Elise is 7 months!

At 7 months, Elise is doing really well with solids and

has recently mastered feeding herself a cracker. She

really enjoys being able to do this herself. She gained

a good amount of weight from last month and is now

up to 16.4 lbs. Maybe its all of the new foods she has

been trying like avocados and yogurt!

Hiking with Dad is FUN! Other fun activities

for Elise are: rolling around on her quilt from

Grandma Carol, slapping her right

hand on the quilt or any other surface, bouncing

in her saucer, (wildly) shaking a toy / object in her right hand.

(She seems to favor her right hand). Oh, and hanging

with Jackson is FUN. She also likes to growl lately

which is pretty hysterical and is starting to find

her voice more and more. Maybe we will have

2 talkative kids in the house in which case

we will have to wear ear plugs at all times...

More Halloween Pics

Family Photo

We got some rain as we were heading in

from trick-or-treating. Good thing they start

early in Westfield! (3:30 / 4:00pm)

Batcycle

Batman & Spongebob (Ethan)

We were very happy & excited to have Daddy

home for this holiday! Someone had to carry

the pink piglet...

Posing with some of the kids we trick-or-treated

with. He decided to forgo the cumbersome cape / mask

with ears ensemble and just do the eye mask.

She is not a fan of the mask.

Cool green / orange pumpkin!

Over the pumpkin and kicking it

out of the way.

Happy Halloween!

More pics to come...

October Fun

We had a great visit with Grandma Carol and

Grandpa Rick. Here we are on a beautiful hike.

Elise loved her first ride in the backpack carrier!

Elise conked out.

It was a big hike for baby girl!

Tired baby

Thanks for a great visit!

See you in Colorado for ski season!

BFF's

We know they won't always get along so well

so we will enjoy it now!

Lancaster Visit

My grandfather (or Big Papa to Jackson and Elise)

turned 89 in early October so we went for a visit.

Elise loved snuggling with everyone, especially Noni,

who sat with her often. We met Papa there and got to see

him also. There was lots of pasta eating and celebrating

and of course Jackson consumed many of Noni's cookies. Yum!

Whenever we go there Jackson eats crazy

amounts of apples - not sure why...

She was very comfortable with Great Uncle Tony!

We Do Still Blog

We have been on a blogging hiatus due to a very busy

fall schedule. Bill and I escaped for a night to

Cape Cod to attend the wedding of a close friend. That was so fun!

We also visited family in Lancaster, PA (including

the kids' great-grandparents). We just had a visit from Grandpa

Rick and Grandma Carol and we've been hitting the pumpkin

patches, orchards and farms. Anyway, will try to update more often...

Elise is 6 months!

What a wonderful baby Elise is! We are so

lucky to have 2 great kids and can't believe that

Elise has been a part of our family for 6 months now.

She is a very mellow and happy little baby who lights

up when she sees her big brother. I know I write

that often, but its true. She finds him hilarious. She is

doing great with solids and REALLY loves mealtime,

"talking" loudly throughout each meal (saying "mm, mm, mm").

Otherwise, she is pretty quiet and prefers to listen

to her (extremely) talkative older brother. Green beans,

sweet potatoes and any kind of fruit are some of her

favorites. Elise is just shy of 15 lbs. (30th%) and is " long (60th%).

She loves to play with her toesies, just as much as any of her toys.

She is sitting up, although is a little unsteady still.

Elise's second bottom tooth is in, and it is

just about even with the first one. They basically

came through at the same time.

This is the face Elise makes when she is really

excited about something.

Making the face at her friend, Noelle, who

will be 1 in January.

As you can see, she makes this face often!

(She really loves this book).

Oh, I dropped my sippy!

Sitting up like a big girl, though

still topples over from time to time.

Papa's Birthday Weekend!

Whew! What a crazy weekend! I am still

recovering! On Saturday we celebrated Papa's

birthday with a trip to an (off) Broadway show,

A Gazillion Bubbles. It was so fun and Jackson

got picked to go up on stage! The bubble lady

created some huge bubbles around him and then

had some other kids come up with him too.

He apparently doesn't have stage fright and

did great, aside from keeping his mouth open

most of the time. After we picked up Elise from

Nana's and then headed to my Dad & Bernie's for a

fabulous surprise dinner. The living room was set

up just like an Italian Bistro and everyone enjoyed

a super yummy dinner. Jackson stayed up and

partied with cousin Sophie until 10 PM! He was

waiting for cake...

Waiting for the show to start with cousins

Sophie and Matthew

Jackson makes his Broadway debut.

Getting to know the bubble lady and

telling her he is from New Jersey...

Happy 60th, Papa!!

Reading on the couch with Grandma Bernie

Snuggling with Papa