One Little Monkey

My little monkey jumping on the bed! Luckily she hasn't fallen off and bumped head!

Every night after her bath. Allison likes to jump on the bed. I know it looks like I'm moving her up and down. But I'm not! All the movement is powered by her tiny legs. No matter how tired she is, she jumps when I put her feet on the bed. And no matter how tired I am, the jumping makes me laugh! Hope you enjoy our little action film!

Christmas Card?

Just wanted to let everyone know you won't be getting a Christmas from us anytime soon. I've been trying to snap the "perfect" shot for the card. But I'm not sure if I've got it yet? I took some of Allison playing with the Christmas lights. Maybe one of them will make the cut? We hope you are enjoying the Holiday season!! I'm trying to soak up every minute of Allison's first Christmas. We started playing Christmas music the week before Thanksgiving. I know the holidays will be gone in a flash!

Turkey Day 2008

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Despite the fact that the turkey didn't turn out right for the 3rd year in a row. Luckily, Allison doesn't eat turkey yet and it's not Jim's favorite anyway. We still had plenty of food and a wonderful day together as a family!!

Before we ate we walked to the Botanical Garden to check out the Christmas display http://www.usbg.gov/whats-happening/Windows-to-Wonderland.cfm . It is beautiful! Tons of poinsettias, decorations and an entire room devoted to miniature trains. Allison and Jim really liked the trains. I was surprised that Jim spent some time looking at the trains. I guess boys, Christmas and trains go together no matter the age. We are so excited that the Christmas season is finally here and we can share it with Allison!

Beautiful Day in Our Neighborhood

Friday was a beautiful day in our neighbor-hood! The weather was perfect for a long walk. So, Allison and I headed down to the National Botanical Gardens. http://www.usbg.gov/

We walked around the inside exhibit and spent sometime outside enjoying the garden. The Capitol is next to the Botanical Garden, so I snapped some pictures of the stage they are building for inauguration day 2009. After I snapped that shot I noticed we were in between the Capitol and Washington Monument. As you can see the clouds were moving in, blue skies over Capital but clouds to the west. So, we headed for home. But we stopped along the way to take some more pictures in pretty fall leaves!

Happy Hilloween!

We celebrated Allison's first Halloween at "Hilloween". Capitol Hill puts on Hilloween Fest every year. Tons of people come out for the fun and candy! They have hay rides (which is sporty in the middle of DC), moon bounce, fair food and lots of laughs! It is so funny to see all the tiny kids dressed up. Most kids on the hill are under 5 yrs (it seems). The streets were filled with every tiny creature and character imaginable. We met up with kids from one of our play groups. The "miniMOTH" play group. We belong to the parent group in the hill- MOTH (Moms On The Hill). MOTH has about 2 thousand family from what I understand. And miniMOTH is has about 80 families that all have kids about Allison's age. We mostly share info on a web list serve. It's great because of course all kids go through the same phases and we can compare notes on what works and what doesn't. It is a great way to feel connected to people in the same situation at the same time. Most people in DC don't have family or longtime friends near, so these groups really help the fill the void (although nothing can replace family and old friends!!)

Heavy Sleeper

I'm not sure if you can see in these pictures, what I saw when Allison woke up from her afternoon nap? I picked her up and she had large red marks all over her forehead. I looked in the crib and couldn't figure out what she slept on to make these huge marks on face. I leave two stuffed animals in her crib and she never really sleeps close to them. So, we went to get Jim's opinion on the marks. He pointed out, the marks were from sleeping face down on her hands. She some how put hands palm down on the mattress and then put her face directly over her hands. I assume she slept like that for quite a while because the marks stayed on her face for quite awhile. If you look really close, you can even see little white spots at the end of the finger marks. The white spot are where her fingernails were against her face. I think the space between her finger and cuticle allowed for the white spots. We got a pretty good laugh out of this investigation! Except..I'm a little freaked-out that she was sleeping face down!

One, Two, Three

Allison was able to spend time with all her cousins this past weekend! She met cousin Camille for the first time! Allison had a great time playing with cousins Camille and Connor at Connor's house in NJ. Connor was a great host. He shared all his toys with the girls and he was eager to read stories to them. Cousin Camille lives in Florida and will be a big sister on December 18. I'm sure Camille will do a great job explaining the wonders of Christmas morning to her new little brother. We'll be so excited to meet him!

Allison had a great time low crawling around her grandparent's house! I thought she might enjoy crawling around on the nice soft carpet (since we don't have any carpet). But she crawled from room to room dragging her belly on the floor. She didn't really seem to care about what type of floor surface she was crawling on. However, as she moved to a new surface she would smack it several times with her hand before she crawled onto it. Jim and I have nicknamed her "baby dust mop" since she crawls along cleaning the floor with whatever she is wearing. Maybe she'll be up on all fours the next time I post.

What happened in September?

Sorry to have kept everyone waiting for new Allison news!! Allison went to her first major league baseball game on September 17. The Washington Nationals celebrated "half way to St. Patty's Day". Everyone received green National's hats with a shamrock on the back!! St. Patrick's day is special to our family because it is Jim's birthday. Allison was quite a trooper and let her Dad stay at the game untill 9:00pm!

She now has two teeth on her mandible, none on her maxilla, yet! She is constantly making new sounds and doing crazy things with her tongue to entertain her parents.

Allison has mastered the "baby low crawl". She can quickly move across our house (well the house is only 16 feet wide). She rocks on all fours but hasn't officially started crawling.

Abs of Steel

What can I say...when you've got an AWESOME physique, you have to wear a bikini!! But it's not just the great body, it's the savage tan as well!! Watch out swim suit models, here comes Allison. I'm sure that once these pictures hit the web, we'll be getting calls from all the top agencies :)!

Canadian Invasion

Our friends the Andersons (Paul, Heather, Patrick, Sean & Collin) visited last week. We had a great time visiting museums, going to parks and just hanging out together. The boys were great with Allison!! Big brother Patrick asked to hold her several times. He was so gentle with her. Younger brother Sean provided the entertainment for the week! Allison loved to watch Sean and listen to his stories and songs. Little brother Collin inspected Allison's room to make sure we weren't keeping all the "good toys" up stairs. The truth is, we just don't have many toys yet. Especially, toys that would interest little boys. Maybe we'll have a better selection for their next visit.

Sweet Potatos, Peas, Pears & a Tooth!

As promised we added some new "solid" food to Allison's diet. She has been pretty tolerant of the new foods. It usually takes her a day or two to warm up to the new foods but she hasn't refused anything so far! So, she is already a better eater than Mommy and Daddy (we are both picky and we have very different taste in food). We've been taking the semi-natural approach to baby food. I've bought some "fresh frozen" baby food and I've made some, which I freeze into little cubes. Then we just put the little cubes in the microwave for a few seconds and she has a nice warm meal. But if it is hot out. I let the food (like pears) thaw at room temp and it turns into a sorbet! It is fun and easy to make the food. Plus, you can just use whatever fruits and veggies you have around the house. I went to a "starting solids class" and they recommended two books for making the baby food {Blender Baby Food by Nicole Young & First Meals by Annabel Karmel}. They have lots of great info, sample menus and meal plans that can be used for years to come!

As of last Saturday, Allison has a tooth!! She was chewing on my finger and I felt something sharp. Sure enough, a little tooth has broken through. She just turned 7 months old, eats food, has a tooth and is trying to crawl!

Back to Sea Girt!

After our visit to the Hamptons, we stopped in to visit Jim's parents again. We had another great stay with Mr. & Mrs. Tuite. Mrs. Tuite always takes great care of everyone...she cooks, helps with laundry that piles up during our travels and watches Allison when I go to the beach. Mr. Tuite & Jim watch Allison as well, but she usually ends up back in Grandma's arms :).

As you can see Allison hung out with her Dad and got to spend some time playing with cousin Connor. Connor lives in Cranford, NJ with Mom (Sue) and Dad (Rich, Jim's oldest brother). We were happy to see cousin Connor and uncle Rich. We missed aunt Sue this visit(she has a long commute in/out of NYC everyday), hopefully we can see her in the fall. We are hoping to get all the grand kids together for the first time in October. Joe (second oldest brother) is coming to NJ and bringing cousin Camille and Aunt Leah (who is caring the newest Tiny Tuite, a boy due in December!).

West Hampton, NY

Allison went to West Hampton, NY to meet "Aunt Samantha"!! Allison was nice enough to ask her Dad and I to accompany her on the trip. We had a great time visiting Samantha and her baby Jordie (in the picture above). The weather wasn't great, so we didn't get to enjoy the pool or the beach. But we did get to enjoy spending quality time together at the upscale shopping outlets!! (I think that is what most people in the Hamptons do most of the time.) We also ate like we would never be offered food again once we left the Hamtons! Samantha cooked us a great meal, we ate at wonderful restaurants and visited a local bakery each morning.
Samantha and I have been friends since highschool. She was an exchange student at a different school, we were introduced by a mutal friend. I agreed to show her around town one afternoon( in Lancaster, PA) and we've been friends ever since. She is from Edinburough, Scotland. She married a great guy in NYC and move to stated about 11 years ago. It's great that we are both on the East Coast and see each other from time to time!

Solid Food

Allison is officially eating solid food. We added rice cereal to her diet on August 1, she seemed to like it. I started letting her play with a spoon in her highchair at grown-up meal time (aka mommy & daddy meal time) a few weeks before. I would give her a spoon full of air and she would make a silly face, like it tasted sour. I never knew air had a taste but apparently it is sour. We were amused by the face, she made it with every spoon full of air for weeks.

I was curious to see what face she would make when I gave her the first spoon full of cereal...in went the spoon full cereal and she didn't make a face. She ate it and looked at me like she had been eating it forever.

She has worked up to two rice ceral meals a day. I know I should add other foods (fruits &veggies). Maybe we'll try something new this weekend!

Little Lamb

Allison was baptized today at St. Marks Episcopal Church, Washington DC. It was a wonderful ceremony and Allison thought the whole event was exciting. Allison loved all the attention and didn't mind the water or oil on her forhead. I hope she doesn't expect the entire service to be devoted to her each Sunday from now on. She smiled at the congregation and the alter girl behind us through out the ceremony. She is already known as "that happy baby" around the church (hope it stays that way).

St. Mark's is known for their community out reach programs and wonderful childrens programs. We look forward to being a part of this Church in the coming years as Allison grows and learns through their programs/teachings.

This Week's Favs: Amelia & the Jolly Jumper, Judge Allison

This week Allison got to hang out with her friend Amelia who has a "Jolly Jumper"! This jumper is the mother of all jumpers. I bought a cheapo jumper at Babies R Us but I took it back. It just wouldn't do. So, maybe we'll order a Jolly Jumper from New Zealand? Allison had a great time jumping around and was very glad that Amelia was so kind to share with us! (Sorry the video is sideways. I'm still learning...I can rotate pics but not videos.)

We are planning to start feeding Allison some solid foods in the coming days. We have started pulling her to the table at meal times. So she can get use to being in her high chair (from cousin Conner in NJ) during feedings. She likes being at the table and banging her toys on the tray. She especially likes to bang her phone toy on the tray. Probably because it makes the most noise! Jim and I decided that she looks like a crazed judge demanding order in the court room.

Out to Dinner & More Bath Time

We went to dinner at one of our favorite places in DC, Zaytinya. http://www.zaytinya.com/ Here is there website check it out if you get a chance. We love the food and the atmosphere. We promise (Allison and other children permitting) to take anyone who comes to visit us to check it out for themselves! Allison hasn't been the best restaurant patron lately but she was good at Zaytinya. The color scheme is beautiful and there are multiple levels to the dinning area. And since it is topas style, the food comes quickly. Which is good when your out with a little one that can decide dinner is over at any moment. Zaytinya is just a short metro ride from the house and it is across the street from the National Portrait Gallery. We took a photo in front a large sculpture out side the restaurant.

I know I've posted bath videos before but Allison kicking and splashing makes me laugh during every bath. These were taken Saturday night after trekking all over the city in 95 degree weather. I hope they make you smile and laugh!

Sea Girt, NJ

We visited Jim's parents at the shore in NJ last week. Mr. & Mrs.Tuite have a beautiful house only few blocks from the ocean!! I got to enjoy some beach time, while Allison hung out with her grandparents. Mr.& Mrs. Tuite both put in some serious stroller time to keep Allison happy!!
Allison didn't get any sand between her toes on this trip. She is in her stroller on the boardwalk in the picture above. I did take her for a walk in the sand but she was in the ergo baby carrier. Maybe next trip she'll get to be a real "Jersey Girl" and play on the beach. We also got a picture of Allison with her Dad in her great, great grandmother's rocking chair.

Flash, Boom

We went to visit my friend Lori in PA for the 4th of July. Lori has two little girls (Sienna 5yrs, and Emerald 2yrs in picture above). Lori's husband Jason shoots the fireworks for some of the big shows on the East coast. So, Lori and I loaded up the munchkins and headed to Long's Park in Lancaster, PA to watch the fireworks. Jason's friend loaned us some ear protection for Allison (as you can see above). Allison was a good sport about wearing the ear muffs. She didn't fight them at all. Especially after the cannons that were shot pre-fireworks. I took the ear muffs off for a minute and of course that's when they shot the cannons. She started crying and I felt like an idiot!! But once they were on and the fireworks started, she had no complaints. The second picture was taken while the fireworks were going off and as you can see, she wasn't really phased by them. I think living in the city and constantly hearing sirens (day & night) she isn't bothered by loud noises.