My Little Lady

Today marked a very important day in my life and in Haley's... today I took my baby girl to get her ears pierced. It is something I had decided to do before I ever had children... to get my baby girl's ears pierced no later than 6 months old. In 1973, my family traveled to India and I happened to get my ears pierced by a man near the beach with just a needle, ice and a bar of soap or an apple or something... and I never knew life without earrings. In fact, up until I was in the 5th grade, I was never allowed to even remove my earrings... that will be the same rule that applies for Haley. In 5th grade, the school made my parents remove my earrings so I could participate in wrestling in gym class so I didn't fail.

Haley is a classy little lady. I had spoken to my pediatrician and he didn't say NO but says the American Association of Pediatrics does not endorse the idea. And he did say that he's never had any babies with ear piercings get infections :) In fact, doing it young means they don't play with them or get their dirty fingers on them :) And it was his nurse that suggested the local jeweler where she took her infant daughter.

So today, August 31, Haley got her ears pierced... 5 days short of being 5 months old. She was so happy all day and even sitting nicely in my lap as the woman 'dotted her earlobes'. And then afterwards, the pain caused many tears and even the crying so fierce, her body would shake.

But after those first minutes of pain, she was smiling and crying... and she even let her 'assailant' hold her and make her giggle... so hard feelings. And in the end, she left sleeping and little 24k gold heart earrings... now I wonder how the next couple days will be for her?

The vacation photos have been uploaded.... just click here...

Ocean City MD part II

OCEAN CITY part II

As I look at the photos, I have noticed something interesting... there are a few photos of me and only 1 of my dad :( I'm usually the one behind the camera (been that way since high school really) and my dad... well, he was busy on his vacation and we'd see him at the beach briefly and at night. But I can he did have a good time as did I... you just may not 'see us having that fun' :)

Mini-golf: So all summer Evan has been a big fan of golf... watching it and playing it. And this vacation Evan played his first, second and third game of mini-golf. In fact, if he had his way, he'd play mini-golf 5 times a day every day. I missed his first time playing but heard it was a blast. I was on his team the second time he played and witnessed his first 'Hole In One'. I hit my ball and muffed it, so it rolled back to the starting tee. Evan picked it up and teed it up and hit my ball... and it rolled up and down the first hill and up and down the second hole and then down the tube tunnel and right into the hole!!! The third time was the HOTTEST day and we played with Evan's friend Chris and his mom Laurie. (I don't have those photos yet but will post those when I get a chance). And it was so hot that Evan wanted to quit and go inside...

Beach: The beach was a variety of experiences for everyone. You probably already read about the jellyfish 'attack'. But the heat and humidity proved that the beach was needed. We first tried the beach in the AM hours but it was so hot and the sand was so hot it hurt to walk!! So then we tried the beach in PM (after nap and before dinner). The sand was easier to walk but the lifeguards were off duty at 5 or 6. And then Hurricane Bill started traveling up the Eastern seaboard and the waves became tough. The first few days, Evan spent time playing in the sand and jumping the waves and even boogie boarding.

So in a nutshell and in 2 blog entries that was the highlights of the trip. I do feel bad that Haley spent most of her time sleeping and that is what was captured on digital film, but there is always next year... next year when we'll continue to chase after Evan and next year when we'll have a mobile Haley to chase after... wonder how much it would cost to get a nanny???

Ocean City MD

Ocean City, MD 2009

It's that time of year again... it's our family vacation to Ocean City. As a kid growing up in PA, my parents always took us on an annual family vacation. It was usually a beach vacation. We would alternate our summer outings between Wildwood NJ and Ocean City, MD. The trips became less in frequency when we moved to CT. Perhaps this is because we moved 250 miles away or we were teenagers and we didn't have a desire to 'hang out' with our parents. But as we became adults, we began enjoying our days in OC again. And now as parents, we bring our children.


This year was an interesting year... it's become full circle. Dan and I drove 9 hrs and 360miles with a toddler and an infant to spend time with family and friends. This year we were joined by family (my dad, brother, niece, and cousins) and friends Laurie (college friend) and Karen (friends for almost 30 yrs!!!) and her family and Dave(friend who loves to come to OC) and his nephew. Every year it's always a different group and this year was no different.

This was Haley's first trip and Evan's second. The temperature was a high of at least 90 with a humidity level of stifling and a low of 70 with the same thickness in the air. The warm temps made it 'comfy' for Haley and she spent most of time sleeping (so be lucky to see her eyes open during this trip).

This being Evan's first trip, he got to experience all the fun things to do in Ocean City: mini-golf (he went 3 times and even got a hole in one); building sandcastles and drip castles and moots; playing games on the boardwalk; amusement park rides like the carousel and race cars (scared him); flying kites on the beach; and boogie boarding.

The drive down was difficult. We left at 4:30am and can you believe that Evan was awake the whole time except for about 20 minutes (when Haley woke up and was hungry). And that lack of sleep stayed with Evan the whole week.... even after he took a 4.5 hr nap one day. And when we finally got to our unit, Evan literally was running around in circles for about 15 minutes!!! Guess he felt cooped up in the car.

Jellyfish: So on our first full day in MD, we went to the beach... all of us (imagine 5 umbrellas, about 9 or 10 chairs and 24 of us) were enjoying the relief the water gave from the 90 degree + heat and humidity... and the waves were crashing at our ankles and knees (depending on how tall you were) and others were body surfing and boogie boarding... then IT happened. Like a scene from 'Jaws', someone spotted IT... a jellyfish... and then another and another and soon folks were getting out of the water and away from the site. Unfortunately, we all weren't that lucky!!! Little 3 yr old Chris was playing in the water with his bucket when a wave crashed at his knee... and then it was instantly that the screams began, it was instantly the cries and tears came and it was instantly that we realized that wave was carrying a jellyfish and it stung his knee. That was the last time Chris went into the water and the last time his family was able to enjoy the ocean.

All in all it was a great trip... beaching it up, using the pool, the boardwalk, outlet shopping, kite flying, dining out and spending time with friends and family. Have to go and de-vacation and then I'll be back with more stories!!!

4 months.

Looks like the summer is almost over :( Haley turned 4 months old on the 5th and had her 4 month check up. She's in the 25 percentile for height and weight and that's great considering she was 7 weeks early. She's 12.5 pounds and about 24 inches (2 Feet Tall). The doctor confirmed what we already knew. Developmentally, she is on target with a 4 month old. Meaning... she does what all 4 month olds do and she's not the "adjusted" age.

If you didn't know, when a baby is born early, you should subtract the 'earliness' to adjust the baby's age for development.... If Haley is 17 weeks old... but since she was 7 weeks earlier, you'd subtract that from her chronological age... 17-7=10 weeks.... but she has great. She follows me with her gaze and is extremely focused on her brother (and his panda) and baseball. She smiles whenever you smile at her and she smiles every morning when you go to get her! Haley can hold her head high. Her neck control is growing everyday and she doesn't 'flop' her neck too much.

And on Friday August 7Th, I caught Miss Haley sucking her thumb. I was busy doing the dishes and Haley was awakened by a noise. So she started to fuss and cry a little... but by the time I got to her, she was somewhat quiet.... all i heard when I got to her crib was her sucking her thumb. And I have to say having seen Haley sucking her thumb while wearing Evan's hand me downs gave me flashbacks.

Yikes...