Grins and Giggles

Last week, Luke asked to hold Leah on the couch, and the children were in great moods and allowed us to take their picture. The results were just too cute, and I wanted to share the photos here.





I've also been meaning to post this video from last month of Luke making Leah laugh by saying: "I love you!" Click HERE to see these adorable sibling giggles.


Here's another sweet picture of my big boy. I really don't know when he grew up, but is looking like he's about 7 years old in a lot of these:


Luke is currently OBSESSED with Thomas the Train. He has always liked playing with train tables, but has a new, all consuming interest in the Thomas characters. He sings the songs, plays with his Thomas and Friends figurines, reads his Thomas books over and over again, and even has multiple pairs of Thomas the Train underwear (which gives me new appreciation for that cute "caboose"!). The following pictures illustrate how much Thomas the Train makes Luke grin:







Luke belts out the Thomas theme song at the top of his lungs, and it makes us laugh and laugh. Click HERE for a video of Luke singing along, and below are the actual lyrics that he is saying, so you can translate his very unique rendition of what he calls "The 6:08 Song":

"They're two they're four they're six they're eight
Shunting trucks and hauling freight
red and green and brown and blue
they're the really useful crew

Thomas he's the cheeky one
James is vain but lots of fun
Percy pulls the mail on time
Gordon thunders down the line
Emily really knows her stuff
Henry toots and huffs and puffs
Edward wants to help and share
Toby, well let's say, he's square

They're two they're four they're six they're eight
Shunting trucks and hauling freight
red and green and brown and blue
they're the really useful crew"

The best parts about that video/song in my opinion are:
1) Luke's serious, serious face.
2) That he uses the word "shunting" appropriately in his vocabulary now,
3) At age 3, he is calling something "cheeky".

(And, FYI, I cut off that video after the first verse... He sang the song about 7 times in a row without stopping.)

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Leah is sleeping better since my last update. She is officially in her crib now (after 5 months in our room), and is still waking multiple times each night, but it's a big improvement. She remains such an easygoing baby, who smiles and is happy all the time. Here she is posing with BB Emily, during Em's recent trip to visit us:



Leah is starting to appear so big to me, and I am getting brief glimpses of the child that she will become. It makes me excited to see a glimmer of all that lies ahead as she turns into a big girl, and breaks my heart at the same time, as her infant days are flying by faster than I can process it all. She's grasping toys and interacting with us, and is the most delightful baby that I've ever met:


So I'm going to drink up all of those sweet grins and giggles, and enjoy my two little happy sunshines!

Our Week with Mimi

While Daddy was away, Mimi came to play! We had such a wonderful week with her, and did lots of special things. Here are a few examples of what fun a Mimi can be:

Mimis are especially good at giving kisses and sharing giggles:






Mimis know how to play games and create "magical colored flowers":








Mimis are great at taking pictures of Chuck E Cheese's, the waterpark, and silly times in our backyard:















Mimis appreciate the ridiculous adorableness of their grandchildren:


(Looks like someone missed his casting call for the remake of Gilligan's Island...)


(Because nothing says you're in swimsuit shape like the 27 rolls peeking out from under your baby bathrobe!)

And most of all, Mimis love us! Thanks for sharing the week with us, Mimi!

Italia

Mark spent the past week in Italy for work, and was able to spend some time sightseeing amidst his "important meetings", which contained fresh pasta, Chianti, cappuccino, and gelato. I was so excited for Mark to return to Florence (where the GE facility is located), as it is one of the cities where we stayed when we vacationed in Italy several years ago. It was fun for Mark to revisit many of the sights that we toured then, and also see some new places on a day trip to Pisa.


Vedute a Firenze (View of Florence).



Palazzo Vecchio: A well-known Florentine landmark.



Nighttime rooftop view of Ponte Vecchio (Florence's famous bridge across the Arno).



Real pizza, Italian-style.


Photo taken from the Pitti Palace.



Train ride through the Tuscan countryside.



Lasagna al Forno.



Duomo and the Leaning Tower of Pisa.



Pisa's impressive Duomo was once the largest in the world.



Fresh Bruschetta. (Don't the food pictures just make your mouth water?)!

Luke proclaimed several times this week, "I am the Man of the House...I will take care of Mommy!". I think he and Daddy had a heart to heart right before Mark left for his trip, and Luke took Daddy's instructions very seriously. Leah's first tooth officially broke through yesterday, and Mark returned home late last night in time to congratulate his big girl on this milestone.
Welcome Home, Daddy- We missed you!

Leah's 5-Month Pictures

Here are a few of my favorites from Leah's portraits taken this morning. Our little baby is changing so much every day!

Milestone Monday

Leah had a huge weekend of firsts! On Friday, I found her eating her toes for the first time. I absolutely LOVE this baby stage, of contently lying on her back and snacking on those tasty tootsies.

Another first for our Nutty was rolling over. On Saturday morning, I placed Leah on her blanket with some toys. I turned around to find that she had rolled from her back to her tummy- and no one had witnessed it! I felt so guilty and sad that I did not see my baby's first roll, until we realized that it was a game to Leah. She rolled over 2 more times later in the day, but always did it when no one was looking. When we watched her, she remained on her back and just smiled sweetly at us. However, as soon as we left the room, she rolled onto her tummy again! We tried to trick her by walking out of her sight, but she knew we were there, and wouldn't roll. What a stinker! Leah's rolling is opposite of Luke and most other babies, who go from their tummy to their back first, to escape dreaded "tummy time". Our peanut loves being on her tummy, and hasn't tried to roll onto her back yet. I hope to post a video of Leah rolling, but haven't been able to capture it so far.

Our last important milestone to document was Leah's first solid food on her 5-month birthday on Saturday. She ate her rice cereal with lots of enthusiasm (I somehow forgot what a messy endeavor feeding an infant is), and we are very proud of our little chunk for being such a good eater her first time!





Leah has a very sweet disposition, and is such an easy, fun baby. She is smiley and happy all the time, babbles and giggles, and pleasantly tolerates being toted around in her infant carrier/stroller. Her personality is really beginning to emerge, and I am enjoying her so much. She's recently gotten more hair (her fine, blond hair makes her appear bald in pictures!), and has grown quite a bit in the past couple of weeks. Leah's first teeth (the 2 bottom middle) are about to poke through and I can't believe how quickly she is changing. She has been going through a terrible bout of sleeping for the past month, which has escalated to her being unable to stay asleep for longer than 15 minutes unless she is held or I am right beside her. I think we're more exhausted than we've ever been, and this awful sleeping is even worse than Luke as an infant (which I thought impossible), but I know it will pass. And since it's really the only area where Leah is not practically perfect (in my completely unbiased opinion), we can tolerate it, despite our bleary eyes and sleepy yawns!

Touch-A-Truck

This morning was Touch-a-Truck Day at the downtown Greenville Farmer's Market. 23 different vehicles were displayed, including construction equipment, police cars, fire trucks, school & city buses, and trolleys. Children were allowed to climb, drive, and play on all of the trucks, and Luke thought that it was the best activity in the world. He gleefully ran from truck to truck, trying out the driver's seat of all the vehicles and climbing up into all of the displays. Mark and I were really excited to discover this activity, and it was so much fun for all of us because it brought so much joy to our son.


Luke absolutely LOVED being behind the wheel of the construction vehicles!



Even Leah, dressed up in her frilly pink, got in on all the fun!



In the scoop of the backhoe.



Adorable trolley passengers.



Watch out! There's a new Meter Man in town!



Fire Chief Luke.



Pointing to the ladder (Luke's favorite part of the fire truck).



Trying on his SWAT Team helmet,...



...getting in the driver's seat,...



...and taking Daddy for a spin.



Our girly girl could only take so much, and let her brother be the star of the show while she napped!



Of all the vehicles displayed, Luke proclaimed that the "yellow truck" was the one that he liked the most.




What a fun morning!