A taxi, a train, and a car (oh my!)

Last weekend we went to Connecticut and Rhode Island to visit Grandma Candy and Aunt Gloria. To both save money and sanity we decided to take the train to Stamford and rent a car from there. It worked out really nicely and made the trip quite easy. We spent Sunday afternoon at Aunt Gloria's house with lots of teenagers and cats. Sorin was very sweet with the cats and was set on petting all four of them. He particularly liked Chelty, who is very old, and Louie, who is just a kitten. Aunt Gloria also has a trampoline in her back yard, which was a huge hit. After dinner we had delicious carrot cake, and because it was a cake we sang Happy Birthday (to Daddy again). Here is Sorin blowing out a candle.


On Monday we went to the Mystic Aquarium, which was beautiful. It also falls into the category of a place where you can touch things! We saw beluga whales, sea lions, seals, African penguins, sting rays, jelly fish, fluorescent fish, and much more.


A highlight was a special bird exhibit in which you could feed the birds with bird seed, still in its husk, attached to a tongue depressor.


After the Aquarium we went to downtown Mystic (yes, that's where Mystic Pizza is) and fed a swan swimming in Mystic River. We also saw the draw bride go up, and many beautiful boats (including one from Hamilton, Ontario!) go by.


After a much-needed nap (for all of us), Sorin got to enjoy a swim in Grandma Candy's pool--and a game of water basketball.

The Children's Museum

A few weeks ago we took a trip to the west side to visit the Children's Museum with Manik, Simran, and Zorovar. One thing I've learned being the parent of a toddler(and a busy one at that!) is that going places where you can touch things is key. And you can touch everything at the Children's Museum! It's basically a big playroom with an educations bent. Sorin loved playing, touching, doing, and climbing. After the museum we had lunch with Manik and the twins, and Sorin was his usual entertaining self.


Later that evening Auntie Nicole came over and brought one of Sorin's favorite books, "Good Night, Gorilla." Here the two of them are enjoying it together.

I do it mySELF!

These are words we hear a lot these days from Sorin (aka Mr. Independent)! It usually starts first thing in the morning with his milk. Sorin opens the fridge himself, takes out the milk, climbs on his stool and puts it on the counter. He then allows one of us to pour it for him while he moves the stool over to the microwave, which he then opens. The cup goes in, and then he closes it and pushes "three-oh-start." Once it's done ("beeeeeep") he opens the door, puts the lid on the cup, inserts the straw, and bends it. The funny thing about all of this is that he narrates his actions. Of course any deviation from the routine (or, goodness forbid, we do anything that HE usually does) and we definitely hear about it:).


Sorin can put on his shoes by himself, and if he's struggling and you ask him if he needs help the reply is usually, "I FINE!". He doesn't like if you touch the bar behind the tricycle when he's peddling. He also doesn't like help climbing. Sorin spent a long time trying figure out how to climb on the above camel, but was very clear that I shouldn't get too close. The independent streak also means he likes us to stay put while he takes off somewhere. He'll say, "Stay here Mama--don't cry!" and then scoot away. The other day he announced, "I got to go to JERSEY!"


We celebrated Thadeous' Birthday a few weeks ago, which of course meant cake! Sorin loves chocolate (yes, he is our child:). He and I had a great time picking out the cake, and he insisted on carrying it home on his lap in the stroller. It's fun that he can understand when we're going on a mission, and then is cognizant of how the earlier purchase results in singing Happy Birthday and, of course, a yummy dessert.


Sorin also made a new friend recently. Aunt Nicole brought her friend Aaron by, and Sorin was absolutely smitten. The highest compliment Sorin can give is to show someone his toys, and boy did he show Aaron a lot of them! He also showed off Emily (Look, Aaron, there's my kitty!). Above Sorin, Aunt Nicole, and Aaron are using bristle blocks as a hats. They also made towers and cities, and the next morning when Sorin came out to the living room he pointed to the previous night's work and said, "That's Aaron's tower!".

Congratulations Danielle and Heath!

Danielle and Heath tied the knot on July 26th in a beautiful ceremony overlooking Lake Ontario, and although Sorin didn't go to the wedding, he did come to Toronto to hang out with Oma and Opi so that Thadeous and I could go. Sorin and I flew to Toronto on Saturday (so that I could go to Danielle's stagette), and as usual he was an exceptionally good traveler. At Oma and Opi's he skinny dipped in the wading pool and loved to play with the hose. The three of them also at out at Swiss Chalet, which apparently was a big hit. The best part was that the waitress gave Sorin a toy (but functional) watch, which Sorin loves. (That's my watch! I wear my watch!).


On Sunday we all headed to the cottage, which was Sorin's first experience on a beach. He got to ride on the car ferry (with Opi's SILVER car--his emphasis:) and definitely liked the hammock. Sorin also had his first canoe ride! For the most part he liked the beach and lake, but between it being a new situation and not feeling totally himself (still getting over last week's virus, which he shared with me) he wasn't entirely enthusiastic all the time. Oma was a bit disappointed, but hopefully next year it will be a bigger hit.




On the way back to the city we stopped at the Elmvale Zoo, which I had visited as a little girl. Elmvale is this tiny town about 1.5 hours north of Toronto, and one wouldn't expect a jungle zoo there. But the zoo is amazing, and the animals seem really well-cared for. It's the first time Sorin had seen many of these animals live (as opposed to in books), including giraffes, tigers, flamingos, and lemurs. He also rode on a pony and pet a goat!


As I said before, Sorin hung out with Oma and Opi while Thadeous and I went to Danielle and Heath's wedding. It was in a beautifully restored art deco building with a stunning view over Lake Ontario. Danielle looked absolutely gorgeous, and everything was meticulously planned with fabulous results. I'm so glad we could be there!


On Friday night Danielle's parents had a party for the out-of-towners, which Sorin did attend. He had a lot of fun playing in the garden and got to spend a little time with his Auntie Danielle, too.

Astuto family reunion

The three of us went to visit Nonno and Nonna in the middle of July for Nonna's family reunion. Nonna has a big family (she's one of six), and it was great that everyone could get together. Having grown up in a very small family, it was so neat and interesting for me to be part of it. It was the first time many people had met Sorin, and given that he is often quite reserved in new situations, he did remarkably well. He was especially enamored with Christine and Anthony, and of course his cousin Hunter. The two boys played so nicely together during dinner on Friday night that the waitress commented one would hardly have known there were little boys present! Sorin loved swimming in the pool, and he really liked using the kickboard with a monkey on it that Aunt Marian bought for him. He also ate really well (especially Nonna's meat balls). Unfortunately Sorin woke up from his nap on Sunday afternoon in not so good shape (fever, upset stomach), but up until then he had a blast. And luckily the next day, for the drive home, just the fever remained.

Long time no blog

Many apologies to all the blog watchers! Between lots of travel in July (see below) and a fried hard drive, I still haven't quite caught up.