Visit with Friends and Family

The day after the reunion, Saturday 11/24/07, Mommy, Daddy and I went over to Mary Ellen Kotula's home so Mommy could visit Mary Ellen's Mom and Dad, sister Veronica, brother Mike and their families, and as a play date for me and Mary Ellen's 20 month old daughter Sarah. We had a nice time.

Here is Sarah checking me out:

And a video of us playing piano:



Later that night, Mommy's cousin Julie's little girl Isabella and Great Uncle Dick along with Great Aunt Debbie came over for a visit. I had a lot of fun playing with Isabella:

And a great shot of cute Isabella:

Mommy's High School Reunion

Mommy and Daddy went to Mommy's 20th High School Reunion on Friday 11/23/07. Mommy was asked to say the blessing. She really enjoyed herself and saw many people for the first time since graduation. What a great time. Here are some photos from the evening...

Mommy with Jan Frank (maiden name):

Mommy with Shannon Mill (maiden name):

Mommy with Cindy Rice (now Izzo). This was one of Mommy's best friends!

Mommy with Debbie Keene and Mary Ellen Kotula (maiden names). Mary Ellen was Mommy's best friend from 2nd grade til about 9th grade. They were so happy to see each other again!

Mommy with Mary Beth Armstrong (maiden name):

Mommy with very good friends from the past. Steve Cochran, Cindy Rice (Izzo), John Rice and Chuck Izzo:

It was so nice for Mommy to reconnect with so many.

My First Snow

Though it did snow when I was quite small, this is the first snow I got to really interact with. This was on Friday afternoon 11/23/07 at Grandma's house. First a photo then a video:

Mommy Goes Back to High School

Mommy had her 20th High School Reunion on Friday 11/23/07. They were allowed to take a tour of the high school earlier in the day. Besides more computers, an added wing and a new gym, nothing much has really changed.

Here's Mommy and me standing in front of her home room from 10th through 12th grade:



Here's a block Mommy painted back in 1987 in the area backstage where she got ready for the shows she was in:


And here's the family in the upper commons area where everyone would gather before school began:

A Lovely Thanksgiving

Hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving. We enjoyed our time in Western PA at Grandma's. Here are some photos...

Here I am with Daddy's wedding ring on my toe:

Mommy and I:


And a movie of me with Grandma having fun with the Thanksgiving napkins:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is my first Thanksgiving. Over the river and through the woods to Grandma's house we go... We're loading up the car and heading west to spend the holiday with Grandma. Mommy will also be dragging Daddy along to her 20th High School Reunion. Boy is she old!

Before I get packed into the car with everything else, here are some highlights of the week...

On Monday, 11/19/07, Mommy captured some great moments. First, here is just one example of all the fun I have with Daddy. You've seen other videos where he can get me giggling so. In this one, I thoroughly enjoy what I will call "Blanket Fun!"



I have been taking my first tentative steps with the help of my push toy hippo (he gobbles things up with his mouth, very cool):



And, lastly, here I am yesterday attempting to feed myself. Guess I have a ways to go yet.


I hope you all have a very blessed Thanksgiving!

Videos from Grammy

Grammy gave us some videos she took on her camera. Thanks Grammy!

Here I am in my bouncy seat again. I do enjoy a good scream fest with much jumping and the occasional conk in the head from Mr. Monkey.



And this is from my swimming class on Monday. Grammy came to watch:

Modeling my Birthday Suit

Here I am as natural as can be (Yes Mommy and Daddy, I will get even some day...)

Raspberry Girl

That's my new nickname. Here I am yesterday 11/11/07 (Happy Veterans' Day) engaging in my talent first thing in the morning:

I'm Ten Months Old!

On Monday, 11/5/07, I turned 10 months old. Look at me grow...

I now have 2 bottom teeth. I can point to my toes and tummy (thanks to Grammy's hard work) and I did my first sign back on Thursday 11/8/07 (Mommy does Baby Sign with me). Mommy asked me where the lights were and I reached up with my right hand and signed light (flick fingers open and closed a couple of times) as I pointed with my hand to the light. Yeah! I'm very good at waving hello and bye-bye to anyone who walks by or says "bye-bye". Plus, I just love to babble quite a bit. Sometimes it sounds like I say "up" or "baby", but I don't think I'm purposefully doing so at this point. This goes for a lot of "mama" and "dada" sounds too. I do understand an awful lot though. I love when people ask me "where is.." questions and I point to the stuff. I always get lots of clapping at that!

My First Ponytail

My hair is getting pretty long these days. Mommy was finally able to get a little ponytail into my hair. Here, I model my Pebbles inspired hairdo:

My first Bat Mitzvah

I went to my Mommy's friend/coworker's Bat Mitzvah on Friday 11/2/07. What an amazing service it was and Rhonda did so well reading the Torah in Hebrew. Talk about a lot of work!

Before we left our house, Mommy got some shots of me being me in my dress. It was dark in the living room, so they aren't the best. First, I love throwing my little ball into my car seat and then diving in to retrieve it:



Next, I have this great toy my parents found at a garage sale that is a carousel and spins like a top and also lets you press buttons that light up and play music. I always have this toy nearby so I can hear music as I play. I hit a button, go about whatever I'm doing and kind of bounce and dance to it while I play, when a song is over, I hit a button again for the next song. There are some songs I don't like, so I skip over those. You can hear Mommy's other friend/coworker, Mary Lou, in the background commenting that I'm going to tire myself out before the Bat Mitzvah:

My First Halloween

For those of you who do not know my parents, they are Halloween freaks. They love the holiday. Heck, they were married on Halloween weekend in 1999 (10/30/99). If the 31st had been a Saturday, they would have chosen it! All of their guests came in costume and the decorations consisted of skeletons and headstones, etc. You get the idea. Daddy wore a top hat and tails with a cane - had the look of Ichabod Crane if you ask Mommy. Mommy insisted on traditional dress, after all, it WAS her wedding day!

(Oh, also, for those of you who don't know, Mommy used to be quite heavy - but that was awhile ago now and a long story... would take another blog to go into all of that!)

I dressed appropriately for the day:


So, true to form, Daddy did up the house last night for the Trick Or Treaters. First of all, here are some shots of me as the cutest little pumpkin you ever did see! Thanks to Grammy for the great costume. She bought it for me before I was born or shortly thereafter because she knows how important this holiday is in my family:

Take note of the eerie red eyes behind me, what is Daddy doing to our house?!

Here I am with Grammy, but when did Mr. Skeleton get a place amidst our photos? And what happened to our lamp?

Lastly, this video is completely dark, but you need to watch it just to hear all of the sound effects Daddy had going to scare everyone coming towards our house. I have to say, I had a blast and can see how this holiday will become my favorite too - I don't really think I have a choice!

To the Pumpkin Patch We Go!

Luckily, the weather cleared up and we were able to go to Funk's Farms for a hayride to a pumpkin patch. What a bumpy ride!

It was getting to be a long day:

But, what the heck, my second wind was coming and the ride was getting to be fun:

Paula and the kids were all set:

Here's a video clip from the ride:



Ooh, Aunt Paula found herself a nice pumpkin!

I was trying to tell Mommy to put down the camera and help us find a pumpkin!

Then she had to get into the photo, would we ever get to the pumpkins?!


Kira and Marlon were searching too:

Ooh look at all the pumpkins out there Aunt Paula:

After we got back from the hayride with pumpkins in hand, we played at the various attractions and playgrounds at the farm. First, let's pose in some corn and other seasonal veggies:

Silly Mommy!!
Here I am peering out of the playhouse:

Mommy and I on ANOTHER toy train:

And Kira too:

Scary tree, so glad that spider never got to me!

On our way out, I got to play on a cute straw horse, I really tried to make him go:

Giddy up!!
Ride 'em cowgirl!
Are we moving yet?
Look at me go... However, the hay poked me in the eye at the end, that didn't feel very good...



What a wonderful, fall day we had! Here's one last photo of Marlon taken the next day, Sunday 10/28/07 - apparently there is a restaurant in his area that gives out frownie brownies rather than smiley cookies (that we've all seen at Eat N Park). I love his shirt! But it was sad to see them leave. Can't wait to see them again!

The Red Caboose Restaurant

After the Choo Choo Barn, the weather looked like it just might clear up enough for a trip to get a pumpkin. We decided to have lunch at the Red Caboose Motel & Restaurant, a cute place in Strasburg where your hotel room is a real caboose from a train. The restaurant is too. This was the first time my parents had gone also, it was a lot of fun!

Mommy and I get ready for lunch at our window seat:

Grandma, Kira, Paula and Marlon got the other side of the caboose:

Choo Choo Barn Revisited

My cousins, Kira and Marlon, Aunt Paula and Grandma came to visit over the weekend of 10/27/07 & 10/28/07. I was so excited to see them again! It was so nice that they had a chance to come to MY house :-) The plan was to take a ride out to a pumpkin patch and pick our own pumpkins, but it was so rainy. So, we decided to go to a place I had been before - the Choo Choo Barn in Strasburg.

Here they are all looking at the miniature train exhibit which is just amazing!

Kira and Marlon pose:

Mommy holds me on the little train outside as Marlon peers out:

Marlon and I debate over who has the best window seat on the train:

Kira and Marlon in the train:

A short video clip on the little train: