Looking Back on the Summer of 2009

While I've been silent for a large part of the summer, I have to tell you that this was certainly the busiest summer of my entire life! Papi and Daddy really kept me going and we had a lot of fun! July started with a bang -- I got to see all of my Smith cousins, uncles, aunts, and Nana and Papa too! It was so cool! First, Uncle Dean and Aunt Karen were here briefly on their way upstate to Nana and Papa's. Then Papi and Daddy and I flew down to Atlanta to spend the weekend with Uncle Dave and Aunt Kelley. I hadn't seen any cousins yet because they were all at Nana and Papa's! Anyway, we had a great time in Atlanta. I laid out in their new hammock and they also took us to the Botanical Gardens on July 4th! I was very nice to MOST of the plants and then I had a blast playing in the water area. I splashed and splashed -- and managed to get soaking wet! (check out the video - but I'm much older now!)

I think I got a little water on Aunt Kelley and Daddy too! That night we watched fireworks and could see several shows in different directions - this was a pretty cool thing that I think we should do every July 4th! I also got to spend a whole day and night alone with Aunt Kelley while Papi and Daddy went to a wedding and Uncle Dave flew to Vegas!

The day after we got home Uncle Dean, Aunt Karen, Maxine and Riley all came for a quick visit before they headed back to Denver. It was Riley's Birthday so I got to sing to him!! The next day we all went to the Statue of Liberty. I enjoyed the boat ride there.....but I kind of slept through the rest of the trip. Everyone said it was beautiful though!

A few days later we were back on the road, driving up to Syracuse to see Nana and Papa and my other Smith cousins, Alex and Casey. We played together a lot, went to Lake Ontario, they pushed me on the swing, and I

watched them jump on the trampoline with Papi

- that totally cracked me up!

The following week we went to the Hamptons for a day and I got to swim in a pool - one of my most favorite things to do! We even got a little pool for our house and Sofia and I have had some fun in that too -- in between rainy days! I also had my 9 month check up with my doctor. Everything looks great! I measured 30 inches (89th percentile), weighed 22lb 8oz (77th percentile), and my head circumference was a whopping 48.6cm (101st percentile!). I'm growing into my head and looking pretty cool!

The first two weeks of August brought my first big vacation --

Provincetown, Cape Cod!! I've never had so much fun! Papi and Daddy and I got to spend so much time together and it was really special. Some of Papi's family were vacationing nearby so we got to spend two days with them too!

When we visited them, I discovered dogs -- and I have never giggled so much, as you can see in the video!




Every time the dogs would jump into the chair, it just cracked me up! They are pretty funny creatures, those dogs! Papi's cousin, Vanessa, is in the video - she's bringing me another cousin in about two months! In P'Town we went to the beach and I had my very own tent!

On occasion I fell asleep in it, but for the most part the beach was so stimulating it was hard to fall asleep! I went into the ocean for the first time and had my very own floatie! The water is really cold there, but I didn't care!

I also took my first bike ride in P'Town -- it was so exciting that I fell asleep before we were home -- totally pooped me out! The second week we were there, Uncle Monroe, Tio Danny, and Titi Jessica all came too! It was like a big party and I had so much fun with them! They played with me every day and made me feel really special! I hope we get to do that again!

The day after we got back we were in the Hamptons again for a day and then the following weekend Papi's cousin Jenn married Graig. It sounded like a lot of fun but instead of going I got to go to Tio Dave and Aunt Dona's house for the night. As always, I had a great time with them - and even got to try some of their cooking!

While we were in P'Town my eighth tooth came in so I'm doing pretty well with chewing and I'm eating a lot of grown-up food now. In fact, I'm pretty bored with that baby food they've been giving me and sometimes I just really don't want to eat it. I'm still a good eater though and am enjoying trying new things that I can chew! I like to feed myself with my hands too and I get to play with spoons and forks! I LOVE to stand up and walk around holding onto whatever will keep me on my feet! Sometimes Daddy or Papi will move the furniture around so that I have a whole course to walk through and I can do this for hours! I can pull myself up to stand now so you'll see me standing in my crib and at the coffee table all of the time. I'm crawling pretty well too. My belly isn't off the ground too much - but I get around pretty quickly. The other day I managed to get up two stairs before Papi caught me! My favorite toys are the remote control and my red car -- I can ride it forever! Yesterday, Papi even took it to the playground with us and I got to ride it all over the place! For now I'll say goodnight and I'll be in touch soon. Thanks for checking out my blog and, as always, please feel free to leave a comment!