On Turning One

I can hardly believe it – I’m about to turn one!  Last August we celebrated my cousin Caleb’s first birthday at his home in DE and also in NY.  He looks so excited with anticipation, don’t you think?

 

And it’s no wonder – look at that awesome cupcake he got!

I can’t wait for my turn!

At the NY party Caleb got all dressed up and showed us he wanted to be a journalist or something.  I bet the first thing he writes about is that giant birthday cake he got!  My big brother (a.k.a., “THING 1”) made a cameo in the cake shot.  Can you spot him?

 

We got Caleb this awesome Little Einsteins riding toy.  If this is what it’s like to turn one, I’m all for it!

As usual, time spent with family includes lots of chill time entertaining one another.  Here I am turning it on for my Jiu Ma while she talks and sings to me.

Beach, Barn Animals, Blueberries, and Buddies

Now that it’s kind of cold out, it seems like a great time to look back to the warmer days of summer!

Jaden and I took a quick trip out to the Cochituate State Park in August.  Look how warm and sunny it was!

I was joined by a couple of buddies, Daniel and Sarah Elizabeth.  We’re total beach bums.

Our mommies are so great to go through all this effort to get us some fresh air and sunshine, but it looks like they’re having a pretty good time, too.  Oh, and there’s my silly big brother.  Hi Jaden!

Later that same week we did some blueberry picking at a farm.  I don’t have any blueberry pictures, but here’s Jaden checking out the farm animals in the barn.

And here are the wonderful super mommies that took us out for an exciting time that day.  -edit- Mommy tells me this picture is completely out of context and the caption is totally wrong.  But I think it’s a cute one anyhow, so I’m going to leave it here.

Afterward we had a little picnic with more of our friends.  It was a long, fun day.  Just look how tired Jaden was!

The next day Uncle Mike, Uncle Kris, Auntie Donna, Grace Marie, and Evelina came to visit.  Here Uncle Mike and I are having a funny face staring contest.

Meanwhile, Jaden is sharing his freshly picked blueberry with the girls.  -edit- Mommy says those are some kind of grapes, not the blueberries Jaden picked.  It’s okay, just don’t tell the girls and hopefully they’ll still be very impressed!

Sprinklers, Castles, and the Border Cafe

So much to get caught up on!  Pictures are worth 1,000 words each, so I’ll use them to save myself some typing.  ‘= )  Mommy took me and Jaden to a sprinkler park several times through the summer.  Our first visit was in early August when we finally started to get some nice summer weather around here.

It’s so nice to go places with my family, even tho I can’t run around and be crazy myself just yet.

Jaden and John had a great time with buckets, water, and probably some things they shouldn’t have been doing..

Here they are being really silly!  Jaden tried to escape, but it looks like John has a pretty good throwing arm.

Next summer I’ll be as big as these guys and I bet my big brother will show me how to have a great time, too.

A couple days later we went to Castle Island with more friends.  Boy, those tubes look like fun!

Some day I’ll have big boy friends, too.

But in the meanwhile I really like being cuddly with my Auntie Amy!  What are Jaden and Uncle Erick looking at?  Big boys are so silly.

What a Six-Week-Old Does on Vacation

Most people probably don’t know, so I figured I’d let you all in on the answer to..  What does a six-week-old does on vacation?

Be held..  a lot.

Get some sun – got to keep up the Vitamin D level!

Supervise.

Enjoy some music and entertainment.

Commune with nature.

Exercise.

Blow lots and lots of tiny bubbles.

Evening Shenanigans

In the evenings we always seem to come up with fun things to do, especially when the weather is really nice.  A couple of times Jaden and Papa put together a nice fire in the back yard.

First they would crumple up paper and throw it into the fire pit.

Then they’d throw on some split pine for kindling.

And finally some split logs.

Look at this blaze!

Papa and Jaden are very proud of their nice fire.

As for me, I was kind of tired.  But don’t get me wrong, I was very impressed with their fire making skills.  I just find myself sleeping a lot.

It’s not all work, work, work, tho.  We spent some time just chilling together watching the fire grow.

I got some great quality time with Mommy!

And I always get lots of brotherly cuddle time.

And lots of sleep.  Did I mention that already?

Nana and Papa have an impressive garden.

They pick fresh vegetables from it nearly every night for us.  Jaden loves it, but I have a while to go before I can enjoy these fine foods.

After dinner we go back down to the fire to roast marshmallows.

Jaden loves these with chocolate and graham crackers.

In fact, it looks like everybody really likes these little sandwiches of warm, gooey, chocolately, crunchy, grahamy, uhmm.. messy goodness.

Oh yeah – messy, indeed.  Maybe next year I can get in the action.

But for now I’m happy to be adored by my Nana and Papa.

Some day I’ll be big like my brother Jaden, and they’ll put me in charge of the goodies, surround me with mosquito repelling candles, and give me a nice cushy chair.

But until then, I will observe and learn as much as I can from the pro’s like my big brother.

Cuz Ruthie’s Graduation

Daddy finally got the pictures downloaded, so I can now show you some fun events from our weekend in Victor, NY.

Here’s my cuz Ruthie being silly with her diploma.  She’s a super smarty pants and I hope to be like her some day!

Cuz Rhianna and her friend Taylor are unceasingly silly and I love them for it.  They are so much fun!

Here I am getting in some serious cuddle time with the graduate.  A smart, older woman..  too bad we’re related!

Heehee..  I’m just kidding, of course.  She’s got a handsome b/f already.  His name is Brian and he’s almost as good at golf as Daddy, even tho his 5-iron goes twice as far as Daddy’s driver.

My brother Jaden had a great time at the pool, especially with the space shuttle float.  The weather was so nice for the graduation party and everybody had a great time.

Next stop..  Schroon Lake!

Victor, NY

Jaden and I have been in Victor, NY visiting my Aunt Karen, Uncle Bob, and the whole family (well, almost – Rebecca is living in TX now, so I haven’t gotten to meet her yet).  Ruthie just graduated from High School – one year early!  I hope some day I’m as smart as she.  I want to post some pictures, but Daddy forgot to bring the camera to the house today, so I asked him to do something with the webcam and this is what I got.

Not so great.  A little creepy, in fact.  But it’s a picture nonetheless.  That’s Robbie in the background.  Here’s another.

I wonder if I’m going to have a big nose like Daddy, or a cute one like my brother.  He says, “hi” by the way.  And Daddy is smiling because he did kind of okay at golf today.

Tomorrow we’re headed over to Schroon Lake, NY to visit Nana and Papa at their house.  We plan to do all sorts of fun things there, if the weather cooperates.  I’ll keep everybody posted – don’t worry!

My Goofy Big Brother

I realized that one of my previous posts portrays my big brother as a nice, gentle, normal kind of guy, but I wanted to be sure you got a view of some other sides of him.  Take another look and let me know what you think!

Goofy?

Ingenious?

I can’t quite figure him out yet.

Family

There are just so many Uncles, Aunties, etc. sometimes I can’t really keep track. Who’s who and who’s really related to me?

Here are Uncle Jeff and Auntie Joyce. They have two boys, just like my Mama and Dada. Does that mean they’re my cousins?

Here’s my Lao Lao. She’s the only one of her kind that I’ve met so far. That must mean she’s someone very special. We have a special secret language that she’s teaching me, too.

Here are Uncle Berhan, Auntie Karen, and Karynna. Uncle Berhan and Dada behave like silly brothers, but they look nothing alike, so I’m really confused here.

This is Auntie Peggy. There was no accompanying Uncle, but they kept talking about someone named Nate.

Boy this is all very confusing. I need a cheat sheet or something!

My Big Brother

So, it’s true.. I’m a little brother. I’m slowly learning what that means, but so far it seems pretty nice. See for yourself!