Christmas in Vermont

The Estee's spent Christmas with Jaime's family in Vermont. On Christmas Eve, all the Bouvier's gathered for the annual ornament exchange. Connor was able to see his same-age cousins, MacKenzie and Lauren, for the first time in a while. They played pretty well together, even if there were a few sharing issues. Someone got the Leap Frog Fridge Farm as a gift, and Connor just about pushed people over to get to it. Luckily, Grammy was at her house and was able to bring the one we brought with us, so it calmed things down a bit. It also kept Connor quite entertained as the adults participated in the Yankee Swap ornament exchange.

Christmas day was an adventure as Connor woke up with a very runny nose, and just seemed a bit agitated. My mom and I kept trying to determine whether he was teething or just getting a cold. Well, two days later we found a first year molar had popped through! I guess that answers that question! That being the case, Connor wasn't himself all day, and was very cuddly the whole week. He still had a great time with his new presents, though, and still managed to save room for a little Christmas dinner and dessert.

It was nice to spend a few extra days with the family this year, as usually we have to head back the day after Christmas so Joey can work. This year he had the whole week off, so we were happy to spend that time seeing everyone in Vermont. The time flew, though, and before we knew it, we had to say goodbye. We hope to see everyone again, soon!


Connor and Lauren playing during the Ornament Exchange.


Connor looks like he's being very sweet here; however, I believe he was trying to turn Lauren around to steal her pacifier (yes, even though he has one. I did mention sharing issues, right?)


My cousin's youngest daughter, Sarah, showing Connor how to get his groove on.


Notice how Connor is moving in on MacKenzie to get to the fridge farm. He actually looks like he's pushing her out of the way (and it was her toy!).


All dressed up and no place to go...


Joey had Connor laughing SO hard, so my dad just had to get a shot!


Mr. Man.


Mom and her boys.


Connor loved this dump truck that Grammy got for him. So much fun!

An Estee Family Christmas

Yesterday, the Estee's traveled to Tewksbury for the annual Estee Family Christmas. Mimi, Papa, Auntie Heather, Uncle Mark and Paige were all there for a nice dinner of ravioli, meatballs and sauce. It was very yummy! As usual, they spoiled Connor with lots of fun toys. He is one lucky kid! He didn't quite know what to make of the presents, and really just wanted to walk around (yes, that's ALL he's been doing lately. Very little crawling anymore!). Once he got a look at some of the toys, though, he quickly settled on mom's lap to have a look-see. He definitely likes all the lights and noise that came from ALL of his new toys (I heard the word "payback" a few times from Heather... could that be because we did the same thing with Paige a few years ago?).

Despite very snowy conditions on the South Shore, we were happy we made it to Tewksbury. We had a great time! Thanks, Mimi & Papa for hosting, and thanks to Auntie Heather for the yummy meatballs and sauce!

You can see the rest of the pictures from the day on the slideshow to the right!


Connor decided that small bites of ice cream on a spoon weren't enough. Why not just pick up the frozen ball of ice cream instead?


Mimi and Paige with Paige's new sticker book.


Playing hard. It's nice to have a partner in crime.


Connor's new driving toy. He loves it!


How true is this shirt? You've seen how many times Connor's taken off his clothes... I tell ya, that kid went from hating to be naked to loving it in about 3 seconds flat!

I LOVE this picture. At one point while opening gifts, Connor walked right up to me, stretched his arms out, and gave me a HUGE hug AND kiss! This rarely happens, so I'm pretty happy Heather got a picture of it!

More toys that make noise! Hey, that rhymes.

I had to put this picture in... this is what Connor does when he sees a camera. Yes, folks, this is his smile. How funny is that?!

A nice moment with Papa.

Grammy and Grampy's Visit

This past weekend, Grammy and Grampy decided to make a never-before-seen trip to Stoughton in December. I hate to think that it was only to see Connor, but I don't ever recall them making the trek down in December before when it was just Joey, Bailey and myself! Regardless, we had a wonderful time Christmas shopping and playing with Connor. We even woke up on Sunday morning to a small amount of snow, which made for a great Christmas card photo shoot. We can't wait to see Grammy and Grampy and ALL of the family in a few weeks for Christmas!


Connor was playing his Leap Frog learning game. He loves it!

I'll just snack on this rope while everyone takes my picture!

Connor loved being pulled in the sled.

Connor loves his Miss Spider...just in case we've never mentioned it before.

Grammy and Grampy bought Connor this little firetruck for his birthday, and Connor loves being pushed around on it (as you can see by the giant smile on his face!).

All Connor wants for Christmas is his two front teeth! Seriously... we're STILL waiting for his top teeth to show up!

A quiet cuddle moment with Grammy.

So many things to be thankful for...

I remember last year at this time, I had a one-month old baby whose idea of a Thanksgiving dinner was a bottle full of formula. How things have changed! This year we hosted turkey day and Mimi, Papa, and Great-Grandma came down from Tewksbury to join us. Mimi was a HUGE help entertaining Connor while Mommy cooked dinner. She played with him all over the house, but he was especially interested in his toy magnets on the fridge. We also had a video conference with Grammy and Grampy in Vermont, and they got to see a small glimpse of him walking.

Connor was so patient to wait and wait and wait for his dinner to be ready. He played with minimal whining, and he was extremely patient. When dinner was finally ready, we put him in his high chair and gave him lots of yummy food. The poor guy got through five minutes of eating before his turkey coma set in and he was falling asleep as he was eating. It was too cute! All that waiting, and he fell asleep before he could even enjoy it. He took a very long nap, though, and when he woke up, was able to have some pumpkin pie. YUM!

We had a nice day with everyone, and we are so thankful for our family, friends, health, and happiness.




Mmmm.... Pumpkin pie!

Turkey really makes a guy hungry!

Mmmm... turkey dinner!

My First Ear Infection

Connor has been a little under the weather lately with a bad cold, and we had a scheduled appointment with the doctor to get his second round flu shot yesterday. Well, instead of a flu shot, he was diagnosed with his first ear infection! They thought it was good that he made it through his first year without any ear infections, so I guess that's a plus. Besides a runny nose, Connor gave us no indications that he had an ear infection. No pulling, no real crankiness. I guess I truly am a lucky mom - even when sick, he's a good baby! We stayed home today so he could have a lot of down time and not cough all over the new babies at daycare. He also gets to be on his first antibiotics...yay for bubble gum flavor!

"It's Getting Hot in Here..."

...so take off all your clothes? Connor must have been listening to that song, because he frequently takes off his pants, and today he started to take off his onesie. I am fascinated with his obsession with taking off his clothes, and I laugh every time. I hope, though, that he doesn't ever do this in public when he's older. I don't think I'd find it as funny then!

Connor's Walking!

Connor has slowly been taking a few steps here and there, but Sunday was really the turning point when he took six steps at a time. Tonight, he was ALL about walking! He was so into it that he didn't even mind that I took out my phone to take a video. The quality isn't great, but if you click on the link you can see him walking.

http://pictures.sprintpcs.com/share.do?invite=PEHr2KmQhk71ykHa78tQ&shareName=MMS&messageState=RETRIEVED

Bathtime Warrior

The other day I bought Connor some bath paints, so we tried them out! He looked so cute with paint all over and his hair a mess. I wasn't surprised that he loved it, since he loves the bath to begin with, and this was just another excuse to stay in the tub a bit longer!

Backtracking

A while back I indicated that my friend, Sarah, had taken a bunch of pictures when she babysat Connor on his birthday. Below are the pictures of Connor's adventure with Sarah. They went all over my hometown of Bristol, Vermont, and had a great time. Sarah was such a saint to be seen in public wearing a Miss Spider party hat! Some of the hot spots they went to were the Lawrence Memorial Library, the Fire Department (had to visit since Grampy just retired as chief!), the post office, and the church where Joey and I got married, Saint Ambrose. For those of you thinking "hmm... those don't sound like such hot spots..." then you haven't been to Bristol. It's a VERY small town, and those ARE the hot spots. Check out any of the links above and you'll see (in two words: "one stoplight"). BUT, Connor loves visiting his Vermont family and it's a great spot for walking around with your favorite babysitter! Thanks to Sarah for the pics!



The only reason Connor is upset in this picture is because he had to wear a hat. What can I say, the kid hates hats!


This is the new Veteran's Memorial, where Connor's Grampy, and three Great-Grandfather's have brick's honoring their service.



All this walking makes a guy hungry... a stop at the bakery should solve that!


Connor just had to stop at the fire department!


"Where's my birthday cake?"



A little light reading at the library is a great way to wind down.


This is the church where Mommy and Daddy got married!