Beach Baby!

Since Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on Mia's first full summer and her favorite summer activity - going to the beach!  We are lucky to have a baby-friendly beach within a mile of our home, and we certainly made great use of our beach pass this year - there were weeks when we went every day because Mia loved it so much (plus it was a great excuse for us to go to the beach, too!).  We also had a great time at State Beach on Martha's Vineyard at the beginning of the summer, and spent a lot of time at Green Harbor and Burke's Beach enjoying the sand and water.  Mia loves playing in the sand, and will literally stay in the water until she is ready to fall asleep to the sound of the waves (she actually did fall asleep while floating on a boogie board at Burke's Beach!)  Below are some photos of Mia's beach adventures - Happy Labor Day!

Happy 1st Birthday!!!

After a year full of fun that seemed to fly by, Mia's first birthday arrived on August 6 and, to mark the milestone, we had a weekend of parties!  On Saturday, we celebrated with pizza and cake at our condo.  Of course, Mia had no idea that it was her birthday, but she soon figured out that she loves cake and had a fun time opening her new toys!  On Sunday, we followed up with a fun party at Grampie's house, which included the legendary 6-foot sub from Bob's Italian Food Store in Medford - I am confident no one left that party hungry!  By Sunday, Mia was a champion cake-eater (though still a little uncertain about listening to us sing the "Happy Birthday" song), and she was so happy to see family and play with the wonderful toys she received. It was the perfect ending to a perfect year - we can't wait to see what the next year brings!

We love Green Harbor!

We just returned from Mia's second and longest visit to the cottage at Green Harbor, and it was a fantastic week for all of us!  We were lucky to have warm and sunny weather for the entire week, especially since Mia can't get enough of the beach!  She had a blast playing in the sand and "swimming" and "surfing" in the water.  She was also thrilled to discover the wooden bead maze at the cottage so she could show off her new skill of standing up while playing.  We were also lucky to have Jan, Grammy, Auntie Theresa, Auntie Tanya and Uncle Frank come to visit while we were there to join in on the fun!

Island Fun!

To kick off summer, we took a family trip to Martha's Vineyard last week, which was Mia's first summer vacation!  Mia had a great time visiting the gingerbread houses, going to the beach, shopping and sightseeing around the island, though her favorite part seemed to be making friends - she would smile and make cute faces at everyone around us wherever we went. Overall, we had a great time with our tiny traveler!

Somebunny Special!

Easter is always a wonderful time to celebrate, but this year it was even more special since it was Mia's first Easter!  After a long winter, one of our first warm spring days arrived along with the Easter Bunny, who left baskets for Mia at every stop along our route of visiting family and friends!  Of course, Mia loved opening the baskets, but, most of all, we had so much fun spending time with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins!