Home again

The rest of our Pennsylvania trip was fun. After lots of fun with Grandma's Play Doh in Maryland, we went back to PA Tuesday, then Wednesday Grandma took Mom and me on a wild shopping trip. I got some cool new shirts, shorts, shoes, including a pair that look like frogs, and a hat with a monkey riding a bike, and Hazel made out like a bandit in the next size she's about to wear in clothes (plus a few for later, including a fancy dress). Thanks, Grandma! Later that day, Mom and Hazel had a good time with Gigi at the grocery store. It was a nice day.

Thursday we made our way back to the Tropical Treat to meet one of Mom's oldest friends, Heather. She looked great and it was nice catching up with her. We did not see as much of the goats this time, but I got another delicious cheeseburger out of the deal.

When I got up from my nap that day, I was surprised to find the house decorated for a party. There was also food everywhere. Mom and Dad gave me a haircut, put a special shirt on me, and then our relatives started pouring in. Gigi, Pop, Mom-Mom, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Chris, Uncle Larry, Aunt Lauren and her boyfriend, Ryan, Uncle Daniel, Aunt Jen, Uncle Ben, Mom, Dad, Hazel and I were there. They taught me a new word, "surprise!" which I really thought was hilarious. Then Aunt Amy and my cousin Mianna came in and everyone screamed the new word. I was a little freaked out and Mianna cried because she was so shocked. The reason everyone shouted "surprise" was we were celebrating two birthdays - mine, which is coming up in a few weeks, and Miannas. Mianna turned six Tuesday and she wanted a surprise party. It was a great night, and I'm happy we got to share a birthday party. We ate pizza, lots of nice fruit and delicious cake. It was nice to see everyone - especially Mianna's hermit crab, Kelly Bull Robertson - and we got some great presents.

Friday was a fast and furious day. We had to start getting ready to go home and Mom and Dad met up with an old friend for dinner. We left early Saturday morning, sad to leave everybody and the nice cool weather. Our trip back to Austin was pretty uneventful except we learned that the Harrisburg Airport is the nicest airport anywhere and Dad showed me how fun going up and down escalators is.

Since we have been home, it has been nice to see Peepa but too quiet and hot. I have been trying to tell Mom and Dad we should go back by dragging suitcases and bags around. It seems to me all we have to do is grab our bags and go, but Dad says that is not how it works.

To see many, many, many pictures of our fun week, click here.

Welcome aboard, shipmate!

Today was fantastic! Grandpa and Grandma took us out on their boat, Grace. It was my first time ever on a boat (Hazel's too!). We went out on the Choptank River, and Grandpa let me sit beside him in the driver's seat. At first I didn't know what to make of the experience, but I warmed up to it pretty fast. I didn't mind my life preserver and I liked looking out the back and pointing to the water. We found a little beach and rode to it in a raft tied to the boat, and that is where I figured out my favorite part of the trip - running out into the little waves, jumping over them with Mom and Dad, and swimming all the way back out to the boat with Grandma. I also enjoyed smashing Uncle Daniel's sandcastles. After all that fun, I went back on the boat for some lunch and a nice nap with Aunt Lauren before we headed back.

Hazel also enjoyed the day. The motion from the waves and noise from the motor put her to sleep. She had a great time aboard the boat with Aunt Lauren while we all played on the beach.

We wrapped up our adventure with a good deed. We spotted a little boat that was having trouble so we pulled over to help them. We brought the people aboard, towed their boat to a nearby marina, and took them to a place near their car. We are all glad they aren't pirates.

Happy Father's Day

This week, we are on the East Coast visiting some of our family. All last week, Mom and Dad kept telling me we were going to have an adventure, and boy, were they right!

After lunch Wednesday we got in the car and went to the airport. After a quick trip through airport security, we were on a plane and in the air. I sat with Dad and Hazel sat with Mom. Since I'm not two years old until next month, my parents don't have to buy me a ticket yet, so we had only two seats for the four of us. We weren't allowed to all sit together because the airline only allows one lap child per row. Dad was looking forward to showing me what the land looked like during takeoff and landing but I was more interested in the button that adjusts the seat. During the flights from Austin to Chicago and Chicago to Harrisburg, I did great - much better than everyone expected. I read the safety manual, played with the headphones, tried to push the button to call the attendant, and made friends with the nice man in the seat next to me. He showed me pictures of his granddaughter, who is my age, on his computer. The second flight wasn't full, so I got to have my very own seat next to Dad - I really liked that. When we finally got to Grandma and Grandpa's house, it was late at night, but I was excited to see everyone.

Since we've been in Pennsylvania, we've done lots of fun things. Hazel and I have seen lots of relatives: Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Lauren, Uncle Daniel, my great-grandparents (Gigi, Mom-Mom and Pop), my great aunt, and my first cousin once-removed Molly. I have eaten cheeseburgers in three of everyone's favorite places - Grandma and Grandpa's patio, the Tropical Treat, and the Famous Hot Weiner. We have also seen lots of animals: kitties, goats, guineas, sheep, horses, cows, chickens, and a really fast rabbit. I have had lots of time to play in wide-open space outside. Grandma set up plenty of fun things for me to do: tons of toys and books, a sandbox, swimming pool, and a picnic table that Mom sat on and broke. Even playing with the hose is fun! We also played with a wagon and a bag full of soccer balls, basketballs, footballs and volleyballs. It has been loads of fun running through the field that is their backyard.

This morning we moved on to our next adventure - Maryland! Grandma and Grandpa are living in a condo here for the year because of Grandpa's job, and their boat is here too. To get there, Mom, Dad, Hazel, and I had a 3 hour car ride, which mostly went pretty well. Hazel slept most of the way and I enjoyed looking at the scenery. But the last five minutes of the ride things fell apart. Mom didn't realize how close we were so we stopped to feed Hazel and found that my diaper had leaked. We were happy when we learned we were almost at Grandma and Grandpa's new place.

Since today was Father's Day, we gave presents to Grandpa and Dad. We gave Grandpa a card that I made, a "Keep Austin Weird" t-shirt, a picture of all of us, and some Rudy's barbeque sauce. We gave Dad a mug he can use at work - it has pictures of all of us on the side, and of course a card that I made. We also got a present for Papa in Atlanta, but since he hasn't opened it yet, I can't tell you about it here and spoil the surprise.

We are going to spend a few days down here in Maryland, and then head back to Pennsylvania for a few days before going back to Austin on Saturday. I think we will have lots of fun here. We'll keep you posted!

2 months (in 3 days)

Hazel is almost two months old already. Since we are going to Pennsylvania later this week, she had her two month doctor's appointment today. She is still growing like crazy. She is now 11 lbs., 1 ounce, which is 75th percentile! I was 4 months old before I weighed that much. Mom and Dad definitely notice - Mom's back is hurting, and Dad doesn't think she'll fit in her bathtub much longer. Hazel is 21.75 inches long (50%) and her head size is 37.5 cm around (25%). The doctor said she looks very healthy. You can see her updated growth chart on the right side of the blog.

Hazel has had it pretty easy at her doctor's appointments so far, but today she found out why I don't like to visit the doctor. She had to get her first shots. She was already fairly upset at her appointment today after they made her wait (and wait and wait), and the shots certainly did not help. She took a long nap after her appointment and after waking up really grumpy for a little bit, seems to be sleeping very well so far tonight.

Nap mat update: Mom and Dad have been putting me to sleep in my nap mat in my crib and I love it. I go to bed with a smile on my face. I usually wake up on top of the nap mat, or with the mat crunched in the corner of the crib, but Mom and Dad are impressed at how easily I am going to bed now. It will be interesting to see how well that translates into nap time at summer camp next month.

My first day of camp

Speaking of summer... Tuesday was my first day of camp. It went really well. I had a great time - the best part was we played outside for almost two hours! My teacher said I did great. Although Mom was sad to see me go because she says I'm growing up too fast, she and Dad were very happy and proud to hear I couldn't have cared less when Mom left, was very engaged with everyone, and didn't shed a tear the whole time I was there.

I ate lunch at camp and was supposed to take a nap there on my new nap mat. I have never really taken a nap anywhere but my crib though, and I didn't feel like starting to do it now. My teacher rubbed my back for about 25 minutes, but I just wanted to play, so she called Mom around 1:00 (I am supposed to stay at camp from 8:30 until 2:30). Anyway, Mom picked me up and brought me home, where I took a long, long nap in my crib. Dad and Mom are proud of me anyway - they say it's still not bad for my first try - and we'll give it another go after our trip to Pennsylvania next week.

In the meantime, we've been spending lots of time on our new playscape. As promised, here are some pictures of the new scene in our backyard. As an added bonus, there's a cute picture of Hazel getting out of the bath.

Here we come, summer!

We've been busy around here! Hazel's smiling and growing, as you can see. At the doctor last Monday (for her follow-up visit after her trip to the hospital last month), they told us she weighs 10 pounds! Also, she's smiling a lot now. We love her little grin.

We've been spending a lot of time outside in the mornings, and inside in the air conditioning in the afternoons, since it's so hot now. Last weekend we went to the pool. Dad took me swimming and Hazel and Mom sat in the shade. It was fun. My favorite part was spraying water out of my favorite toy - a plastic taco sauce bottle - and splashing the water with my hands. I didn't have school this week so Mom and Dad made an extra effort to find fun things for me to do. I had a play date with my friend Benjamin Thursday and Friday we met up with him and his mom again at the Parenting Center at the JCAA. This weekend, we spent a lot of time at our park, met up with some friends for brunch (I had pancakes - yum!) and spent some time playing in the park at the Arboretum. Not surprisingly, we also stopped by Amy's Ice Cream while we were there and Mom shared her treat (dark chocolate ice cream with Heath bars) with me. At first I made a face and they thought I didn't like it, but then I asked for more. It's a good thing because for a minute, it made Mom wonder if I am her kid.

We celebrated summer by going to the park again this morning. Usually we can't go during the week because it's a school playground, so they use it during the week. But now school is out and we can go any day. Hooray! I've really been excited about riding my green grasshopper bike lately, and the past few times we went to the park, I spent a lot of the time there riding it.

Even our own backyard has turned into more of an adventure than usual this week. I am always happy to go out there and play in my sandbox and now I have my own playscape too, thanks to Grandma and Grandpa. It's really fun to climb on and I like the slide too. We will share pictures of it soon.

Mom and Dad think I'm heading into a growth spurt. I've been eating like crazy - some of my current faves are macaroni and cheese, cheeseburgers, chicken, refried beans, pancakes, waffles, and fruit, fruit and more fruit - and am starting to pudge up. I told them that of course I'm growing, that's my job.

For pictures of our latest adventures, click here.