July & August

So you’ll have to forgive the double month post this time around. This summer has been BUSY – with closing on the new place, packing, moving and unpacking, plus lots of fun weekends in RI and NY – and before I knew it, it was the end of August and I still hadn’t posted for July!

We spent the fourth of July at Scarborough beach with your new buddies Albie LaGreca and Ethan Machado. (We discussed what troublemakers the three of you could be in the future… three boys all within 14 months of each other and… well, look at your dads!) We started and finished our Social Butterflies class. Some of your old friends, Avery and Amelia, were in it and we made a new friend named Elliott (who moved from Texas with his mom Stacy). Antonella came up to meet you and we went out to brunch at Coda, where you happily sat in your stroller while we ate. In July, your dad travelled to Pittsburgh for work so we headed down to Long Island for a visit. You did well on the long car ride down and only cried a little bit on the way back when the four hour trip turned into six and a half because of the traffic. We took our first (and second and third…) trip to the Frog Pond wading pool where you mostly wanted to look at the other kids rather than splash in the pond. We all went to a BBQ at Minna and Elena’s house to say goodbye to them as they moved to California and dad got to meet some of our mom and baby friends from class. You had your first real dinner at Ra’s, eating turkey, avocado, watermelon and bread in your booster seat when we went down to cheer for your dad as he ran the Blessing of the Fleet 10 mile race in Narragansett. We finished packing (phew) and moved at the end of July. Ra and Papa came up to hang out with you while I directed the movers. You did great, barely getting fussy despite the long, hot day. The last weekend in July, we went down to Narragansett again to say a sad goodbye to A. Dani, U. Eric, Gabi and Natalie as they moved to North Carolina. 🙁 We spent our last day with them at the beach and you loved sitting at the edge of the water, watching the waves come in and out while Gabi hunted for hermit crabs.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

In August, we started a new sleep schedule where you still go to bed between 7pm and 7:30pm, but then I wake you to eat before I go to sleep around 11pm. You, in turn, have been sleeping until around 5am which means I’m finally (almost) getting a full night’s sleep! We unpacked at our new house and took you for your first trip to the Charlestown pool down the block. You loved launching yourself off the side of the pool and into the water and kicking your feet as we pulled you around. We changed pediatricians and I took you to your six month checkup. The shots were a little bit rough again this time around and you ended up with a bad fever (103.4) and a few nights of very restless sleep. We met up with Elisabeth & William and Belle & Avery for “happy hour” twice at a new Italian place in the West End. You babies loved lounging around on the couches outside while we had pizza and drinks. Your dad took a Friday off of work and took you to a sing-along at the library down the street. We went to Erica and Vinny’s kabobathon and you met all of the Belangers the next day at the beach. We took you to your first concert – Ray Lamontagne and David Gray at the Bank of America Pavilion. We kept cotton over your ears under a hat to protect them from the noise! We thought you would fall asleep in the ergo around your bedtime, but instead you stayed up for all of Ray Lamontagne and most of David Gray, not falling asleep until 9:45pm. We had a great afternoon at Southwick’s Zoo with Jennah, Nate, Aaralyn and some of their friends (but missed A. Dani and the girls who should’ve been there too!) We went down to see Ra and Papa before Ra went back to school for the year and we had lunch at Crazy Burger where you LOVED my lamb and feta burger. Grammie and Pop-pop came up to visit and help us around the house – putting up a new light fixture, hanging lots of pictures, and other “handy” things. And we went down to Long Island the following weekend to see A. Gail, U. William, A. Janet and U. Dick who all wanted to meet you for the first time. We grilled on Saturday and spent the day at the beach on Sunday, then made the long drive back to Charlestown while you slept.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Over the summer, you really mastered sitting up and now I can confidently leave you playing on the floor while I run into the other room without fear of you toppling over. (Although I’ll admit there have been a couple of bumps on the floor when you reach too far for something…) You’re still working on crawling – by the end of August, you were getting your butt up into the air and rocking on your hands and knees, but not able to move in any direction but backwards. You even practice in your sleep and we often find you half-awake on your hands and knees unable to get back down! You also have started taking some tentative steps when we hold your hands and can hold onto the furniture and balance on your own if we stand you up. You have started stretching out your naps and now take either two hour and a half naps or one hour and a half nap and two 45 minute naps a day. You perfected picking up your binky and putting it into your mouth which makes our lives a lot easier. You went through a YELLING phase – I think you startled many people on the street as you would SCREAM from your stroller out of nowhere! You have finally become aware of Floyd when we’re down in NY, although it’s a mix of excitement and nervousness – you get a little scared when he comes too close or moves too fast and seem to like observing him from afar. You laugh hysterically when we attack your cheeks with kisses and like when we make the same funny noise over and over and over again. You’ve started giving hugs and big, open-mouth kisses often. They’re very cute, but probably look like you’re trying to violently eat our faces to an outside observer. You tried lots of new foods these past two months. Some favorites were ground lamb and hamburger, yogurt, toast, pasta with sauce, sweet potato puffs, mushrooms braised in red wine (I know!), mashed potatoes and chocolate ice cream. Your least favorites were any kind of purees – carrots, peas, pear with vanilla, spinach, mango-banana sauce – and scrambled eggs at first, although now you seem to like them. Your great aunts also fed you strawberry shortcake with whipped cream and cannoli cream to celebrate your meeting them. I tried not to watch!