After The Tenth..... When The Fun Really Begins

Once Macy reached 6 months (Uh, how did that happen?) she met the minimum age requirement for the local swimming class. I was afraid that it would be a little boring for her, since she's already logged hours in a number of pools and the intracoastal, but it really turned into a fun time. Class was Monday thru Thursday for 2 weeks and Macy signed up with two of her closest friends, the Wagner twins, who you can see in two of the pictures below.

I was able to leave work early enough to join the fun a few times, once just in time to take photos and the other times to actually get in the pool and participate. There are a few pictures where it looks like Macy is under the water, and it is not an illusion, she was. I can't say she it was her favorite thing, but she certainly didn't hate it. When you lift her up out of the water, she gives you a sort of "What the F&%# did you just do to me?" look, but after a second or two, her classic smile return.

After a few classes you could actually see some changes in her comfort level in the water. Some of her classes happened to coincide with grandma's visit, so there are a few really good shots that I thought about posting and letting you assume I took. But then I decided to be upfront and honest, since I'm trying to set a good example for my daughter.

[Before anyone goes and calls DCF (Department of Children and Families) about us being cruel and dunking our baby, you'll notice that the first person to do it is wearing the "official" Lifeguard t-shirt, so we were acting under the guidance and suggestion of an expert!!!!]

As fast as they seemed to swoop in, they swooped back out and the Kupper (and former Kupper) family members were back on their way home, leaving only fun memories and some great photos. Their visit certainly brought lots of laughter and NOISE, which made the house seem to overly quiet in the following days. Their visit coincided with my 1st Father's Day and what a fun way to spend it.

Time to pick up the story of Macy's first trip north. When we last left our hero, he had just finished changing the tire for a very appreciative family and was finally heading home. Once we arrived, Uncle Adam got to spend his first real moments with his niece. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by how well Adam seemed to take to her. For those of you who know Adam well, he is sometimes pretty hard on the outside, so its nice to be reminded that he's actually pretty soft on the inside.

The next morning we woke up to 6 inches of snow, so I got to relive those fun shoveling memories from my childhood. I'm afraid that I don't have any pictures of the trip because somehow with all of the packing and planning we did, I forgot to bring the cable that attaches to the camera. So, all of the pictures are still stuck on the camera which is hopefully still with Annie in Connecticut

Our second day in town turned out to be quite a memorable day. First off, we were hoping the snow and ice would clear up enough so that we could leave the house. Once things started to look better outside, it was time to confirm the evening's first memorable moment....confirming the babysitter for Macy. You see, Friday night we were going to dinner with Adam, Kim (his fiancé --that still sounds weird so say) and her family. Dinner was going to be the official meeting of the families, so we needed someone to keep any eye on the baby. Kim's brother has a little one as well and having two small fries at dinner would have made it difficult to get to know each other.

Prior to our trip, I called Jodi, one of my childhood friends and twisted her arm and convinced her to watch Macy for us. It probably took me 3 hours to convince her. Wait, did I say 3 hours? I meant 3 hundredths of a second. As excited as Jodi was to play babysitter, her two little boys were even more excited. Come to think of it, I guess I do have some photos of the trip. Here are some pictures of Jodi's boys keeping an eye on our little one.

 Dinner with the Kim's family was a big event and was really nice. I know that Annie and I are looking forward to continuing our relationship with them for the next 60 years or so...

As big a moment as diner was, we had an even bigger moment planned for the afternoon. Luckily the snow plows cleared up the neighborhood and we were able to pile the family into the car, bundling Macy up like never before and off we went to Jefferson's Ferry, home to Macy's Great-Grandmother Sally. I'm sure the specialness of the moment was lost on Macy, but it wasn't lost on me. It was such an amazing feeling to introduce my Grandmother to my daughter. My Aunt Anne is temporarily staying with my grandmother, so she got to meet Macy as well. I have to laugh over the fact that my aunt seemed nervous to hold Macy, yet after we sort of forced her to do it, she didn't let her go and basically held onto her almost right up until the moment it was time for us to leave. The baby seems to have that effect on people.

Saturday morning started the parade of people coming over the house to say hi to Annie and I. It was weird, because on other trips up, people didn't flock to the house like this time. It was almost like something was different this trip...I wonder what it was?????

Sunday morning seemed to pass way to quickly and before I knew it, I was saying goodbyes and heading off to the airport for the lonely flight home. I'm sort of disappointed in myself, because here I sit exactly one week later, still trying to finish a story from last Sunday, but I'm just about done. The best part of my story is that as I write this, I'm keeping an eye on the clock, because in 20 minutes I have to head to the Hollywood/Fort Lauderdale International Airport to pick up my family!!!!