Merry Christmas!

We have not mailed out a Christmas card yet, so its looking like it will be a New Year's card if it happens! Pack and Elizabeth do not sit still for very long.

That ornament didn't last long, but just what we bought them for. It was soon removed from the tree and hung from the hardware on the banister, where it fell to ground and shattered into more pieces than ever thought possible.

We were here in New Canaan for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Elizabeth took her first steps all by herself on Christmas Eve, just a week before she will be 9 months old. Elizabeth is wearing my first smocking project in the picture above.

The dress that Aunt Amy constructed and I smocked. First smocking project!

Couldn't quite get everyone to smile for the first picture in their new wagon! Pack loves his new cowboy pjs from Aunties Lizzie and Kiki.

Elizabeth is on the move!

Elizabeth will be 7 months old tomorrow. Today, she crawled up the stairs all by herself! She just pushed the baby walker across the room all by herself. Yesterday she figured out how to get down from holding on to furniture. I need to get a picture of it because it is too cute! She puts her palms on the ground and does the elephant walk!

Greenwich Point Beach

Sadly, I forgot our camera yesterday, but what a beautiful day it was! We met Patrick at Greenwich Point beach where he sailed in with John Kirby. This was Elizabeth's first time to the beach and first time to play in sand! She seems to love it. She crawled in the sand and then would sit and just play with the sand, picking up handfuls and dropping it on her bare toes. It was 75 degrees and sunny. Pack had fun playing with his sand toys and eating an ice cream cone. His clothes did not stay dry for very long and the water was chilly so he stripped down to his diaper to finish playing.

She Smells Tired

Pack told me yesterday that Elizabeth smelled tired, she was ready for bed.

Our weather cooled off considerably this week and we have been enjoyed lots of fires in our fireplace! Aunt Barbara and Bill came over for dinner on Tuesday night. Elizabeth and Pack both had playdates this week, but before leaving the house Thursday morning Pack fell on his chin and it split open, so we were off to the doctors office instead! Thankfully there was not much blood and Pack was really calm the whole time until the doctor had to strap him to a board to glue his chin back together. We avoided stitches!

Elizabeth is really crawling now. She started really using her arms about a week ago. Her two little teeth are very cute. She loves drinking cold water!

Last weekend we drove to Westpoint for the Army vs. Vanderbilt game. Vandy had a good showing with a huge tent full of people and food. The drive around Bear Mountain was beautiful.

Full Swing in New Canaan

I purposely left our schedule "open" for this fall so we could be flexible and have time to do what we wanted, when we wanted. Things are quickly getting busy, which is a good thing, I'm just surprised at how busy the fall is with two little ones and getting involved in the community. We joined the Newcomers Club of New Canaan, which has a playgroup for both Elizabeth and Pack on different days of the week, Pack has swimming on Mondays, there's even a soccer class he can start already! I joined all of the foodie clubs!

Elizabeth turned 6 months on Thursday of last week. We went to her six-month doctor visit where they gave her 4 shots, poor thing. Elizabeth weighed in at 18lbs which puts her in the 90th percentile.

Kiki came to see us on Sat. and Pack enjoyed picking her up from the train station in New Canaan. We baptized Elizabeth in the city on Sept 26th at Church of Our Saviour in Manhattan. Granny, Aunt Legare, Mimi, Papa and Elizabeth all travelled to NYC for the occasion.

Elizabeth in her Christening gown, made by Aunt Amy

Elizabeth is now very good at sitting up all on her own. She is crawling. Most often is looks like a navy seal crawl because she pulls herself across the room very quickly with her arms. She will also still her little butt up in the air, with her arms and legs extended, so she looks like she's doing yoga's downward dog pose. Very Funny. Elizabeth just got her first tooth about a week ago and it looks like another one will be here shortly...I've had the sleepless nights to prove it!

Pack is still trying to decide what he wants to be for Halloween. It changes daily. Anything from a Wooly Mammoth (Manny from Ice Age) to Buzz and Woody to Sarabi (Simba's mom in Lion King). There is also Prince Philip from Sleeping Beauty. We have 3 costume parties to go to already!

Pack now chews gum. We were in the grocery store a few weeks ago and Pack asked for some gum. I told him he had to wait until he got a little older. As we were checking out, he saw the gum and said, "Mommy, I'm older now, can I have some gum?" So, we tried it, with great success, twice!

Today marks two weeks that we have been in our new home in New Canaan. Everyone is settling in very well and the kids seem to be growing before our eyes. Pack did his business on the

"big boy potty" this week and Elizabeth will sit up on her own, with some cushions around her. Pack slept in his own bed all night for the first night since we have been here and he will start a 12 week swim class on Monday. Elizabeth is being baptized on Sept. 26th and family will be in town in two weeks to celebrate. Today was a rainy day, with a high of 63, our coldest day yet, and Patrick made our first fire in the fireplace. We have been enjoying it! And this morning, we went to an estate sale and picked us a boatload of goodies for a fraction of the cost. Found a Baker Louis XIV chair for 175 and an All-Clad Wok for 15! More treasures to be had, but those were two finds. Very exciting. Pack was pleased. They had doughnuts at the front door, and of course he sampled one...or two.

Swimming

Yesterday we went over to Lizzie's friend's pool with Elizabeth and Pack. The water was perfectly warm for everyone, love a heated pool! After playing in the pool for a bit Pack started putting his whole head under the water and holding his breath! He was so excited that he practiced this for about thirty minutes! What a treat. Thanks Jessie.

Rolling Over

Elizabeth rolled over last week Thursday, at 16 weeks, from her back to her belly. She rolls to her right! We are still in Wisconsin this week. Pack and Elizabeth went to go see cousin Charlie at the Mequon Fire Department. Charlie treated us to a nice lunch and then gave us a personal tour of the Fire Station! And on Friday, Auntie Elizabeth took little Elizabeth and Pack to the Milwaukee Zoo with me. We rode the steam engine and we saw elephants, giraffes, hippopotamuses, hyenas and cows.

July 2009

No time to start blogging like the present. We have been in Wisconsin since the end of June, enjoying the perfect summer weather. Elizabeth had her 14 week check up today with Dr. Dorrington, my pediatrician from when I was little. He complimented her on her beautiful eyes, how strong she is, saying she has advanced motor skills. She weighed 14lbs 1oz, which puts her in the 80th percentile for weight and the 90ths percentile for height (25 in) and 85% in head circumference. Elizabeth is desperately trying to roll over from front to back.

Pack made up a rhyme all by himself last week. It started with a walk to the park where he saw a plastic lawn ornament of a Canadian goose, which lead to Goosey Loosey stories. Pack's rhyme went as follows:

Goosey Loosey went in the hay.
Goosey Loosey was okay.
And Goosey Loosey had a niiiice day.