy and daddy because I love taking baths. Mommy told me that Oliver wasn't a huge fan of the water last summer so maybe next year I'll love the water too!

Before dinner, we all decorated our little car to get ready for the Fourth of July parade. I was a big helper with making the signs.

I got really excited when I saw Mimi and Papa coming up the driveway. First, because that meant we'd be able to have lobsters soon and second, Mimi made a chocolate cake for dessert.

Here we are touching our lobster. At this point I wasn't too sure how we'd be able to eat it but mommy and daddy reassured me that they would take care of it for us!

And, they were right. They prepared the lobster and I dug in. I LOVED it. I couldn't get enough. I finished Oliver's for him. Mmmmmm....what a great Maine summer dinner. I love lobster!!!

Morning in Boston

On Sunday morning, mommy, daddy, Oliver and I headed out on an adventure in Boston. First we went to the North End where we ate breakfast at a really yummy place. Oliver and I split the blueberry pancakes and two orders of sausage. Mommy and daddy had the eggs benedict. Oliver was daddy's big helper making both mommy and daddy's coffee. I wouldn't sit still long enough for mommy and daddy to snap a photo of me while we were waiting for breakfast. And, I dove right into my pancakes so they were gracious enough to hold out on the picture taking until after we finished.

It was a beautiful day so we walked over to Faneuil Hall. It took me a little while to get there and I definitely needed to hold mommy's hand. We made a few stops along the way because I tend to get distracted easily by things such as grass.

Once we got to Faneuil Hall we made a little stop at a bench to take a rest. From there, we decided to walk over to the Boston Commons.

Who knew there was a really fun park with a frog fountain area at the park? Oliver had been asking mommy and daddy over and over if we could go to a park and they did not disappoint. This frog I am standing next to would start spouting water every few minutes and we just thought it was the funniest thing ever!!!

So, after the park we decided to take the underground train (aka the subway). That was something that got Oliver super excited so I'll let him tell you all about that. I didn't really care at that point. I just needed someone to hold me. Once we got to our subway stop we came to another little water area where we could run around with water flowing all around us. Pure joy again!!!

We begged mommy to take off her shoes and join us so she joined us in the water area. We showed her the ropes.

As if we hadn't already had a fun enough day, but we were invited over to Grammi and Dzia Dzia's house for a birthday dinner for mommy. Everyone was there. Daddy helped Dzia Dzia grille up the steaktips and they turned out delicious. Mommy was able to snap a photo of the men while the rest of us were playing in the baby pool.

My cousin Gabriella was there as well. She turned 5 months today and I can't wait until she is walking around with us and we can really play with her. She is so alert. I know she is taking in all the activity and just waiting to be a part of all the action!

Here's the three of us getting our feet wet in the pool and blowing bubbles. Dzia Dzia got a little bit mad at Oliver and Adelaide for picking his quite green cherry tomatoes (hello...I tried to tell them that they were called cherry tomatoes for a reason:) but otherwise we had a really fun afternoon.

After a very delicious dinner, we all sang Happy Birthday to mommy and we had strawberry pie.

And, finally, here I am reflecting on all of the action of the day. Life is good. I wish Oliver would stop annoying me but otherwise, I love my life.