Watertown Pool!

We made an important discovery today: the MDC pool on Pleasant St. in Watertown!!!!
NO MORE MDC pool in Brighton, now that we know about this hidden gem :D
No pics of Andrew in the pool yet- a bit watery for the camera. Hoping to get some in the coming weeks. Today he went crazy in the water! Lots of gleeful jumping up and down complete with "UH!" and "DuH" exclamations!

Hangin' out with his buddy Brendan.

Oskar! They haven't seen each other much recently since Oskar has been vacationing at Martha's Vineyard~

It was so nice to see them acknowledge one another!

Andrew's newest friend, Eli, has started taking his first steps! He wandered into the toddler pool with his regular diaper on. Look how full it got! (Definitely more of a sight in person.)
Andrew has taken an interest in his plush car recently! Today he figured out how to properly position himself in it (there's a slot for his feet to stick out in front).
We rounded out the day with a nice sushi dinner- which, he also loved :D
After dinner he was a wild man, crawling (FAST!) and trying to climb... He was quiet in his room so I spied and saw him trying *so* hard to climb onto his nursing rocker! I snuck off to get the camera for this photo:
Later, he learned that he could climb onto the bottom shelf of the new table next to the computer. Fun!

Monkeying Around

Joyful Garden & Pool

We had a goodbye luncheon for Donna and Giuliana! They should be back in one year.

Here they are, all 9 babies (minus the very busy/exploring Oskar), ranging from 8-15 months, and their moms in attendance.
We were actually able to eat at the same time~ quite a feat! Andrew actually lasted in his seat the longest (though it was his high chair seat we brought from home).

Later on, after nap, we went to the MDC pool nearby! This is our hidden gem of the summer. Driving past it over the years, I dismissed it (as it appears from the outside, like a detention facility)... But once inside, it's clean and well equipped with lifeguards. The lifeguards serve as big babysitters over the pool: whistleblowers on the naughty kids. The pool is so big and pretty uncrowded most of the time (5 people were in it when we went recently on an 85 degree day!).

Christopher and his Mommy Melinda met up with us. Christopher would have been at the lunch earlier but he was napping! Nowadays, it is not easy to predict the schedule.
Snack time!
Ooops! Fell backwards into Christopher's lap!

Freestanding! He has been doing this more and more recently. He'll last for about 8 seconds then reach back to what he was holding onto or drop down. Here, he was walking sideways along the wall.

Birthday BBQ at Baby Nola's House

Ahhh~ The kitchen floor!Nana with her newest -and fourth- grandchild, Nola Bucell.

Maureen's father, Jim, with the newbie.

Party at Katie's in Western Mass

Andrew being kind to 6 month old baby Tessa.

Wagon ride!

It was a big mommy get-together!
There were quite a few moms present and it was all potluck-style. One mom brought a large pizza for the kids. Pictured below is Katie's sister, Kara, and her son Atticus. Katie, Kara, myself and "Auntie" Wendy all grew up together as buddies.

Naked boys!!!

Andrew loved Hendrix, who was always nearby to catch scraps!

Asleep on the car ride home.

Carson Beach with Oskar

The last time we were here was last September on a nice "Indian Summer" day..... And yikes, can we believe that it's already past mid-July? Summer goes by fast... Too fast for those of us who enjoy the beach! I thought it would be more fun this year but now I think *next* year will be even better (once he can walk). For now, I end up carrying him around a lot to see the sights. He is not a fan of the (freezing) water.
Figures the camera came out as we were leaving! And probably after one of our typical comments, "I wish I had the camera right now." (And then, oh yeah! It's in the diaper bag!)
Oskar is soooo busy now that he's able to walk around everywhere! He even tried chasing seagulls! Andrew is "into" small objects. We collected some in a water bottle for him to shake around. The water at this beach is murky at low tide (best to visit at high).

On the car ride home.