10&11 months

Wow, what a summer it has been! With the beautiful weather, my photography business has been busier than ever causing me to put other passions of mine temporarily on hold, such as blogging as you have noticed. That being said, we did decide to put the madness on hold for two weeks and take a real vacation - out of town, disconnected, in a little cottage by the ocean. As a result, once again, I'm combining two months of baby I's progress into a single post, and as you'll see, we have some amazing progress to share...

In your 10th month, you saw the ocean for the first time. You learned the thrill of soft sand between your toes and, of course, in your mouth. You were intrigued by seaweed and could not figure out now to avoid getting soaked by waves. While mom and dad tried to relax, you decided to work harder than ever to go beyond steps and take your first walk in that little cottage by the ocean. Amazingly, you did this in your 10th month and dad managed to catch it all on his phone! Cleverly, you perfected the 3-, 4- and 5-step on that soft sand, forgiving on the bum as you took some fantastic spills. Since then, you haven't stopped...

Now in month 11, you walk like a boss - people are shocked to see this little baby walking around like he's being doing it for years. In fact, you are now running reminding mommy and daddy the importance of child-proofing the house.You are fascinated by bags, picking up daddy's empty lunch bag and walking around like you are going to work. You like to pick up your sister's purses load them with toy cars and walk around with a cheeky look on your face. You keep growing taller and with all the running, you are slimmer than ever - looking more and more like your father every day except for that light blond hair. Also like dad, your appetite is ferocious, eating anything and everything you can get your hands on. You are no longer a fan of pureed foods, opting for finger foods and yogourt, lots of yogourt. The other night, while celebrating mom & dad's anniversary at a brasilian steakhouse, you devoured lamb, chicken, various cheeses, vegetables and somehow managed to eat until beyond when mom & dad gave up.

Your attention span is much longer and we love to watch you entertain yourself as well as play with your brother and sister. You love love love toy cars, watching them zoom down the slide and fly across the room. You get so into books, if we didn't know better, we'd think you could read. You climb everything - it's a regular occurrence to see you on top of a table after stacking chairs and toys next to it. You would think with all this running and climbing that you would be exhausted and sleep through the night... not. even. close.

After making mommy happy for many weeks with you chanting of "mum, mum, mum" you seem to have forgotten that sound now calling out for "da, da, da" - ouch. You seem to care less about talking as you can communicate very well with your eyes, facial expressions and by smashing your head when not happy. I suspect that will change very soon...

Baby I, your first year is wrapping up and we can't wait to celebrate that milestone with you... in fact, we've completely procrastinated on planning a party, so here's to hoping mom and dad can pull something off worthy of such a wonderful little boy we love so much.

Baby I was a big fan of the beach.

Twins?

cape cod: day three

For day three, we decided it might be time to peel ourselves away from the beach and check out what else the Cape had to offer. We decided on a short trip to Martha's Vineyard. It was a short but sweet trip to this little island oasis. Had our children both not been hit with high fevers, we would have loved to stay on the island a bit longer to explore it's beauty, but instead, we had to call it quits after a brief stay.

The day started out with lots of excitement as we got to board a ferry. Both kiddos loved cruising along in such a big boat as the wind was blowing through their hair. As we arrived closer to the port there were a sea of beautiful sailboats. We had a chance to visit two of the small towns on the island, they were both unique in their own way but what they both had in common were the friendly people we met along the way.

Our first stop was to have lunch. I thought the prices would be astronomical, but to my surprise, the prices were more than fair, the food was delicious and the portions were huge. After our bellies were full, we decided to take the afternoon to just walk around looking at the beautiful colonial houses and beaches that surrounded us.

Little Miss L. had one request while we were in Oak Bluffs and that was to ride the oldest carousel in the United States. Her wish came true as daddy brought her to see the horses flying around in a circle to that classic music. Little Miss L. thought it was pretty cool and if she hadn't been feeling under the weather, I am sure she would have made us ride it all day long.

To get her mind off the carousel, we headed for some ice cream to finish off our time on the island. As we boarded the ferry to head back, we watched the sailboats as they passed by. I would definitely return to Martha's Vineyard, and as much as I love my children, it may be an adults only adventure as it would have been nice to visit vineyards and do a little wine tasting with the hubby :)

My two handsome men aboard the ferry.

We have arrived.

Love the carefree lifestyle here.

This one is for you Nona - see they drink out of Mason jars too!

Beautiful park in Oak Bluffs.

I love love love old houses. They have so much character.

Time to ride the carousel.

My poor baby wasn't feeling well but she still wanted to take a ride.

Oldest carousel in the United States.

Hi dad, look at me!

Beach time.

Enjoying his stroll with Biba.

One happy couple with two passed out children.

Break time with the MIL.

Thank you Martha's Vineyard for a great afternoon. We will be back again!

cape cod: day two

Day two in Cape Cod was all about relaxing seaside and eating delicious food (mostly from the sea.) It was one of those days that consisted of changing our clothes several times throughout the day, but it was always a swimsuit we were sporting. Our bodies were salty, our hair was filled with sand, and our bellies were stuffed with goodness all day long. I love love love days like these. My favourite moments of the day had be watching Baby D becoming a little fishy and watching Little Miss L. as she was determined to learn how to swim on her own. It was the perfect day...

We were lucky to find a super cute cafe just around the corner from where we were staying. They had the best biscottis  I have tasted in a long time.

Little Miss L. felt the same way. No one better mess with her biscotti or else...

Baby D opted for a rather large chocolate chip cookie.

Yum, it sure was good.

I can't get enough of these two.

Water time with daddy.

Loving it.

Little Miss L.'s favourite thing to do was run up and down the beach with mommy.

Mommy and Daddy time with our fav girl.

The perfect day to pick shells.

Time to fly our kite.

It took awhile but it was finally flying high.

The boys' appetizer for the evening.

Definitely not my cup of tea as they say.

Working hard on dinner.

Time to dig in!

cape cod: day one

We packed up the van, and I mean there was literally not an inch left to fill, turned off our cell phones and closed our laptops as we started on our 8 hour drive. For days, we were trying to figure out the best time to drive and, after lots of consideration, we decided the best time was to head out overnight so the kiddos would hopefully sleep for most of the drive. We were right as they slept the whole drive down. They woke for a couple minutes here and there as we filled up for gas but, for the most part, there was silence as we made the long drive.

We finally made it to our destination and we could not have been more excited to start our vacation. Day one proved to be a relaxing one. As soon as we arrived, it was time for us to hit the beach. It was overcast, but we didn't care. We pulled out our bathing suits and headed to play in the water and sand...

We stopped for a quick break in Peabody to enjoy a dip in a friend's pool. 

Love.

Baby D spent a good hour playing with this bucket and sand.

Little Miss L. showing off her happy dance that she had finally arrived in Cape Cod.

It's off to the beach we go.

Little Miss L. stops to take it all in.

Baby D's first time in the ocean.

Cousin Michael and Baby D.

Such a wonderful couple. Thanks for entertaining our children :) They love you guys!

Little Miss L. got right to work on her sand castles.

Daddy and Little Miss L. sure know how to build them.

Pure beauty.

Little Miss L.'s first time fishing.

She did it!

Little Miss L.'s first fish.

Some snuggle time with mommy.

I have one silly girl on my hands.

I would say it was a good day of fishing for the boys.