So I probably should have written this post 2 weeks ago, but time flies when your kids (read: Tucker) don't sleep. He is 6 months old already. Can you believe it? I can't. He doesn't crawl with his belly off the floor, but SOON. He's so close. He's definitely mobile. Daddy found him in the hall this afternoon, although he's not so much a fan of the hardwood floors. I'm hoping that works to my advantage since that would limit him to the living room or his room, at least on the main floor of the house. He's like a puppy that way. Actually, he's like a puppy in other ways, too. He is fond of chewing shoes, belts, and purses, but mostly just if they are leather. Also, he spends his days begging for "treats" (Gerber Puffs - we go through at least 2 cans a week.) He's much cuter than a puppy, though. And while he will suck your chin if it gets too close to his mouth, he will not smell your butt or jump on you in that annoying way that puppies do. He's also very smart. This evening, in the span of about 5 minutes, he pulled out TWO new tricks while I was trying to put away some laundry. First, he managed to get himself back into a sitting position from the hands-and-knees crawling position. THEN, while I was busy trying to refold a bunch of Jack's shirts that had come unfolded in my oh-so-careful attempt to smoosh 4 loads worth of laundry into my 1 smallest basket and therefore ignoring his pleas to be released from his crib to roam the "rippy-page book" and Crazy 8 card-littered floor of his and Jack's room, he pulled himself up to a full kneel while he held onto the railing of his crib and did his best impression of Jack whining for more candy. He looked like he was trying to stand, but (THANK GOD!) he couldn't quite manage it. Let me get used to the crawling thing before I have to deal with cruising. Here are a couple of cute pictures because I know you're just dying to see them. 
Today was "Halloleen," and my brother Tuck and I had such a great time. We got to wear costumes, and we got to go Trick or Treating all over the neighborhood. I was such a good Trick or Treater. I said "Trick or Treat!" and "Thank you! Happy Halloleen!" to all my neighbors. I had to be really brave if I wanted candy. I wanted to go while it was dark outside, but Mommy and Daddy said there wouldn't be any candy left by then. I was out with Mommy when it was almost dark outside, and there were lots of dark houses with signs that said "No Candy!" And when we got back, Daddy had given away almost all our candy. Around 300 kids, probably more, came to my house to go Trick or Treating! I got lots and lots of candy, too. We went home a bunch of times to warm up and empty my bucket because it kept getting too full. People gave me extra candy because they said I was such a scary ghost. And everyone said Tuck was the cutest bee. That was my costume when I was just a little baby, but I let him wear it. It doesn't fit me anymore. 
So last Saturday, Mommy and Daddy had a kid party for me. It had a camping theme! My friends and I had so much fun. I had a cake that looked like a log, and Daddy set the tents up in the backyard for us to play in. I gave all my friends flashlights, and we got to chase eachother around in the dark. We even got to have a campfire! It was so much fun that I want to do it again this weekend. Mommy says I can't, though. She says I've had enough birthday parties this year.  |
| Lillian, John, Me, Leo, Ollie & Greydan all smooshed into the wagon. |
Today was the first day of Preschool. I had so much fun! I go to The Children's House at the First Presbyterian Church of Youngstown. It is a Montessori school. I did lots of fun things today. I got to play with playdough, we played outside, we talked about weather, and we sang songs about fish going "Splash! Boom!" I even got to feed the class fish. My favorite part was drinking apple juice. We made it in a really loud machine from real apples! It was so exciting and I can't wait until Thursday when I get to go back.
Hi, I'm Tucker. Mommy says that Jackson has to share his blog with me. So, I thought I'd tell you all about yesterday. Yesterday, was my 4 month birthday. It was also the day I found out that Mommy had been holding out on me! She finally gave me rice cereal, and it was wonderful. She swears I had it a few days ago, but I don't remember it being like that. I really, really enjoyed it. In fact, I was so sad when it was gone that I cried. Mommy felt bad and made me another bowl. When that was gone, I cried again. I think I cried whenever the spoon wasn't in my mouth. I ended up eating 4 whole bowls and then sucking on the spoon until every last drop was gone! I tried to get her to make me more, but she said I might throw up. I didn't though. I did a really good job. She says she is going to start giving me lots of good things to eat. I can't wait!
Tucker had his 4 month well child visit today. He weighed in at a whopping 16lbs 9.5oz and is already 26 inches long. The outfit he had on today was one of my favorite outfits from when Jack was 10 months old. They do say every child is different... Poor Tucker did have to get 3 shots, but he was very brave and only cried when he was given the Pentacel, which is an especially painful one. Jackson, however, was upset enough for the both of them. As soon as the doctor mentioned the nurse would be in to give Tucker his shots, he hid under the chair and started sobbing and begging me to take them home right away. He didn't want Tucker to have to get a shot. He is such a sweet big brother.
This past weekend, Mommy and Daddy took me to see Uncle Brian play at Slyfest. It was sooo much fun! Uncle Zachy was there, too. I got to camp in a tent in the woods and sleep in a sleeping bag. 
We cooked hot dogs on a stick over the fire. My racecar chair got a hole in it, and Mommy keeps telling me we don't need a new one, but I think we do. (It's just a little hole!) It happened when a rock in the fire went BOOOM! and little bits of fire went all over the place. 
Another fun thing to do was play caterpillar in the hammock. It was just like a cocoon! 
There was a playground right next to the stage, and I liked the big sandbox and the swings. I also liked to play frisbee with Daddy and Uncle Zach. I'm getting better at it. I also got to go on the Dinosaur ride (Motion Simulator). I rode on a dinosaur and we went under the water! It was so cool! I hope I can go to Slyfest again next year.
So the last part of our big vacation was going to Camp. The numbers were smaller this year. Only 29 went up this year instead of the standard 30-something. But it was a lot of fun. This year, instead of the No Mercy Kickball Game which had been getting out of hand (video replay should not even be an option for a "friendly" kickball game in a town that doesn't even have electricity), we had The Amazing Race - Beaver River. As Phil, I didn't get to compete. But, I have to say, I think it went pretty well. People mostly looked like they were having fun. People even learned things! There were a few kinks and glitches. I've got some ideas to improve it next year (like nixing the hike up Burnt Mountain!) and make it a little less intense. For a first attempt, though, I think it was a success.
The next day was the Trek up Burnt Mountain. I was glad I didn't go. I've been up there once, and I'm good. But Zach really wanted it to be a part of the AR, and since it was his idea, I felt I should honor it. (But now that it has been honored, I'm going to replace it with a Beach Day instead!) 
Outside of the Amazing Race, I had a lot of fun. We canoed over to the sandy point beach on the other side of the lake to hang out one afternoon. That is one of my favorite places to hang out. We saw lots of shooting stars. The Perseids are the whole reason we always go up that week, and while last year was slightly better, they did not disappoint this year. 
Jack was finally old enough to go places and do things, so it was fun to watch him want to go out in the 'noe and go fishing and hiking. He and Emma may have had the most fun of anyone, aside from their bouts of Beaver Fever! 
The third part of our 3.5 week vacation was Greg and Stephanie's wedding. It was really beautiful. It was held at Bristol Harbour on Canandaigua Lake, and we had such a wonderful time. The view was spectacular 
and the food was amazing. Do you really need anything else? The best part, however, was Jack and Madelyn, the Ring Bear(er) and Flower Girl. They were completely adorable. Daddy was the Best Man, and he looked nice, too, but not as good as the little ones. Maybe I'm partial, though. Jackson was convinced that he was not the Ring BearER, but just the Ring Bear. To that end, the rings were not tied to the traditional pillow but to the pillow on a Boyd's Bears Ring Bearer bear. It was really adorable, but I think it may have solidified the bear thing in his mind. Actually, I was rather nervous because the morning of the wedding he told me he could not wear his wedding clothes,
which Nona had painstakingly sewn herself (including tea-dying the stark white shirt to ivory!), because it didn't "have eyes and bears have eyes." We did overcome that glitch somehow, and everything went off perfectly albeit a little slowly. There is a small decline on the way down to the wedding area, and at the rehearsal I watched them run down that hill the first time they tried it. So after that, we made several trips walking very sloooowly down the hill. I could just see someone running down the hill in new and slippery shoes, taking a header, and needing bandaids and boo boo bears at the 
beginning of the ceremony. They both listened VERY well, though, and Jack can still tell you that you walk slooowly down the aisle. Luckily, Aunt Steph didn't mind at all.
Our next trip was to the Jersey Shore. This was for the 6th Annual Married to Math Jamboree. It is basically just us hanging out with our 4 friends from DC (+ kids!). It used to be a camping trip, but this year it graduated to a beach vacation in our friend Kerry's cousin's beach house 1/2 block from the beach in Surf City, NJ on Long Beach Island. 
Generally, I don't go into the ocean much north of Virginia Beach, but having just come from the Cape, the water wasn't too bad. I actually went in once or twice. We all had such a blast! Mike missed the camping part, but I think some of us were definitely wondering why we didn't graduate, oh, 5 years ago. The location may have changed, but the activities really didn't. We basically hung out, drank, and ate a ton a food. 
One evening, we consumed almost $300 worth of seafood in one sitting! It may have been too much, but it was sooooo good. The King Crab legs were amazing! The three Mathematicians did get to go on coffee field trips this year, though. I think it is pretty funny that, out of 3 couples, it is only the Mathematicians that drink coffee. (Although, Mathematicians are the machines that turn coffee into theorems!) 
And on 2 of the mornings the daddies took the boys to watch the boats go out. I think Jack really enjoyed that. The mommies really enjoyed it, too. We don't get to see our DC friends nearly as often as we would like, so this is one of our favorite parts of the summer.
We're back! We've been gone a long time. We were on vacation for 3.5 weeks. We were actually on a lot of vacations. We left Niagara Falls on Sat, July 24th. On Sunday we went to Cape Cod until Thursday. We had Friday to repack, and then left for the Jersey Shore on Saturday and were gone until Tuesday. Wednesday was the Bachelor Party, Thursday was the rehearsal, and Friday Greg and Stephanie got married. Saturday was (part of) the Cafaro-Lamberti 75th Annual Family Reunion and repacking. Sunday we left for Beaver River, NY until the following Sunday. Monday, August 16, we finally returned home to Niagara Falls. We are EXHAUSTED! But, we had sooo much fun. Jack made it to his 17th state (including DC), and Tucker has now been to 6 states. I think that's pretty good for a kid who is not yet 3, and another who was not yet 3 months. (But does it mean that maybe we travel just a little too much?)
has taken up residence there for the summer. (Yes, he is rockin' a mohawk.) It is always nice to see him. We mostly just went to Coast Guard Beach. Jackson was amazing on the boogie board! (But not for the camera. He was always too cold by the time I found it.) But we also did a few other things. The highlight for me was probably walking at Rock Harbor during low tide.
The sand went on forever! We got to the last tree, and then just kept on going. If you look closely, you can see all the trees in the background of the picture of Jack showing you his clam shell. Jack and Madi had a fantastic time finding clams and crabs. 
We also went to the Ponds at Nickerson State Park where Tucker got his first taste of "swimming." He just sat in the water with me and kicked and splashed a little bit. We also made the obligatory trip to P-Town, where Mike and his sister rode jet skis for her birthday. P-Town is always a great time. 
We also had the opportunity to take the kids up into an actual light house. Tucker was unamused, but I think Jack got a kick out of it. We went up into Nauset Lighthouse. It was a really fun vacation, and we got to spend some quality time with Mike's parents, sister, and niece. I can't wait to go back!
Yesterday, Mommy and Daddy took Tucker and me for a walk. While I was walking on the sidewalk, I found a money! Somebody lost it, but I found it! Daddy told me he would take me to the store so I could spend it. I was sooo excited. I woke up at 5am and asked Daddy to take me, but it was too early. I just couldn't wait. I wanted to buy "cake and brownies and cheerios and milk and a car and a bouncy ball and soap." Mommy said it was just 1 dollar and would probably only buy 1 thing, but I was pretty sure it would buy me a car and a bouncy ball. I ended up having to wait ALL day for Daddy to come home and take me to the grocery store. "I traded my money, and I got a car!" It is a really cool, black, fast racecar. I probably could have bought a bouncy ball, too, because I had a quarter, but we didn't go to the right grocery store. We have to go to the store next to the library. None of the other stores had the bouncy ball machines, and Daddy did take me to 3! Oh well, maybe next time. 
I LOVE to go swimming. We have a pool in our backyard, and Mommy and Daddy take me swimming in it. My favorite thing to do is to jump in. I like to push Daddy in first, and then jump in after him. I have to wear floaties, though, so that I pop right back up. If I don't have them on, I'll fall down, down, down. But with my floaties on, I can swim all around all by myself. I like to swim like a doggy. Swimming is so much fun!
Tucker is 10 weeks old today! I can hardly believe it. Time just flies when you are having fun. He is such a cute and sweet boy. And he is so strong! He's a scootcher, and already he is able to maneuver himself into a better TV-viewing position since we don't typically think to position him on the floor at an optimal viewing angle for watching Deadliest Catch. And I thought this was a good opportunity to revisit another 10 week picture. How do you think Tucker compares to Jack? They definitely don't look identical, but I think you can tell they are brothers. 
Music was supposed to start at 6:30, but in true rock and roll fashion, nothing started until after 7, and the BPO didn't take the stage until after 9. We had some time to kill, so Jackson rode a few rides, we got a bite to eat, and we hung out on a patch of grass. The BPO's second set consisted of the entirety of Dark Side Of The Moon, and we were really enjoying it until Jack decided enough was enough and it was time to go. I can hardly blame him. It was after 10:30 and he had been sleeping on his Daddy's shoulder for quite some time. I love my husband, but he doesn't have nearly enough padding to be even remotely considered as a viable alternative to a pillow. So, we left just after Us and Them. So 
close, yet so far. It was a lot of fun, though. We may be stuck in Niagara Falls, but with a free concert almost every single night of the week all summer long, at least we have something to do.
