Vineyarders Season Two - Part 3 (final installment)

These photos are from our trip out to Aquinnah. Drew wanted nothing to do with taking photos with us. Our little squirmer just wanted to run around.

Menemsha

Mom's sand creation did not last long next to Drew, but I did manage to get a picture (with half of a W)

Muscle man working hard dig diging

So that is the last of the photos from our vacation. We have to get back to the grind tomorrow. I am dreading it slightly because Drew is just beginning to enter into a new stage...he is being a very fresh boy. He was very well behaved on our trip, but towards the end he started acting up a little (squealing at the top of his lungs when he didn't get his way). Since we have been home it has gotten much worse and he is starting to defy us. He started climbing on the furniture and jumping on it. When I tell him no, he laughs. When I finally get him down and block him from going up, he screams. If I turn my back...or heaven forbid leave the room, he is back up again. I am not quite sure how to handle this yet. Discipline a 16 month old? Are we at the terrible twos already? Maybe he is just not feeling well (I think this is wishful thinking though). I will just have to stay patient and think of sweet memories of my baby playing in the sand.....we'll see how that goes!

Vineyarders Season Two - Part 2

We went to Oak Bluffs one morning before the beach. We walked around for a bit, but mostly enjoyed the park. Drew wanted to "sniff sniff" all of the flowers and run around the fountain.

Later in the day, we went to State Beach. Drew did lots of digging and playing in the ocean. He couldn't get enough of Daddy and Mommy throwing him in the air. He kept asking for "mo mo...peas!" How can you say no to that?

Finally (that same day) we went out to dinner. Drew shocked the pants off of us and ate spinach and artichoke dip! He kept asking for more. I just don't get him sometimes...he won't eat noodles, but he will eat spinach and artichoke dip?

Still more pictures to come..stay tuned!

Vineyarders Season Two - Part 1

We went back to Martha's Vineyard for the second year in a row. Rather than a hotel, we decided to stay a little longer and rent a house for the week. Everything was perfect. A house was the best choice for us because rather than being silent in a hotel room after 7PM so Drew can sleep, we could put him to bed and then enjoy the rest of the evening together.

I am in love with the Vineyard! We have never had a car on the island before, so most of what we saw was just the downtown tourist areas. This year we took the car and explored the entire island. We drove out to Aquinnah and saw the Gay Head Cliffs. We went to Menemsha and explored Vineyard Haven. We followed the GPS and took all of the routes that went along the water. I hope that we can make this trip a yearly tradition.

Drew had so much fun on the beach. We tried to hit a different beach every day. We went to South Beach one day and the waves were way too big for him. I was nervous the enitre time. He was not happy that I made him wear his bubble, but if he got caught in one of those waves he would have been gone. We didn't stay long at South Beach, but now we know where we can bring him to boogie board in 10-12 years.

There are way to many pictures to show in one post, so I will be posting some more later, but here are a few to start with:

Every morning we took Drew and Lucy on a walk to downtown Edgartown. We stopped for coffee and "babels" (bagels) and sat on a bench looking out at the harbor to enjoy our breakfast. This picture was from our first morning. Drew hadn't adjusted to sleeping in the pack-n-play yet and was up at 3AM, so about 10 minutes into the walk he was out. He had no binky (usually a necessity to fall asleep) and the stroller was originally in the full upright position (making his head bob to the front).
Our view as we ate our babels and coffee

Drew loved to "dig dig" in the sand. Even more, he loved to "dig dig" with other kids toys. He also became the MV welcoming comittee when we got to the beach. He liked to walk up to all of the people relaxing in the sun, kick sand in their faces, share a rock with them and say "hi" (with a little wave). Funny thing is, he only seemed to find girls in bikinis....did someone teach him this? (Luckily he didn't want to say hi to the two topless women we had to share the beach with one day...especially since he has learned to say "boobies" and thinks it is funny) Yep, I know awful right? What can I do, the kid repeats just about anything now.

Most evenings after dinner we walked back downtown and got some ice cream. Drew learned how to lick rather than bite. We enjoyed back on our favorite spot overlooking the harbor.

Mommy's Little Helper

Not only does Drew help me pick out items off of the grocery store shelves, he helps me put them away! Actually, he has been very excited about doing his "chores". When he is finished with a drink, he goes to the sink and puts his cup in. When he spills his juice on the floor (which is pretty much anytime he has a cup) he points it out with an "uh-oh" and then I give him a paper towel to wipe it up. He goes right back to the spot, cleans it and then runs to the trash and throws the paper towel away. He takes cleanliness very seriously.

Drew has become quite the little talker lately. He is learning new words every day. He usually makes attempts at saying what we request of him. His favorite words right now are "apple" - which he says every time I open the refrigerator, requesting some juice. "Help" - sounds a lot like apple, but he asks for "helpa" when his toys go under the couch or he needs help with his puzzles. "Binkidy Bink" - his new name for his binky...he usually repeats several times in a row and is hilarious. "Hewow" (hello) - He has a plastic phone and one of Andy's old Blackberrys that he walks around with up to his ear saying "hewow?" "heeewow?" I have been working on manner words and he says please - "peas" and sometimes thank you, but we are trying really hard. He knows that there are signs for these words so he usually just waves his arms around thinking that will be good enough. Please is catching on quicker than thank you because with a cup of "appa" juice in front of him there is incentive to learn.

We are having some landscaping work done by our friend TJ, and Drew is just fascinated by him. He drives a truck and has a "digger"(excavator) and a "goggie"(dog) - who is cooler than that? Every morning, he goes to the front window asking for "TeJa". Every time we come and go from the house he asks for him, actually just about all day he wants to go see "TeJa".

I am shocked at his puzzle skills. He has one puzzle that is the entire alphabet with pictures on the letters (like a zebra on the z). He can get almost every letter very quickly. There are just a few toughies that he cant get completely in (the Q is tricky) and he will ask for "helpa".

Ok, I will stop bragging now.

Fathers Day on the Farm

Looking back, I guess I have posted quite a few times about our trips to the farm. What can I say? We are farm people. Drew loves the petting zoo so we went to Belkins for the Strawberry Festival, but instead of U-Pick...we said no thanks, you pick, and we bought a quart in the farmers market. It was a rainy day, so we ate lunch in the back of the car and then took the train through the orchard and out to the petting zoo and childrens play area.

Happy Fathers Day!

Daddy,

Thank you for being such a terrific father! I love when you get me out of bed in the morning and snuggle with me before work. I love when you call before you come home so I can watch your car pull in the driveway. I love that you sit down and play with me the moment you come in the door at night. I love playing with you and every day that we spend together. Happy Fathers Day to my #1 Dada.

Love,

Drew

All Aboard!

Today we took Drew to Edaville Railroad to visit with Thomas. It was pretty hot out and although we were lucky it wasn't too crowded, there were still lots of children 5 and under that we battled through. All that said, Drew had a blast so it was well worth it.

Mommy and Drew with Percy

We took a ride on Thomas! (Luckily it wasn't sold out b/c Daddy mistakenly bought tickets to yesterday's train ride...oops)

Once we rounded a corner and he saw Thomas pulling us along, he just couldn't contain himself. There was a lot of laughing, and "wow" and "car car car"! Although we were supposed to stay seated for the ride, there was just no way to prevent this Thomas fanatic from jumping up and down.

After the ride, we waited in line to get a picture with Thomas.

After the train ride, we hit some of the amusements. Drew enjoyed riding, but he was not a big fan of waiting for them to start. We will have to work on patience. We had a really good day. I never thought I would have so much fun at "A Day Out With Thomas" at Edaville RR, but when you have a kid that gets so much joy out of seeing that big blue train, you just have to love it. My biggest disapointment of the day was not getting a picture with Sir Topam Hatt.....I know what you are thinking, get a life, right?

The Heat Continues

We spent the day either on the porch playing in the water or in the house playing in the A/C. It was around 95 degrees today and just plain miserable out. I blew up the pool that I bought last year and I had no idea it is so big! It takes up half of the porch. The water never warmed up today which was quite surprising, so Drew was in and out of it. He would want in and then 30 seconds later, he was "aaaall dun!" He played with his water table and just had lots of fun splashing around. The popsicle was a big hit too. He didn't quite understand why he couldn't put it down and come back for it later. I had to rinse it off a few times. It looks like we have one more day of this heat and then it is going to break. I have been looking forward to summer weather but, like the priest at my wedding said "someone must have been praying too hard for nice weather".