Beach Girls

This past weekend, Dan went to Kyle's bachelor party and the ladies (Nana, Auntie Kara, Auntie Lauren, the girls and me) went to Ogunquit, ME and the beach.

We had a great time!

Sadie just being happy:


Loving the water on her feet:


Nellie's first time on the beach and she loves it:


The sand is not entirely delicious:

Cute Trick

kiss
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Dan taught Nellie a cute trick. If you hold her and say, "Can I have a kiss?", she will lean in and kiss you right on the mouth. It's So, so cute!

Warning: It's a pretty slobbery, open mouth kiss, so don't ask for one unless you like baby spit.

Snack Time

pretzel
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

"I like this pretzel. It's a big bagel!"

NYC Playground

slide
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Grandma and Grandpa have a big playground just a few blocks from them. Usually, within a little while of arriving at the apartment, Sadie will ask to go to the playground, and she certainly needs it after all the travel!

This time, Helena really enjoyed the playground as well. There is always a line for the swings, so she only got a short turn swinging, but she loved the slide!

They lift their lamp...

liberty
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

...beside the golden door.

We had a great time in NYC and we'll share more pics soon, but wanted to get one up right away.

The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Watch her go!

Helena Walks!
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Here's a video of Nellie taking some steps. She is very pleased with herself. The squeaky sound in the background is Sadie "playing" her recorder to give Nellie some music for her walk.

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Happy Birthday, Grandma!
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Happy birthday...we love you a lot!
Hugs and kisses,
Sadie and Helena

Fun Friday

This morning, we went to visit Sadie's new school. In September, she will go to Pre-K at the local Montessori school. We went there this morning so she could see it. Dan and I had visited already. Sadie had a great time looking at all the new materials. She really loved how everything was accessible to the children to take out and use and then put back. She also joined in at circle time doing a phonics activity and listening to a story. We think she will love this school!
We then played on the Dartmouth Green for a little while, went back home, had a playdate with Katie and Gracie and their mom, and spent the afternoon relaxing.

Scrunched Nose Face

Goofy Nell
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

This is one of my favorite of Helena's funny expressions...it has been hard to get a picture of it. She scrunches up her nose and tilts her face up. It's really cute in real life.

Planting

Flowers
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

We've been doing a lot of planting work lately. Last Friday, we planted a big garden at Sadie and Nellie's daycare, which looks great. We're also planting around our house.

We took the smaller raised bed that has been fairly neglected in past years and planted some flowers in it. Sadie picked out the flowers, phlox and salvia. It looks so much better with nice neat planting and fresh mulch.

Grandpa brought Sadie a small planter and she picked a marigold to plant in it. We used the extra marigolds from the flat to start the whiskey barrels at the end of the driveway.

This weekend, we need to get more plants for the whiskey barrels and for a new pot that will go near the mail box. We are also going to do the veggie garden this weekend with tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, one row of beans, bell peppers and hot peppers. We'll also do some herbs in pots on the deck.

Visit from Grandpa and Grandma

Visit from Grandpa and Grandma
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

We had a great visit from Grandpa and Grandma last weekend. It was so nice to see them and spend time together. We went to the Farmer's Market, to an antique car show and swam at the hotel pool.
Thanks for coming to see us, Grandpa and Grandma!

In other news, Helena is walking. Her record so far is 6 steps in a row. We tried to get a video of it, but no luck so far. We'll keep trying.

Spring!

First Farmer's Market '09
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Last weekend, we hit the Norwich Farmer's Market for the first time of the season. We'll probably be there again tomorrow with Grandma and Grandpa. This year, we decided not to do the CSA because we missed being able to shop from many different farms at the market.

Today is planting day at daycare. Sadie and her classmates will be planting a flower garden.

Dan Zanes and Local Friends

On Mother's Day, we went to see Dan Zanes and Local Friends at a benefit concert for the Friendly Kitchen in Concord. We all had a great time, followed by a big cook-out at Nana and Bob-bob's house.

Helena, 10 months old

Wave
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Happy 10 month birthday, Helena!

Time is flying by and you are growing up so quickly. You are crawling, standing and taking one or two steps independently. You are walking all over with your push toys. You love to climb into things and over things. You are waving, pointing and clapping. You say Dada (this seems to mean Daddy, Mommy and Sadie) and nuh-nuh (that definitely means "nurse" or "milk") and make lots of other sounds as well. You are eating lots of things...it's fun to see you eat the same dinner as the rest of us.

We love you a lot and can't wait to keep watching you grow!

Good times at the playground

Climber
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

On Sunday, Sadie's friend Mila had her birthday party. We all met at a playground, ran in the field, played on the play equipment, did a few games, ate some snacks and had some cake. It was an ideal party for a spring morning.

Busy Little Bee

Helena is super-mobile these days and into everything. Despite her wide selection of lovely baby toys, she usually gravitates towards something of Sadie's. This colorful recorder is a favorite of hers.






Yes, she is standing independently and occasionally taking one step before falling down. We will probably have another early walker.

Compare/Contrast II

Sadie and Nellie, same shirt, same activity...
(Sadie: 7 months old, Nellie: 9 months old)

Happy Earth Day

Rock Smile
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Sadie loves playing on the rocks behind our house...she has named them all: Spook Rock, Family Rock, Cliff Rock, The Other Cliff Rock, etc. Here, she's playing on Cliff Rock.

We're so happy the spring is finally coming because both girls love to be outside.

Fun in the Sun

Swing!
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

We got a baby swing for the swing set and Nellie loves it. It's got a 5 point harness so she's nice and secure, which means Sadie can push her!

We enjoyed the nice weather on Sunday and played in the backyard a lot. I think the swingset is going to get a lot of use this spring and summer by both girls. We also brought out the little climber/slide for Nellie.

Bathing Cuties

Easter Re-Cap

We all had a very nice Easter with Nana, Bob-Bob, Grammy, Grampy, Kara, Kyle, Karen, Barry, and cousins Anabel ("the big one") and Sophie ("the other one").

Sadie dyes eggs at Nana's (we also did some at home, but didn't take pictures):


The highlight of Sadie's Easter basket was her very own DVD of The Sound of Music:


Helena playing at Grammy and Grampy's:

(Sadie wore this same dress at Easter when she was 15 months old...it was a lot longer on 9 month Nellie.)


Egg hunt at Grammy and Grampy's:


Nellie looking for an egg:


Nellie and her great-grandparents:


Sadie, Anabel and Sophie enjoyed Easter dinner at the kid's table:

Meet the Illustrator

Today, we got to meet DB Johnson, the author and illustrator of some wonderful children's books...we especially like Zuzu's Wishing Cake and Four Legs Bad, Two Legs Good. As part of a show of children's book illustrations, he was doing a reading at Spheris Gallery in Hanover.

The floor of the lower level of the gallery was covered with paper for children to draw on.


DB Johnson was very, very nice.


He signed Sadie's copy of Four Legs Bad, Two Legs Good.


It says "For Sadie, who has two legs! Best wishes, DB Johnson" and he drew Duck from the book!


We had a great time.

Passover Re-Cap

We had a very nice Passover this year, with an early seder with Grandpa, Grandma, Jenny and Andy and then a seder on actual Passover with Andy, Laura, Isaac, Naomi and some other friends.

Sadie, Nellie, Jenny and Grandma make charoset for the seder in Connecticut:


Sadie relaxes before the seder:


Seder time:


Sadie and Helena before the seder at Isaac's house:

(Thank you Auntie Kara for the matching dresses!)

Sadie and Isaac at the kids' table:


Sadie found the afikkomen:


We had a lot of fun!
And now, on to the Easter celebrations...

Helena, 9 months old

Helena is nine months old today. Here is our sweet girl this weekend, wearing a dress that Ann wore as a baby.


Nine months ago today: