Wow, it's been a busy few weeks! We have had a great August so far! The first week in August, we went to Cape Cod with our friends Chuck, Jenn, and their daughter, Katie, who is less than one day older than Seth. We had a great time. We stayed in a cottage in S. Yarmouth, and the cottage cluster had its own private beach just outside our door. It was perfect - we just walked out of the house and the beach was right down the stairs. Seth had so much fun - he loved the water and the sand. He would run right in to the surf, slowing down to let us hold his hand. He liked jumping waves, as well as being tossed and caught in the water by Daddy. He also had his toddler routines - he liked to chase the birds up and down the beach, and tried to throw every stone and shell into the water.

We saw our friends Gina and John, as well, and they took us to a really cool beach in Dennis that had a huge sandbar at high tide. Seth loved this - he could run and run for as far as he could see! He got a surprise when he put his face in the water to blow bubbles and got a gentle wave right in the face - he was so good natured, he didn't even mind! We went to the Zooquarium - a neat combo zoo/aquarium. Seth and Katie had lots of fun together, as did the grownups! When we got back, Seth thought every picture of himself was "Datie" (Katie), and liked to kiss a picture we have of her at home.

Grams (Jason's mom, Judy) came out for a visit from Illinois (see guest blog entry!) when we got back from the Cape. We had a great time with her, as usual. She is always so excited to see how Seth has grown and changed since she last saw him. She has lots of fun with him, and we love seeing them together! Jason's sister, Lissa, was also out for a quick visit from CA and stopped in to see Sethie. Hard to believe a year ago she was here and Seth was a little "nugget" (as she would say) lying in his boppy watching Lissa make him laugh with Peek-a-boo Kitty! We went up to Jason's dad's for a weekend, and had a great time together. We took Seth to the pool, the river, and to a neat trolley museum in Shelburne Falls where Seth got to ride a refurbished trolley. He enjoyed the ride and even got to ring the bell!

We've spent lots of time with Geema (Amy's mom), and Seth always loves that. She comes over at least once a week and we all have lots of fun together. We also went to visit her at work - Seth loves running around and showing off for the staff.

Last weekend we went for a visit to see my dad and his family in Rhode Island. We had a nice time with my dad and step-mother celebrating my dad's 60th birthday. They were so happy to see Seth! We also saw my aunt, my cousin and her daughter, and spent time with my Nana, Seth's great-grandmother. He played this cute game at her apartment where he ran repeatedly between the three of us offering us this lavendar sachet to smell!

Seth has been working quite hard on his verbal skills! He has all sorts of new words, including mower, blocks, boat, guest, and turtle. He has even been working on saying his name (comes out as "Set" or "Yeth") when we tell him who is in all the pictures on the wall! He also has many new baby signs, including bird, baby, and play. He is becoming so good at expressing himself!

The funniest new expression is "a this." A few weeks ago, Seth learned that he could put the word "a" in front of some of his words (like "mao" or "ball") So, he decided it made sense to put it in front of the word "this." Hey, he's just following the rules, it's not his fault that the English language doesn't always follow along! So, he is so cute, he says "a this" for something that he wants that he doesn't know the name for. Like pointing to the light switch, which he loves to turn on and off, and saying "a this!" We love it!

Seth got in all four of his first set of molars over the past few weeks, and let me say that they seemed to really hurt him! Poor guy, think how big those molars are! Now that they are all in, he seems to be able to chew his food better, so that is definitely a bonus. Good thing, because he tries to shove in as many pieces of food at once as he can!

We had Seth's 15 month appointment a couple weeks ago, and everything seemed great. His weight gain (10-25%ile) and height growth (50%ile) are remaining on track, and he is meeting his age-appropriate developmental milestones, like engaging in pretend play, stacking blocks (he can stack four or five!), learning new words, scribbling with crayons, and bouncing a ball. Boy, can he bounce a ball! He has better accuracy than I do! Poor little guy had an ear infection last weekend, but now that he is on the antibiotics it seems to be clearing up. He hadn't had one since March, so it was a bummer that he had another one. He handles it like a little trooper. He loves to take baths right now, so those usually cheer him up!

Yesterday, Seth learned how to open a door knob and unscrew a tube, so we've got to keep our eagle eyes on him at all times!