Weekend Trip to Hawley, PA

This past weekend we visited my Grandma and Grandpa Tulumello in Pennsylvania. We battled through some rough weather heading out there but we arrived safe and sound....and just in time for dinner!

Mikey went through another round of teething over the course of the weekend----his right ear was red, he was clingy to Mommy, had little to no appetite, and was pretty grumpy. He told us he had a "boo-boo" and pointed to the back of his mouth which pretty much took all the guesswork out of what else could be bothering him. It was pretty disappointing since we were able to hang out at the toddler pool on Saturday ALONE (the place was empty!) and Mikey couldn't enjoy himself in the water like he usually does.

Sunday he came around but it was too late and we needed to head back to MA so Michael could go to work on Monday.

Despite the teething, we had a great visit with Great-Grandma Anne, Great-Grandpa Armand, Grandpa "BOB" and Grandma Anita. We were able to celebrate "Bob's" birthday which was nice, too!

Here are some shots from the weekend:

Driving with "Bob"

Relaxing watching Toy Story 3 in the car on the way home

ADDENDUM: My father has always made it known that he wanted his grandchildren to call him "Bob". Well, after almost 2 1/2 years, his request has been granted by his grandson. Whenever I refer to my father to Mikey, I use "Grandpa Bob" since he also has "Grandpa Fred". Mikey has dropped the Grandpa part and continues to call my Dad "Bob" in this funny voice. Dad loves it so we'll stick with it.....for now.

Dear Mikey:

You really are becoming your own person. Now that you are talking you have me laughing most of the day.

Here are two things (just from today) that made me smile:

1) I took the cap off of your yogurt smoothie. On the inside of the lid was a little yogurt residue. You picked up the lid and held it in your fingers. With your other hand you proceeded to use your index finger to dip it in the yogurt and then apply it to your face---it was a mirror image as to how Mommy puts on her lotion and make-up in the morning. We are clearly spending way too much time in the bathroom together!

2) I was finishing up my laundry in the laundry room and you were in your usual spot, attached to my hip. I opened the drying rack and fastened it together and you chimed in with "ta-da"! I wish everything in life could be that impressive!

xoxo
Mama

What else do you eat when it is 100+ degrees out?

Hopefully everyone is staying cool this summer! We are taking full advantage of our pool here at the apartment complex. Mikey had two playdates last week with his friends Ruby and Abigail at the pool and another one scheduled for this week with Maggie and Nora!

Mikey has turned into a complete FISH in the water. He wears his "froggy" vest and loves to kick his legs, float on his back, put his face in the water and tries to blow bubbles! He stands on the bench in the pool and shouts "BLAST-OFF" as he jumps off (he got that from Jimmy!). Mikey will request "bench" specifically for this!

While we are on the subject of requesting.....Mikey is finally TALKING. A LOT. It is so great. He comes out with words and phrases that I never knew he knew--"Mama, I put it together"; "Mama, I eating" (first -ing word!); "I sticky" (when his hands are dirty from eating). When asked what he wants for lunch the popular response is "ice keem". And he asks to go to the pool. Every day.

Mikey is still going on the potty either before or after his bath. No other time in between, although he will ask to sit on the potty (which doesn't last more than 5 seconds!). We also took off his "high chair" part of the Trip-Trap chair this week. Our little boy is really growing up!

Jimmy, Erin & Erica visit Boston

Saturday, July 16: Saturday afternoon FINALLY arrived and with that came Jimmy, Erin and Erica for a weekend of "partying it up" all the way from New Jersey!

We started our weekend off by hitting the pool. We swam, we snacked, we had a blast! At one point someone asked Erin and I if the boys were twins! We responded with "Kinda....but not really!". Then we headed back to the apartment for dinner, adult drinks and baths and bedtime.













The boys had a great time playing in the tub together.








Erica read the kids their bedtime books.



Everyone was exhausted! We had a great day!

Sunday, July 17: We met here for breakfast and then headed to Boston via the T! It was Jimmy's first train ride and Mikey's second. The boys were SO excited! After each stop the train made Jimmy would cheerfully shout, "Let's do that again!". It was adorable.









Once we made it into town, we headed to the walking/jogging path along the Charles River and Storrow Drive. We ended up at the North Point Park playground which was beside the Museum of Science. The kids had fun on all the equipment, especially the swings. We lasted awhile even with the high temps. When we were ready to cool off, we headed to the Hard Rock Cafe in Quincy Market for lunch. The boys were great. They held hands as the host showed us to our table. Super cute.














To walk off our lunch before heading back to the T, we ended up strolling through the North End where a parade was going on. We then made a stop at the fire station and called it a day.




Once we were back in Waltham, we quickly changed our clothes and headed to the pool! The boys played with each others trucks and we hardly saw them! They were totally engrossed. After we cooled off we headed to Dairy Joy for our ice cream "dinner". Then it was back to the apartment for baths, books & bed!

Monday, July 18: We met at the apartment at 8:30am to make our way to the New England Aquarium. Once we battled the morning traffic and found parking, we were on our way discovering the penguins, fish and other sea creatures. We could tell the boys were pretty tired today but still enjoyed themselves. Mikey and Jimmy really enjoyed being with each other---there was more hand holding as they independently walked the aquarium and even shared some hugs and kisses!





We were so sad to see everyone leave after lunch. BUT we are really looking forward to our next adventure.....SESAME PLACE with the Casey's AND Tolska's in August! Yay!

PS: Sean Casey--We missed you! Let's pick a weekend to "party it up" in the fall! Possibly the weekend of a home BC football game?!?

Quiet Week

This week:

The McNeals are at the Cape (we are going through Maggie and "baby" withdrawl!);

Leah, Mike and Ruby have left Jamaica Plain and moved to the North Shore (we are hoping to keep up our weekly playdates once they are officially settled!);

Michael has had long, after-work meetings twice this week already (and it's only Wednesday);

BUT........

ERIN, JIMMY & ERICA are coming to visit THIS SATURDAY! Mikey and I are busy getting ready for their arrival! We have thought about food, fun drinks (for the adults), fun places to go and things to see....now all they need to do is GET HERE! See you in 3 days!

SO EXCITED!!

Another "first"!

After Mikey turned a year old I remember telling Michael that we are running out of "firsts". No more "first steps", "first plane ride" or "first haircut". It was becoming all too common now....and I didn't want that to end.

Well, today we had another "first"! Mikey peed on the potty! YAY!




We purchased the potty a few weeks ago and Mikey would casually sit on it from time to time. Usually I have him undress before his bath and while I get the bath ready, Mikey sits on his potty. Everything happened last night as usual, including just sitting on the potty and nothing coming out.

After Mikey was cleaned up we took him out of the bathtub and he made a mad dash to the potty, said "potty" and sat down again. As he got up, Michael says "Mikey---you peed in the potty!!". We looked in and sure enough he had gone! Mikey made no facial expression to indicate he was pleased with himself (or to acknowledge AT ALL what he did).....he was more looking at us like we were crazy because we were the ones that were so excited and cheering! Then he caught on and kept saying "I did on the potty"! He put his hand in it (gross!) and then helped us pour it in the big potty and flush the toilet.

After we put on his pajamas and read books, he kept going back into the bathroom, pointing to the potty and saying "I did on the potty!".

Way to go, Mikey!

Cabana Boy

Happy 4th of July!

We spent the July 4th weekend with Mimi & Grandpa Scialabba, Great Grandma Ruth & Honorable Ernie, Aunt Peggy, Uncle Tom, Uncle Mark, Trevor, and Uncle Timmy.

On Saturday, Daddy, Uncle Tom, Uncle Timmy and Trevor went white water rafting. They had a memorable experience. At one point, Uncle Timmy got flipped out of the boat and was trapped under water between the raft and rock! Scary! Mommy, Mikey and the rest of the group hung out at home where we enjoyed the pool and sunshine.

Mikey is much more comfortable in the pool this year versus last year. We put on his froggy life vest and is ready to go! He loves to kick his legs and swim in the water. He enjoyed swimming in the "big" pool with Grandpa but also liked hanging out in his little pool with his elephant fountain and toys. Mikey also really enjoyed running in the yard and playing "ball" (baseball and hockey, mostly but we did try to work on a simple game of catch---not quite grasping the concept yet!).







During the day on Sunday it rained so we spent a lazy day inside. Mimi had taken out a fire truck that used to be Uncle Timmy's. Between playing with the fire truck and little matchbox cars Mikey was completely entertained!

(Here he is bonding with Honorable Ernie)

Sunday night we went to see the fireworks in South Glens Falls. Mikey didn't last too long with the fireworks last year (we wound up watching them as we walked back to the car).

This year he lasted through the whole thing but looked like this:

(He kept telling me "Car NOW! Car NOW!")

Here is the whole group before the fireworks started:



And here is a VERY happy Mikey with his light-up sword from Aunt Peggy and Uncle Tom:



Before we headed back to Boston on Monday we stopped at a 4th of July party with Mike's friends from high school. It was great to catch up and see everyone's kids.

And before we knew it we were back in the car heading home......