Milestones, mayhem, and...monkeys?

**Note** Jump to the post below for the first update of the day!

See this? See how diligent I am today? You get two posts for the price of one!

Alright, so we left off with Grandma Bev's big trip east to meet Eily. This brings us to the month of October. It shouldn't surprise you any that we headed north to New York (again) to hang out with good friends (again) and danced like crazy people (again). You know, I think this blog is getting kind of boring. I mean, after all, isn't this the same thing we did in September?

Oh wait, this time we were invited to join in the celebration of Holly and Charles' wedding day. These two crazy kids have been dating since before I worked at Professor Java's in Albany. (Yes, for those of you who didn't know, I used to be a super cool barista back in the day.) They are two of the sweetest people I know, and we felt so lucky to be a part of that day. Not to mention, the fact that it turned into a Javateer reunion!

Here we have the always gorgeous Holly and her proud papa.

And here I am making an ugly face that is only made worse by the fact that it follows the beautiful picture above. As you can see, Eily and Lovey were perfect wedding guests.

The wedding was fabulous, and I loved seeing so many of my old friends in one place. It only makes me miss Albany more, though. I know they say you can never go back, but what if you feel like you never really left in the first place?

*Sniffle*

Okay, moving on. The following weekend, Jesse went back to NY to do some boating with longtime pals Jim and Matt. Eily and I reveled in some girl time back home. On the 9th, she had her 15 month checkup with Dr. Shah. Here were the stats:

Height: 31 inches (that's over half my height!!)
Weight: 22lbs 6.5 oz (no wonder Daddy calls her "Lead-butt")

Everything else looked great, and developmentally she's above average at this point. What mommy doesn't like to hear news like that?

On the 20th, Grandma Mary arrived from MN for a visit. Eily loved spending time with her, and I'm sure it has something to do with Grandma's willingness to indulge her healthy appetite. We spent Saturday apple picking at Solebury Orchard and poking around Peddler's Village.

Eily doesn't like apples at all, can't you tell?

Riding in the hay on the way to the orchard!

I'm pretty sure Eily thought that all of these pumpkins should be hers.

On Sunday, we explored Grounds for Sculpture across the river in Trenton. I have to say, the park is beautiful. And I'm a little upset with us for not bringing out of town guests there sooner. There are something like 25 acres of carefully manicured landscape, with gorgeous sculptures strewn about. The best part? You can interact with a lot of them to create your own "art." Here's some of the creative stuff we saw/did. (WARNING: Some material may be inappropriate for young viewers!)

Monet's bridge



Eily loved that she was encouraged to bang on this sculpture - they even provided the sticks!



Real peacocks roam around the cafe area - Eily was able to get right up close to them.



"The Boating Party" - can you see the uninvited guest?



And here we have Jesse joining in the tribal dance with some naked ladies. Notice how "at home" he looks?

She's one frisky Grandma!

Jesse proves yet again, he is that guy. Creep.



He was particularly proud of how well he blended in with this one.

And finally, we have reached the end of the month. Normally, this would be nothing special, but this is October we're talking about. Like all good parents, Jesse and I dressed Eily up in a ridiculous costume, set her loose to beg at the doors of our neighbor's homes, then sent her to bed and ate her candy. Okay, not really. We let her eat the package of animal crackers she got from one house.

Here's our little monkey wishing you all a very happy autumn:

As an added bonus, I figured I'd throw in another cute pic of Eily climbing on the furniture:

And one more showing you her crazy hair when we take it out of the pigtails at night: