Happy Halloween!!

Millie got to go to Shannon's work today for a Halloween party. To say her costume was a hit would be putting it lightly. Everyone thought it was the cutest thing ever especially when she waddled around like a little chick. It was really too much. Millie had fun at the party exploring (she even got into the game of limbo a little bit...) We are going to have a low key Halloween. Millie has a Dr. appointment this afternoon and after that we are going to stay home and hand out candy. We are glad to have Millie at home this Halloween (we were still in the hospital last year). Happy Halloween everyone!

Happy Birthday Millie (Part 2)

It has been one whole year since Millie joined us at 4:01 AM on this date. It has certainly been an interesting and great year. I was never too sure what to expect from fatherhood before Millie arrived, but I can say that it has been better than anything I could ever have expected. In an effort to be sure to remember as many special moments as I can, here are a few of the things that I will remember from Millie’s first year:

• Shannon’s tears of joy when I showed her the baby to be named Millie
• How much Shannon is a natural and awesome mommy
• How small she was when she was born (and really how small she still is!)
• How Millie knows what she wants!
• The first diaper change
• Millie’s first laughs
• Pacing around and bouncing Millie to get her to sleep (both around the house and in the sleepy hallway)
• What it is like to travel with a rock star (we get a lot of attention from strangers sometimes due to Millie’s cuteness)
• Millie’s big smile when I get home from work
• The smile on Millie’s face when she does something that she thinks is pretty awesome (or mischievous!)
• Millie and Shannon playing in the front yard when I get home from work
• Her fuzzy (and crazy) hair
• Millie pointing at things
• Millie helping me make coffee

I could go on and on for awhile, but I think that pretty much sums it up! We are sad that many of you are too far away to help us celebrate this day. We appreciate everyone who has sent presents and happy thoughts our way. We really appreciate everything. It has been hard for us to be away from everyone, but in the end that makes the three of us rely on each other that much more – we have to be a tight knit family and that is a pretty good silver lining for us.

Happy Birthday Millie! Looking forward to another fun year!

Happy Birthday Millie!


Styling provided by Uncle Brandon, Hair by Aunt Lauren, Photography by Soon-to-be-Uncle Jason :)

Birthday Fun

Much like our friend Emily, we believe in making birthday celebrations last at least a week. Scott and I achieve this in June by celebrating our anni-birth-a-versary. Millie is building her own birthday traditions and is on day 5 of celebrating ;)!

Millie got to open a few presents early on Wednesday and Thursday as the packages started rolling in. An alphabet carousel and piggy bank from Aunt Carolyn:

and a fun music table from Aunt Janet, Uncle Dick, Aunt Margaret and Uncle Jim:

Grandma Lainey, Grandpa Ric, LoLo and Jason arrived on Friday afternoon and we enjoyed a beautiful fall day at the pumpkin patch

followed by more presents once we got home.

Then Saturday was the big day -- Millie's first birthday party. We got up bright and early (well, I got up bright and early, Scott and Millie enjoyed the morning to sleep in) and started getting things ready. There were cakes to frost, decorations to hang, fruits and vegetables to chop not to mention the task of getting 6 adults showered and ready! The preparations all went off without a hitch and we were ready for our first guests to arrive at noon. Millie took a short nap before hand but probably could have benefited from a longer one. Her nap schedule shifted a bit in the past few weeks and she's actually been taking her afternoon nap around noon and sleeping until 2 or 2:30. Oops. A 12:00 start time for the party may not have been the best! There was a little fussiness and clinginess at first, but Millie quickly perked up and enjoyed all of her friends. She also seemed happier once her tights came off -- it warmed up in the house pretty fast once it was full of people. Then we stripped her all the way down for cake and she was REALLY happy :). She spent the rest of the day in her birthday suit ;).

Millie's friends Cal, Jonathan, James, Chase, and Leo all came to help her celebrate. Notice all of her guests were boys! She didn't seem to mind :). The kids all enjoyed playing with the toys Millie had opened the night before and eating butternut squash soup. And then came the cake.

Millie was a bit shy during the birthday song -- even turned away from the crowd for a few moments to bury her head in my shoulder. I guess being the center of attention can be daunting at any age. She gave everyone a great big smile at the end though and then moved to her high chair for her very own cupcake. She started out eating the cake in a very dainty and lady-like way, but by the end she was squishing the cake and icing everywhere and was covered head to toe (just as she should be!). Her friend Leo did an excellent job with his cupcake too! He got in some good practice for his own birthday which is just 5 days after Millie's. Bevin and Robert brought their dog Maisey down with them from Boston. She hung out on the back deck for most of the day, but she did get to come in for a little while to clean up the kitchen floor after Millie ate her cupcake ;). Millie was amused until she came and started cleaning her toes!

After cake there was more time to play with friends. After everyone left and things had quieted down a bit, we opened more presents.

After all that it was time for some naps.

Whew! What a great couple of days! I'm sure there is more to report -- I know there are more pictures. But now we are headed out to dinner with Lainey, Ric, LoLo, Jason, Emily, Dave and Will and then to the Maritime Aquarium for the Jack-o-Lantern Spectacular!

Back home!

Not too much more to report from the end of our Minnesota trip. We thought we might go back to the mall but decided to try and get on an earlier flight instead so that we wouldn't land at 11:00 PM eastern in NYC. We were successful and landed around 5pm instead. So yesterday morning Millie and I hung out at the hotel while Shannon finished up at the conference. We then made a mad dash out of the hotel and made it to the airport with time to spare. We had a pretty uneventful flight home. Millie was about the same on the way back as she was on the way there. She slept for about the first 40 minutes and then was squirmy the rest of the way in Mommy's lap, flirting with all of the nearby passengers. All in all, she was SUCH a good baby the whole trip.

Millie enjoying the view before takeoff:




















Shannon and her Giant Steps crew: Glen, Shannon, Millie, Liz, & Gretchen

Today we ran some errands and did stuff at home, which was nice. Unfortunately, back to work and day care tomorrow. Millie roamed around the house right where she left off. She loves to hide behind the kitchen and dining room table and thinks its hilarious when you find her by looking underneath the table. This furniture was in my Grandma & Grandpa Albrecht's dining room and I am sure I probably played the same game as Millie did when I was little. We are all getting super excited for her birthday in almost a week!! Hard to believe its almost here!

Live from Bloomington, Day 2:

Hello again! Well, day 2 started out the same as Day 1. We had some breakfast, played and then it was naptime!















Millie has been a solid napper here, which has been pretty critical for us! Such a good baby! Again, we met mommy for lunch and then it was off to the Mall of America. We walked in and there is this big amusement straight ahead. Millie loved seeing all of the kids running around and the rollercoasters. I took Millie for a ride on the carousel. I think she enjoyed it but the wait for it to move coupled with comparatively short ride time was a bit disappointing. Still fun though!















Then we just kind of roamed for a bit. I was getting a little concerned that I couldn't find anything for Millie to eat (normally would have packed something but not much available while traveling). I ended up getting her oatmeal from Starbucks of all places (gotta love Starbucks). Millie rode around in the stroller and laughed and clapped her hands at all of the sights and sounds.



















I touched base with Shannon and we both thought it would be good to get Millie back for a nap (no way it was happening at the mall!). We had to take a taxi back to the hotel, which Millie had a blast in again. She loves to be able to get up to the window and look out. It seems weird that you are able to have a baby loose in a taxi when if you did that in your own car you would be looking at a ticket. Anyway, here she is about 5 minutes after we got back, which by now is a common sight!















This has been a great couple of days. The location would not be my first choice(or even twentieth - its nice but we are not close enough to anything besides the mall) but it has been awesome to be able to spend some time with Millie at this fun stage. She is such a sweet baby - I even got some baby kisses the past 2 days. It would have been more fun if Mommy hadn't been conferencing, but it is good to have solid Daddy time. It is my goal to be very involved and hands on and it has been working out well so far. We had been a little worried before the trip since Millie hadn't been letting me put her to sleep much, but she has been Daddy's little angel the past couple of days! More updates on this super exciting vacation to come!

Live from Bloomington: End of Day 1:

When last we spoke to you from Minnesota, Millie was asleep. She napped well and when she woke up we found some things to do. Since we were taking it easy we mostly stayed close to the hotel. We met Mommy and friends for lunch and then we walked to a nearby hotel with her and stopped to play outside and by the pool playground (inside the hotel) for a bit. It is indeed a tad bit chillier here (but we are happy the midwest grey haze hasn't started yet). I had a really nice day with Millie - but she was most definitely happy to see Mommy!

Millie playing by our hotel:



















Millie thought this play house was pretty sweet:














One of Millie's favorite activities is just roaming around the hotel. Not only do people think she is the cutest thing, but it is kind of amusing to see this little human less than 2 feet tall walking around. She thought she was big stuff walking to our hotel room. She also likes to push the elevator buttons (with some help!)



















Next Millie got to go in the pool for the first time! Mommy helped her. She thought it was pretty okay - intrigued but not quite ready to really "jump in". She was also suspicious of the guy in the pool nearby.














We ended the day with a very nice dinner at a nearby restaurant, Kincaids. Millie had a blast in her first taxi ride. A little more expensive than we would have liked (although maybe still cheaper than a comparable meal in CT), but it was very good. I had bacon wrapped kobe beef meatloaf - enough said! It was a really fun dinner with great company in Liz, Gretchen, and Glen. Millie had fun flirting with people and tried walleye, calamari, the aforementioned meatloaf, and cabbage.

After all that - bedtime!!