2009 -->2010

Mom, Dad, and Luke decided to spend New Year's with their bffs in Beantown.

While Paige, Paul, Fran, and Mer did their best to keep up with this crazy kids, the weekend mostly looked like this

But also lots of this

And healthy doses of this (I mean, seriously, HOW CUTE?)

New England did not disappoint and delivered some snow for us - and Luke even went out & played in it! (for approximately 10 minutes)

I think Carmen gave him her best come hither look...

...and a winning smile. He's talked a lot about "Baby Carrrrrmen" and "Cheeeeah" since we got home. And "Aunt Fran. Mer. Carmen Mama! Mama? Carmen?"

And sorry, Aunties, she's a Phanatic now!

Happy New Year, everyone!

When Luke Met Lucia...

This past weekend, we ventured North to Boston (well, Chestnut Hill) to visit our dear friends, the Leary Infantines. You may recall that Fran, Meredith, and Lucia came to visit Luke back in May - with mixed results. Well, what a difference 7 months makes!

Lucia was a gracious and generous hostess to "Baby Luke," showing Luke the ropes on some of her "baby toys" even though she is a big girl now.



And unlike in May, when Luke did a lot of sleeping and not a lot of noticing his lovely visitor, this time he was completely smitten with Lucia, paying very close attention to everything she did.

He even followed her lead and took a bath in the big kid tub! He was a little wary at first, but he did it!




Luke also engaged in a Mexican stand-off with kitty (Lady) Sadie (Tom Brady) - and fortunately his crawling was not speedy enough to earn him an appointment with the business end of her paws.
Finally, Grammy & Grandpap came down from Eliot to visit with everyone. Grandpap had a successful piggy hunt and tickled Luce's toes...

(Also pictured here is Grammy & Grandpap's bell....that they then left at Fran & Mer's. Later that day, Luce brought it to me saying "Look at this awesome bell I found!")

Luke didn't take inventory of Grandpap's pocket this time, but he gave them some snuggles during their stay.


So much fun was had by all - these pictures don't even capture it. There were delicious pancakes (courtesy of a recipe from Veronica's daddy), blueberries, strawberries, toys, toys, naps in Luce's crib, and a very special Friday Night Pizza Party - on SATURDAY! We can't wait to visit again - this time to see FOUR Leary Infantines instead of three!

When Lucia Met Luke

It has already been chronicled that Lucia was not quite so sure about this Luke person. Her first day with him was spent with a great deal of distrust, and downright dislike when Mama Fran or Mama Mer dared to approach him within her field of vision. Many a stinkeye was given in his general direction...

But, by the second day, while she didn't want to hug or kiss him, she would grudgingly accept Mama Mer giving him a cuddle:

And showed her acceptance of him in her own way, perhaps in the way that shows her highest regard, by making sure that Luke's lovey (or, as Luce calls them, "lubbies"), Daniel, was well-tended and tucked in just so:

By the end of the visit, I think everyone would agree that a good time was had by all. We hope that we all get to hang out again soon!

Belly Laughs

This past weekend, our dear friends (and bridesmaids!) Fran & Meredith visited with their 1 1/2 year old daughter, Lucia. There will be more posts highlighting the various and sundry festivities that occurred, including Luce's slow warm-up to Baby Luke, but this one deserves its own post.


In college, Mer & I dubbed Fran "Fran Life of the Party Infantine" because she is one of those people that EVERYONE finds fun & funny to be around. I mean, Mer and I are pretty fun people to be sure, but I was never a DJ for the Masses... True to form, Auntie Fran got Luke to show off his laugh for his dad for the first time. (Paige had seen it before while Paul was out of town, but he hadn't busted it out since)

Don't worry, while you can hear Fran threatening to share Embarrassing Paige Stories with Luke, she KNOWS I have equal dirt on her to tell Lucia one day...