Leah Update

Recently, Leah has become quite the little ham.  She just learned a new trick: Saying "Please!".  Peanut will scrunch up her face and give a cheesy grin, and say "Peese" in a funny, nasal voice that makes us all giggle.  Click HERE for a cute video of our little girl saying please!:

At 17 months, Leah:

 -Runs around everywhere and gets into everything.  If we forget to close a door or baby gate, we find Leah splashing around in the toilet bowl water, placing anything that she can find in the garbage can, attempting to walk down the stairs by herself, or raiding the pantry for snacks.  I (almost) forgot the constant close supervision that this exploratory age requires and how I collapse into bed each night after such busy days chasing a toddler on the move!

Sharing her stolen loot with Winnie.

Look at that mischievous face!

-Is clingy and attached to Mommy.  She's very sweet and cuddly, but usually does not want to be put down when I need to make dinner or do some other crucial 2-handed task.  At the same time, Leah is exploring her independence and no longer wants to stay in her stroller or the grocery cart.  She is very interested in walking and "helping" me on all errands and excursions.  Thankfully, she's still very laid back and is easily distracted, and is an extremely easy child overall, but often does not like being confined in her car seat, which should make our upcoming summer travels interesting. 

-Has had a recent language explosion.  She understands everything that we say and can follow multi-step directions like, "Find your shoes and bring them to Mommy."  Leah can make lots of animal sounds when asked: "What does a (insert farm/zoo animal of choice) say?"  Her current favorite noises to make are: monkey, elephant, cow, sheep, horse, dog, bear, and monkey.  My favorite is tiger/lion.  Peanut proudly declares, "ROAR!" in the tiniest, cutest, non-scary voice.

-Loves pointing to body parts (nose, eyes, ears, hair, hands, fingers, toes, feet, and belly) and adores her baby dolls.  She says, "Baby" very clearly, and kisses and hugs her dolls very sweetly.  She pretends to talk on the phone, and likes to brush her own hair.  What a girly girl!

-Wags her finger at Luke when he has to go to time-out.  We sing an "Uh-Oh" song when Luke misbehaves (a Love and Logic discipline technique that really works for our little man), and now Leah echoes us, repeating "Uh Oh" in a sing songy voice.  She looks just like a little Mommy, waving that chubby little finger at her brother.  It's very hard to be a strict disciplinarian and keep a straight face with this adorable-ness happening at the same time. 

-Has all of her teeth except her 2 year molars, and her hair is long enough (at last) to use those tiny little baby bows.  She's been wearing lots of adorable sundresses and bubbles lately, and I can't wait for her first ponytail/pigtails someday soon!  Leah loves her sparkly shoes and wears them over her footie pajamas, which is quite fashionable, we think:

-Is weaned from breastfeeding and is finally drinking enough milk out of a cup daily that I am no longer worried about her hydration/nutritional intake.  It was a long 16 months, but we did it with no formula or bottles!  Hooray!

-Is a fruit monster and devours every possible fruit known to man.  Her other favorite foods are diced squash and sweet potato, and any type of bread/bagel/pasta.  She's a carbo-holic like her parents and brother, and ate 4 pancakes for breakfast yesterday.  Leah still refuses to keep a bib on, so she usually dines naked which makes for an easy clean up as we take her straight to the bathtub after dinner. 

-Seems to be getting very tall and lean lately.  I'm holding on to those last baby rolls (she has one deep thigh crease remaining in each leg that is absolutely delicious), but they won't be here for long.  She has transitioned from 2 naps/day to one nap (R.I.P. 2nd nap- I miss you!), and we are working on having that nap occur later than Leah's desired time of 10:00 or 10:30 a.m.   Right now, with both kids at home every day in the summer, our ability to go places in the morning is limited when Leah naps so early and it also makes for a really long afternoon when she's up by lunchtime.  So we're trying to delay this nap until after lunch and get on more of a set schedule, which hopefully will happen soon.        

-And speaking of sleeping, we have big news!  (Drumroll please....)  Peanut is FINALLY sleeping through the night consistently.  We still have a night every once in a while where Leah will have her marathon crying session for several hours in the middle of the night, but for the most part, I think we have gotten through the worst.  I'm still so envious of people who tell me that their infants sleep through the night after just a few weeks or months, since both of my children were such terrible sleepers for so long.  But our newfound nighttime rest has been life changing this month, and since I also just reintroduced caffeine into my diet after a 6 year break, I'm feeling like I have enough energy to take on anything! 

Our sweet girl loves blowing kisses, waving (with quite a Diamond Jubilee/regal flair), and is so affectionate and loving.  She adds so much "cuteness" to our days, and we are enjoying her immensely at this fun age.  Oh, how we love her so!

Signs of Summer

Oh, how I love this time of year!  Summer is here, and we are enjoying all that is has to offer.  We are relishing the suburban sounds of lawnmowers and the smell of freshly cut grass through our open windows today, admiring colorful potted annuals on front steps, and basking in warm sunny days followed by beautiful breezy evenings.  My hydrangeas are in full bloom, and our garden is thriving.  This morning, I pinched basil from our plant to make fresh pesto for tonight's dinner and picked a bowlful of raspberries from the bush in our backyard.  Ahh, delicious!   

The children and I visit our Farmer's Market weekly this time of year, and we've bought basketfuls of plump, juicy strawberries over the past month.  I made freezer jam, strawberry shortcake, and the kids love eating them whole, juice dribbling down their chins.  South Carolina peaches are now ripe and ready, and we can't get enough of these treats, either!  Somehow knowing that the season is so short makes devouring those delectable fruits even more fun.  I bought a half dozen ears of corn on the cob last week, sure that I'd have some left over to cut and save.  Mark and I each managed to take a few bites before the corn disappeared.  Apparently, our 2 little gremlins have a new favorite summer veggie!

We like to soak in summer in SC a little early, for it feels too oppressively hot in August to do anything here, and by then, our pool feels like bathwater!  But right now, it's absolutely perfect, and we are fortunate to be able to walk to our neighborhood pool whenever we are in the mood for a quick dip.  Luke and Leah are like two little fish in the water, swimming with Daddy.  Here are a few pictures from the past week:   

Luke's favorite pool activity is jumping in, over and over, which he calls his "cannonballs":

Such a happy little swimmer!

Leah likes to lounge in her stroller with snacks and her shades:

She also loves posing with her Daddy for a picture or two:

Someone has also discovered that pool toys can be lots of fun!

Miss Blue Eyes doesn't like to have Daddy far from her reach, however!

Welcome, Summer!!

Happy Memorial Day!

Summer Kick Off- Part 2

Not to be outdone by her big brother, Leah would like to share her tips on how to have a great summer vacation.

1.  Learn a new form of outdoor recreation, or just steal your big brother's scooter when he's not looking!

2.  Ride around town with the windows down, and go on a date with your favorite guy.   

3.  Read lots of good books.  There's no time like summer to catch up on those bestsellers!

4.  Eat corn on the cob.... often...and make a big mess while doing it! 

5.  Be a good hostess to out-of-town guests.  (Uncle Bob and Aunt Kathy loved their little tour guide!)  

6.   Spend as much time as possible wearing only your diaper.  Naked vacumming is much more fun!

7.  And last, but certainly not least, make a summer fashion statement and wear sparkly shoes with everything!

Summer Kick-Off

We are officially kicking off summer vacation now that all of Luke's preschool end-of-year festivities have ended.  Monday was the last day of school and Wednesday was the class picnic.  The final event of the year was the children singing in their school program on Friday.  What a difference we noticed in Luke's participation since the Christmas program in December!  This time, he actually sang the words to (most of) the songs and, at this rate, he may actually include the hand motions by preschool graduation next May!  We are still astounded at how quietly the children sit for the teachers as they listen to the other classes perform, since Luke's usual limit for sitting still at church is about 7 minutes (or whenever the snacks run out).  Luke is almost a head taller than everyone in his class, and was strategically positioned in the center of the top row when his class sang.  Of course we videotaped every moment, and are so proud of how much Luke has thrived in his school environment.  He has matured in so many ways since the beginning of the school year last September, and had the most wonderful teachers that a mother could imagine for her child's first preschool experience.  I began the year quite anxious and not sure how my son would do away from home.  Now I can't WAIT for next year, and am already counting the weeks until the beginning of school in the fall! 

Luke's 3 year-old class performing:

Luke has decided that the following are essential ingredients for a great summer vacation:

1) Have lots of playdates with friends (including the stuffed, furry kind):

2).  Pose in your super-hero cape.  Captain Band-Aid always rescues those in need and fights off the bad guys!

3.  Throw a birthday party for "Nobody" (yes, that's the horse's name, and he is 900 years old according to Luke):

4.  Eat breakfast in bed (ever since Mark and the children treated me to this luxury on Mother's Day, Luke thinks that he should begin every morning the same way):

5.  Hang out with your best buddies:

We're taking suggestions as to what to do for the remaining 3 months of summer, too!

Around Home

We've done some fun activities close to home in the past couple of weeks, and are enjoying spring! The above picture makes it look like we've been to the beach, but in fact, it was taken at the sand volleyball court at GE. We met Daddy for a picnic lunch at his work last week, and the children occupied themselves playing in the sand for a long time.


Leah no longer crawls at all anymore, and is busy, busy, busy, walking everywhere!   Below are a couple of videos of her new upright mobility. The first video is of her very first steps, on March 28. She walked straight to Luke, and "dove" into him every time. The second video was taken less than 3 weeks later, and you can see how much steadier Peanut is now:

Click HERE for a video of Leah's first steps.

Click HERE to see our little walker.

Ever since big brother's birthday party at the fire station, Leah thinks that she is a little fire fighter, too.  She chortles with delight when she wears her fire hat (and we think it's especially adorable with the "pantless" look):






She also loves modeling her brother's fireman boots, and acts like quite a little grown up reading the Sunday paper:

Mommy tries to steal lots of kisses when Nutty is still (which isn't often):

Leah is such a doll, and is talking a lot! She understands basic directions ("Go get your book"), makes several animal sounds, points to many body parts, and now calls her brother, "Bubba". Are we a true South Carolina family or what?!

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Luke is a very fun little boy. Lately, he has enjoyed wearing his dinosaur towel after bathtime and pretending he is a T-Rex:
 

Somehow, he's too cute to be scary when he "roars":


Luke went to a gymnastics birthday party for a school friend last weekend, and it was so cute.  Most of his preschool class went, and I love watching these children interact with each other outside of school.  The 4 year olds had a ball tumbling, bouncing, while the moms sat upstairs in the observation area, chatting and visiting, child-free, for over an hour!  Now, THAT's my idea of a party!!









We also attended the spring opening of George the Train at our local park recently. Luke decided to make it a date" and held Raquelle's hand.  Such a ladies' man!




Luke has been busy doing lots of spring yardwork recently around home.  Here he is with his new weed trimmer (which he LOVES!):






Luke still melts my heart with those dimples, and really can be the most charming little man. 

With only 4 days of preschool left and our pool opening this weekend, we're wrapping up spring at home, and are eager to begin a fun summer routine!