Farming: Colonial to the Present

The Adams National Park, down the street from our house was hosting an "Every Kid in a Park" event on a very beautiful last day of April. In addition to dressing up in colonial garb with "Abigail", Sophia had the opportunity to plant some carrot seeds:

Mill Apple Cider:

and make a beeswax candle:

Earlier in the day, we visited the farm of our friends Bruce and Terry.

sentasfamilyfarm.com

More recently Sophia did some farming of her own by collecting the late summer harvest from the garden of her Godfather Glen Thompson.

New Jersey 2016

Although J has lived all but two months of his life a mile from the Atlantic, his first trip to the New Jersey Shore made it feel official. There was some sand eating, a toe dip, and some playing, but mostly sleeping.

Sophia was very helpful with transport down to the beach. 

And Bop-bop was very helpful with oceanfront construction.

Sophia was very pleased to show off her invention of "pickle-tongue",

and to take her first paddle boat ride with her Nana and Mama.

J's First Birthday

Dear J-Man, (nicknames from this year include Baby-J, Jace, JJ, JC)

Two words can best describe your time in our family so far- pure joy! You are one of the most content, smiley, and kind little babies. You smile morning, noon and night. You love to give hugs and just be near us. Multiple people in your life refer to you as pure sugar, and describe your smile as devastating.

If I am being completely honest, I was slightly nervous about welcoming a new family member that might struggle to adjust to a new home, cry too much, not eat well, or struggle to learn how to sleep. Well you have blown those concerns out of the water and been a champion eater and sleeper. You light up when Sophia walks into a room and love to play with her whenever she slows down enough to come within your reach.

One of my all-time favorite memories will be the first time I walked into the living room to see you sitting next to Sophia with her arm around your waist while she “read” you a book out loud. Often you are so quiet and content, but that is changing these days as you enjoy “singing” at the top of your lungs in outbursts that sound like a growl or parrot squawk, and are starting to babble. I can’t wait to have you start to talk more so we can hear your little voice and all that you have to say to us. Without a doubt I will be starting a list of funny conversation topics between you and Sophia for a future letter.

These days you are crawling all over the house, and are so proud of pulling yourself up on the couch or holding our hands to stand. You love to clap, turn the pages of books, knock down blocks, play catch by rolling a ball, or push a truck around the living room floor.

Carolyn Thompson is a favorite friend of yours as she takes care of you once a week and spends hours watching cars from the porch, playing with the front door handle, pushing around your favorite toys, or feeding you second or third breakfast, or your fourth snack of the day.

Before you joined us we prayed hard for you. We prayed that we would know how to best take care of you. I hope that how often you giggle heartily when kissed or tickled is one small indication of how loved and happy you feel in Chateau Archambault.

Just now we are starting to see your personality emerge. You are flexible and along for the ride, excited about people, curious about how toys work and all the sounds around you. You take your time to figure something out and make a plan before attempting it. You love when the trains go by our house when we are outside eating dinner, and make an enormous mess while eating us out of house and home.

We thank God for the blessing of last year, and look forward to more to celebrate next year.

Love,

Dad