A Day at the Beach

Mommy, Baba and I are in South Carolina visiting Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Brooks. We arrived yesterday. Baba said that it may actually be warmer in Albany than it is in South Carolina (we were having a bit of a warm spell before we left). The heat aside for a moment, let me tell you something that South Carolina has over Albany (besides Great Grandma and Great Grandpa)...BEACHES!

I've never been to a legitimate "beach" before (Maine doesn't count - water was too cold, and there was no sand, just large rocks). We went to the beach today - my first time to the beach - and it was awesome. I didn't mind the sand in my toes (as my parents' had feared would happen) or the water washing over my little footsies.

In fact, I loved the beach so much I started eating the sand. Not just "tasting" it, but piling it into my mouth...fistfuls of sand. Mommy was perplexed by my behavior, Baba just sort of shrugged it off as something a one-year old would do.

Two Down, None to Go...(Congrats Uncle Patrick)

The second stop on our recent sojourn west was Cleveland, Ohio to see Uncle Patrick graduate with his undergraduate degree from Case Western Reserve University. Grandma, Papa Eddie, Aunt Aileen, Uncle Billy, Aunt Meghan, mommy, baba and I all made the trip to celebrate Uncle Patrick's big day. The graduation ceremony was mid-morning Sunday. Saturday we all got to Cleveland and had a big family dinner. I had peas and chicken - always a safe bet. The next morning mommy went to the complimentary breakfast that the hotel provides and got me a plateful of eggs - yummy yummy eggs. Then we hit the road to campus to watch Uncle Patrick cross the stage. There were lots and lots of people there, but we could see Uncle Patrick on the super-duper big screen that they had set up. After the ceremony I was walking around campus with mommy and these little boys kept on coming up to me. I wasn't interested (or so baba tells me). Congratulations Uncle Parick, we're so proud of you. Uncle Patrick's heading to the University of Wisconsin - Madison for graduate school.

Lilac Festival

As part of our Cleveland trip we stopped over in Rochester (made the trip a lot more manageable - especially for me). Friday night I went to Rochester's annual Lilac Festival.

It was a beautiful evening and I had my first taste of fried dough - super yummy!!! Highland Park is full of all of these pretty lilac bushes and Highland Avenue is full of all of these terribly unhealthy street vendors (enter fried dough stand!).

Anyway, it was lots of fun and I'm glad I was finally able to figure out why they call Rochester the "Flower City."

One down, one to go...(Congrats Theo Strat!)

We took a trip to Rochester this weekend to celebrate Theo Strat's graduation with his Masters degree (in Human Resources Management) from Nazareth College. We're all so proud of Theo Strat. He's worked really hard to get this degree (while working full-time all the while). We had a big family dinner on Saturday night (I ate a lot!) and then went to commencement Sunday morning. It was unusually cold on both days, but it actually snowed (yes, snowed!) on Sunday. I hadn't seen that white stuff in a couple of months.

I should also confess that while I was awake and completely aware as Theo Strat crossed the stage to receive his degree, the same cannot be said for the rest of the graduation ceremony. It was long, I was tired. The rest, as you can see, is history (at least I was well rested).


With Theo Strat's graduation behind us, only Uncle Patrick's remains, and that's next weekend in Cleveland. One graduation down, one to go...

It's Official: I'm One!

Today's the day. At 11:05am a year ago, I arrived! As Baba likes to remind me, that's exactly when the world became a much better place. Happy to help, Ba! I can also tell you, for the record, that I can legitimately walk. Not sort of walk, but really (really!) walk.

So, here's to my first year full of discovery and the next year full of adventure.

Love you all who have kept up with me on my blog. Keep on reading, the best is yet to come.

Party, party, party!!!

Yesterday we celebrated my first birthday! My actual birthday, as you know, is this Thursday, but Mommy and Baba wanted to celebrate on a weekend (and the next two are basically "booked" with Theo Strat's graduation from grad school and Uncle Patrick's graduation from college). So...Saturday was PARTY time!!
Yiayia, Papou, Grandma, and Papa Eddie were here. Aunt Aileen, Uncle Billy and Aunt Meghan also came. It was a beautiful day (in the 80s), the sun was shining and Baba had the grill going. On that grill - Zweigle's hot dogs from Rochester - super yummy...I love hot dogs. That said, I've been told in no uncertain terms that hot dogs are a "treat" and not a daily menu option (which stinks, 'cause as I said, I LOVE hot dogs!).
After we all ate lunch, I opened my presents (lots and lots of clothes and toys, even a special package from Aunt Diane and Uncle Marky and my friend Wilson). After I opened all of my gifts we had birthday cake. Believe me when I tell you, this was a serious birthday cake. In fact, so serious, that Baba made it himself. Seriously, my Baba made this cake from scratch - every bit of it - the cake, the frosting, the filling. It was delicious!!! What a party.

Walking? Sort of...not yet...

It's a learning process - with ups and downs - literally. Mommy keeps saying that by the time I turn one I should be walking. Folks were waiting a good three months for me to roll over back in the day, so I'm not making any promises, but seeing is believing (check out the video below - "baby steps" for sure).