Saturday, August 3, 2013

August already! Summer's flying by...

I cannot believe how quickly summer is flying by! Next thing you know I'll be 1 year old.  For the time being, Mom's been putting me to work packing for our family vacation.  We're headed to Grandma & Grandpa's tomorrow for a day at the Jersey Shore and then up to Newport for a week.  Mom told me I was responsible for packing my own bags, so here I am being helpful.
I'm really excited for my first trip to Newport.  Mommy's been enthusiastically telling me about all the fun things we'll get to do and see.  I can't wait!  In the meantime, since my last post we've had a blast enjoying summer.  Last weekend Dad and I had a guys night while Mommy went to Atlantic City for the New Kids on the Block - Package concert with her friends.  Dad and I had a lot of fun together playing and laughing.  When Mom got home we put together my new bike trailer.  I'm so excited to go cruising in my new ride.  
Saturday afternoon we went to Plymouth Country Club pool.  What a great afternoon of family fun -- Mom, Dad & I all in pool splashing around.  By the time we went home, I was exhausted.  At dinner we talked about going for a bike ride in the morning.  Mom said it's very important to wear a bike helmet when we go for our bike rides.  We picked up my first bike helmet -- it's called "when pigs fly." I don't really like wearing it on my head, but I guess I have to since it's the law and will keep me safe. 

Sunday morning we went to brunch at the Trolley Car Cafe in East Falls before our first family bike ride.  Unfortunately, during brunch it started to rain.  After brunch we went grocery shopping at Whole Foods to see if we could wait out the rain.  We never got to take our first bike ride that day because the rain was pretty steady all afternoon.  We're definitely bringing our bikes (and my bike trailer) to Newport, so stay tuned for adventures in bike riding.  
Fun at Trolley Car Cafe
This week Mommy started her first day of work away from me for a full day.  We did a trial run with my new babysitter and her son James on Monday for a few hours at our house.  Mom and I showed Kim where we keep all the toys, diapers, food, etc... James & I got to know each other a little bit & Mommy showed Kim how I eat my lunch.  Check out my cool new lunch plate.  
On Tuesday, Mom left for work at 6:30AM (she woke me up at 6AM!! to have some milk).  Dad & I hung out for a bit before Kim and James got to our house at 7AM.  Kim fed me breakfast, put me down for a nap, took James and I on a walk and let us play out in the yard.  Mommy got home around 4:30PM.  Long day for all of us!! For the most part we all had a great day, but Mommy got a bad report that I bit James.  Mom was really upset about this because I've never bitten any of my friends before.  I'm cutting my 9th & 10th teeth this week & told Mommy I was really sorry.  She and I had a long talk about why we can't bite our friends.  We're working really hard on strategies for my difficulty with teething this week and are practice our sign for gentle much more.  After Kim and James left, Mom and I went into Center City to pick up some more Viburcol for my teeth.  Then we went to the Philadelphia Horticultural Society's pop up garden for dinner.  We shared short rib and pulled pork sandwiches and enjoyed the atmosphere.  We love hanging out in this garden.  I got to hang with some bigger kids in the grassy play area.  One little boy (probably 2 years old) walked over to play with me and when I smiled at him he pushed me down.  Mommy told him that wasn't nice and when I stood back up he pushed me back down again.  A little while later he tried to do this again, but this time his Dad came over to tell him that it's not nice to push down babies.  Later on we played nicely.  What a great night with Mom & Dad -- it was a great way to end Mom's first day back in the work force.  Bed time nursing was much sweeter tonight snuggled close to Mommy -- we definitely missed being away from each other all day (good thing she's only going back part time).










On Thursday while Mommy was getting some work done, I decided that I would take a conference call too and get caught up on my work emails.  Check me out with my cell phone & laptop.  I told Dad that I'm ready to come into the office & help him out when he needs an extra hand.  I take my work very seriously.  

This week I started drinking out of my big boy water bottle.  It has a straw & I LOVE drinking out of it.  We picked it up at EMS on Wednesday, while the tech was installing our new roof bike rack.  

Thursday night we went out to eat at In Riva.  I LOVE this restaurant & get so excited when we walk in the door -- kicking my legs and squealing with delight.  Their food is just so delicious.  I decided to try their meatball appetizer, pea soup, burrata & tasty bread for dinner.  The meatballs were SO good that I ate 2 out of the 3 -- I would have eaten them all but Mom said she wanted one.  

Friday morning we had to get our car serviced at Audi.  It took a little longer than we hoped (should have been an hour, but ended up taking 2 & 1/2 hours).  Mom and I occupied ourselves by checking out the new Audis and Porsches.  I LOVE the 911 Carrera Sport -- I was flailing my arms in delight & told Mommy to ask Dad if I could get one someday.  Daddy laughed when Mom said I'm a fan of Porsches.  After our car was serviced, Mommy and I spent the rest of the day in New Jersey.  We visited Grandma & Pop for a little bit, then headed to Asbury Park to check out the spray park.  We had a lot of fun playing in all the fountains.  






Afterwards we met up with Nichole for some dinner at the Columns in Avon.  Nichole said I was like the mayor of Columns.  I was attracting all kinds of people to come say hello.  What a fun place to be on a Friday afternoon for dinner.  We chowed down on lobster, mini burger, sausage and peppers & shrimp and lobster bisque.  You'll notice that I wasn't really into the lobster, but wanted to chew on the lobster tail (was really great for cutting teeth -- hopefully the come up soon).  I wanted to share all my food with Mom & Nichole -- Mommy told me that I was a sweet boy that is great at sharing.  I was so full when we left that I slept the entire way back to Philadelphia.  






 This morning the weather was really crummy, so after my morning nap we headed in to Germantown Ave.  We stopped for some Starbucks, picked out some cute baby gifts at O'Doodles & then headed to the Little Treehouse to play.  I showed Daddy where all the play food is kept, worked the walker like a champ and climbed up the jungle gym and walked the bridge.














Afterwards, Dad got his haircut from his 80 year old barber on Germantown Ave, while Mommy and I window shopped.  Tonight we packed the car and are ready to start our summer vacation in the morning.  I can't wait -- for now I'm off to bed.