New Orleans ~ Day 1

We had such a great day today. Lauren cried a bit when we left Seth - but we knew he was in great hands with his Grandma and Grandpa. Lauren felt a little better when she started drinking!

Once we arrived at the hotel we were greeted by our great friends Maria & Sitso and their little angel 3 1/2 month old Elena (pictured above). We then ran into one of Jerald's best friends from college, Chris. He is in the Navy and has been stationed in Italy for the past few years so it has been too long since we have seen him. We also ran into one of our best friends Dave - who we are always excited to see but we see him often since he lives down the block from us.

We spent the afternoon eating (we love beignets) and around the french quarter and then we were off to the rehearsal dinner were we again ate yummy food (a theme here) and then headed to Bourbon street for some late night fun.

The Bride (Sarah) and Groom (Judd) - enjoying their rehearsal dinner food.

Click here for more pictures from Day 1.

A Tale of Two Weekends

Last night we drove down from Boston to New York. Today Jerald & Lauren head South to New Orleans for the weekend and Seth will spend the weekend with his Grandma and Grandpa on Long Island. Lauren is not worried about how Seth will do - but how she will do!

Dancing in Class

Seth has been dancing for a while now. If you sing a song or he hears a song on the radio that he likes, Seth will start dancing (just like his Mom!)

Farewell ~ Movers & Groovers

Another class has come to an end. We had a great time in this class. At the beginning of class Seth would sit still and enjoy the songs and of course the parachute but there was a definite lack of moving and grooving! Now, at the end of the class, Seth is everywhere! It is hard to keep him still - but it is so much fun. Next stop - Sprouts!

The Hosts with the Most!

We hosted our weekly playgroup today. We had a lot of fun with our friends Clyde, Ronak, Mae, Dylan and Joshua.

Rainy Day

Seth and Lauren stayed inside most of today to avoid the horrible weather. We had to be creative to keep both of us occupied by we ended up having a fun day.

At 6:45, a couple of minutes before Jerald walked in the door, Seth leaned over and gave me a real hug. It was a real hug because he wasn't falling or trying to lick my shoulder - he just put his arms around me, hugged me, and then let go to keep playing with some toy. What an amazing feeling!

Early Birthday Present from Mom & Dad

We decided to give Seth his birthday present from us two weeks early for a couple of reasons. (1) It came in the mail over the weekend and Lauren has a hard time waiting to give presents; and (2) We are going to be away next weekend and then the weekend of Seth's birthday lots of family will be in town to overshadow our present.

Well, this activity table was a huge hit! Seth played with it for almost 45 minutes today - that is pretty incredible.

And then he played with the box for an additional 10 minutes.

Frisbee & Peakaboo

Today was one of Seth's Uncle Jono's last Ultimate Frisbee games in college, as he is graduating next month. So we decided to go cheer him on. It was a really exciting and close game. Jono led his team to victory by scoring the winning point. Seth enjoyed the game except for the loud cheering.
In the car on the way to Uncle Jono's Frisbee game Seth initiated his first Peekaboo game with Nana. He was holding cuddly and he would cover his face with it until Nana said "where is Seth" he would then show his face hysterical laughing.

The Big Blue Tunnel

In Wednesday's class, after months of the teacher putting this fun blue tunnel out to explore - Seth finally found it interesting and began exploring...

Seth crawled in one end and his friend Ronak crawled in the other end and they met in the middle.

Standing in Class

Yesterday we when we arrived at class, I (Lauren) put Seth down on the floor as I took off our coats and got us ready for the fun. When I turned back Seth had crawled across the room and pulled himself up on this gate. He was so proud of himself - as was I!

New uses

Seth now prefers to either be under the exersaucer or to be standing next to it rather than being in it.

Purple Ball

This is Seth's favorite type of ball - whenever he sees it he gets very excited and will always chase after it.

The Many Emotions of a Meal

Serious . . . "are we going to eat or what?"

Excitement ... "I LOVE FOOD!"

Surprise . . . "what was that I just ate? did you sneak something in when I wasn't looking?"

Demanding ... "I want more cheese!"

Satisfaction . . . "that was great Mom!"

I'm gonna get you!

For two months Seth has been doing the "army man" crawl. It is effective in getting Seth where he wants to go but it is hard to sit up from this position or even stand up. Today Seth started doing a "traditional" crawl - on all fours, belly off the floor. Now there is no stopping him! He loves pulling himself up to standing. He stands up then looks back at us and starts laughing.

Another way Seth begins laughing (there are many!) is when he is crawling and we chase him - he always laughs.

Hey Dad - listen to this!

Lip smacking

Today Seth picked up a fun new skill from his good friend Xander. After watching Xander stick his tongue out of his mouth and lick his lips Seth came home and did the same thing for the first time. Thanks Xander for the fun new move!

Catching up...

Since we were gone for so long and so much happened - we have been working on updating the blog all at once. So make sure you scroll all the way down to catch up on everything.

Some Male Bonding

Here is Seth with Dad and Great-Granddaddy, just hanging out. Great-Grandaddy likes to call out Seth's name from across the room and watch him turn and smile.

Uncle Jono isn't so into infants, but Seth's getting big enough that they can create some real mischief together now.

This wasn't Great Uncle Dave's favorite picture, but this is what you get when you start spinning around with Seth - a happy baby and a dizzy uncle.

Second Seder

Today we drove from New York back to Boston to celebrate the second night of Passover with Jerald's side of the family. And all of the traveling was well worth it! Seth had a little mini-seder on his own and then everyone else debated and sang late into the night - 12:45 am (although Lauren only made it until 11:45pm).

Seth's Nana did an amazing job (as always) cooking and getting everything ready for a wonderful seder...

And here is Seth, with his new favorite food... matzah. We're so glad that Seth was able to spend his first Passover with so much family.

First Seder

Tonight was the first night of Passover which meant we had the first seder. We all got dressed up and gathered around the dining room table.

Seth's Great-Grandpa was the leader of the seder and did a great job of making the seder meaningful and interesting.

Seth's Grandma did an amazing job making the seder yummy. She had spent so much time and energy making sure everyone had a great time and ate until their hearts content. Lauren was certain that Seth would hate matzoh - but she was wrong - he LOVES it!

We had such a fantastic long weekend and first night of Passover with Lauren's side of the family. Thank you to everyone for going out of your way to make everything so "Seth friendly" - he had the best time.