Last days at Lapidge

After living on Lapidge St for 5 and a half years, and nearly 1 and a half years with Rosa, we finally found our next home. Our new place would give us so much more space (and a separate bedroom for Rosa!), but it was still a little bittersweet leaving the place where one day a lifetime ago we brought home our new baby girl!

Here a couple shots of our little family and our mountain of boxes:


The night before the move.
Shortly before the move, Rosa sent herself flying into the safety gate and scraped up her chin.
We also said bye bye to twins who lived downstairs from us, born about 6 weeks before Rosa (although they had the same due date!)

Mommy's little climber!

Ohio!

From Rhode Island, Rosa, Jeff, and I went to Ohio to visit Grandma Lois, Grandpa Misha, and Tanti Kira. The first full day we were there, we went outside to the backyard and right away, Rosa found the swing that Grandma and Grandpa had set up for her. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of her in it, but this is the red wooden swing that we used to swing in on the front porch at my grandma and grandpa's house in Willard. I used to LOVE swinging in this swing as a kid. My mom told me that my grandpa had actually built this swing for her and my Uncle Bob.

Through the course of the whole trip (NYC-Rhode Island-Ohio), Rosa really turned a corner with her eating. Before we left, Rosa was really starting to resist baby food (and who could blame her?), but was still struggling with being able to eat table food. Once we got started on the trip she refused baby food entirely. But being in a new setting (first watching 20-mo old Angelo eat, then being in family settings where all the focus was not on just her at meal times) helped her take the plunge into table food! Here's a few meal time pix from the Ohio part of the trip:

Tanti Kira says "Open wide!"

Gotta get wiped down after a good meal

The closest playground was at Smith School, where I went for elementary school, so one day we took a walk there. We arrived just before noon, and didn't even think about the fact that all the kids would be out for recess! The playground monitor looked dubious but said that we could stay and play if I stayed right with Rosa. (She said the kids might knock her down.) But on the contrary, there was a group of about 5 first grade girls who took very good care of Rosa the whole time we were there. They all wanted to pick her up, and Rosa, who loves big kids, was in heaven!


One afternoon, we also got a visit from some of Rosa's friends from church. "Great-Grandma" Betty (third from right) gave Rosa the little Halloween pumpkin that you'll see in the Halloween pictures. Thanks Betty!

Rosa loved to crawl into the cat bed, and I discovered that it makes for a very fun flying saucer!

Given how much Rosa loves seeing animals and making their noises, when Grandma and Grandpa gave her a book called "The Noisy Zoo" that makes animal noises, she got really excited about it! Here's Grandpa and Rosa doing their best monkey impressions:

After a really wonderful trip, it was time to go home. We tried to tire Rosa out in the airport before we got on the plane. She moves so fast the camera couldn't catch her!

Although she didn't nap as early as I was hoping she would, she did eventually fall asleep, which allowed me to do the same.

No no no no no no no...

Jumping out of order for a moment, today is the day that the "no no no's" began. I've heard that this stage happens, but I hope it doesn't last too long! Rosa had been shaking or nodding her head for no or yes for a while, but today, she added "no no no no no" to the shaking, and seemed to really enjoy the effect. I told her some pretty strong "No's" to tell her to stay away from the kitty food, and this time she just said "no no no no no" and kept right on picking it up and almost getting it to her mouth.

This month also seems to be "Mama" month. Although she said Mama before Dada (way back in January!), she has been saying Dada a LOT more until just recently. And now she is seeming to enjoy saying Mama. ...and sometimes even pointing at me while she says it, over and over. I saw my friend Alison's son Angelo (who's a few months older than Rosa) in this repeating phase, and I think Rosa is just starting into it. It is pretty cute, although can definitely grow repetitive. And don't worry, Rosa is still saying Dada a lot too. It is such a relief when Jeff finally gets home from work. Until then, from late afternoon on, every noise Rosa hears that sounds like it might be a new presence in the house (outside noise or noise from the downstairs neighbors), Rosa stops what she's doing (eating, etc.), bolts upright and sings out "Dada!"

Rhode Island part 2

I forgot these adorable pictures of Rosa (from Rhode Island trip) practicing smiling for the camera! I'm pretty sure she was doing this intentionally... too cute!

Rosa really put a cuteness show for everyone in Rhode Island, including doing her trademark "oof oof oof" at pictures of doggies, and "What does the monkey say, Rosa?" "Oo oo oo!" She was impressing everyone with being able to point on pictures of babies, doggies, and kitties. This trip is also right about when she started doing a lot of mimicking. She kept putting the handles of any bag she could find around her neck, putting baby in the stroller, holding her cell phone, and pushing the stroller... she's a little Mama!

We were all sad to leave, but from here we headed to Ohio to see Grandpa Misha and Grandma Lois... (next posting coming soon!)

Rhode Island

In September, we took a big almost 3-week trip to New York City (to see Laura, Alison, and Angelo), Rhode Island (to see Frank, Anita, Aly, and Ish), and Ohio (to see my mom and dad and Kira). Unfortunately I don't have a single picture of our 2 days in NYC! We had a great time though... stayed with Alison and Angelo, who is 5 months older than Rosa. Laura also came from Brooklyn over to Manhattan every day to hang out with us. It was great to be able to see her pregnant... Little Sinton is due any day now!

From NYC, Rosa and I took the train to Kingston, RI, where Jeff, Frank, and Anita met us. Rosa had a ball on the train, running up and down the aisle over and over and over and... There was no hope of getting her to take a nap at her usual time, but a couple hours later, just as the train was pulling into the station, she sacked out in the Ergo. She was so solidly asleep that I put her in her car seat and we drove back to Frank's house without her waking up.

We had a fantastic week at the beach - it was the last week of summer weather I think. We even went swimming one day. We went out to eat three times (Rosa got two A's and one C-), went to a playground right on the beach, and took lots of nice walks down to the breachway. Here are some pix from the week:

Grandma and Grandpa bought Rosa a dolly stroller (Rosa's favorite!) for her stay with them. She put it to good use!

Rosa with the Polish flag... a requisite item for any Frank Luszcz abode.

Collander hat night with the Luszcz's... this was Rosa's idea!

Rosa and Grandpa on the deck

The 3 of us with the pond behind us

Uncle Ish - the fisherman!

Lunch time with Aly and Ish

Rosa, Jeff, and Ish

My girl knows how to relax at the beach!

Greg and Marilyn came down from the Cape to spend the day with us

Big girl swing

There was a HUGE blogging hiatus - I admit it. But now there's going to be a flurry of blog postings that take a short walk back through time from mid-August to the present, probably one-a-day for the next couple days, so stay tuned and don't miss one!

Back in August still - this was a momentous day because it was the first day we tried the big girl swing! Rosa loves to swing, it's her favorite playground activity. The baby (bucket) swings are so much easier, but it was pretty cool seeing her balance in the big girl swing! What a long way we've come since the first ride in the swing...

Jeff wanted to get a picture of us in some beautiful evening sunlight that was pouring into our apartment. The great light our place got was one of the things that made it so hard to find a new place that we liked as much as the old place (although it was just too small!).

Lenny and Lin's twins (Lyla and Lander) were almost 3 months old in this picture. Lyla is in Lenny's arms, Lander is still in the stroller. We all went out for lunch.

The virtuoso, about to take a bow, after a concert to a packed house!

Ice cream

You know the rhyme - I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! Well, Rosa was pretty calm about it, but she really seemed to enjoy it.

This video is from way back in August (coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco), before all sorts of adventures occurred that I will write about in upcoming (soon!) blog posts. The short story is that we went on a 3-week trip, then I have been consumed with moving, then unpacking and settling into the new place. For a while I couldn't even find the card reader for the camera. But now at least I can download pictures, so let the blogging re-begin!