Here I Am!

I'm back!! Sorry if you have been checking everday and wondering what happened to me. I usually try to sit down and share my week with you on Sunday or Monday, and here it is Wednesday and I am just getting a chance to write to you all. Life is busy for a 17 month old. There is the playing and the eating and the napping and more playing...so much to accomplish in day. And if that isn't enough, Mom has always got me on the run, going here and going there. There aren't too many boring days in my life.

Let's start with today! Today, Mommy's best friend Brooke and her daughter, Ava came to visit us. Ava is just 10 days younger than Teddy, but she was born a little early so she is still really small, but boy has she grown since I last saw her!! Mommy and Theodore went to lunch with Brooke and Ava while I stayed home with Grammy Peterson and got ready for my nap. They hung around right until dinner time. I think Ava is just a cutie and I had lots of fun with Brooke, especially when right before she left, she fed me forkfuls of yummy pasta! I was sad to see them go, but blew them a kiss goodbye, something Mommy had never seen me do before!

Ava and Theodore after lunch - good time for a nap!

Ava was so excited to see us that she did a little cheer!

Ava and Theodore - Buddies from Day One!

Since it has been a while since my last post, let me fill you in on some other news...

Theodore is interacting with everyone more and more. He smiles at just about anyone that gets in his face and talks to him. He even gets in silly moods every once in a while and lets out some really cute giggles. Here he is at Grandma Peters house when Mommy was making silly sounds and was getting some good giggles out of him.

Yesterday was a really fun day. I went to the Denison Park pool in Corning with Mommy, Grammy and Theodore for a pool party. There were other kids there that I knew from Mommy's MOPS group. They had lots of pool toys in the wadding pool and played fun, kids tunes. I had lots of fun throwing the beachballs around and riding the dinosaurs. Thedore had lots of fun too! Too bad a storm came through and ended the party early!!

Just a warning...there may be another big gap between now and my next posting. We are all leaving to go on vacation in the Adirondacks on Saturday and I will be gone for a whole week. I'm not sure if I will have access to the blog, or time to write to you given all the fun things we will be doing while we are gone, but I promise some really fun pictures and lots of entertaining stories when I get back!

Summertime is FUNtime!

Summer is so much fun!! This week was filled with lots of fun days. On Monday, Aunt Jean and Jenna were still staying over at Grandma's house after our big family party weekend. They came by in the afternoon. Jenna went swimming while I splashed my feet in the pool. Theodore took a little snooze on Aunt Jean's lap. Isn't he getting big?

Tuesday was a HOT day, so my cousin Jenna came over and we played in the sprinkler! Jenna would set up all the pails to catch the water, and I would run around and steal them and dump them out. It was a fun way to cool off!

On Wednesday, Daddy, Mommy, Theodore and I all went up to Rochester to Uncle George and Aunt Lou Lou's house for an evening picnic and to see some of Mommy's family that was visiting. I got to meet my Mommy's Aunt June and Uncle Russ for the first time, plus my Mommy's cousin Jay and his family were visiting from Montana. She hadn't seen him is like 15 years or something crazy like that!

I spent Friday at Great-Grandpa & Grandma Young's cottage on the lake. My cousins from Scranton, PA were visiting. There was Kaitlyn and Michael, and Lea and Maria and their mom, Aunt Beth. Even Aunt Michelle, Cohen and Cooper were there for the day.

Me and Kaitlyn - She helped keep an eye on me all day!

Theodore with Maria and Kaitlyn

Theodore and Lea

We got their late in the morning and it was cold and rainy, but it started to warm up and I got to go in the lake for the first time. I wasn't too sure of it at first and kept trying to climb up the stairs to get out of the water, but once I got to see all the fun things you can do in the lake, I started to enjoy myself. Things like....

...filling the watering can and pouring it out...

...or playing with rocks on the breakwall, then throwing them back in the water.

It was all fine and dandy until a boat went by and the big waves came. Once they hit the breakwall and splashed me in the face, I was done playing in the lake. That was okay though, because there is lots of other things that I think our fun to do there. Things like....

...sitting on the railroad tie and playing with my cars...

...or eating yummy fried Perch for lunch...

...or helping Great-Grandma by sweeping the patio!

I really love days "at the lake" and I hope I can make many memories here as I grow up, just like my daddy did!

God Bless America!

Theodore showing his patriotic spirit on the 4th of July!

I must say that my family knows how to celebrate the 4th of July!! This was the 4th Annual 4th of July celebration weekend that we hosted at our house. It all started on Thursday afternoon when my Uncle George, Aunt Laurie and cousins all pulled in with their camper. I actually wasn't here when they got here because I had gone to Grandma Peterson's house for the afternoon so Mom and Dad could finish up the last preparations for our weekend. They all came over to Grandma's house though, where we met up for some yummy lasagna dinner. My Uncle George and Aunt Terry from Albany were also there.

Friday was the 4th of July and our celebration really started to kick into gear! Not only were my cousins, Sarah, Karlie and Jenna around to play with, but my Grandpa Peterson and Aunt Jean came, so did Uncle John, Aunt Christine and cousins Sarah and Sam. We spent the day enjoying the beautiful weather and setting up for the BIG party on Saturday. That evening, there was a photographer who came to our house to take some family portraits. They came out really good and of course, I was the cutest of all!!

Saturday was busy, busy, busy right from the start!! We had tons of friends and family who came to our house to celebrate the 4th of July, Grandma's retirement, Uncle Gary's birthday and Jennifer Jordan (she is my mommy's cousins) birthday! My Great-Aunt Arlene who turned 90 this year even came! There were lots of kids to play with between my cousins and other friend's kids. It was lots of fun! Here are some photos of all the fun we had....

Gathering in the Shade

Enjoying the Pool

Playing cars with Andrew and Jonathan

The Ladies Love Me! This is me with Emily, Kaitlyn and Kristen!

Uncle Johnny and Theodore

The partying didn't stop there! Later in the day, we had to leave our party for a while and go to another party for Daddy's side of the family. It was at the Radisson in Corning. My cousins, Lea and Maria fed me dinner. It was super yummy! Then I worked of the food with some dancing! I got to run around the dance floor and clap!! We couldn't stay long though since we had so many people waiting for our return back at home. When we got back, it was almost time for the annual tradition of an outdoor movie complete with popcorn and snacks! I couldn't stay up for that though. It was getting really late and I was really tired from all the fun.

There were still lots of people here on Sunday since we had campers in the backyard. Aunt Shannon and Sadie were still here. So was Aunt Wendy, Uncle Donny, Emily and Maggie. We ate a big breakfast and watched as even more people came back from hotels to enjoy another beautiful day, like Uncle Roger, Aunt Kathy, Kaitlyn and Kristen, and Aunt Annie, Uncle Tim, Jillian and Jonathan. Everyone was back in the pool and playing in the yard! Later in the day, my Uncle Jason (Daddy's cousin) and Aunt Amy came by with my cousins, Chance and Colby. Chance is just 6 month older than me and I hadn't seen him since Christmas. Now we are both walking and talking. Uncle Jason helped us both get up and play on the Daddy's tractor.

Mommy took me swimming after my nap on Sunday. I am still not sure about the water, but with all the other kids playing around me, I got distracted and stayed in longer than I have before.

When I was getting cold and ready to get out, Grandma was there to snatch me up. She thinks I am pretty cute!

It was another great 4th of July weekend here at our house!! I had SOOO much fun!! Thanks to everyone who came!!