May Days

We've been busy since our return from Boston - mostly with hanging out and having fun.

Luke continues to enjoy holding hands with Harper in the mornings and requesting a photograph. When did he get so gangly??

Harper graduated from her cradle swing and bouncy seat to her excersaucer! (kindly on loan from the Tiedemanns)

She has also been giving rice cereal a try...

...with some success...

...SOME success.

It seems jackets are behind us for good now, so we went to the zoo! Breaking out bare feet and sun hats and everything!

Luke was tired after a morning of train rides and "feeding sheeps" and carousel rides and bear spotting and...

Another day, Luke and Mommy decided to declare it Wacky Hair Wednesday for no reason other than it was so nice out and we were all in good moods

Harper declined to participate

"Say cheese, watermelons!"

By evening, the wackiness had worn off and Luke & Daddy took in Hoboken's Memorial Day Parade. Luke was sure to bring along his Grand Old Flag.

We also took in Harper's first (and Luke's first that he remembers) Phillies game! Daddy imparted lots of baseball knowledge. [and no, his beard isn't THAT white (yet) - the sunscreen wouldn't disappear!]

Early on, the 90ish degree humidity wasn't getting us too droopy

But the Phillies store was a welcome AC'd respite

And Luke accomplished his 2 main goals for the day
1) Get a new RED Phillies baseball hat

2) Eat ice cream in a little helmet

By this point, we were all PLENTY droopy

But, even though Chooch didn't play OR Jimmy Rollins (Mommy's favorite), Utley was back in rotation and the Phils won!

Choo Choooooooo

Well, Luke certainly figured out the story with Mom's Huffy Puffy train. All of a sudden this evening, he was determined to put in some quality time with the "choo choo." Mom or Dad pushing the train - especially into him - is just flat out hilarious. Sure, he's covered in daycare toddler crud and parts of his dinner, but I couldn't resist.

The discerning ears can make out his new buzzword, "Peeeese?" as he asks Dad to run into his foot with the train some more. (he also has "thank you" down, but that still requires s little prompting) Once he discovered a well placed "peeeese?" with the head tilt gets him cookies and toys and bubbles and Cookie Monster, he upgraded it in his vocabulary toot sweet. Just ask Aunt Tanya. (don't get him starrrrrted on Cookie Monster - so popular that all TV programming and the TV itself are "Cookie." Elmo, on the other hand, is a nameless monkey, prompting his "Ooo Ooo Ooo" monkey call)




[NB: it is highly likely that only blood relatives will sit through the entirety of this clip, and possibly only those of the grandparent variety]

We'd also like to remind you that Saturday, October 31st is the last day that donations to TEAM LISA will count toward our fundraising goal. Should you be feeling some Halloween spirit, please give by visiting www.komennyc.org/goto/paigeandluke09 or click on the link in the upper right corner!

Ack! A(nother) Catch Up Post!

Way back in July, we went to Nantucket on Luke's first real family vacation. We were lucky to stay with our dear friends, The Scotts, at their house - with lots of other Bowdoin visitors during the week. We had a fantastic time, the weather was great, and we ate like kings. Luke, despite an Indepdence Day Fat Lip, loved being with the Big Kids...and scoping out next year's gear from the infamous Jacob & Ronan Collection (tm).

First, Dad got things off to a proper start on Main Street

Luke found very little to be more entertaining than watching Jacob & Ronan (and Sam, too!) running around their yard being Big Guys

Except maybe playing with Cisco, their "puppy"...

...or waking nice and early to play with Cisco...

...or to snuggle with Puppy before a long day...

...or snuggling up to Cisco at the end of a long day...

Luke wasn't so fond of the sand at the beach on SurfsideHe found it boring, really

He soon came, however, to see how the beach, while sandy, is a GREAT place for a nap

And while Luke napped, Ronan and Paul studied up on the life of Harry Houdini

Luke, Jacob, and Ronan had fun running wild around the Cisco Brewery

Luke tried to use his Crazy Baby Strength to move some kegs around

And Luke & Ronan committed quite the party foul
(the pacifier was allowed outside of bed/nap time due to the aforementioned Independence Day Fat Lip)

How handsome are these boys?

Luke and Ronan consulting on just how broken they broke the kite

Luke tried to earn his keep by cleaning up around the house - and showing a little skin

Remember when I said we ate like kings?
(also: Independence Day Fat Lip)

Paul was a popular story time guy - with Jacob and Ronan...

...and at bedtime with Luke and Amber

Luke also gets special commendation for surviving the road trip and ferry boat portions of our voyage. Snacks helped.

Father's Day

Rain cut short the father's day photo session, but after sleeping late and opening up a great present Luke and Dad did get a few good ones in.

Dad's Team

For Grandma and Grandpap who requested more movies.