Traveling Machine

Pierce just made another weekend flight to New Orleans to celebrate the naming of a tugboat after Marmie (the Elizabeth B). It was a nice little escape to leave cold Boston and spend 2 days in the 70 degree weather of the South. Pierce also got to meet (and charm!) some extended family that he had not met before, and make his first trip to an aquarium and a zoo. He is in love with animals right now, and regularly makes the animal sounds for a sheep, cow, cat, horse, and dog. Unbeknown to us, however, he is also working on tigers and lions! At the zoo he looked at the lion and began roaring. Much to his delight, the lion actuallly roared back. Some other favorites were the elephant, monkeys, zebras and the creme de la creme...the giraffe.


Pierce's vocabulary is growing daily and new words from just this weekend include: mine, no (hooray!), trash, giraffe, snack and tree. Wow! He's getting so big.

Meeting Gigi and Giving Thanks

Two weeks ago we traveled to Florida to meet Gigi (my grandmother) for the first time! Foster, Chris and Liz joined us on the trip and Nana met us there, too. We had a great time cavorting with the boys on the beach, swimming the day away, and visiting many of the favorite haunts of my childhood. The weather was wonderful, and the trip was waaayyy too short. We got back on Sunday and had a couple of days back in our normal routine before celebrating Thanksgiving with Marmie, Papa and Aunt Darcy in Manchester.

We were so excited to have Pierce sample his first real Thanksgiving dinner, and served him up a plate of turkey, veggies, rice, gravy and cranberry sauce. Too bad he wasn't feeling super hot and opted to eat one bite of cranberry sauce and a big bowl of cinnamon ice cream. (Guess he got Mom's sweet tooth). It was fun celebrating with family, and we managed to fit in some nice walks along Singing Beach and some paddle tennis, too.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we ventured to Smolak Farms in Andover to cut down our own Christmas tree. Pierce had a great time toddling between trees on a hillside, and we picked a beautiful one to take home. It's up and decorated (along with the rest of the house) and we're shifting our focus to the next holiday to celebrate. Can't wait to see Pierce and Foster together for Christmas this year! Hopefully I'm a little better with the blogging between now and then.

Boo! Happy Halloween!

Before the Halloween festivities kicked off, we had a lovely family outing to Wilson Farms to pick out our pumpkins, sample some apple treats and visit the farm llama, chickens and pigs.

Pierce had a 3 day Halloween celebration, starting on Friday at his Day Care parade. We got some cute shots of our little giraffe hanging around the house with Halsey, and one from him on parade.

Saturday kicked off with the Winchester town parade which brought the kids from the library to the town green. The last Farmer's Market of the season was going on on the green, so there were lots of people to admire the costumes, and booths handing out treats to the kids. There was also a band playing Halloween tunes which set the mood for the event. Local stores held trick-or-treating, so the littlest kids in town got some treats during daylight hours. Pierce loved seeing all of the "big" kids dressed up, and was tempted to give lots of hugs to the dressed up dogs and princesses. Later that morning, we went to Jelly Jams in costume, where Pierce really worked up a sweat and had to take a break from the full giraffe.
On Halloween, Pierce gladly put on his giraffe costume for one more afternoon playing in the leaves and modeling for Marmie, Papa and Darcy and our neighbors. Good thing he loved the costume! He sampled a little bit of candy (3 Muskateers) and got 2 new teeth over the weekend. Overall, it was a great 2nd Halloween as a family!

Outdoor time

We have had a series of beautiful fall weekends here, and have maximized our time outside with gardening, trips to the farm and a journey to Vermont for a old-fashioned pig-roast. Pierce had great fun pushing the wheelbarrow and shoveling dirt with Papa, and loved crawling around the fields in Vermont. The uneven terrain challenged our new walker, but he would just get right back up every time he toppled!

Working hard with Papa:
Warming up inside with Marmie:
What a beautiful spot in Randolph Center, VT:
The walker really helped on the uneven terrain:
Our little "leather-head" playing catch:
Jon and his masterpierce:

Movin' On Up

Pierce has been a big fish in a little pond at day care since school started back up this fall. Since he is now cruising around, and looks a little bit like Godzilla around the other little babies, he is gradually transitioning to the Toddler I room at school. He spends many mornings out with the "big kids" and last week painted fall leaves with them (even using a brush!)and went to circle time and was "singing" and grooving with the music. He then spends the rest of the morning and afternoon in the Infant room. When he goes back to the infant room, he stands at the door and knocks to go back out to the Toddler room. Guess he's ready!

The biggest change that comes with the transition is that they go to one nap a day from 1-3 pm. Pierce is so happy and busy at school that he doesn't mind missing the morning nap, but at home on the weekends, he still goes down cold at 8:30 am. He is still sleeping 12 hours at night, so at least the shift isn't affecting night time sleep! He'll be in the Toddler I room full-time in the next month or so. He's getting SO big!

Walk This Way!

It's official. Pierce is a walker! He's been on his feet and toying with walking for the past month or so, but in the last two weeks, really prefers to be walking on his own. He can now cruise from room to room in the house--living room to dining room to kitchen is a favorite route, and he laughs his head off as he wobbles while he walks. Here is a little video of him going from one end of the living room to the other.

The walking is adorable to watch, though frightening at the same time. Pierce moves quickly and took a major header into the corner of a wall last night. He got a giant goose egg immediately, but was able to shake it off and start smiling shortly after the accident. Guess Halsey and I have to get used to the bumps and bruises that come along with all of this toddling!

Mealtimes have become more fun lately, with Pierce beginning to self-feed with a spoon and fork. He is still working on the scooping part of spooning, but is really good at getting the food onto the fork! As with all of his accomplishments, Pierce is so proud of his work.One final change is that we are totally done with bottles. Hooray--no more bottle washing! We've been weaning Pierce off of them for the last month, but had a really hard time dropping the bedtime bottle. Pierce was fine with the change, but we loved that time with him in the evening so kept putting it off. He's drinking only from sippy cups and straws now and our washing hands are grateful!

1 Year Photo Shoot

We just got our photos back from Pierce's 1-year photo shoot. We had a blast working with photographer Elaine (www.elainedonohue.blogspot.com) on a beautiful morning out in Manchester! She did an amazing job of making us feel relaxed, and she caught some priceless pictures of little Pierce. Here's a glimpse of the shoot:

Fall Fun

It has quickly changed from summer to fall around here which means it was time for our annual pilgrimage to Honey Pot Hill Farm to do some apple picking with the Bourques. What a difference a year makes. Last year, Erin and Pierce were barely visible tucked inside their Ergos being worn by Zach and Halsey. This year, they had prime views, sticking out above their backpacks, sampling apples while trekking through the orchards. We had a picnic on the grounds, and even visited the petting zoo, where Pierce loved watching the goat climb up a wooden structure to get some food.

This weekend, we connected with some of Halsey's rower friends from Dartmouth over a BBQ in our backyard. John and Mandy Raser and Adam and Jen Tanney joined us with their sons Jonah and Xavier (respectively). The boys had a blast playing on our indoor mat and in the backyard ball pit. Here's a great shot of all of the boys!

Pierce is testing the walking waters daily. About 2 weeks ago he took 3 independent steps, and this week upped it to a string of 7-10 steps. He is so proud of his accomplishment and laughs every time he takes off. He stands for prolonged periods of time without holding on to anything, so I know that our days of crawling are numbered! It's exciting and terrifying to watch all at the same time.

Pierce's babbling is also on the rise, and he does not seem to have an "indoor" voice. He wakes up and goes to bed singing/talking. New words include cow, moo, duck, and that.

Videos Galore

Here are 4 quick videos from the last two weeks. It's been a joy watching our (almost) always happy Pierce develop a distinct personality. He is Mr. Mellow and Even-Keeled 99% of the time. However, since turning 1, Pierce has also thrown in some dramatic performances (aka tantrums) to his routine. Most seem to stem from frustration, and they pass as quickly as they appear. It is hard not to laugh when he has one. See for yourself in videos 1 and 2.




Pierce has recently taken to crawling with toys in his mouth (thanks for the teaching, Sadie!), and last week, it turned into a great game between a boy and his dog.




Summer is officially over, and I am back at work, and Pierce is back at school. He is the big man on campus in the infant room--most of the other babies are around 5 mos. old. So they are starting a slow transition into the toddler room. He won't make an official move until November/December, but will spend much of the fall in the other room getting to know and watch the other kiddos. Fun!

Pierce is 1!

Pierce turned 1 well over a week ago, but between celebrations, and a trip out of town last weekend for Laura and Halsey, I am just getting around to the post.

Saturday, August 14th was beautiful and perfect for our backyard birthday celebration. Pierce had both sets of grandparents and Aunt Darcy here in attendance to celebrate along with his good buddies Erin Bourque, Spenser and Tessa Deng, and Griffin Hall (plus their parents, and our good friends!). Pierce welcomed each of his friends with a hug before getting down to playtime. We had bubbles, the water table, sandbox and a ball pit set up in the backyard for kids to play in. The ball pit was the biggest hit for Pierce but after that got old, Pierce moved on to the water table, where he spent the end of the party loading and unloading the toys and water, and crawling around in the mud. Besides playing with friends and family, Pierce loved his birthday serenade and eating his delicious carrot cake. In fact, he couldn't wait to have a piece cut for him and stuck his hand right into the black frosting on the head of his ladybug cake! He was in such good spirits for the party, and even managed to continue the celebration with an ice cream and mini-golf outing.
Greeting the grandparents
Everyone loved the ball pit!
Getting ready for the birthday cake!
Getting down and dirty after the cake
We celebrated with gifts the following day, on Pierce's "real" birthday, and it didn't take long for him to dive into his birthday loot. He got a personalized chair that is just his size and he found his way into right away. He loves that he has his own place to sit, and crawls into it as often as he can. Pierce also got a walker wagon which has become a fast favorite, and all of his other toys and books now get carted around the house wherever he goes. He can really move, and is testing standing and stepping on his own. He spends his days loading and unloading the wagon to his heart's content. Here is a video of him moving and grooving!

It's hard to believe our little baby boy made it to a toddler so quickly! This first year was such a whirlwind and full of adventures and growth, and we are so grateful for all of the love, support and guidance we had along the way. So thank you to all of you who have read and commented on this blog and followed Pierce's life so closely. We are lucky to have so many people wanting to be involved in his life. We can't wait to see what Pierce's 2nd year brings as his little personality is just blossoming away!