Main Trip - Year two

Dear Jorie,

I have been having a hard time finding the time to write these letters to you. It seems like the more I have to write about, the less I want to spend time sitting down to write about it all.

So much has happened since my last letter to you.

Your father and I spent an afternoon converting your room into a "toddler room" one weekend, your crib is now a toddler bed. We took the changing table out of your room and the rocker (for safety), and put up some "bookshelves" on the wall, and put a pouf for sitting on the floor, moved some of the furniture around (and bolted some of it to the wall for safety!) I also finally got around to putting some of the monkey wall decals up on the wall for you. You've been sleeping in your toddler bed for two weeks (and then the pack'n'play in Maine) without any issues.

Then last week was the trip up to Vinalhaven, Maine with one side of your Fathers family. We split the drive (it's almost 10 hours total) over two days, and stayed at a hotel outside of Boston both on the way up and the way back. You did really well in the car on all four legs of the drive.

Maine was amazing. We stayed in a cabin on Old Harbor Pond with your Uncle Michael, Aunt Becky, and Cousins Wesley and Sienna. The rest of the group was over in the family house and cabin on the Ocean.

The first night we were there, we were having dinner, and you were running around on the lawn with your Father, and you kept running up to people and giving them flowers. What amazed us was that without either me or your father keeping track, you gave one flower to each person. You didn't miss anyone, or give anyone two. You also remembered everyones names, even if you couldn't quite say them right.

You had such a good time, running and hiking and playing. It was amazing (and tiring) having you on the island this year.

The only really exasperating thing on the trip was that you started emulating all of your cousins behavior. You stopped using your words when he was around, and would instead scream for things. You started throwing more tantrums, and basically regressing in general. That behavior, thankfully, stopped as soon as they left (they left on thursday, and we stayed through saturday.)

One of the highlights of the trip was when we got a ride on a lobster boat. You had a great time enjoying the wind and spray on the boat, and were absolutely enthralled when the lobsterman pulled up some pots for us, and you got to see the live lobsters.

I'm really glad that you will grow up with summers in Maine. It really is an amazing thing to be able to do.

On our way off the island we met up with Kim and the gang (Abby, Finn, Goo, Grace and their Grandmother) We got frozen Yogurt, then coffee for the adults, and then hit a really cool playground. You and Goo (whose real name is Tristan) really hit it off. We stayed playing on the playground until around 7, when we had to head out to get to the hotel before too late.

One of the things we noticed while up on the island, is that you now have conversations. You don't just state short facts, you will have three or four sentence long conversations, and express complex ideas. Your sentences are longer and more complex as well, and you sing or hum almost all the time.

I have so many pictures from Maine, it's going to be hard to pare them down for here, But I'll try.

I love you Jor-monster.