First Week of Day Care

Hi Everyone,

It's been busy with shifting schedules etc., since my last post. We are all trying to get back into the swing of me working-- especially me.

We did manage to get in a trip to the beach the weekend before I returned to work. These picts seem to be faves of the viewing crowd-- so I'll start with those while I let the suspense mount in your mind regarding Josie's first week in day care.

"I really managed to get myself into fix this time!"

Wim, Xavier and Josie tried to fight the incoming tide by building a sand moat. Josie was very good playing the lead in quality control.

"You need to put some more sand on the walls over here Daddy."

"Use this sand Daddy-- it is better than your sand."

"Oh No! Tidal Wave! Did Josie Dong Dong get washed away?"

Daddy! I almost drownded! I told you to use my sand and to make the walls bigger!"

On to what everyone is really wondering--Day Care.

Josie did very well her first week of day care. Monday and Tuesday were a bit scary for her. Wim and I have arranged our schedules so that I go to work super early (in by 6:00 am) and he goes in a little later. Right now I am only working until noon, so Josie only has 1/2 day.


Here she is dressed in her purple heart romper for her very first day.

"Where's Mommy?"

"Xavier, can I come with you today?"

"Are you SURE Mommy knows about this?"

Her teacher reported that she had a few bouts of crying, but they were able to calm her. She still cries when Daddy drops her off, but starting Wednesday once she quit crying after he left, there were no more tears and each day she did a bit more with her new group of friends. Thursday she came home sporting a new hair-do and really jumped in to telling Phoebe who's the boss.

"NO! I didn't grow Shrek Ears! These are my pig tails!"

"I think they are fabulous!"

"Knock it OFF Phoebe! I'm playing with this thing!"

By Friday she was really joining in with the group and having loads of fun. She brought home a pasta necklace on Friday (pasta bling) and showed it off all weekend-- not that there was much left to it by Sunday. Phoebe enjoyed the occasional bite of pasta from it, so we know were some of it ended up.

When I picked up Josie on Monday, the first day of her second week, I was able to watch her a little bit before going in her room. She was sitting at a table with her teacher looking at a book-- all smiles. Her smile got even bigger when I walked in.

When I picked her up today she was worn out from playing with all her friends. Her teacher said that Josie had a great time today singing and dancing with her friends and they played the chase game-- which is one of Josie's absolute favorites here at home. She was happy to see me and ready to go home, but she blew kisses to her teachers as we were leaving.

Wim and I are both very relieved that her transition to day care is going so smoothly and that she really seems to enjoy being there.


Wim actually had most of last week off, but since we weren't able to take a real vacation with Gabrielle and Xavier this year, we decided to go ahead and start Josie at her day care so he could focus on doing fun stuff with them. They spent a good amount of time hanging 10 at the nearby beaches.

I'm not sure who is winning the race in this shot.

They are both getting pretty big. I think this is the first year that they have really enjoyed boogie boarding and swimming in the Ocean.

We had a pretty busy weekend with the Sherman Family reunion on Saturday and fun trip to a water spray park on Sunday. I'll post about the Family reunion in the next post-- too many pictures and too little time.

Here are a few picts from the water park. Josie's friend Angeline and her Mommy also came to the park with us.

"Oh boy! This is GREAT! "
"Water EVERYWHERE!"

"OMG! Look at Josie. She's Soaked!"

"I want to stay here forever!"

Jose had a blast at the water park. She was all smiles and giggles running around in the water and through the sprinklers. She wanted me to carry her through the heavier sprinklers-- over and over and OVER.

She's a water-bug through and through!

Josie Dong Dong and Mommy:Last Week of Fun

Hi Everyone,

Last week was my last week before returning to work part time and it was packed full of fun times for Mommy and Josie Dong Dong.

We had our weekly swim class and actually, these pictures are from the week before when UhEL was able to go with us and take some shots. As you can see, Josie really does love the water.

"Get ready Mommy! Here I come!"

"I like playing the swimming Choo-choo train!"

"Look at all those balls!"

"I'm going to catch one!"

Our week was packed with more fun than usual and the extra activity threw Josie off of her usual nap routine. She sometimes gets too wired to take a proper nap in the afternoon and we never know which personality we will end up with.

On this particular day, we ended up with several Josie Dong Dong personalities all in a very short period of time before she finally did crash. The first picture below shows Josie in what we call her "angry eagle bird" face.

"Are YOU talking to ME?"

"I love you! I do! I really LOVE ALL of YOU!"


"Why are these cushions on the couch!
I DON'T WANT THEM ON THE COUCH!"
"Yea, that's right. These cushions belong down here."
"Do you wanna make something of it?"


"Oh, this is soooo much fun! I just LOVE EVERYTHING!"

Later in the week we met some of my friends from Graduate school at a beach in Newport RI. It was great to see everyone and the kids (and adults) all had an awesome time.

Here is the whole crew including Jonathan, Andrada's husband, who spent some time surfing at the other end of the beach.

"Mommy look! I have a special beach purse!"
"Isn't it FAB?!"

"I think Ela has her eye on my beach purse. I better go this way."

"What ARE our Mommy's doing over there?"

"Why do they keep laughing at us?"

Josie Dong Dong and Ela strolling the beach-- Josie still has her beach purse in hand.

Next Josie decided she would try to venture out a little further into the surf by following mommy's friends, Kathryn and Giselle.

"Enough of the beach purse. It is time to work on my body surfing skills."

Around noon everyone had enough of the sun and we all headed to the beach pavilion for some rides on the carousel and some yummy lunch.

Josie Dong Dong had her first ride on the carousel and was very interested in the mechanism that made her and her horse go up and down.

After lunch, Andrada's daughter Ela, and Kathryn's son, Max asked to go on a water slide that was set-up near the pavilion. This turned into a bit of an event because Ela, who is nearly 3, wanted to go, but was scared to go alone and wanted her dad to go with her. Jonathan went with her a couple times, but then he got scared because the wall would cave in a little bit as he ascended to the top of the wave. The slide is mostly for kids-- NOT Daddies!

Max looked a true Ultra Man sliding down the big slide and . . .

Ela was flying through the air on her turn down.

Wim had a special party to go to for the wife of friend on Friday, so Josie Dong Dong and I enjoyed a special "Mommy and Josie Dong Dong" night. Since this was my last Friday-night before returning to work, I made it count.

"ACK! It's another one of those Monster bugs and it is ON MY HIGHCHAIR!"

The final product for Mommy's 'Last Supper' was quite the delectable sight.

Josie Dong Dong is working on using her fork and spoon-- ALL BY HERSELF! Depending on what we are eating, she gets to try it out.

"MMmmmmm, This is yummy!"

"Mommy why are we having such a fancy dinner?"

"You are going back to work?"

"Mommy work?"

"What the heck is that?"
"I don't like the sound of it!"

4th of July Fun with Uncle Earl

Hi Everyone,

As I mentioned in my last post, the week of the 4th was pack full of fun! We kicked it off with Josie's Baptism and Red & Ginger Party. Uncle Earl came to visit for the week and we are always sure to have lots of goofy fun when he comes to visit.

So, grab a snack and something to sip on-- this is going to be a long one.

Monday, July 7th, after all the pomp and circumstance of Josie's Baptism festivities, we went to the Park, Impossible Dreams with Uncle Earl. Josie has deemed Uncle Earl to be, "UnEl."

It took Mommy crawling through the big tunnel and Uncle Earl making funny faces, but we managed to convince Josie that it would be fun to crawl through and play in the tunnel.

"Hellooooo Josie!"

"Mommy! UnEl is being silly down there!"

Next UnEl taught Josi how to walk up and down the stairs to one of the play areas.

"You have to hold my hand UnEl"

"Mommy makes the best snacks!"

On Tuesday Josie refused to take a nap AND she is getting THREE new teeth! This is what a cranky baby looks like at 3:00 in the afternoon with NO nap and new teeth.

"I'm NOT TIRED!"

"I'm NOT CRANKY!"

Later in the week Uncle Earl worked on a few little projects around the house.

"It's Home Improvement Time!"

"What IS UnEl up to now?"

Josie kept a watchful eye on UnEl the whole time to make sure he didn't get into any trouble.

"What IS that?"

After a few days, Josie Dong Dong decided it was OK to let UnEl pick her up for a quick hug.

"UnEl is a Hambone just like me!"

On Thursday we took UnEl to the beach and had a great time playing in the sand and in the Ocean.

Josie Dong Dong LOVES the Ocean and playing in the surf. She shows little if any fear to the waves.

"C'mon Mommy let's walk out here in the water."

"This is fun!!!"

"Let go of me Mommy! I can walk in these waves without holding hands!"

Where did everybody go? I want somebody to hold my hand!"

"Mmmmm! This water tastes salty!"

"Daddy! You're crazy!""How far out are you going to carry me?"

"Hey look at me! I can stand on my head!"

On the 4th we went to Wim's Uncle Martin and Aunt Ceil's house for the annual clam bake! Josie had a great time playing with her cousins and eating some yummy clams.

The "men" light a big bon fire to heat up rocks. When the rocks are hot they are put into a big metal drum along with seaweed, clams, potatoes, linguisha (sp), hot dogs and few other tasty morsels.

Everybody hangs out and visits while the main food is cooking. there is always some other fun snacks to enjoy while we wait. Josie Dong Dong was very excited with all the activity. This was her first clam bake!

"I have the best big cousin! She brings me chips in a cup!"

This was UnEl's first clam bake as well and he also had a great time. He and Gabrielle enjoyed some chips and some pop while sitting in the shade.

"Oh boy! More Chips!"

"I love Abbie!"

"Hi Baby Emily, Can you have some of these Chips? I will share them with you."

Soon enough Uncle Jack wheeled the big cart of clams over to the table and we were ready to feast!

"Daddy had to give me a shower while we were at the party. I don't really want to talk about it."

"UnEl, why are your legs so red?"

"Oh boy! More Clams!"

Xavier spent most of the day keeping an eye on the fire. He always loves to hang out and watch it burn.

Aunt Cheri has to explain to cousin Ethan why he can't help Xavier with the fire. UnEl is in the background thinking, "don't worry about me. I'm not going near it."

"But Mommy, I have a water hose!"

Wim finally decided to pin down Xavier so he would spend some time with the rest of the family.

All of the cousins enjoying a swim during the heat of the day.
Josie Dong Dong had a great first 4th of July and Clam Bake. On the way home she wanted to make a few calls and talk about it.

"Hello World. Clam Bakes ROCK!"

Back at home, UnEl and I pulled out another surprise. A remote controlled helicopter. Gabrielle and Xavier were excited to get it up and flying. They assisted UnEl assembling the helicopter and charging the battery.

"I believe the propellers attach to the top of the helicopter body."

"Now we turn it on . . ."

"OOps, maybe we turn it on this way . . ."

"Run for cover! We have lift off!""Wow! It really flies high!"

We had a great time with UnEl and we were all sad when he had to go home. Just look at that face! He is one of the best Hambones to have around and we'll miss him. . . till his visit next year!