Baby Sophia

We took a family road trip to Long Island to see Sophia Pirrozi, Peter's cousin's daughter, be baptized. (That makes Sophia is our...second cousin? Something-removed? Help anyone?)

It was fantastically fun as this half-Polish, half-Italian family entertained over 80 people to celebrate. Imagine lots of kielbasa, sauerkraut, eggplant parmesan, chicken marsala, pasta salad, etc.....for about 160 people. People never go hungry in Long Island.

Pete and Stephi have two dogs, which Desmond adored playing with all weekend. He also had a cute Capri-Sun incident during the party. He kept on going up to a tall oak tree and "watering" it with his Capri-Sun, then going inside to get a paper towel to dry the tree off. A cute mixture of processing different ideas (how trees drink, how to clean up a mess, etc.)

Baby Sophia is the namesake of Peter's late grandmother, known to us as Babci.

The fam + godparents, minus Donnie/Jill/Ella.

Steering Uncle Donald's boat.

Our Terrific Two Year Old

September has been a month of mostly fun times with some sadness woven in. We'll play catch-up on the months events over the next few days.

Desmond turned TWO on September 8th. Each week you can see he is more of a little kid and less of a baby. He runs better, is more adventuresome, more expressive and opinionated. He's starting to try some new foods (thank goodness!!) like carrot sticks, red bell pepper and oatmeal cookies. Des is also throwing more tantrums as he learns how to express his (strong!) emotions. While he usually doesn't care what he wears, lately Des has enjoyed putting on combinations of Des/dad/mom's clothes.

Proudly self-dressed.

For his birthday we had a small "party" with the three of us, then had a playgroup/party that morning. Desmond still doesn't eat cake, so his friends chowed down on carrot cake while he ate some fruit. I tried giving him cake without icing in the shape of a muffin, "birthday muffin," but he was too sly for that. (In fact, that morning he quickly told me, "Des will say 'No thanks' to birthday cake.") Des actually enjoyed opening his presents and having us sing to him. Predictable, yet still amazing, what a difference a year makes. Days later he was still talking about his birthday banner. It's inspiring to see how the small things are so special to kids.

He's still young enough to enjoy unwrapping presents that he saw
in the guest bedroom the day before. Surprise not necessary.

Peter refinished the table that I found at a thrift store.

Grandparents contributed the chairs and other presents.

NC Roadtrip

Desmond and I took our first road trip together (without Peter) this month to visit some of the grandparents in North Carolina for two weeks.

In Asheville, Grandpa and Gran gave Des a taste of the mountains with a visit to the Nature Center, playing in a creek, visiting a kids' arcade, baking cookies, etc. I also got to see one of my best friends Molly and her family. We even got to have a "grown-up" lunch at Barleys with some downtown shopping! Some of my favorite things from the trip were listening to Des call Gran his "cutie-patootie" and watching Desmond enjoy Grandpa's oatmeal cookies. (Previously, Desmond wouldn't eat cookies!)

After visiting Asheville, we went to Sanford to visit Grandma. Desmond spent time watering Grandma's yard, playing basketball with his new basketball goal, playing on a Sanford train and looking at Grandma's science collection (ex. snake skin, sea shells, crab pinchers, etc.) We also got to visit Aunt Meg's house. I loved watching Grandma realize that she may be retired now, but she'll always have someone to teach science stuff.

Bubble baths in Grandma's jacuzzi tub are unparalleled.

Even I was excited about exploring this decommissioned train.

Playing before having tasty lentil soup at Aunt Meg's house.

Grant (Molly and Furman's son) and Desmond enjoy sprinklers, sand and bubbles.

Gran takes Des to Animal Haven to visit the new lamb.

Oatmeal cookies - Grandpa style!