Vacation Day 6 - Heading Home

We got an early start so we only saw uncle Joe this morning.

We had a quick breakfast then it was off to the airport. Uncle Joe led us through the construction and got us to the right place.

Our flight home was uneventful, little C fell asleep quickly and only woke up when she sensed the presence of food.

We arrived in CT just after 2 pm, Big C's parents met us at the airport and we swung by their place to pick up the rest of our luggage and Christmas gifts. Liz had packed us a picnic lunch/ dinner and we were back on the road for 3:30, which got us home for 7:30/ 8pm

Florida Day 5 - On the Road Again

Port St. Joe to Tampa

This time the trip went quicker, of course we had less stops and we got an early start, having packed up the night before.

So not much note worthy about the drive - except that I think we all have had enough driving for awhile - although we still have a bit to go.

We arrived in Tampa a little before 4 pm. We had yet another wonderful visit with family, my cousin Emily had arrived with her two children and we were able to catch up. The evening was again filled with wonderful food and family time. And aunt Bev had picked up matching robes for the children for a group photo a tradition with them. It was wonderful that little C was included. In fact I remember some of these photos from my childhood all of us cousins in matching nightgowns.

Florida Day 4 - Port St. Joe & Appalachacola

We had a leisurely Christmas breakfast in bed, while we watched the last 5 minutes of "The Christmas Story" - we were interrupted the night before by a certain little girl.

We then got ready for a nice family lunch, with my aunt Jean and uncle Joe and cousins. We picked up Grammy and headed out. Again another great visit with family we hadn't seen in ages. There were two little cousins for little C to play with ages 3 and 6. The girls had a blast together. They chased the guinea hens, visited the dogs and little C got to play with a cat and she got to meet some chickens and horses too.

It was an afternoon filled with great food and wonderful time with family. Uncle Joe brought out his banjo and the was music and singing, little C loved it and was dancing her little heart out.



We finished our day with a little swimming and then packed up.

Florida Day 3 - Port St. Joe

We slept in, all of us!! which was really great after the late arrival yesterday.

We finally found ourselves at Grammy Fleetwood's after finding breakfast and getting a little bit lost. (OK...... I read the map wrong and had us heading south/east when we should have been heading north/west).

It was really great seeing Grammy again, it had been a long time since our last visit, little C was about 5 months old the last time she saw her great-Grammy, so over a year had gone by.



After our visit we had enough time to stop pick up some groceries for a light dinner and breakfast. We ate our dinner on the terrace at our rental place - we stayed in a condo, a very nice place, very relaxing.

Then we had time for a bike ride out to the beach to watch the sunset and stick our toes into the Gulf of Mexico - it was a refreshing dip, and little C got a bit more than she bargained for when she fell in. Although I think she was willing to go swimming after that, but I wasn't going in.

The sand was so white little C was expecting snow when she first saw it, She was a little disappointed when she stepped out on it. - We built a "snow man for her to make up for it.



We finished off out Christmas Eve by watching most of "the Christmas Story"

Florida Day 2, Tampa To Port St. Joe in 12 hrs!!!

This portion of the trip was by no means record breaking travel speed, but for the most part we had a lot of fun. This is the longest car trip little C has ever taken and she did very well - although by the end she wanted nothing more to do with the car.

Following waffles (made with pecans, the first time I've had them that way, YUM!) and some last minute visiting, we got off to a great start with some wonderful driving by Joe and Big C. Joe led us through the construction going on and onto the correct highway.

We leisurely made our way up through the state, stopped for lunch at a great seafood market/ restaurant, Charlie's in Crystal River- It was great. The food was wonderful, we had really good food and We finished up our meal with some fried ice cream. Little C REALLY enjoyed herself too and the ice cream.
We had a activity tote that little C's Grammy made her for Christmas that kept her well occupied in the car and in every restaurant we visited, a priceless gift.

A Little further up the road we turned off the main road and detoured to Manatee Springs State park where we checked out the spring, walked the board walk and played in the play ground. It was a good chance to get out and stretch our legs.



The rest of the trip was just driving, driving and more driving. A quick stop for dinner in Perry and then we continued on to Port St. Joe - Arriving at 10 PM. Quite the long day but fun too.

Florida Day 1, Tampa

Wow we had an easy flight, only slightly delayed to allow for a catch up flight from the prior day (I assume delayed for the snow we received).

Little C was unfazed by flying, she seemed to enjoy the small part she was awake for, she slept for most of the flight. She was excited to be eating in the air, travel must increase her appetite.

We arrived in Tampa safely and with all of our luggage (YEAH!!!), got the car seat installed, and on the road - were we quickly got ourselves lost. We got directions and advice and easily arrived at Bev & Joe's house.

Warm greetings ensued and we settled in, my cousin Ellie was there as well, it was so nice to see her, it had been about 3 years since we had last been together. A tasty lunch was followed by wonderful walk around the neighborhood.

Before dinner Bev and Joe, brought us out to a local beach to watch the sunset, it was beautiful. Beyond words really. We were near the Tampa Airport, so we were also able to watch the planes going in for a landing - this was also when little C first asked where the snow was.

Holiday 1, Connecticut

Saturday we drove down to CT, to celebrate Christmas with Grammy, Grampy, and Nana.

We planned to drive down early Saturday morning, but had a bit of a late start, and then a long drive. we have about a foot of snow when we woke up, Big C had to shovel before we could pack up the truck,and it snowed for most of the drive, however big C is a great driver. So no problems on the drive down.

We had a lovely visit, it was so great seeing everyone. We held our Christmas celebration Saturday afternoon, little C made out like a bandit - She got her first set of ski's and teaching devices, she seems to understand what they are for and managed to walk across the carpet with the skis.

While there was plenty of snow, we did not try the skis outside that weekend - we hadn't packed little C's snow gear because we didn't think there would be time to go out.

We had a wonderful weekend full of family, great food and fun.

Early Monday morning big C's parents saw us off on our way to FL.

Long over due post(s)

Well it's been a busy few months and posts are on their way. Very long over due posts.

We all went to Florida, over Christmas, to visit with family and relax.

Vacation and holiday posts will follow (all post dated, one for each day of of vacation and then one for each holiday celebration)

Little Cell Phone Addict

Little C has been fascinated by our cell phone for some time now, she wants to do what mom and dad are doing. Although she still won't talk much on the phone.

The big surprise was this evening she managed to call Big C with my cellphone, in less than 2 minutes.

I know it's been some time since our last post. We've been busy as a family. We spent Thanksgiving in New Hampshire at Camp Cornish, with gramma and grampa A, Autie M, Uncle J and Cousin J. The kids are so much fun to watch together. Gramma and Grampa watch both children on the Friday following. Big C and I were able to get out skiing for our first day this season, we had a blast.

Dec. 1 Big C and I got a date night, daycare stayed open late and watch some of the children, it was a great opportunity to get some adult conversation and a nice dinner together.

We helped celebrate cousin J's 2nd birthday and little C had cake (she was ecstatic, the sugar crash was less fun for us) Little C had great fun riding in circles around Auntie and Uncle's house - They have a great floor plan for this.

Little C keeps adding word to her vocabulary, octopus, alligator. This last weekend she pointed out a river to us (water). She loves story time, every night after bath time big C reads to her before bed.

We're looking forward to all our holiday celebrations that are on the way, and the family we will see.

Love to all
Urs

Time Gain

I feel like we have gained about an hour a day, at least on the weekends. Little C has begun helping clear the table after meals. She thinks it's a very fun game. We hand her something and ask her to take it to the sink, garbage, recycling or even the bathroom. And off she goes putting everything in the right place. Then she comes running back for more. This allows big C and I to sit around and talk and visit a little after each meal. This weekend we've even been working on a crossword together. She only put things in the wrong place once, after lunch today our plates, and forks got thrown away, but other than that she is spot on. She has even corrected me, I've asked her to put a few thinks that are recyclable into the garbage and she looks at me funny and put them in the recycling.

Little C has always liked to help, yesterday she went out to "help" big C shovel. Actually she doesn't have a shovel yet, but she did enjoy the snow.

We've set up a tent in the living room for little C, and she's turning it into a nice cozy nest for her self. She even plays by herself in there for a while now.

Our Little Helper

Helping Daddy cook breakfast

Cheese and crackers little C assembled for us, note the decorations. She must of been very hungry because she "claimed" the snacks early on and ate them.

Little C made me these, no bite marks this time :)

Helping fix the washer, she's a natural. Little C came running and jumped right in to help. She must have an ingrained sense for these things. Here she is holding the flashlight just where it was needed.

Now it's Daddy's turn, and little C was there to help too. She is so curious about how things work.

Purple and Potties

Yesterday little C said purple, she has also tried to say elbow and keeps trying to say elephant. It's really fun to watch what she will choose to try to say. She's been playing "please" for about a week, out loud now on top of signing it. It comes out more like "mease" But she is so darn cute doing it.

We've managed to go a whole day dry, little C used the potty all day, even going on her own without coaching. She can take her training pants off by herself and put the back on, not that she wants too. The day after her all dry day we were mostly dry, we had two wet trainers, one because she sat on the potty with the trainers still on, and the second time she wet while playing but she told me about it.

When ever she does go on the potty she picks it up and carries it to the toilet and dumps it in, she's only spilled once and that's because she tripped.

Dry days are still easier if we are bare bottom, which is harder since little C is in daycare during the week, but we do pretty good in the mornings and on weekends at home.

Halloween

Dragon, I had a dragon - a cute pink dragon that roared.

Little C practiced her roaring for a week

1 1/2 (yesterday)

I meant for this to be posted yesterday, but well life was moving along pretty fast and the next thing I knew it was today.

Wow little C is 1 1/2 already. We see such a different girl, than the one we brought home, and yet so much has stayed the same.

She grows everyday and gains more and more independence too (or she takes it by force, it really depend on the day or how you look at it) She wants to do everything on her own, but she's getting better about letting us help. Her face has continued to change, when we look at past photos we see the difference at each stage/ age and still she's my little girl.

She's still maintains her avid curiosity, she watches and observes how everything is done and then tries it herself. you can watch her take in the world around her, and loving every moment.

Little C has learned so many things:
* She loves with such a big and open heart, we get kisses and hugs everyday (on her own terms of course)
* She walks forward, backward, and has a silly walk she needs help for (it's 1/2 a crab walk)
* She has signs : milk, water, mama, daddy, eat, more, pain, dog, motorcycle (used for 4-wheelers, tractors and some cars), bubbles (her own sign), shoes, socks, drink, please, thank you, grapes and bath. We are having a hard time keeping up right now, having new signs to show her.
* She has words: mama, daddy, bubbles, bo bos (boots), ball, no, up, down, help and please (only at daycare so far)

She is working on learning how to jump.

Love to all,
Urs

Visits & Daddy time

Big C and little C are out mowing with grandpa A's tractor (thank you). Little C was talking about going out all morning, she kept calling it a motorcycle, but she really wanted to go out. She was so excited. She keeps falling asleep while they are moving, but the instant big C stops moving she is wide awake and ready to keep going.

Yesterday was a day for visits, we go out early and drove down to visit great-grammy in NH, we got to visit, and little C seemed to remember her last visit a little. We all went out to lunch together and Gram played with little C rolling crayons back and forth. It was a lovely visit.

Then to top the day off, we had dinner with grammy A and great aunt Bev at Camp Cornish. It had been so long since out last visit with great aunt Bev, and it was a lovely opportunity to see family again.

Little C's 18 month check up

I nearly have a 1 1/2 year old, it's hard to believe.

We had her 18 month well baby check up this morning, and is was very uneventful really. She didn't need any shots. She was all up to date, and we weren't getting a flu shot or the chicken pox vaccine.

Little C weighed in at 26 lbs and 6 1/2 oz. (which puts her into the 75th percentile for weight)
She measured 33 1/2 inches tall (the 90th percentile for height). By the way for those of you wondering this makes little C taller than 1/2 my height of 5'-3".

She had blood drawn for an iron test, she was anemic at the last visit and we have been using a natural supplement plus dietary changes to raise her levels, it seems to be working, she still needs more iron, but we are heading the right way. She didn't cry during the blood draw, she watch with intense curiosity and gave the nurses a well developed scowl, but didn't cry. She cried later when she couldn't remove the band-aid covering the spot.

We had our first snow last night and into today, in fact there is still snow on the ground up here, little C was amazed to see it this morning. Big C and little C threw snowballs when they got home this evening, her first snowball!!!!! Big C says it was a really good throw too.

Love to all
Urs

Wildlife

We had about 7 does frolicking in our front yard and another 2 or 3 in the back yard this morning. They were eating and playing and it happened just as we were eating breakfast so it was great that we were able to see them.

Big C brought home an old keyboard they were going to get rid of at work and so now little C can "blog" along side me, she seem to like, but she does wonder what happened to the cord. Big C cut the cord off to eliminate the strangulation hazard. Bic Got these photos just this morning as I was working on the first part of this post. She's wearing some halloween jammies that are so adorable on her.

Currently as I finish this little C is playing 52 pick up with her feet, she scatters the cards on the floor, then steps on them, they stick to her feet, and then she walks over to me, holds her foot up and gives me the card. It's a silly game that makes us all laugh.

Lastly, little C went poop on the potty all by herself, she had that look, so I asked if she had to go and asked if she want to go sit on her little potty. So she walked over sat and did her business. Yeah!!! - We were proud of her and she acted like it was no big deal.

Love to all
Urs

Bath Time

Last night little C asked fo her bath, before we mentioned it, she was done with dinner and ready to go, so she handed her plate to big C and signed bath and bubbles (not the ASL sign, but her sign) She also says bubble/ bubbles.

Tonight at bath time she climbed into the tub herself, I was just there with my hands to make sure she didn't fall.

Love to all
Urs

Family Weekend

We have had a great weekend, lots of time for play, work and time with family.

We spent the weekend at Camp Cornish visiting Grandma and Grandpa A. Auntie M and cousin J were up visiting too, so we got even more family all at the same time. The weather was great and the foliage is looking good.

We all helped stack wood for Grandpa A, even the little ones. Little C thought is was a big game and kept trying bigger and bigger pieces of wood. At one point she got a little disappointed that she wasn't able to lift the larger pieces over her head to toss them over the side of the trailer. But she did enjoy helping pass pieces to her daddy and carrying them around.

Grandma A made that hat, with no pattern, just on a whim. It's a good thing too, little C loved it.

Big C installed a brush guard on the truck, ooh more chrome. Little C helped, she help and passed bolts and nut to big C and she helped turn the wrench. She handed tools to her daddy and inspected the final placement. Big C needed to lift up the bumper during the installation and was using a 2x4, a wedge, and a very large hammer. This is when little C first wanted to help, she was trying to swing the hammer to help lift the bumper up, Grandpa actually did this part, much safer that way.

Little C got to meet several dogs, two small neighbor dogs, who she had a barking contest with and a large puppy that gave her kisses. This may have been her favorite part of the weekend, she was so excited to inter act with the dogs. Little C also got to have some nice quiet time to cuddle with the cats this weekend too. Benny was very patient and let her pet him several time, and little C got to practice her cat sign.

We also had some great potty time - which was really great since little C hasn't been very interested in sitting still for very long, especially on the potty. This weekend we had several catches and we all were very happy about it, little C even went willingly to the toilet, and she even found ways to let us know when she wanted to go potty.

To top off the weekend big C and little C when out on the 4-wheeler after we got home, first to take some photos, then two more time because every time they got to the house and big C asked little C if she wanted to be done or wanted more, she kept signing for more. She came back into the house with a huge smile on her face and full of excitement.

Love to you all,
Urs

Our Little Monkey

Here's little C up on the coffee table, she managed this all by herself with out using the chair, she was very proud of herself. She looked to me for help a few times but I told her she was own her own - she managed just fine and was able to get down safely by herself too. She stood at first but sat as soon as she was told she would have to come down if she continued to stand. But she spent about 20 minutes up there playing and reading happy as can be.

Little C's starting to get interested inhelping in the kitchen, last night she was begging to help while I was making biscuts to go with the really great chili big C made. So I handed little C small dish of flour to "cook" with. She sprikled it on the floor, rubbed it all over her face, and ate it, but had tons of fun.

Wow pain on day 3

Today was the first time the pain from my teeth extraction really caught up with me, of course I went without the powerful pain relievers last night and woke up hurting. So I've been resting and taking it easy. Big C has been quite the nurse, making sure all my needs are taken care of.

Big C has really helped since the surgery, today he's done all the diaper changes and he's cleaning house, we have a showing Monday. Little C been spending time with both of us. She's been reading and trying to blog, leave it to the young. Earlier she "help" mow - which really means she went along in the backpack carrier, actually she was a bit upset when she heard Big C start up the mower without her, she led me right outside to find her daddy.

She has loved watching me sort the photos, actually now when ever she sees the laptop she climbs into my lap, points and says "baby" - she's a bit obsessed with babies lately, and dogs still. But she loves pictures of babies, or better yet the real thing at daycare.

On the house selling front we had a family stop by interested, just drove up and talked to big C so we may be showing them around some time this week - Interest in the house may be picking up, that would be nice.

Just a start

Well if you've found this I probably did something right. This is just another big step in to the digital world for us. I wanted to be able to share stories with everyone who might care, family and friends. Most of them will probably revolve around little C.

I manage to organize out hundreds (maybe thousands) of photos today, I was home recovering from having two wisdom teeth extracted, and I'm supposed to be resting. It's horrible how doing nothing can be so tedious when it's what your supposed to be doing.

Here's a picture of little C just this last weekend, we're at Mad River. We stopped by to get our ski passes, little C has one too (her second really, but this year she will actually use it). Just in time since I heard on the news this evening they got snow, and people have already skied it.

This was her first time on a non-toddler swing, she did really well and even jumped off while it was still moving, dragging her feet along to slow down and stop.

There will be more in the future.

Love to all
Urs