A visit to Aunt Bess

This weekend we went to visit Becky's sister Beth, now known as Bess, or Aunt Bess. Ally made a breakthrough with names this weekend and started calling herself Ally and she identified Beth as Bess. It was really adorable and exciting for us!

It was an action packed weekend filled with drama; we almost missed our ferry boat, we were there with only minutes to spare and I literally jogged to the boat from the car, I was having flashbacks to my teenage years, Aunt Martha, but we made it. Dreams were fulfilled; Becky got to drive a bright yellow jeep that we rented to explore the island in. Lots of laughs, and fun with family. Thanks for being a great host Beth.

Is a caption really necessary?



Aunt Bess got out her balance ball and Ally was so thrilled. She thought it was so much fun to play with the big ball, but it was too big for her to pick up so she would roll it around the room.

Saturday morning we drove to Sankaty Lighthouse. In 2007 the lighthouse was moved away from the shoreline to avoid the beach erosion. The circular path of stones is where it used to be. They still have the lighthouse fenced off so you can only see it from a distance.




Walking away from the lighthouse.

Walking along the beach road.

Then we went to the beach. We saw 2 seals swimming in the ocean about 10 yards out. It was so cool to see them in the wild so close. They were too quick to get a picture of, though Becky did run down the beach aways to try and get a shot.

As usual Ally was not a huge fan of the water. In this picture she is hiding behind my back trying to hide from the ocean. She learned the word ocean on this trip. The whole car ride back to Beth's place she kept pointing to the water and saying "ocean" it was too cute. Tonight in the bath she was reading her bath book about things in the ocean and it was really neat to see her "get it".

After the beach it was nap time. The next set of pictures are from the Nantucket Farm Fair.

There was a pumpkin contest. The winner was 575 pounds!

They had tractors to sit on. Since Ally would not sit by herself Beth was good sport to sit with her.

Another first - they had bouncy machines and Becky went in it with Ally! Ally loved it with her mama but was pretty scared of it and refused to go on by herself. I can't say that I blame her. Becky said bouncing holding a 21 pound weight was a good work out and lots of fun!

I was so excited to see they had pony rides. But Ally would have nothing to do with it. I put her on the horse and she started frantically saying Bye bye bye bye and grabbing for me so I picked her up and she pet the horse instead of riding on it.

After the fair we went to a local brewery (Cisco Brewers) where they make Whales Tail Pale Ale and a few other kinds. Actually they place makes wine, vodka and brews beer. It was my idea to go and I don;t even drink alcohol. It is a BYOF (bring your own food) establishment so we stopped on the way for chips dip and pretzels. Above are the sisters toasting a fun day!

I love Ally's expression in the photo above, but it really is embarrassing - she is holding a piece of glass she picked up and the background is a huge stack of beer kegs! Once I realized she had glass I replaced it with a stone (she is at that age where you can't just take it from her or reason it must be replaced). Beth and Becky did a beer tasting that took a while so Ally and I played around the kegs and trucks and back-hoe for quite a while. I had so much fun just playing with Ally.

I feel like she grew up so much in 36 hours - she discovered pockets!

This morning we spent time in the Discovery Center at the Whaling Museum where Beth works. Ally enjoyed rocking in the boat. She would demand help to get in and then would rock and chant "rocking" as she did it.

They even have dress up stuff in the children's area and Ally of course loved the hats!

It was a long trip home on the packed ferry boat and then we hit traffic. Ally was not very pleasant in the car ride, but she finally slept for an hour and then was her usual happy self for the rest of the evening. It really was a fun time.

Sunday Night at a Different Park

We got adventurous Sunday night and tried a different park then where we usually go. There was an motor-less abandoned Jeep...lots of entertainment for Ally and the observing Mommy...lots of exercise for Mama.
Ally didn't quite understand why Mama the Motor was tired after 10 laps around the park at 65 MPH. What's wrong, Mama? I'm not tired at all!

But on the walk home, we stopped to pick up and return every wood chip in this yard.

And when encouraged to keep on walking....

...Ally asserted herself with a smile.

Needless to say, Ally's patient, happy sitting outlasted two tired Moms... Julie ended up carrying Ally the rest of the way home. I don't think Julie minded - Ally was a very cute and cuddly passenger.

Firsts!

The first "first" is that Ally took off her shirt all by herself last night. In case I have not said this yet Ally loves her crib. We usually put her to bed around 7-730PM, typically she does not fall asleep until 800PM. This week she has been awake playing and talking and jumping in her crib until after 9PM. That is 2 hours in her crib happily playing. When she stays up that late she tends to wake up early around 5AM so we give her some milk and she goes back to sleep for several more hours, its 9:25AM now and she just woke up! She is now happily babbling in her crib awake but that is 14 1/2 hours in the crib sleeping for only 12 of them!

The first is that at 5AM when Becky went in to give Ally a bottle of milk Ally was standing in her crib half naked. No shirt - it was on the floor with all of her other toys (yes she throws her sleep toys out of the crib). Ally's diaper was askew, and Becky said she thinks if it had been another 15 minutes Ally would have taken off her pajama pants and diaper! I'm sorry we did not get a picture of the hilarious topless Ally in her crib. But I do have some other pictures from the week.

Update: Ally woke up - and she was at it again - shirtless in her crib, with her toys and shirt unceremoniously tossed to the floor. The pants looked like they were not going to last long, either!

I had been looking for a long time for a small backpack for Ally to keep a sippy cup, snack, small toy and diaper in so she could take her own bag to the park. I finally found one on the internet at T.ough T_raveler! People who read this from upstate NY will remember TT backpacks. Well this one is just the perfect size for Ally. So check her out sporting her first backpack!


Remember I said Ally loves her crib. One morning this week she asked for sunglasses and her gym bag proceeded to jump and run around her crib wearing sunglasses. Who knew a crib could be such fun?

Tired

When Ally starts to look this wiped out and exhausted and its not yet time for bed, we turn on SS (AKA Sesame Street). If Ally is really tired she sits in her chair enthralled for most of the episode. If she's not then she gets up, walks around and we turn it off. Can you tell she was tired?

To be honest we have mixed feelings about TV. We've read all the stuff that says TV is bad until after age 2 but we feel that SS actually helps Ally learn her numbers and words, I just wish we didn't feel guilty letting her watch it.

Labor Day Weekend

We had a great Labor Day weekend with really nice weather. We even hosted a group of families from one of Ally's playgroups on Labor Day evening for a barbeque at our place! One of the highlights was that Olive's Dad pulled around 4 kids at a time in our little wagon from Julia and Karina - two in each seat - through the crowd. The photo below shows the scene!

We also had the opportunity to serve popsicles to everyone, and for many of the kids it was a first popsicle. Ally was able to show them how it was done! Check out that face in the wagon!

We had a great time having over a bunch of fellow parents. It was really nice to have everyone in the same child-watching boat helping watch everyone else's kids. A great end to our weekend!

Photo Shoot

Recently I tried to take a mama and Ally picture. As you can see Ally wanted nothing to do with it. Mama and Cookie Monster did not seem bothered by the tantrum, and I of course captured it on film!

This cat loves this girl

This is the kind of thing Becky photographs so that I don't miss things while I am at work. We feel very blessed to be the proud owners of 3 wonderful cats. Carl, our youngest (but not the smallest) is by far the most patient with Ally. It took him a few weeks to get used to her. When we first brought Ally home he hid in our bedroom and never came out when she was awake. But then he realized she was here to stay and since then, about a year ago he has put up with more than his share of baby/toddler abuse. Here Ally is using him as a pillow - or maybe she is bracing herself on the couch to try and push him off with her head. You can decide.

Another great thing about the cats is that they are a wonderful distraction for Ally so when she does get upset we suggest she find one and see what he is up to. So far it works like a charm.

Two more recent pictures of Ally and Carl:

I think its obvious Ally loves the cat too.