Did Vince Just Do That?!

I have a variety of special moments and events collected in my memories about things that Vince has done in the past few months.

Some things I'll never forget:

-The first time Vince actually wrapped his arms around my neck to give me hugs. (circa April/May 2009)
-Grabbing and eating off Daddy's apple instead of accepting the little birdie pieces that I was breaking off for him. (approx June 2009)
-Vince's smile when he sees me walk in the door after work. Then he does the super speed crawl over to me and climbs up my legs until he's standing... and won't leave me alone until I pick him for some hugs, holding his arms out up towards me
-Vince being very independent and wanting to use his own spoon for every meal (within the last month)
-The belly laughs that I can get out of him when I get down on the floor and tell him I'm going to get him.... he LOVES being chased, and completely cracks up! (what kid doesn't)
-The first time he started playing with toy cars and making the car noise along with it! His car noise consists of blowing raspberries with his lips, but you can get the gist of what he's trying to do... (July 09)
-Vince's first time making a house out of a cardboard box. This was from our new dishwasher that we got in July.


-Shaping Vince into a little Buddha when he fell asleep in his stroller (he only needs the lotus flower in the palms of his hands)


Our boy seems to definitely have a mind of his own, and it appears he's developing somewhat of a short fuse if he cannot do or get something that he wants. He gets so frustrated! I clearly see the motivation behind teaching babies/toddlers sign language now!!

It must be so hard for them to know what they want but not be able to say it or get us parents to understand! We need to practice more sign language with Vince... but for now, if he takes his arm and wipes it across his high chair table like a set of windshield wipers... making the food fall all over the place,... well we can pretty much make a safe bet that he's done eating!

Among the more recent tricks that Vince has been practicing these days, I've captured on camera how he has been trying so hard to use his spoon to eat. Here he is putting the food ON the spoon, and THEN using the spoon.... he's a genius.

If you cannot see the video below, then click on the following link:

http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Vince's First Camping Trip in the Orange Monster

Last Friday we headed out for a weekend of camping, I couldn't wait to introduce Vince to the outdoors! We had heard that there was a chance of bad weather on Friday night, but we are gambling sorts of people by nature, so we took the bet that it would be ok.

Here's a picture of our camping spot with Kathryn in the middle. Mike and Chris put up our humongous tarp to make a covered area for cooking/eating in preparation for the rain. You can see the ridiculously large tent that I decided to buy in the background.


See below for a close-up picture of our awesome new tent which I've named the 'Orange Monster'. I've always camped with small backpacking tents, and made fun of those people that put up tents bigger than my own living room. I boasted simplicity and not needing a lot of gadgets while camping. Well... I've become one of those living room tent owning people! And guess what, I totally love it! I pictured being able to have the pack n play with us so Vince could sleep safely, so I needed to get a tent big enough. I found it at Target, it's a Coleman Brand, and I tell you it kept us warm and dry during the craziest/thunderous torrential downpour I think I have ever experienced while camping! I swear there was a river out front of our tent on Friday night, at about 3am our tarp cover over the picnic table collapsed from the weight of the water (even though engineers put it up!), and we even felt pools of water underneath certain parts of the tent, it was like a water bed!! It kept us dry however, with only a few drops that came through the rain fly. I didn't even have time to seem seal the rain fly.

Featuring the Orange Monster

It stopped raining before sunrise, and the rest of Saturday was steamy humid with sun. I caught my two men napping for a while after a big breakfast of sweet potato pancakes and veggie sausages. This is the cutest picture!

Fun with pots and pans: Adam and Vince keeping busy so they don't think of crawling into the camp fire... or over to the plant that looked like poison ivy...or over to pull the tent down... etc. (it was exhausting but fun to have babies to camp with)

That trash bag over at the far end hanging on the tree in the picture below was accosted by a raccoon as we sat watching while congregated around the campfire during the night. After that we made sure to take all the trash and food into the car for the night so the raccoon wouldn't get into it. But that raccoon was smart!! On Saturday night that coon (with those opposable thumbs) opened up our cooler and got into the food in there! I knew I kept hearing something in the middle of the night... half asleep, the noise of rustling bags and what not. I tried to make Mike go out there to do something.. yea right. His rationale: I'm safe in the tent, there's a big raccoon out there that wants food.... let him have it! Luckily he left the eggs untouched so we had breakfast.

Coming back from our hiking outing: Chris found some good firewood

Adam brought his favorite walker toy and the two boys had so much fun taking turns walking around with it. Here's Vince using it to transport water to and fro.

Adam and Vince had a good time hauling each other around in the walker as well, they'd take turns when one was tired. Here they each are getting to work! mush, little ones!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Looking back on the camping weekend, it was definitely not relaxing having little ones, but it was worth it. I do wish I had some sort of giant play yard we could have put them in while outside in the camp site. It was hard to do anything because the minute we put them down they were off, with no boundaries to keep them from going too far. On top of that, I just pulled a tick off Mike this morning! yuk! If anyone knows New England, then you'll know we are sitting in Lyme Disease mecca over here.... once again something on my list I never had to deal with in California/Colorado (ok, maybe there is Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever but that's super rare)! I'm mildly freaking out now that our clothes/equipment has ticks on it that we brought into the house. I'll be checking Vince several times a day for the next couple weeks that's for sure.

Oops, made a small typo

Can I take this moment to fix the typo on the last post... I meant to say that Mike buried Vince from the waist down.. not up. (it was late last night and I was tired) Thanks Joc for the great comment!

Brino Reunion/Cape Cod 2009

Last week was full of road travel and hanging out with family, as we started out at Mike's mother's family reunion on Lake Sacandaga in New York; and ended with a few days on Cape Cod (wrapping it all up with our first family camping trip as well.... but that's another blog post)! It was super fun to see everyone, and Vince had fun hanging out and playing with his cousins, and his Nonna and Pop-Pop!

Vince, Noelle, and Andrew..... patiently waiting for the Merry-Go-Round

Our trip started out pretty much like National Lampoon's Vacation, as we headed on the road out from Cambridge, we had to stop twice within the first 15 minutes because the beach chairs on top of our car were about to take flight! After a few odd looks from people driving by us on the freeway, we stopped a second time to find the string holding the chairs down was literally about 3 car lengths behind us, trailing along like a streamer! Then of course Vince got car sick and vomited right before we got to the hotel, poor little guy. We put the fear into the whole family (including ourselves), that Vince was sick with another stomach bug.... thinking back on the baptism weekend where he brought down most of the entire family and then some after spreading his little germs (don't forget who let him dig his grubby little hands into the cake!)

Second stop, fixing the chairs again

First, I'll attempt to describe the Brino Family Reunions. Mike's mother is the youngest of eleven children, and once a year all the siblings and their families reunite at their brother's house (Uncle Al's) in New York, bringing together family that is scattered throughout the US. The day is filled with loads of great food, various bottles of home made wine brought by different family members, and there's usually boccie ball being played somewhere on the grounds. My favorite feature at Uncle Al's place is the golf cart painted like the Italian flag, complete with 'Wop Mobile' labeled on the front. No Brino Reunion is complete without a ride in it.

Noelle and Zak decide to drive so Mike could drink..... that lush!

Vince fell in love with Aunt Perina's dog Cocoa, he pretty much falls in love with any dog he sees! The kid laughs hysterically, it's the cutest thing to hear... total music to my ears

Nonna had her work cut out for her during our trip trying to help take care of both Andrew and Vince, here she is trying to get Vince to sleep (thanks Nonna!)

Here she is with both Andrew and Vince, trying to get a picture but both boys were fussing

After the reunion we headed back towards Boston to spend a few nights on Cape Cod. Lot's of time in the car, lots of trying to keep Vince entertained, happy, and car sick free.... we finally made it to our hotel.... and immediately went to the pool.

Noelle, Vince and Andrew cruising around in their floaties

Vince was able to finally use his awesome Baptism gift!! He was the Big Time Operator of the Bulldozer floatie.... it was a hit

Snack Time at the Beach! The boys stuff their faces with pineapple.... definitely a scene worth remembering. Andrew has a *super* appetite, that boy can put it away. Mike really wanted to get him a t-shirt saying "I AM the Brut squad" but Neal and Lisa beat him to it, too cute!!


Vince loved waiting for the waves to tickle his toes!! He didn't mind that the water was totally and completely frigid!



Mike thought it was brilliant for him to bury Vince from the waste up!! That way he couldn't crawl around and get into trouble!


Ok, how do I get outta here!!?


We ended our time on Cape Cod with some fun bike riding along the Cape Cod Rail Trail. Vince loves his bike seat, here's a pic I was able to get while riding along next to my boys.... shouldn't have attempted to do it, almost crashed.

Family Shot along the Trail, we ended up doing about 10 miles.. boy I'm out of shape!!

Click here to see all the photos of our fun trip!!

July 4th and Neil Diamond!

This year for the July 4th fireworks show, Neil Diamond was the special guest singer coming to play with the Boston Pops. Really, could any combination be more perfect?!! I mean, when he started singing America.... I wasn't the only one that got choked up, the crowds went nuts. In addition, if you know anything at all about Boston Red Sox fans then you'll know that they sing Sweet Caroline at EVERY Red Sox Game, during the 8th inning. I'm not exaggerating when I say that this entire city will scream out the words to Sweet Caroline whenever they feel there's reason to.

Celebrating America's Independence Day with some homemade pancakes, Vince's favorite!


Some of our friends had the greatest idea in the world!..... to go to the Esplanade the day before the show and watch the dress rehearsal, which was pretty much what you'd think... a complete run down of the show including commentaries, singing, and even shooting the cannons off during the 1812 overture. We also got an extra dose of Neil when he had to sing America twice due to some sort of technical glitch that went on during the first song. Awesome! The crowds were pretty huge, but not as bad as the actual day. Sorry to those that don't share the same enthusiasm as I do for Neil Diamond!! I have to blame it on my mom for her years of playing her Neil Diamond records.

My mom made Vince this special July 4th vest to wear at the celebrations, complete with American Flag buttons

Thanks to Karen, Cesar, and Lauren to getting there early to claim a good spot! We had a clear view of the stage

playing Uno before the show

A clear and quiet sky the night before the fireworks

Day Two: setting up on the Cambridge side to hang out and wait for the fireworks. I wasn't very organized about any of our outings this weekend. I didn't grab any blankets or anything to sit on.... luckily we ran into Mike's coworker friend Kevin, who goes early and claims a big spot on the grass. Beth-Ann and Jason met up with us too! Here we are at around 7pm, counting down to fireworks at 10:30.

Vince held his own for a good amount of time, finally falling asleep around 9:30... right before a small display of fireworks went off just to wet our palate. He had fallen asleep in my arms, and when they went off he woke up wide eyed and looked up at the sky and stared curiously. We were wondering if he'd be afraid, but he did so well! When the main display started we held him and he just watched in wonder, even starting to bop along with the music at one point. No crying for him! He's our brave little man. He's never been scared of loud noises in general, and always comes crawling full steam ahead towards the vacuum when I run it, or when dogs bark loudly

Vince and Dad look up at the show

That's Vince's furry little head glowing in the right hand side of the picture, guess I was too close

I'm not sure how many more July 4th shows we'll be able to make in Boston, but we'll see. We're still moving forward with a house south of Boston.... but after the first house fall through I don't hold my breath anymore.

Ok, only one week of work and then we have vacation for a week! Happy July 4th everyone!

Vince and His Buddy Adam

I wanted to share the pictures I put together of Vince and his buddy Adam, it's amazing to see how they already have so much history together!! I suppose it shouldn't be surprising. After all, they have both known each other since before they were born! Kathryn and I met in a hypnobirthing class, both determined to stay drug, epidural, and induction free. Vince came into the world last June, and Adam followed in August..... here's a shot of their first meeting. Vince is dressed to the nines to meet his buddy for the first time... and makes sure to give him the heads up of what the first 2 months of life are all about. Adam is listening intently as you can see:


Getting together outside on a nice sunny day! We did this a lot while the weather was nice last year!

Together at the hypnobirthing class reunion in December 2008

Though they've been friends for quite some time now, they never really actually acknowledged each other's presence very much until quite recently.... here's one of the first few shots of them shaking hands:

And then of course there was their first Halloween:

Our first visit to a pumpkin patch.... and here they are completely exhausted, we found them tucked away in a little corner, sleeping.

Here's when they decided to wait up for Santa, just to see if he was real! They figured they wouldn't miss him if they just pulled up their chairs and sat by the tree until Christmas

Practicing how it will be with two kids in tow!

Another fun day out in the sun!

Old pals, sharing everything including each other binkies. Vince, don't look so surprised!

Playing together at the Children's Museum this month:

This place was great! It's a life saver more for parents I think! There is a whole room dedicated to kids under 3, and also a separate part for "crawlers only".... where we could just let them go.

Adam even got in on Vince's first birthday cake! Vince wouldn't have had it any other way of course