Susie’s home on the web since 1998.
November 1st, 2007
Hi, fox! Hi!
Originally uploaded by Raspberry World.
As I mentioned in my last post, we visited New Hampshire last weekend. We happened across the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center and spent a fun, if chilly, morning walking around the trail.
Alex really enjoyed walking through the leaves and seeing the animals in their habitats around the site. Besides the fox in the picture above, we saw bobcats, mountain lions, owls, eagles, and even bears!
October 31st, 2007
Monkey!
Originally uploaded by Raspberry World.
Boy, has this month flown! It seems like just last week we were visiting North Carolina - but no, that was the last week in September. Where did October go?
We’ve had a busy month. You can see pictures from some of our activities over the in the October Flickr set. We had a great time at the pumpkin patch a couple of weekends ago, and this past weekend we went up to New Hampshire where we met up with Marty’s mom. What fun!
Enjoy the pictures - I’ll update more when I have a chance.
September 14th, 2007
Just a little video of Alex eating his breakfast. Cheerios are his favorite!
To see how far he’s come, check out this video of him eating Cheerios a year ago!
August 20th, 2007
This boy is talking. All of a sudden, there are words coming out. Alex has been saying “hi” and “bye bye” for a while, but now he’s added “ello,” or what you say when you answer the telephone.
Most of the words are hard to understand, but he’s trying to say a lot. Here are most of the words he tries:
school
shoes
diaper
more
bottle
Ziggy
baby
door
Daddy
Mama
snack
barn
bear
dog
bath
duck
yogurt
blueberry
ball
bubble
bib
down
go
no
Alex has also started drinking from a real cup at home (he has been drinking from a cup at daycare for several months). He’s enjoying “reading” his books and putting his puzzles together. He has started playing with his shape sorter toys and putting the pieces in the right spots. And he loves to climb and wrestle and laugh. Eighteen months is a great age.
And finally, Alex has his first ear infection of the “fall.” Yes, in mid-August. We’ll be talking to the ear doctor about tubes next week. We don’t want it to be another winter like last year, when he was sick practically from October until May. Poor kid!
August 4th, 2007
July 23rd, 2007
Peek-a-boo in the stands
Originally uploaded by Raspberry World.
Yesterday we took Alex to his first baseball game at our local minor league ballpark. We actually stayed almost six innings, despite the game starting right in the middle of naptime. It’s fun to see how much Alex enjoys being out and about these days.
All in all, eighteen months seems to be a great age. Alex loves to play and laugh, and is pretty easygoing most of the time. He also loves to help, especially with jobs like putting the dishes or the groceries away. Of course, sometimes that means you end up with blueberries all over the floor, but there’s no harm done. I find that the key to good days is to make sure we get plenty of activity and go outside a lot.
Unfortunately, today was a rainy day from start to finish. After one short errand early this morning, we were stuck in the house all day. Alex passed the time by emptying not one but two boxes of wipes, and dumping out the basket of balls over and over. It is easier to keep him occupied when we can go outside! We had a good day anyway, but it’s definitely more challenging when we’re stuck in the house!
July 21st, 2007
Going to see the sunflowers
Originally uploaded by Raspberry World.
Today, Marty and Alex and I visited Buttonwood Farm in Griswold, Connecticut. They have ten acres of sunflowers growing there, and you can take a hayride through the sunflower fields. They are also selling sunflower bouquets and even sunflower ice cream. All the money raised through the hayrides and bouquets is given to the Make a Wish foundation.
Alex really enjoyed the hayride. His favorite part was picking hay out of the bales and tossing it out of the wagon as we were driving along. We were sitting right behind the tractor, and he also enjoyed watching the tractor pull the wagon.
During the hayride we saw more than just sunflowers, too. There were barns full of hay, baby Christmas trees growing, a herd of cows, and four free-range turkeys that followed along with the wagon. Then there were tons and tons of sunflowers.
This sunflower event only lasts a week, so if you are interested, check it out! There are a bunch of pictures up at Flickr, if you’d like to see more.
July 19th, 2007
Farmington Valley Chorus in Texas
Originally uploaded by Raspberry World.
Don’t we look happy? This picture was taken the day before the competition. We had a great time in San Antonio. What fun to be in Texas with 45 of the nicest women you’ll ever meet.
We were there for the Sweet Adelines Harmony Classic competition, competing in the midsize chorus category. We qualified for the competition with our performance at regional contest last year. The Harmony Classic invites five of the top small choruses and five of the top midsize choruses to compete at the international level. We were honored to be asked!
Our performance consisted of four songs: Lucky Day, How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Loved You When You Know I’ve Been a Liar All My Life?, I Will Love You Til the End of Time, and Ring Them Bells. I can’t tell you how good it felt to hear that crowd screaming and cheering for us when we finished singing!
We came in second in the competition, behind a chorus from New Zealand. We are overjoyed with our silver medals! We are walking on air this week! I’ve worn my medal every day since Saturday.
We have been working toward this for over a year. What an amazing journey it’s been.
July 18th, 2007
Originally uploaded by Raspberry World.
Can you guess?
The whole family just returned from Texas. We went down to San Antonio for a week. Alex loved spending time with his grandmother in the swimming pool, Marty and I were in barbecue heaven, and I came home with a silver medal for singing.
Pictures up at Flickr. More details soon. We had a great trip.
June 20th, 2007
Italian Ice
Originally uploaded by Raspberry World.
Suddenly, it’s summer! Hooray! Here’s Alex enjoying his very first Italian ice earlier this month. I thought we’d share one, but he didn’t want to give it back to me!