Grandma and Grandpa James Visit!

Grandma and Grandpa James were in town for a visit this week. Yay! They're on their annual summer pilgrimage to Maine. ;-) The last time Aidan and Ella saw Grandma and Grandpa James they were only a few weeks old and were spending most of their time in their bassinet. During this visit Ella and Aidan were wide awake and ready for fun. Ella, who is usually shy, warmed up quickly to Grandma. Dan, Aidan and Grandpa James spent a couple hours talking about baseball and politics and Aidan had a lot to say.

These days A & E are infinitely curious about people but they are also experiencing some stranger anxiety. Pretty much everybody is a stranger except Dan and I, and of course, Cooper. This makes it a little tricky when introducing A & E to friends and family we know well but they don't remember yet. We approach it in this way......while Dan and I are holding Aidan and Ella we make the introduction. "Ella this is your Grandma James - she is so happy to see you again! Grandma, this is Ella Bella, your granddaughter!" And, then we just carry on our usual conversation. The hardest part is asking Grandma and Grandpa not to get too close or not to hold A & E for the first few hours. It was difficult for them not to be able to hold E & A but it payed off as you can see from the pictures. Everyone had so much fun together. By the afternoon they were fast friends.


We had a full day of activities; a walk around the university, then home for a little lunch; then another outing in town. We tried to put Ella and Aidan down for a nap - they usually sleep 2 hours in the afternoon -but they were having none of it. So, we went shopping for play yard extensions. Grandma and Grandpa gave us 8 ft of play yard extension. Now we can enclose the entire living room rug, two club chairs and the ottoman in a giant playpen that the whole family can climb into. The panels extend in a circle or square and the living room has become a safe open space where Aidan and Ella can speed crawl and climb to their hearts content and we don't have to worry about chasing them to the electrical outlets. Love it! The next day Grandma and Grandpa were off to New York to visit more relatives along the way. :)