Reading and Kisses

Hannah's new favorite activity is reading to anyone that will listen. She gathers a big pile of books, orders you to sit, and then reads away.

Pigtails

Hannah is finally starting to have enough hair to actually do something with it - and in the past week or so it's actually become a necessity as it's otherwise in her eyes all day. Barettes don't seem to stay in - mostly because she pulls them out - so this morning we tried pigtails! She loved them ('piggies' as she kept calling them) and proudly strutted into daycare to show them off. We'll see how long they last!

Early Birthday Present

Hannah got an early birthday present today - a new swingset! It's definitely a hit as we literally had to drag her off of it tonight in the dark.

And as it was being put up, I realized that it was exactly the same as the swingset our neighbors have. You can sort of see in this picture - and they're positioned in the same spot in our yards so it's like dueling swingsets. Suburban living at it's best!

Belkin Lookout Farm

We spent last Wednesday at Belkin Lookout Farm with playgroup. Despite the gray and chilly day - we had a great time riding the train through the vineyards, playing on the playground, riding the caterpillar train, climbing on the bales of hay and jumping in the bouncy house! Hannah had no interest in the animals but as long as she was allowed to RUN - her new favorite word - she was happy!!

Summer with Family

I got a bunch of pictures from my cousin Emily earlier today and had to post some of them (thanks for the blog material Emily!).

Hannah plays with Derrick (he's my cousin's kid - what does that make him to Hannah?) every Thursday and they're starting to develop such a friendship - it's so fun to watch! These pictures are from earlier in the summer when we were all in Chatham. Wilson and I were at a wedding for the evening but my parents brought Hannah to a family BBQ and Emily captured these two troublemakers in action.

Derrick is the only kid Hannah will hold hands with (or hug and kiss for all that matter!)

Uh oh - Derrick's wearing Hannah's shoes....

Again, I wasn't there but I'm guessing the word coming is something along the lines of "mine!"

Ok fine - I'll steal Derrick's shoes!

We only got to see Emily and her sister Liz for a brief visit this summer - NYC is a long way from Cape Cod - but we were happy to steal a few minutes with them during their vacation. Hannah loved swimming with Aunt Liz - here they are chatting away ....

Entranced

Hannah has developed a love for Elmo videos. So far that's the only video she'll watch but we often get requests for Elmo and Mr. Noodle (Mr. Noo Noo). This morning was rainy and it seemed like a good morning to curl up with Aunt Allie who was visiting and watch some Elmo so that's what Hannah did - as you can tell - she gets VERY into it.

Summers Last Hurrah

We had a VERY fun Labor Day weekend - the weather was fantastic and we took full advantage of our long weekend. I have lots of pictures to prove it. Hopefully this will make up for the lack of pictures we've been posting recently!!

We started off in Chatham where Hannah showed off her swimming. This kid is a fish - for sure - and we're going to have to do some swimming lessons this winter to keep her skills up I think. She's practically floating already. On Friday Mimi/Grandma (Hannah hasn't decided what to call her yet) and I took her over to Oyster Pond to let her really have fun swimming in the shallow (supposedly warm) water. It was chilly so no one else was venturing into the water but that didn't stop Hannah!

Encouraging her to swim in some shallower water....

Floating on her back....

Practicing with the arms and feet at the same time....

So fun!

(this is "jumping" Hannah style)....

Daddy took her in the "big" ocean on Saturday which she absolutely loved. No sign of sharks despite all the news reports (we were on the other side of Chatham for those that were worried). Just a top 5 day on the beach which we thoroughly enjoyed.

All that swimming makes for a tired little girl.... (for the first time this summer Hannah actually slept on the beach - for two hours!).

The Bobbsey twins unite... Sarah and I - unknowingly - purchased the same beach cover and hat this summer (and have almost the same sunglasses). It was determined that it needed documentation.

Riding in on the boat....

Helping Papi drive.... (very serious business)

Hannah (with some help from Sarah) took this picture of her parents relaxing at Chatham Bars Inn Sunday night- perhaps she has a future in photography!

Today we went to Edaville Railroad with Nana and Grandy and saw Thomas the Train. Hannah loved every minute of it - and despite her previous dislike of the carousel in Boston Common - was nothing but happy on every ride and even asked to go on the carousel more than once. We'll be back here next summer for sure.....

Climbing on the wooden trains....

My first ride - and I loved it!

Riding with Daddy.....

I rode this train all by myself - there were no other kids on it - and I took my job as conductor VERY seriously....

There were trucks to check out as well...

And swings!

(not sure about Thomas the first time he came around)....

Loving the carousel - you could hear Hannah laughing everytime she came around....

Family shot with Thomas (Hannah was more concerned about the little girl that had fallen down just before us - "girl go boom" was all we heard for the next twenty minutes).

Whew - it's a good thing fall is here because we're ready to slow down a bit!