Tatum's Birthday Party

Today we celebrated Tatum's 1st birthday with our friends. There was a great turnout and Tatum was excited to see all of her friends. Overall, it was a laid back affair with the two big events being singing "Happy Birthday" and opening presents. Tatum was a little freaked out by everyone singing to her, but she didn't cry fortunately. She also had no idea about what to do with the candle on her cake, but we helped her out. Tatum's friends were very excited for her to open their gifts and they also were very helpful with assisting Tatum in unwrapping them. We are very appreciative of everyone who was a part of Tatum's special weekend, both those here and far away.

Tatum's First Birthday!

Tatum celebrated her 1st birthday today and what a year it has been! Our lives have been transformed in ways that were previously unimaginable. This includes giving up our favorite past time of sleeping in...unless you consider 7:00 a.m. sleeping late. We can easily say that the trade has been well worth it. While Lindsey drove down to Portland in order to pick up Grandpa, Tatum and I went to Rocky Ridge Orchard in Bowdoin in order to pick up some miniature pumpkins for her birthday party on Saturday. Tatum didn't care much for the pumpkins, but she did love her wagon ride! Once Grandpa got up here, the birthday celebrations began. Tatum was not short on presents and she loved tearing the wrapping paper. In addition to this, she seems to be a natural at the xylophone. The evening wrapped up with the traditional first birthday cake. It turns out that Tatum is kind of a "neat freak" and didn't know what to do with free reign on a birthday cake, but she quickly figured it out. Finally, the evening was topped off with Tatum making a cameo in her silk pajamas that I purchased in Japan during deployment before meeting her. Stay tuned for more birthday weekend updates, as her 1st birthday party with all of her friends is on Saturday.

Tatum's Fall Fun

Now that Tatum has started walking, she has been exploring the surrounding world on a much more grand scale. What better place to start than in the front yard? The foliage has reached its peak color intensity in most areas of Maine and the leaves are just starting to fall. It did not take Tatum long to realize that leaves are not good snacks!

Here she comes...Miss Tatum is walking!

While we have been telling everyone that Tatum is now walking, very few of you have seen proof so here it is...Tatum is walking!

Good Times with Great Friends!

This weekend we were visited by our good friends Tim and Carlye who flew in to see us from the Twin Cities. They last saw Tatum when she was 2 1/2 months old at New Years; needless to say, they were amazed at how much she has grown and how vibrant her personality is.

Being that we had friends in town we (Lindsey and I) decided to do an adults night out in Portland, Maine with our friends Tim and Carlye as well as some local friends, Mike and Dana (a rarity for us these days). We started the night out at a neat Belgian Beer Garden that had an eclectic selection of draft beer. Following this, we headed to The Blue Spoon in Portland's East End neighborhood for a delicious dinner. Both places were well worth the trip from Brunswick!

Getting ready to head out!

On Saturday we drove an hour north to the harbor town of Camden and visited Camden Hills State Park. Here we hiked up Mount Megunticook, one of the highest points on the Atlantic seaboard. From a perch near the summit, we were treated to an amazing view of the park, Camden, and the harbor down below. The view was also quite spectacular because the leaves are starting to change colors which made for a very colorful view of the area. The leaves will be at their peak in a few weeks. After a downhill hike and a yummy lunch the remainder of the day/weekend was spent relaxing...well, almost everyone relaxed except for Tatum...who started walking this weekend! While we still have a ways to go, she is walking approximately 10 steps at a time which is very exciting!

There's a "Full Moon" in Brunswick, Maine!

One of Tatum's favorite times of day is bath time. It is easy to see why with her selection of bath robes to wear! While she is small, we finally have proof that Tatum is growing as illustrated by her old bath robe. After this small wardrobe malfunction, we were able to find a more appropriate outfit and we resumed business as usual. The after-bath routine typically involves some exciting reading (Farm Animal Sounds or Goodnight Gorrilla) followed by some relaxing music to get her ready to sleep through the night.

Walking: Take #2

While we still have a little time before Tatum is officially "walking" (as in, on her own) we were very excited to see that she has more and more interest in walking around the house with her push toy. Prior to Thursday night, she has shown little interest in walking with her toy since we made the last video. I was beginning to worry that she would take after me (Lindsey) and wait until she was 16 months to walk. I am not certain that I can stand too many more months of sweeping the floor 5x/day so as to keep her from looking like a shaggy dog due to all of Eli's black hair! Enjoy...

Tatum Goes To Beantown!

With the extended weekend here, we decided to join our friends for a weekend in Boston, which is only 2 hours south of us. This trip included many firsts for Tatum! It all started off with her "semi-first" train ride on Amtrak's Downeaster line. After arriving and getting settled in, everyone was hungry for lunch so we headed to the North End (a.k.a. "Little Italy"). We found a small restaurant where Tatum enjoyed the authentic rigatoni! Just outside of the restaurant on a neighboring street there was a festival of food and Italian music going on, so we stopped by that as well for some oh-so-good Italian dessert. After lunch it was nap-time for our friends' children so we decided to walk the Freedom trail with Tatum (thinking that she too would nap - but that did not happen!). We stopped by Quincy Market, the Granary Burial Ground (which has Sam Adams' tombstone), and ended at the Boston Common. By this point, Tatum was exhausted and passed out for about 15 minutes in her stroller while Lindsey and I walked around the commons. We enjoyed some of the famous sites including Frog Pond and the swan boats on the lake in the Boston Public Garden. After this we decided to take a walk down the trendy street of Newbury, which is home to many boutiques and outdoor cafes. As we circled back to start heading to the hotel we walked down Boylston Avenue where we saw the finish line to the Boston Marathon. This has special meaning to me as I ran the Boston Marathon in April 2003, roughly 2 months before we were married. After a 45 minute power-walk we made it back to our hotel in the Charlestown neighborhood where we met up with our friends for dinner at the Warren Tavern, Massachussetts oldest tavern. Former patrons include both Paul Revere and George Washington!


Day two was also a busy one as well. Before heading out into town, we stopped by a playground in order to enjoy the beautiful morning. We then took a water taxi from the boardwalk outside of the USS Constitution to Long Wharf, home to the Boston Aquarium. From there it was a short walk to the Boston Children's Museum. This is a great place and it is free to active duty military members and their family. Most of the exhibits are geared towards older children, but there is a toddler area reserved for crawlers only that Tatum enjoyed. One of the highlights included a waterbed-like depression that Tatum did not seem to enjoy too much! After the museum we headed back to Quincy Market where we shopped for some souvenirs for Tatum. Although it took a little while, we finally found what we were looking for....a Pink infants Boston Red Sox cap! Tatum has been wanting one since she is a part of "Red Sox nation." After all the walking, shopping, and playing, we were exhausted and it was time to get on the train back to Portland. Before this we did make time for one final stop in the North End in order to get some authentic Italian pastries. After a yummy chocolate dipped cannolli and [true] butter cream frosted cupcake the trip was complete and it was time to head back.

Learning to Walk, Part I

We were very excited to see that Tatum is trying to take her first steps with her walker toy. Obviously she still has a long way to go and that is good because we still have a lot of "babyproofing" left to do!

Back by popular demand!

Tatum has progressed from spitting food at Dad to throwing food when she is finished. Coincidentally, the dogs seem to be gaining weight recently....

Summer in Maine

After nearly 3 weeks of continuous rain, we finally had a nice weekend. With summer coming to an end soon we decided to take full advantage of it. We drove 30 minutes to the beach at Reid State Park. This park has one of Maine's rare sandy beaches and is located on Sheepscot Bay. After 2 hours of fun in the sun, nap time was fast approaching. We then drove over to Five Islands Lobster Company, which is the quintessential Maine lobster experience. Lindsey and I feasted on crab cake sandwiches, but were brief because the temperature on the water was chilly and Tatum was running out of steam.

The remainder of the day was spent relaxing at home and concluded with a bedtime book on the front porch before bed.

Tatum Goes to New York

This past weekend Tatum took her first trip to New York for Jen Kraics' wedding in Lindsey's hometown of Setauket. Grandma Liz flew in from St. Louis to help out during the weekend festivities as we were pretty tied up with the rehearsal dinner, ceremony, and then reception. This was a fun getaway for my mom too because she has many good friends who still live in New York and she was able to introduce/show-off Tatum (as she said) to all of them. Although the drive was long Tatum did wonderfully as she spent many hours in her car seat. We all had a great time and the weather was wonderful which made for a spectacular wedding weekend. On Sunday after the wedding we drove out to the east end of Long Island where we caught the ferry home to Maine. Mike has never seen the eastern end so it was nice to show him another side of Long Island. We did make a pit stop at Briermere Farms on our way and we grabbed a yummy apple pie which we brought home and devoured in two days!


Upon our return to Maine we were lucky enough to have an additional day at home with my mom. Seeing as how Mike had the day off on Monday we ventured north to Boothbay Harbor to show her a taste of the Maine summer. Boothbay Harbor is approximately 45 minutes north of us and it is a great little town on the water. We walked around town and window shopped at all of the little boutiques in town which was a lot of fun. The night was brought to an end with a yummy b-b-q dinner cooked by Mike.

Although it has been great to get out and about this summer, we are looking forward to some down time as the summer has flown by and before we know it, there will be snow on the ground.

Bath time with Tatum

Well, if there is one place that you can always find Tatum smiling, it is in the tub - she loves bath time! It is crazy that she is now big enough to sit independently in the tub however, the problem is that now she likes to stand up in the tub too! We have a few skills to work on but I have included a few pictures of the little one enjoying her bath...

Pre-hairwashing

Tatum's version of reading a book...she holds it, the words do not matter

Playtime!

Trying to get my hair spiked like Dad's (a.k.a. the flammable Doc due to his hair gel)

All done!

Time to "Baby Proof"...

Well if anyone was wondering, we officially have a baby that likes to get into everything! If only there was a manual on how to raise a baby who does not like cords, buttons, plugs and gadgets galore.

While I unpacked the groceries, Tatum emptied our drawers!

Road Trip to Newport, RI

This weekend we drove 200 miles south to Newport, Rhode Island so that Lindsey could attend a friend's bachelorette party. This was also Lindsey's first night away from Tatum ever. I am not sure who was more upset, Lindsey or Tatum. Initially the night started out well as Tatum and I relaxed in our hotel room and had dinner together. However, as bed time (7:00 p.m.) rolled around, Tatum seemed to sense that Lindsey was not coming back and that her normal routine was not going to happen. Needless to say, Tatum and I spent a lot of "quality time" together Saturday night. There is a picture of this below.

Sunday morning, mother and daughter were reunited. After a quick breakfast we explored the famous mansions of Newport along the southern tip of the island. These mansions were magnificent and we wish that we had more time to spend time exploring.

Exploring the Pemaquid Peninsula

This weekend we decided to explore one of the many peninsulas of mid-coast Maine. We drove north on Route 1 through the towns of Wiscasset and Damariscotta and then headed south to the end of the Pemaquid Peninsula. Our first stop was the Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, which was built in 1824. This is the lighthouse on the Maine state quarter. Next to the lighthouse, they have a museum which was full of interesting relics related to the sea-going lifestyle of Maine's past and present. One of the displays was a taxidermist preserved 25 pound lobster caught in the 1950's! This lobster was estimated to be nearly 90 nears old. In addition to the lighthouse at Pemaquid, it is a great spot to watch the waves and play on the rocks.

Our next stop was Fort William Henry and Colonial Pemaquid State Historic Site. This settlement was built in the early 1600's and they had a graveyard that dated back to 1695. Fort William Henry was built in 1698 to defend this area against the pirates and the French. The view from the top was amazing and Tatum seemed to enjoy it as well. However, she was most interested in showing everyone her new milestone of standing. While it certainly is an exciting milestone, it is also a nerve-racking as they are many associated falls.

Last, but not least was our stop on the way home to take a picture of an interesting store sign we saw on our drive down to the lighthouse-Happy Endings! After taking a picture of the sign, we also made our friend Tim a reservation for his September visit.

Daytrip to Portsmouth, New Hampshire

On Saturday, we decided to take a short daytrip south to Portsmouth, NH. This is a small harbor town that is the 3rd oldest city in the United States. For a town of only 26,000 there is a lot to see and do! We walked around the town and shopped at the various boutiques. In addition to this, we visited two breweries. Our first stop was the Portsmouth Brewery. They have a sister company called Smuttynose that is popular in Maine. Our second stop on the brewery tour was the significantly larger Red Hook brewery. Unfortunately, we missed our chance for a tour of the facilities, but we were able to bring a growler home. All of the shopping and eating took its toll on Tatum and she found a way to sleep semi-comfortably in her Sherpani backpack!

4th of July with Slugger the Sea Dog!

Overall, our 4th of July was pretty laid back this year. We had a cookout with some neighbors in the early afternoon and drove down to Portland for a baseball game afterwards. This was Tatum's first baseball game and she seemed to enjoy it. Portland is home to the Boston Red Sox's Double A farm team. Minor league baseball is a lot more laid back than its major league counterpart (and cheaper!). The Sea Dogs beat the Reading Phillies 2-1!

Someone's got the Giggles!

In order to keep Tatum on schedule after our day trip to Portsmouth, New Hampshire we decided to feed her some oatmeal on the drive home. Tatum decided she had enough and began to spit the rest of her food at us. In addition to this, she has decided that our attempts at discipline using the word "no" is funny.

Tatum Reading

Tatum's new favorite activity is destroying anything and everything in site. Not much else needs to be said.

Summer Vacation 2008

This year for our summer vacation we went to Nags Head in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. This was the first time there for us and all of our family members. The vacation started out with Lindsey and I finally meeting our 7-week-old nephew, Roman. In addition to this, on the first night our friends Natalie and Stephen Pearson drove up from their home for a visit. The following afternoon, the remainder of family arrived after a long drive from St. Louis. While most of vacation was spent relaxing on the beach, we did do two separate day trips as well. We drove down to Cape Hatteras in order to see the Cape Hatteras Light House. This is the tallest brick light house in the world at over 200 feet tall! We decided to climb the steps to the top in order to see the view and it was well worth the effort. After this we stopped by a secluded beach on the drive home. Our second day trip was to Ocracoke island where we had to take a 40 minute ferry ride from Hatteras Village. This island is considered to have some of the finest beaches in the country. Unfortunately for us, our beach visit that day was cut short by windy weather and strong currents. The beach was closed to swimming 20 minutes after our arrival and both babies were covered in blowing sand. During vacation we also celebrated 2 birthdays as Lindsey's brother, Greg turned 22 and my sister, Megan, turned 21. It was early nights for the two of us as Tatum wakes up early regardless of what our plans were the night before.