A Return to Summer

Uncle D and Cousin Kit


Go Yanks!

Just a spoonful of sugar... We gave Elsie Mary Poppins for her third birthday. She held a special screening on Saturday night.

Elsie is hard to catch on camera - always on the go!

Heading out for a walk on the beach.

Chewing on the strap was the highlight of the beautiful walk.

Can't wait for trips to Hilton Head next summer!

Tad hit the open road on his first road trip last weekend. He was more behaved in the car than the Frenchies... clearly we have no control. We went to Hilton Head for a long weekend with Beth, David, Elsie and Kit. We lucked out and had fabulous summer weather – close to 90 degrees and sunny! Tad enjoyed his first dip (toes) in the Atlantic and trip to Salty Dog. Elsie showed him the ropes, while Kit dazzled Tad with her crawling and standing skills. Tad enjoyed the salty ocean breeze and hanging out with his cousins.

Vroom, Vroom

When Johnny was in high school, he and his father restored a beautiful 1965 Mustang. Johnny absolutely loves the car and brought it to a car show near our house this morning. Tad enjoyed looking at all the cars and people. We even saw a ZZ Top look-a-like… the car show culture is rather interesting. Johnny can’t wait to cruise around with Tad in the Mustang.

Food Fight

Round One...

Round Two...

Tad tried solid food for the first time this weekend. We are not sure how much rice cereal he actually swallowed and digested. After the first mess, we wised up and put a bib on him for round two (quite the nail biter victories by the Irish and Eagles on Saturday!) Tad didn’t seem to dislike the new food, but was definitely more interested in playing with the spoon and, of course, chewing on his tasty piggy toes. He looked at us as if he was asking why would we offer the stinky, mushy cereal when he has his big toe and fingers to chew on?

Rockin' Four Months

Tad turned four months old on September 20th and had a week long celebration, including showing off his dance moves in the Bungee Baby Bouncer (we tried to capture some action photos above), a favorite of all his cousins, and a visit from Aunties Amy and Al. Tad charmed the ladies with his grinning and monkey tricks on his activity mat. We were so excited and appreciative that the ladies made the trip down from Boston and Connecticut. We had a fabulous weekend catching up with them. Congratulations to Amy & Tim on their recent engagement! We are so happy for you and cannot wait for the wedding celebration in Newport, Rhode Island on May 22, 2010.

Tad is thoroughly enjoying life these days. Some new favorite activities include putting anything he can find in his mouth (preferably a toe or finger), watching the frenchies wrestle (we’re a bit disturbed as to what he’s learning from them and hope we don’t get a call from daycare about aggressive “playing”) and making lots of noises. He sounds like a bird and has a belly laugh that we have only heard on rare occasion but are dying to hear more often.

Happy Birthday Bryce!

Bryce turned 3 on September 10th and had quite the baseball themed birthday bash this past weekend, complete with peanuts, popcorn, burgers and lots of Braves gear. We had a great time, except for ND’s disappointing loss to Michigan.

4 Months or 84 Years?

Tad is still sporting the old man hairstyle. He apparently subscribes to the sentiment that some things never go out of style. While Tad is nearing his four month birthday, he looks like an 84 year old gramps from behind! Given Johnny’s hair, we cannot imagine Tad will remain nearly bald for much longer…

Goodbye Summer 2009!

We will certainly remember Tad’s first summer, filled with wonderful moments of Tad smiling, playing and thrilling us. Amazing and humbling are probably the best words to describe the first few months!

We had a great Labor Day Weekend. The Roll Tide gang (Beth, David, Elsie, Kit and Oscar) treated us to a visit for the long weekend. We gathered at 665 Edinboro to watch the Irish defeat Nevada and are now cautiously optimistic that this season will be much better than the last few painful years. We are very excited for another college football season and are sure Tad will be a big fan as his great-grandfather and namesake was a tackle for ND. Quite the diplomat, Tad cheered for both BC and ND and decided to wear his BC onesie for the first weekend of the season. And we always thought we were above exploiting our child! The Boukaters and Thompsons rallied at ESPN Game Day downtown and Uncle D cheered Alabama to victory at the Dome on Saturday night. He looked like he needed some greasy food and a nap on Sunday. The good old days…

On Sunday afternoon, we returned to Edinboro for a Greek celebration in honor of Poppa’s birthday. The food was amazing, from a fabulous hummus and grape leave spread to lamb kabobs and, last but not least, a decedent chocolate cake for dessert. Thanks to all the chefs and a very happy birthday to Poppa! Addie, Donna, Joe and Gwynne Davis joined in the fun and, as always, kept us smiling and laughing. We decided not to ruin Oscar’s holiday weekend in the big city and left the frenchies at home. Abby has a special affinity for pug blood and, while he is very handsome and sweet, Oscar is definitely not the toughest pug on the block. The poor guy cowers in the corner when The Crab shows up.

Tad absolutely loved hanging out with the family and especially enjoyed all the commotion and watching Kit and Brooke. We’ve realized that the poor kid is rather bored in our dull family room – we don’t even have any art work or decorations on the walls yet as our home furnishing was sidetracked by Tuggie’s surgery and Tad’s arrival. Tad is quite the “nosey neighbor” and loves being in the middle of it all and watching everyone.

Tad decided not to observe Labor Day this year. Instead, he spent the day trying to get his toes in his mouth. After lots of grunting and effort, he achieved success around 3:00 pm and enjoyed sucking on his big piggy!

Nannies for Hire

If you are in the market for a good nanny, we have some great candidates. Our daycare provider, Sandra, was away last week (bad timing on our part as it was my second week back at work!). Grammy Pat came over on Monday and Tuesday and entertained Tad and Grammy Jeanne and Pop flew in Tuesday night. As always, they were all wonderful with Tad and completely spoiled him. He definitely has them, as well as Poppa, wrapped around his finger – a few smiles and coos and Tad could probably line up his own pony for his first birthday. Johnny and Jeanne dazzled us with their cooking skills and Tad enjoyed his bumbo seat at the table. He was treated to a special dinner with his four grandparents on Friday night.