Happy Birthday to Mommy!

We were still a bit under the weather, so we kept my birthday celebration pretty quiet, and that was really nice actually. We thought it would be good to get out of the heat for a day and drive up to Prescott. The craft fair was awful, such cheesy southwestern artwork, mesquite carvings, and other things that didn't interest us much. Nothing like the old country sampler at the Farmington Polo Grounds back home. Man I miss that craft fair-classic colonial homespun wares. You can take the girl out of New England, but you can't take the New England out of the girl!

Anyway, upon some pretty strong suggestion, Anthony "built" me a cake from scratch that was absolutely scrumptious. As you can see, Vincent was anxious to dig into the yummy frosting, too! He could barely wait to help me blow out the candles.

MMMMM, cake!

Ummm, not sure how appropriate this is, but I taught Vinny CHEERS! When I find he isn't drinking enough, a rousing "cheers" seems to get him to chug a lug. Hydration or early training for college drinking games? I'll let you decide. Either way, it's still adorable.

Oh! Check out my bracelet-if you look carefully, you can spot my two new charms from Anthony and Vinny-a "V" and an "I Love You." I love that every charm on that bracelet has special meaning, and I can recall each occasion on which I received them. Even if Anthony just happened to be so thoughtful to mark any given Tuesday with a sparkly bauble, I'd certainly remember it. hint hint.

College Gameday

We've been awaiting this day with anticipation for a long time now. UCONN was going to the Big House. We had a high stakes bet with our good friends, the Kish and Prather Families, Debra and her sister being the biggest Michigan fans ever! We were supposed to watch the game at their house, hostile territory, but we all came down with nasty colds (although Ant is still insisting it's just allergies), so we were quarantined to our house for the game. Might have been a blessing considering the pitiful outcome of the game.

Pre-Game Snackin'

Big Guy, Little Guy

Hey, Uconn is Mommy's team, too!

Texting some smack talk

Big day...Konked out! Love our nighty-night routine. Looks like The Wonder Pets even got the best of Daddy! Snuggle.

No Pictures, Just Words

Vinny's words, that is. I've been trying to decipher his words of late, and it's not been easy. Since this blog has become my baby book, I wanted to take a bit of time to record some of the sounds Vinny's been using lately, lest I forget them. The best feeling in the world right now is picking him up from the sitter or walking in the door from work as Vinny runs to us calling "Mammaaaa" or "Daddaaaa." The head over the shoulder hug is pretty special, too.

Other utterances include:

• pup-ah (he points up and says it as he ascends the stairs, so I'm pretty sure this is "up")
• hot (and then he proceeds to blow on his food)
• gog-ah (dog)
• guck (duck)
• ball
• and an overgeneralized use of gagagaga, tickatickaticka, and other babbles.

Most of his words he whispers, almost breathing them out of his mouth. We wonder if he's just waiting to speak in full sentences, because we certainly know he understands. Vincent follows simple directions, fetches toys and books when we ask, and points to all kinds of characters and objects in the hundreds of books we read together. Speaking of books, recent favorites include:

• The Very Hungry Caterpillar
• Guess Who?
• Happy Birthday Big Bird
• Peek a Moo (once again, it's back in the rotation)
• Good Night Moon
• Where is Mommy?
• Where is Baby's Belly Button?
• Dear Zoo (still a favorite)

I absolutely love when Vincent brings me a book. He hands it to me, turns around, and plops himself comfortably in my lap. It brings me so much joy to snuggle with my little guy. While he goes to sleep on his own these days, he still doesn't mind unwinding in the rocking chair every night with a sippy cup of milk and the Wonder Pets. (I guess I forgot to mention...we gave up the bottle this month. It just sort of happened by accident, and Vinny didn't protest, so we aren't looking back.) Anyway, we ask, "Are you night night?" and Vinny replies with an upward point.

Temper Temper...

This is a face we've been treated to of late. I can't wait for him to start using words to tell me what he wants. He points and he cries, and most of the time pretzels seem to be the answer.

Vincent has also learned the fine art of throwing temper tantrums. Now I will admit, they are weak compared to the throw down, kick and scream on the floor horror stories I've been told about, but they are tantrums none the less. Vinny's modus operandi is to stand in one place, wail, and wait for a rescue.

So far, he's pulled this in front of the dryer in the laundry room. I don't remember what prompted it, but I do remember passing by a couple time to put clothes away and he still in the same spot until I came to get him. He's also held fast at the base of the stairs when I put up the gate and wouldn't let him climb, but my all time favorite would have to be during a recent trip to Mommo's and Boppo's. Once again, I can't recall what it was that he wanted, but he took a strong hold in the entry to the kitchen while we called for him to come to the den. He could see us, and we could see him. It would be a contest of wills, and with Boppo teasing that I couldn't last, I was bound and determined to win. HA! Well, the wailing carried on a good solid 3 minutes (geez seeing it in writing doesn't seem so bad, but man, it seemed like a lifetime). The best part of the whole ordeal was when Vinny, unconvinced that we were paying any attention to his distress, peered around the dining room table to make himself more obvious. We thought, he must be settling down, he must be on his way to us for a hug. But no. As soon as he saw that we had made eye contact, he ran back to his spot, turned to face us, and wailed louder. This continued 2 more times before I finally gave in. Not before I had a good laugh though. So I scooped him up, he laid he head on my shoulder, and all was well. Of course, a pretzel didn't hurt either.

Haven't Been to the Zoo in a While

Last weekend brought some welcome relief from the sweltering heat. It dipped into the low 100's (ha ha) so we took a late afternoon trip to the zoo. We started in the aquarium while the sun set a bit behind the mountain before venturing out to see the animals. It's a whole new experience now that Vinny can walk on his own.

The giraffes were all too eager to visit with us...of course it didn't hurt that it was diner time and the zookeeper was a the fence with us, so we got up close and personal attention from the gentle creatures.
Time to head home...glad I brought the stroller.

Bye Bye Baby Curl (tear, sniff)

While Vincent has spent the greater part of his 17 months bald, he's always had such a perfect little head. Since he was born with only peach fuzz, he never went through that awkward stage where it all falls out and then grows in only on top. He's just always had good hair days. Only adding to the cuteness was the little curl that developed in back. It reminded me of a duck tail. I loved to play with it, nuzzle my nose in it right after a bath when he smells perfectly sweet.

Well, the time had come. We had to get it cut. So off we went to the local barber shop where Anthony goes to get his coif cut. No frills, and they work fast! We were in and out within 10 minutes!

Oh, there it goes...
The old man clipping away in the neighboring chair handed me a little Whitman's chocolates box to collect the first snip. I found that quite adorable.

The gentleman in the next chair over provided a welcome distraction.


Yes, Vinny. It's all done.
Big boy hair now.

Back to School!

Vincent has been joining me in the classroom a lot this past month. This time of year is always exciting, but since Vinny came along, it's a little bittersweet. He's become so attached to me this summer, and its hard to leave him, even if but for a couple days a week. I am fortunate enough to job share again, and although I have a new teaching partner, Ana, and a new grade level to learn (we are teaching 3rd grade this year), I'm feeling ready to back. Ana's daughter took this picture on her camera phone, and even though it's a bit fuzzy, it made me realize that Vinny has many more years of helping mommy set up her classroom...I just can't wait till the day he can do all the heavy lifting and furniture moving! In the meantime, he keeps busy running up and down the halls and being treated like a prince by all the wonderful staff kids...those girls have just doted on him...and he's loved every minute of it!