Last Day of Summer

Labor Day marks the official end of summer for us, so we had to spend our last day of vacation playing outside with Mairead. We have loved every second of our time with her and we know that we were so lucky to have it. This summer, Mairead enjoyed a lot of 'firsts': Her first trip to the beach, first time playing outside at the farm, first trip to the zoo and to the aquarium, first birthday, and first steps! She is up to about 4 steps at a time now, so any day now, she'll have us running after her!

These pictures are from our lazy afternoon out in the yard. Mairead's Nana and Grampy bought her this fun little house to play in, and Brian delivered it (not without incident) to us safe and sound.

Tomorrow, Dave and I have our first day of classes as we begin another school year. This year marks 10 for me in Brockton, and 8 for Dave (plus his years in NY). It will be hard to leave our little girl, but at least we know that she loves playing with the kids at Ms. Pat's house. Happy September, everyone-- enjoy the beautiful fall weather!

I know, I have been slacking...

I have really been remiss about taking pictures this week-- can you believe that I don't have ANY new ones? We have been really busy this week and school starts Tuesday, so we are pretty much just hiding in our denial that summer is really over! So, in lieu of new pictures, how about an old one? The picture above is from just about a year ago at this time. I can't believe how different she looks! One thing hasn't changed, though; right from the beginning, she has always loved her daddy. Dave's birthday was yesterday and Mairead gave him a photo album full of pictures of the two of them. They are so cute together!

I don't have pictures, but I can tell you that Mairead is just doing great! She is on the verge of walking, and yesterday she took three steps before deciding that walking is just too slow. I think she could do it if she really wanted to, but she knows that crawling is faster. And, since she is not known for her patience, crawling it is!

We have just loved being home with her all summer and we will be sad to drop her off at daycare on Tuesday. We know that she loves it there and has so much fun with the kids, but after 2 months of being spoiled in our time with her, it won't be easy on us!

I promise that I will take more pictures, especially when it gets cooler outside and Mairead can wear all sorts of new 'back to school clothes' that look so cute on her!

Hanging on to Summer

Yesterday, Mairead had some fun trying on her mom's sunglasses. She was too funny- she kept them on while crawling around, and was pretty entertained by this. In these pictures, Jen is holding her up to the mirror so that she can see how cool she looks!


It wasn't all fun and games, though. Mairead did spend some time helping her Nana in the kitchen. Those dishes aren't going to put themselves away!


That was too much work, though, so then she had to hide.



With the start of school looming for us on September 2, we are still hanging on to every last bit of summer. We spent yesterday in Lowell so that Mairead could get in a good swim while it was so hot out. Unfortunately for her dad, the water was not so warm. She couldn't have cared less, though! By the time we dragged her out, she was literally blue and shaking, yet she still struggled to try to wrestle her way back into the water.

Dave was a really good sport about staying in, even though he was cold. She LOVES being in the water, even though she was drinking some of it in the first video. I swear, in the second video, it sounds like she is saying, "Again, Daddy!"

Trip to the Aquarium

Today, we headed to the New England Aquarium for Mairead's first time. We went with our friends, Jaime, Joey, and Connor Estee. Mairead seemed to really like it, especially since one of the words she can actually say is 'fish,' and they were everywhere! She was also excited to see all of the kids there. She kept pointing and yelling, 'kids, kids!' We had a really great time and, a tip for all of you teachers, it is free to MTA members if you have your card.

Daddy had the camera for a little while so Mom got to be in some of the pictures today.


If you have never been to the aquarium, the center of it is this huge column shaped pool full of all kinds of fish. When you reach the top, you can look down into the water. Mairead and Connor were literally trying to climb in to the pool; you can see their little hands gripping the edge!




I love this picture because I think they look so much alike in this shot!

Jaime and Connor had a great time, too!

She was so curious about everything and was fascinated by these brightly colored tropical fish.


I liked the sea turtle, so I had to get in a shot of him. All in all, it was a great little trip. One great thing about being a parent is that you get to do all of the fun kid stuff all over again!

Sunny Days

The weather here lately has been beautiful, and we have definitely been taking advantage of it! Today, Meg and Dave's friend, Derek, came over to help Dave cut down some trees and branches in the back yard. He has been running his own Daddy Day Care this summer, so he brought his three kids, Celia, Evelyn, and James. Mairead loved having the company, and she especially loved it when Celia and Evelyn shared their McDonald's french fries with her.

Yesterday, we were up in Lowell to visit Maghan's Nana who turned 80 this past week. Happy Birthday, Nana! Of course, that meant that Mairead had to get in some swimming. The water was not very warm at all, but she didn't mind a bit!


She really seems to get the hang of it-- she waves her arms around and kicks her legs. She still keeps her mouth open, though, so she'll have to cut that out!


Danny and Katie (and Danny and Chrissy and Jackie and Jimmy) were nice enough to give us some of the toys they had outgrown, so Mairead got to drive her first car.

And here she is, drinking and driving. Don't worry, it's only juice!

Thanks for the sweet ride!

Dance Machine

I have been remiss about taking and posting video lately, so this post includes four of them! Dancing and talking are her latest fascinations, so that's what these videos include. She is not walking yet as her focus seems more on talking. As you all know, she is certainly one to make her opinion heard! Although the pronunciations are not perfect, she has recently added 'kids,' 'pig,' 'juice,' and 'dancing' to her vocabulary.

Lately, Mairead has been showing us her love of music by dancing every time she hears any kind of music. Commercials, tv theme songs, the SportsCenter opening (she hears that one a lot), it doesn't matter, she loves music! I have been trying to get some video, but usually she just wants to grab the camera. This time, though, I did get some of her 'moves.'

I think she is working on the word 'dancing,' so that is what you might hear when she is talking. Also, she sometimes tries to sing along.

Mairead loves to watch other kids, be they in real life or on tv, so she has been saying the word 'kids' this week. In the first video, she says it pretty clearly (well, clearly for a 1 year old), and in the second, she says it again, and then waves to them. She is just so cute! Of course, I am biased...

New Trick

Some days, I think our little girl might be too smart for our own good. One of her favorite things to do is to take all of the books off of the bookcase. Usually, this activity is limited to the first shelf. However, recently, we watched her push a box over toward the bookcase, and we wondered, where is she going with that? Well, it turns out that she pushed it over to the bookcase and then stood on top of it in hopes of reaching a higher shelf. She did it again the next day, this time using a big book that she knocked off another shelf. She's definitely a girl who figures out how to get what she wants!