A Memorable Weekend

This Memorial Day weekend was, to say it correctly, memorable. I apologize for the redundancy. My little girl turned a year old and we got to spend all weekend with Grandpa Jim. Not to mention our extra special visit with Lady, Paw Paw and cousins Nate and Kate. But I need to start this blog by showing pictures of our new, state of the art, Jessica jail. Jessica is just too fast lately and I needed to have a safe zone so I went out and got this play yard and it works great. Joe pointed out that the box advertised that it can be used on children or pets... but he also says he doesn't know how we lived without it before. As you can see, I use it for both children and pets... hee hee. Turns out, Jessica loves being in her jail (as long as you are in there with her).So we all get in there with her, including Grandpa.Jessica recently learned to point. She points at everything and says, "Da" (even strangers).We took my dad out for our usual evening walk by the water so he could really get a feel for our Florida lifestyle.We stopped by the swings so Jessica could get her thrills.She's such a daredevil.
Here's a video of Jessica swinging, for your enjoyment.



We took my dad out to a local spot called "Sunset Grille". As usual, Jessica made sure that all the staff noticed how cute she was.
It was wonderful having Grandpa here all weekend, Jessica can get accustomed to getting the royal princess treatment. The Sunset Grille is right on the water so we took a walk after dinner along the dock.A boat barn.We had a really nice visit with Lady, Paw Paw, Nate and Kate too.I like this picture because Kathryn has the sweetest look on her face and she is allowing me the ultimate privilege of holding her.Jessi and Paw PawKathryn and Nathan discovered our Jessi jail and climbed right in, they thought it was fun. Bunker and Kathryn got to know each other a little better too.On Memorial Day I took Jessica and my dad to the neighborhood pool for a dip. It was definitely hot enough for it. Jessica decided my hat was a good chew toy.

She likes swimming as much as she likes swinging.

Jessica is climbing a lot lately, she thought that Grandpa looked like a fun person to climb on. She was rewarded with a story when she reached the summit of Mount Everett.

Jessica likes to stare at herself in the mirror. Joe discovered that she likes to play dress up and stare at herself in the mirror even more! Here's a video of our little princess playing dress up.

Happy Birthday Jessica!

Wow, it's hard to believe we've had Jessica for an entire year. She has made our life so much more enjoyable and worthwhile. Her life started out a little rough but looking at her now, you'd never be able to tell she spent her first week in the NICU.

First pic with mommy

First pic with daddy

Fast forward to one year later and we're having an awesome party at the community center on base with family and friends. We had a room to ourselves with lots of good food.

And of course there were presents for Jessica to open. As you can see, she had a blast ripping the paper off her gifts (with a little help from her cousins, Nate and Kate)And then came the cakeDaddy helped her blow out her candleBut then the real fun began. The bakery provided us with a free "smash" cake for Jessica to impose her will upon. And that's exactly what happened. She started out a little shy at first, but as the video below illustrates, the baked goods of the world need to be scared...very scared.

As if getting presents and destroying cakes weren't enough fun, we then took the party outside to the splash park and all the kids went wild. These are the best pics we could get of Jessica and her cousins because they were all too preoccupied to worry about getting their pictures made.

Nathan and Jessica shared a ride on the alligator's nose.

Taking a break with mommy

Aunt Megan took her turn splashing around with the birthday girl And Lady took Jess for a stroll

Of course Jessica had to have some snuggle time with Grandpa Jim as well

But then it was back to splashing

We had the absolute best time celebrating our little girl's first birthday and judging from the picture below, we think Jessica felt the same way. Thanks to our family and friends for making this a great day. Happy birthday Jessica, we love you so much!

Jessica's New Sweet Ride

I had mentioned on my Easter blog that Jessica would like to have one of these cool push cars. Not long after that, Lady and Paw Paw had one delivered to our doorstep. Spoiled? With Lady's permission we opened it early, before Jessica's birthday. Thank you Lady and Paw Paw! As you can see, it is a big hit.

When I first got the car out of the box, before it was even put together, Jessica went crazy and started to climb up into it.

Then, once I got it put together, she made me drive her around the house. We have a good house for doing circles and I got sick of it before she did.

When we got outside it was a whole new world of fun. She was closer to the ground and closer to the action.

She likes going fast. She squirms a lot and tries to pick things up off the ground if you walk too slowly. If you pick up the pace, like a speed walker, then she leans back and grabs the stearing wheel like she's on a leisurely Sunday afternoon drive.

This is a video of her emptying her toybox.

She recently discovered that she can climb on the pink chair that Lady and Paw Paw got her for Christmas, it is great fun.

Jessica stood up in her crib the other day. By the time I got the video camera she was quite upset because she didn't know how to get down. She was stuck. Warning: It is a hard video to watch but I assure you she was fine once I picked her up.

Here's a picture of Jessica enjoying one of our many long walks. Our long walks take us on adventures lasting around one to two hours. We go by the water, then by the NEX and by the portside club, etc. We take breaks for water and bottles, etc. Jessica goes crazy without her walks.

Pool Premier

Today we went to a pool party at Joe's Commander's house. It was Jessica's first time in a swimming pool. I didn't want to make her mad by trying to squeeze her into her bikini top so I just put the bottoms on which was hard enough to do with her squirming.

The pool was a big hit, she splashed a lot.

She has a friend her own age, Gwen, and they play well together.

I think Gwen might be just as much of a ham as Jess.

They inspected Gwen's baby float very carefully before it went in the water. I can't wait for the pool on base to open, it is half a mile from our house. I need one of these baby float things.

Jessica had so much fun that she took a super long nap when we got home, over 3 hours! That is why I am able to post a blog on the same day.