Peek-a-Boo!

Bryce and Grandpa Mac had a rousing game of peek-a-boo this afternoon. Bryce would "hide" in the outdoor shower and then would run out and hide behind a deck support...squealing with delight the entire time!

Feet In, Finally!

Bryce's Grandpa Mac and Great-Grandma Mac arrived at the beach this afternoon and Grandpa Mac was able to finally trick Bryce into putting his feet in the ocean! Bryce did not let it happen again, though! While all of that was going on, Jeremy and Derek were building sand castles. Jeremy is hoping that his is still standing, but Derek let Alanna and Bryce destroy his castle before we left.

Ocean Visit #3

Today at the beach, Bryce actually ran towards the water (while chasing a bird), but then apparently realized what he was doing and stopped well short of getting wet! He was willing to stand in the low waves as long as Jeremy or I would hold him up out of the water. He had the most fun playing in the sand again. We buried each other's feet in the sand and he helped Jeremy build a sand castle before destroying it!

Ocean Visit #2

Bryce, Jeremy and I headed to the ocean again this morning with "Monkey" (Bryce's name for Jeremy's Dad). Bryce still wasn't interested in the water, but had a great time playing in the sand and then systematically destroying the sand castle Jeremy was trying to build! We came back and played in the pool. Bryce tried out Trevor's "boat" and now LOVES the pool. We had to drag him out when he started chattering... Before dinner, Bryce and Alanna shared a snuggle in the rocking chair and then after dinner persuaded Jeremy to take them back in the pool. I think Jeremy regretted his offer because without the hot sun, the pool was really cold!

First Day on the Beach

Bryce, Jeremy and I walked down to the beach this morning for Bryce's first ocean experience... he is NOT a beach lover yet! We walked towards the water and Bryce started to cry. We set him down in the sand and he started walking back towards the house. Then Jeremy got in the ocean and Bryce wailed until he came back out. We finally gave up and came back to play in the pool. It took a little while, but Bryce did finally enjoy his time in the water. Later in the afternoon, Bryce and Trevor shared a book and a rock in the rocking chair and then Alanna led the two boys in for dinner!

Vacation Time!

This week, we are in Emerald Isle, NC. We stopped off in DC and Richmond on the way down (hence the pictures at the National Zoo). The weather is perfect right now - hopefully it will stay that way!Before we left for the train, Bryce needed to give Puddy lots of loving!Luckily, we could rent a stroller at the Zoo... I wish we had gotten a double, so I could have ridden, too!

We watched a baby elephant play and eat...it even walked across a scale and we could see that he weighed in at over 3,200 pounds!

In this picture, Bryce is watching the orangutans swing on the ropes above the zoo!
Bryce's favorite animal at the zoo was the lion. We happened to arrive when the lion thought he should be fed and was very active. He even did a few low roars for us. At one point, the lion went out of view and Bryce cried and cried until he came back to where we could see him.

The best part of the zoo for me was getting to see Jenny, Courtney and Sara! These R-MWC gals are such good friends... despite long drives and very busy schedules, they all found a way to get to the zoo to hang out and meet Bryce. (An extra special thanks goes out to Jenny for the ride to the train station! We made it in perfect time!)

Hiatus over...

Sorry for the long gap in the digest. My computer had to spend some time in the shop... Just got it back today, so here are a few pictures from the past week or so...

Bryce and his shadow

Such a handsome little man!

"Speak softly, but carry a big stick..."

Peek-a-boo!

Bryce found the squirrels in the park to be irresistible today! One in particular kept running in circles around a branch and diving off of the trees! (You can see a big bandage on Bryce's left leg in this picture... He fell on Friday while walking in the park. Unfortunately, he fell on broken glass and gave himself a pretty big gash. He didn't actually cry that much about the cut, but became hysterical when I brought out the band-aids!)

Up and Down

Bryce really loves anything that goes "up" and "down"...including himself on the mulch piles! All of his cars and trucks and trains love to go up and down, too. The other day, while he was falling asleep, I could hear him saying "up" and "down" over and over to himself.Bryce also really enjoys the library. He doesn't usually sit still for very long to hear any books when we are inside, but he always wants to check out books to read at home. Here he is just outside the library reading one of his new books with Mimi.

Impromptu...

Yesterday, while in the park, Bryce met two other little boys of similar age and interest and they all plopped down in the middle of the path to play "trucks and cars". Bryce was really willing to share until the little boys wanted to trade back...
Then, today, we spent very little time in the park because Bryce could hear construction being done on one of the buildings next to the park. There were a couple of workers on scaffolding 10+ stories up re-pointing the bricks. Bryce was in awe! The most exciting part is when the workers took a break, one of them noticed Bryce watching and waved to him. Bryce, of course, waved back!

Aquarium Fun

On Sunday, we all headed down to Coney Island to visit the NYC Aquarium. The weather was perfect and we were able to see most of the animals playing and swimming in the exhibits. Bryce really loved watching the walrus family - especially the one-year old baby walrus! Bryce also really liked seeing all the different fish in the various tanks, but did NOT like the sharks! We think the teeth must have scared him... he cried as soon as we walked near the tank.

Fun Inside and Out!

Bryce, Mimi and I went to the library (or "libary" as Bryce says it) and picked a few new books. Bryce loves the new additions to his collection and wants to be read to over and over again... no matter what position he is in!

We also visited the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. I loved any part where we could be in the shade! Bryce had a lot of fun watching the fish in the Japanese Gardens. Later, we saw a woodpecker and a bunny rabbit, too. The funniest happening was when two little boys (probably 4 or 5 years old) came running into the Japanese pavilion that we were in. They were trying to hide from their mothers. Bryce was so excited by their arrival, that he joined in with them. Everywhere they ran to hide, he followed...copying every movement! I don't even think they noticed that Bryce was there, but he didn't mind because he was having too much fun "playing" with the big boys!