Bye-Bye Blog

So, Summer, it has been a blast to write about you from the very beginning in Mommy's belly through your first year on your two blogs. We hope you enjoy them when you get older, read them and look back on what your first year of life has been like. You've truly been a bright light in our lives!

This blog may be ending, but we'll keep writing about you in our family blog.

We just wanted to take this moment, this last post, to tell you again that Mommy and Daddy will always love you! (We'll always love your little toes, dancing with you, your giggles and smiles, your ENERGY, your voice, your meerkat imitation, playing video games with daddy, sleeping on us, running after the kitties, kissing Mommy's belly/Jackson and kisses and hugs in general, reading to you, tucking you in at night, giving you baths, changing your diaper (NOT!), chasing you around the kitchen island...)

Welcome home!

Belated First Birthday!

Hey All,

Daddy said I'm just about done with my blog. Since this is the post for my belated birthday party for Daddy's side of the family...I have a lot to show off.

First, Daddy's new friend Steve, his wife Lisa, and baby girl Isabella showed up! Yay!!! Here they are enjoying a relaxing moment on the beach.


And they were even nice enough to bring me an awesome outfit...a WARM outfit for the coming Winter! Super cute!


I got a lot of cool gifts. Thanks to everyone!!! I've really been enjoying the Legos that Mommy and Daddy got for me.


I also got some books...


a tricycle from Bob and Bumpa...


And many more gifts! In addition to the gifts, I got not just one more cake, I got TWO MORE CAKES! Thanks to my cousin Lindsey who baked them for me!


It wasn't just about me, gifts and cake, though...we all just hung out and had a great day at the beach...check out these pics.

Me hanging out on the sand.


And then in the water with Daddy and my Cousin Nick.


Here I am, just happy as can be.


It was such a great day, Mommy tried to get me to wear some shades.


Also, we acknowledged Grandpa Mark's 60th birthday. My Daddy and Auntie Ginger rented a boat for the day, and we all had a blast taking rides. Here I am with Grandpa and Mommy.


Daddy was nice enough to let me drive for a while.


Well, that's about it. We had a great day. I thank everyone for coming and for the nice gifts. I'll remember it always (since I have this blog...) See ya all next year, right?!!!

Summer Getting Used to the New Home

So, we moved into the house, and Summer is slowly getting used to it. We've locked her up so she can't just go upstairs or down on her own.


But, we don't just lock her up, we hang out with her, and she is learning to love the place. Here she is with Mommy, hanging out in her loft.


And here she is with Daddy, hanging at her new table.

Love That Cell

OK, this is old, but we had to share how much Summer loves our cell phones...and how well she has learned to use them! Check this out!


Yeah, she grabbed my phone and started sending a text message to *86. I'm not sure who that is yet, or what she was trying to say, but she loves to play with the phones...we just hope she doesn't call 911...

Catching up June

OK, so here are a bunch of pictures from Summer's Birthday and such...catching up the last few weeks.

First up are the birthday pics and Summer's Grandparent's (Gigi and Grumpa) visit. Gigi got along fabulously with Summer and Summer just absolutely loved Gigi. Summer got a lot of Gigi lap time!


Not to be left out, Grumpa got some lovin', too!


And as you can see, Sadie was a hit, as well. Summer tried to feed Sadie Goldfish the entire weekend.

Here is Summer opening some gifts and putting a bow on her head!


Summer got all sorts of great gifts. A talking Elmo doll, dressed up as a bird, that cracks jokes and walks around was the gift from Gigi and Grumpa. She got a few sorting toys, one castle type one from us and a cool sorting block from Aunt Elena! She also got some clothes from Bob and a super cool figurine frog from Aunt Ginger. Summer also got some musical instruments from us...drums, harmonic, tambourine, etc... And so much more! It was quite a good birthday! And, she'll get more when the rest of the family visits, I'm sure...wow! Summer says, "Thank you!" to everyone.

Anyway, more pictures from the weekend...Here Sum-Sum is with Mommy.


And here she is with Daddy.


These two pics were taken at the park that Summer loves so much. She can swing and slide and just have a ball. We were amazed that Summer climbed through these big tubes and got to the top of a slide and just crawled over the edge and slid down head first. She LAUGHED and LAUGHED!!! What a great day! She also rode on the horsey.


One last pic from the park...just a cool shot Grumpa got with her smiling thoughtfully.


And later after all the gifts she got to go swimming...she likes riding in her inner-tube dealie we bought for her a while ago.


Well, that mostly covers the party/visit. There are, of course, many more pics, but I can't post them all.

OK, one last pic for tonight...we have to share that Summer has more teeth coming in. So, now we know why she was grumpy a few weeks back. Take a look at these!


And those aren't it...I feel in there and I believe there is a molar coming in on her top left. Rubbing my nail across the gum I feel a definite ridge. Yikes, when that starts cutting through the gum more we are in for some real fun! (And by fun I mean screaming and some tough times.)

OK, so that's the end of that. And this is nearly/just about the end of this blog. I'll post one or two more, I'm sure, especially about the families' visit in August (when the house is done and people visit to see it and to wish Summer a happy 1st in person). So, for family to keep up on what is going on, please bookmark (yeah, another blog...) our family blog. (Link is also to the right in the list of links.)

Only a Few More Updates

OK, I have a bunch of photos to load up before I close down this blog for good. The plan was always to go for about one year...Tonight, since I updated the other blogs we have, I figured I'd drop a few pics of Summer from a few weeks ago. Then tomorrow or so, I'll put up some more from her birthday.

Anyway, here are three of Summer helping us out sweeping the patio, getting ready for company for her birthday weekend.






And I've posted a few geo-caching pictures, but this one was cute...and it shows how large some caches are. That silver "crate" is a single cache.


The last thing I'll say tonight is an update on Summer in general.

Summer is going to her second week in toddler class tomorrow. Last week she was phenomenal. She had a great time, ate and drank well. Even had the proper single nap one of the days. She had a pretty good weekend this weekend. Saturday she was a little needy, but Sunday she was great, and Jess says today she was super good!

Summer is walking like a champ! She can really take care of herself. Sure, she falls, but she's gotten much better at catching herself and doesn't get hurt as much. When she went to her first day, one of the ladies was saying how Summer would be mostly in the smaller portion of the room to protect her from the bigger kids. I was kind of offended and said how tough she is and how much I wrestle with her. Well, that night when Jess picked Summer up, the lady apologized and said that, ah, yeah, Summer can handle her own and is walking so well... :-) That's right, Summer! You show them how you're a big girl!

Lastly, she's trying more and more to talk and is showing her comprehension quite a bit. Her words now include:
Hi, Bye, Dada, Bubbles and Uh-Oh
She kind of says "how are you" and has said "light" a few times and when Sadie (Gigi and Grumpas dog) was here she tried to say Puppy a few times, too...
She tries all sorts of other words but we can't figure them out, yet. Also, Jess really works with Summer on Nose, Ears and such things and Summer will actually touch her (or our noses) when we ask "where's your nose?" or the same with her ears or feet. She really likes to copy us and will clap, hold her toes, etc. She also loves her shoes and tries to put them on herself, or on our feet. She's even grabbed my shows and put them on me. She's really bright and is always trying to apply herself.

Now it's time for bed. I'll try catching up with some more pics soon! G'Nite!