Honeymoon Island

Only a few miles from our house is Honeymoon Island State Park, so we decided to go to check out the sunset. It is one of the few beaches around here to have a designated pet area so Bos came along. We'll go another day to check out the real deal - the beaches on the island that received national awards. It was a beautiful evening, and Andrew loved it!

R&R

So what are we actually doing here, you may wonder. A whole lot of relaxing! We don't set alarms to wake up, and oftentimes lounge in our pjs for a few hours after breakfast. Andrew is getting double-parented 24/7 which has been great for all of us. Shawn and I get frequent breaks to pursue our own interests, and Andrew seems as happy as ever to have us around all the time. Personally I use my time to take long runs outside in this beautiful weather....or just a walk to the local ice cream parlor :) We tend to spend most mornings outdoors, whether that be a playground, park, marina, or strolling the neighborhood. There's also a fantastic library around the corner. Now that we're settled in, we'll leave our little town and explore the bigger cities including their zoos, aquariums, museums and beaches. Lunch is leisurely - we're going to try eating on our deck today, the weather has finally warmed up enough. Andrew naps from 2-3:30 or so, which is when Shawn and I catch up on some reading. Each afternoon we decide our dinner menu and stop at either the local fish market, produce stand or natural foods store to pick out ingredients. I think today we'll pair that up with a stop at Honeymoon Island to check out the sunset. So as you can see, its quite a nice life, lots of R&R, family time, and fun in the sun.

The Marina

Where Dunedin's Main Street meets the water is the Marina. At the Marina you also can find a playground, public (clean!) restrooms, picnic tables, a fresh fish market/restaurant, and a pier. We spent a little time roaming around, watching the boats sail and visiting with a pelican.

The Little Explorer

We spent a good part of this beautiful 70 degree morning exploring our front yard. Its so different from our yard in Troy. Andrew loves chasing around the lizards, collecting seeds and shells and digging in the dirt. He's so interested in nature - not a genetic inheritance from me, I assure you. I've had alot of fun learning about the outdoors along with him. Here are some pics of him having some yard fun, and also a new birds-eye view to show off his brand new head of strawberry blond curly hair!

Farmers Market

We really enjoyed the local Farmers Market this morning which is on both Friday AND Saturday mornings! So much fresh produce, baked goods and all sorts of specialty items. Its dog-friendly, and right downtown, so we'll bring Bos when we go again tomorrow.

So Far So Good

Slept in, had breakfast that included local citrus, played outside, went shopping, had lunch, took a 2 mile walk down the Pinellas Trail (sunny and 65 degrees today!) and now making a grocery list for our week of Rick Bayless dinner recipes. At night Shawn and I are tackling the X Files, we're about halfway through all 9 seasons. So far so good! If you plan on visiting us, speak up, our calendar is already getting full.

Here are a few pics of the guys getting some R&R. Shawn cuddles up with Bos to catch up on his favorite websites and Andrew (still left handed as far a we can tell, and very curly thanks to the humidity) has figured out how to access his two iPad apps.

We're Here!

Its been a long few days, but finally we're settled into our new home in Dunedin. Sunday was an exhausting day between entertaining Andrew on the long, early morning flight (thank god for playdough, see pic); getting the luggage, renting a car, finding the house and unpacking. In the midst of all this he skipped his much needed nap so needless to say we both were a little nutso by evening time. I plopped him on the couch for the rest of the night to watch a movie (see pic.)

Monday went much smoother, we took a walk around our new neighborhood and found the Blue Jays spring training stadium only a block away from our place! Next to that is the local library, which we've visited every day since. We also found a lovely playground at the marina where you can play and watch the boats and have a picnic lunch (see pic.)

Tuesday was a cold spell (55 degrees, these people have no idea what cold really is!) so we visited the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, which is a rescue facility. For me the coolest part was watching the vets remove a tumor from a sea turtle - they had windows into the OR. Andrew enjoyed chatting it up with a sting ray (see pic).

Shawn finally arrived Tuesday night after (2) 11-hr days of driving from NY. Its so nice to have another adult around, and our stuff, and Bosley! Bos has already claimed himself a comfy recliner to hang out on. He seems to like the warm weather and new smells very much.

The house is a great fit for us. We're in a community of small bungalows, sidewalks everywhere. We can walk to Main Street which has eateries and shops. In fact today we enjoyed visiting the town's ice cream parlor :) Hopefully we'll find a babysitter and have a weekly date night to try out the restaurants.

Our agenda for this sabbatical includes alot of lounging, cooking, eating, playing, long walks, watching movies, enjoying drinks in our backyard tiki hut (seriously, see pic); hosting visitors and visiting others; and of course we'll hit the beaches! Google "Honeymoon Island State Park" - we live only a few miles away.

I'm pretty sure these may be the best 2 months of my life. The skies are a beautiful clear blue, I can see a palm tree in any direction I turn and I'm here with my favorite two guys. So happy :)

Ready, Set, Go!

We're just about all packed up for our big family adventure. The prospect of spending our winter at the beach, walking around the zoo, and having bbq's sounds better by the second. I may be offline for a day or two as we get settled in, but promise many sunny photos in the months to come :)

(some of) The Loot

Stacking Blocks, a Rubber Snake, a Thomas Book, a Winter Hat.

Star

Here's the star that Andrew made for the top of our tree. If you ask about it, he'll say that he made it at "Xander's house with stickers!" He's quite proud of it. Actually stickers are the new hot thing around here. We play with them daily using scraps of colored construction paper. Our fridge is covered in his stickered artwork.

Christmas!

Andrew slept through his first Christmas. His second Christmas was spent ignoring the presents. But the third time is a charm! Thank you to Aunt Jaclyn and Uncle Adam for the Thomas book.

Happy Holidays!

Boys will be Boys

Cutie Pie

I'm just in love with this photo for some reason. I can't even figure out why. In part its because of his deliciously chubby hands and arms - which I fear will soon disappear as we switch from whole milk to 2%, and with a long overdue growth spurt. In part its his hair - which is way brighter in this photo than in real life, but still, its finally there! In part its the faraway look he has on his face, having no idea that I'm capturing the moment.

Florida-Bound!

Hi friends and family - If you don't already know, we're going to be spending the winter in Florida! We're waaaaay excited about it. Its already down to 20 degrees here. We've rented a cute little cottage in the oceanside town of Dunedin, just north of Clearwater. Its a part of the larger St. Pete-Tampa Bay Metro area, which means that we'll have access to all sorts of goodies like Whole Foods, an Aquarium and Zoo, Museums, good Restaurants etc. The house is within walking distance of the local library and main street, and a short drive to the beach. I'll be sure to update this blog while we're down there, but don't worry if there's a bit of a break as we get settled in. We have a 2 bedroom house with sleeper sofa and a twin-sized cot if you want to visit!

Strike!

Here's Andrew enjoying one of his birthday gifts - a bowling set!

Serenade

Andrew serenades Baby Iris with the alphabet song. He hasn't even met her yet and he's in love :)

Andrew's Future Wife

Welcome Baby Iris! We're so glad you're here!

2 year stats

33 3/4" tall (40th percentile)
28 lbs (50th percentile)

He's way ahead in his language development - uses 4-6 word sentences, can sing and read the entire alphabet.

He's also very healthy - he did not have a single sick visit to the doctor this entire year! And only one in his entire lifetime.

Good job, Andrew! Keep on growing.

Choo Choo

We took Andrew to a model train expo last weekend. I think every little boy in the Albany area that is under the age of 5 was there!

Four Eyes

Wearing Mama's glasses.

Presents

Our house is a veritable toy store right now between the birthday gifts and Xmas gifts in queue. This is the first year Andrew can open gifts! Last year he didn't have the dexterity. And even now he comes to me with them and asks for "elp!"

Happy 2nd Birthday!

My big boy turned 2 today! He's such a joy to be around lately. He shares readily, is very affectionate, eats heartily, plays with enthusiasm. Love it!

Counting

A math whiz, he is not. Yet. At least he's enthusiastic!

This Little Piggy

Pardon the yellowness of the video. This week I'll post a few tubtime films, enjoy!

Bed Buddies

Here's Andrew with his bed buddies - "Crazy Hair" and "Crazy Legs". Crazy Hair is self explanatory. Crazy Legs is a doll that is only legs, its pretty funny. Andrew insists they be tucked in with him on either side, under the covers.

Couch Surfing

Andrew has given new meaning to the word couch surfing. Quite the opposite of its intentional definition, instead he hops, jumps and belly flops on the couch, much to my chagrin. He's old enough now to understand that if he falls off he will hurt himself, so he's somewhat careful in that respect. When I tell him to get off, he offers a compromise - "sit bum? sit knees?" I usually go along with it, and turn it into a cuddle/reading session under the blanket. As an aside, his hair is finally growing in and every time I see it, I do a double take. Being so used to having a baldie, it sort of looks like a wig to me! VERY curly in the back - the top just isn't long enough to curl yet.

Lazy Weekend

For once we took the weekend to actually relax. It was great!

Musical Skype

Playing bells with Nana.

Happy Thanksgiving

As always, I am thankful for this beautiful little boy! And for you, my friends and family :)

MOMS Club

Recently I joined our local MOMS club - a fantastic group of mamas who get together for playdates, parenting support, and friendship. Its great for Andrew, he loves spending time with other little guys and gals. Here we are, taking over the local coffee shop. Andrew is in the orange plaid shirt.

Language Aquisition

Just wanted to take a moment to record a few of the language developments I've heard around here.

Andrew said his first sentence today with correct grammar, including verb tense and inclusion of a preposition. He still refers to himself in 3rd person (thanks to Elmo, grr). Context - he just finished breakfast, yogurt was everywhere.

"Andrew makes a mess!"

Shawn commented that he would have wished for him to say something more along the lines of "Andrew cleans a mess!" but alas, that was not the case.

Other funny words he's been speaking lately -

La Room = Living Room. Very French :)
Wiggle = Bagel
Monkey Cheese = Mac and Cheese
Triyayangle = Triange, with one too many syllables

Generally speaking, he uses 2-4 word phrases, and alot of repeat-after-me. He's finally using "please" regularly, especially when he knows that word will get him something that he really wants.

Strawberry Blondes

Andrew admires the tresses of his partner-in-hair-color-crime, my dear friend Karen, whom I've known since elementary school.

Isabella & Andrew

Here are the RPI Arts Department kids having some post-lunch fun.

Eric Carle Museum

We had a fun visit with friends to the Eric Carle Museum this past weekend. Haven't been? GO! Beautiful building, grounds, art as well as a craft studio, library and cafe. This is a photo of Andrew and I hiding in the "Very Hungry Caterpillar."

Curly Qs

A little sneak peek of curls to come, thanks to a humid day.

Little Buddies

It's so cute, Andrew and Alexander have been holding hands and hugging recently. Although Xander looks alot older than Andrew here, he's only 9 months his senior!

Time for Bed

23 months old

At 23 months old you could...

Be so polite, when you choose, with please and "tank you"
Play with other kids
Sing songs. Mainly you just chime in with the last word of each line.
Throw a pretty loud tantrum
Read to me - much like singing, you say the last word of each sentence.

At 23 months you would...

Run around the house with as many little car toys as you could possibly carry.
Ask for kisses between the slats of your crib before bed.
List off all the train names in the Thomas the Tank Engine Set.
Chew things up and spit them out into my hand if you don't like them. Eew.
Tell Mama to sit on my knees, or lay on my tummy, or to get up....Mr Bossypants :)

At 23 months you loved...

Yogurt and Granola. You'd eat them at every meal if I let you.
Anything related to trains
Playing outside, jumping in leaf piles, pushing your ride-on car, collecting pine cones
Running "round a round" in circles
Dancing and Jumping

At 23 months you hated...

Putting on a jacket
Dada washing your face (but its ok when Mama does)
Footed pajamas
Vegetables and Meat (still!)

A&A

Andrew and Alexander being silly.