Baltimore Aquarium

Our friends, the Voits, were in Baltimore visiting the aquarium and invited us to join them. Their two kids, Emmie and Landon, are very close in age to Caitlynn and Luke. This was the first time Caitlynn and Luke were visiting any aquarium. Caitlynn really wanted to see the sharks! The kids loved checking out all the different fish tanks and especially loved the dolphins! They also liked the jelly fish exhibit. We were not able to see the Australian exhibit, as the kids were getting cranky and tired, but saw almost everything else. We had a great time with our friends and look forward to returning to the aquarium some day soon!

11 months old

Luke is 11 months old and we can't believe he will be one next month! This year has really flown by. He is about 23 lbs and is 29.5 inches long. He has continued with the same eating, drinking, and sleeping patterns from last month. We are hopeful that he will "drop" his 5:30am bottle soon!

Luke now has 3 teeth (two on the bottom and one on the top!) so he is enjoying eating more "people": food. Luke has eaten many new food items this month and most of them were dairy based. We are hoping that he has outgrown his Luke milk allergy. He has tried: banana's, watermelon, cheddar cheese, American cheese, sharp cheese, 2% milk, pork, string cheese, and OJ. Of course, he liked everything that he ate! His favorite were the different types of cheeses. The dairy based foods didn't seem to bother him much at all so we are going to continue with allowing him to drink "regular" milk.

Luke's made lots of new discoveries this month. He was able to to close doors and crawl over (or through!) things, such as blocks on the floor. His accomplishment's this month were being able "walk" along furniture, such as sofa's and tables. He is also pushing things across the floor, such as his walking toys and Caitlynn's stroller. He has truly stood or walked on his own but we know these milestones are just around the corner!

Special memories from this month include celebrating Christmas Eve with the Harbold crew. We celebrated Christmas at home with Nonna and Pop-pop. Right after Christmas, we got to exchange gifts with Madison, Simone, and Hannah at Mimi and Popi's in PA. Luke also took his first trip to NC to visit Uncle Andrew and Aunt Kitty on New Year's weekend. We are excited that next month will be Luke's 1st birthday!

Caitlynn Turns 3!

Caitlynn is officially 3 today! Ry took her to the doctor and she weighs 32 lbs 9 ozs and is 37 ins tall. She just seems so grown up now! The doctor is very happy with her growth and development and says she is right on track or above where she should be. This is always happy new for us. Caitlynn is able to tell us (and anyone else) exactly what she wants or doesn't want. Almost all of the family members are able to understand exactly what she is saying. She is also big into repeating everything that she hears so we have to be VERY careful what we say around her now!

We asked Caitlynn where she wanted to eat for her birthday. She decided to go to Costco for a hot dog and a smoothie. She loves drinking the smoothies at Costco and always asks to have one when we are shopping there! She certainly enjoyed enjoyed her hot dog with mustard and smoothie. She also picked out a cupcake with vanilla frosting and yellow sprinkles (still her favorite color!). We came home and sang to her, you can see the video below.

We bought Caitlynn a Vera Bradley purse for her birthday. It's just her size and the pattern is very close to the luggage she already has. The best part was the purse was named "Caitlin". How fun is that?! She really loved her new purse and carried it around with her all night! We certainly enjoyed spending time together as a family.

A Princess Party!

We were in NJ for the yearly Campisi Chinese Auction and decided to have Caitlynn's 3rd birthday at Nonna and Pop-pop's house too. Caitlynn decided she wanted a "Princess Party" and Ry caved and let her have one. We got Princess themed table cloths, napkins, plates, and silver wear. Nonna even made Caitlynn a Princess cake! We decided to only invite immediate family and the house was full! The guest list included: Nonna and Pop-pop, Uncle Richie and Trish, Emily, Caitlin, Owen, Mimi and Popi, Uncle Mike and Aunt Jill, Madison, Simone, Hannah, and Grandmom Campisi. Caitlynn received a lot of Princess themed items for her birthday. She loved her new princess pj's and got 3 pair! She all was given new summer clothes, books, tableware set, money, games, a purse, and paint. It was a fun day and we certainly enjoyed being able to celebrate with so many family members!

Weekend in NC

we went down to NC to spend New Years with Uncle Andrew and Aunt Kitty. They haven't seen the kids since early October so they were very excited to see how much they've grown! We spent some time feeding birds, building forts, reading books, coloring, and of course painting in Aunt Kitty's studio. She has continued to paint and has even sold some of her great work! (Check out her blog that we follow to see what she's working on right now: hilarypaints) Luke even got in on the painting but had to stop because he tried to eat the paint off of his hands. Caitlynn loved petting their cat, Ella. Ella even spent some time snoozing on Caitlynn's sleeping bag at night and during "quiet time", which Caitlynn loved! We had a great time hanging out with them and can't wait to see them again soon!

Happy New Year