8 hours

Whoo hoo!

Jesse gave us 8 straight hours of sleep last night!

We have nothing to complain about. He usually gives us between 5-6 hours during the first stretch, followed by a quick diaper change and nursing, then 4 more hours, another diaper change and nursing session, then usually 2-3 more hours.

But 8 hours to start! That's something else altogether!

Of course, Mama's body isn't used to this, so I had to get up to pump and relieve myself.

Of course, for the first time ever Lucas somehow managed to fall out of his bed last night, and a scared boy needed lots of cuddling and soothing at two o'clock in the morning.

And of course, Papi and I tell ourselves every night that we'll go to bed early but instead end up staying up into the wee hours catching up on things that need to get done, or on some Bones or movie watching, or on just plain kid-free hanging-out time.

But now there's the potential for a full night's rest sooner than later.

Right, Jesse? Are you paying attention?

Dan Zanes

Becca and Amalia scored us a couple of tickets to the Dan Zanes CD release party today. Papi and I love his music (his latest album is completely in Spanish!) though we haven't yet introduced it to Lucas, but we couldn't pass up the chance for an adventure. So Lucas and Papi went to Manhattan this afternoon to attend the concert while Mama and Jesse went stoop sale shopping and hung out with Tata and cousin Liam.

Papi is sitting behind me as I write, reporting that "Lucas and Amalia behaved like such big kids today -- riding the subway (the R, N, D, and E trains to get there; the 2, D, and R trains to return in order to maximize the number of subway trains Lucas was able to see, including being able to cross the very exciting Manhattan bridge above ground), sitting in the front row watching the big kids dance and the fun instruments being played. Amalia tickled Lucas for basically most of the ride on the 2 train."

So cute!

Jesse's Smiles

Oh wait, these last two are pushing out gas:

Bird Watching

This kid cracks me up!

We were hanging out on the couch when all of a sudden he picks up this little red kaleidoscope, looks through it while pointing it towards the window, and says, "I'm bird watching!"

Then he searches for birds and tells me how fast the imaginary birds in the sky are flying.

All the while I'm sitting there, stunned, and wondering where the heck he gets this stuff.

Shapes

Thanks to some favorite episodes of a Blue's Clues DVD I bought for after Jesse's birth, as well as certain toys like books and puzzles that we have at home, Lucas is big-time into shapes. Numbers and letters in both Spanish and English are also still favorites.

(Yes, it's time for some unabashed bragging here...)

As of this point he can identify the following: circle, square, triangle, rectangle, oval, crescent, star, heart, raindrop (I think it counts) and trapezoid. Wow!

The other day he was eating these generic mini Nilla Wafers when I heard him yell, "Mama, It's Mickey Mouse!" (Before going to bed most nights, we read a favorite book about various hats in which we see the Mickey Mouse ears on a little boy.)

We were watching the Food Network on t.v. again, and I didn't see Mickey there so I looked around to see what in the world he was talking about. I finally looked down on the table and saw it.

Shapes are everywhere, he's saying!

MOM Is WOW Upside Down!

For Mother's Day, I received some special gifts from family, including my favorite -- poetry written by the huz.

Yesterday I was treated to a therapeutic pedicure.

This morning we took Jesse to church for the first time.

I received from Jesse a bonafide smile this week (a real one! -- not just one of those drunk, milky or twilight sleep smiles).

I finally took pictures with my boys. (These were the best we could do for now.)

And now we're on our way to a BBQ with friends.

Hey, as they say, "EVERY DAY is Mother's Day!"

The Boxer

 

Counting Fingers

By now we have countless pictures of Lucas holding Jesse so we'll try to limit posting too many more if they bore you. But they make Mama and Papi melt, so here's one more we'll share from a couple of weeks ago or so.

Lucas still asks to hold Jesse all the time, but this moment was particularly sweet. Lucas picked up Mama's special nursing pillow and wrapped it around his waist, then sat on the couch and announced he was ready to hold baby Jesse.

We turned around and saw him sitting there with a big smile on his face. I was half waiting for him to pretend to nurse him, but he was just happy to hold Jesse and count his little fingers.

And congratulations to Robyn, Dave, and big brother Andrew on the recent birth of Isaac!

Reflection

Double Stroller

Check out our nifty new old/used double stroller! Lucas loves his exciting and smooth new ride (and the new summer sandals to go with it).

But... where's Jesse?!

There he is!

Isn't that the wackiest (and neatest) double stroller you've ever seen?

Eyes Meet

Lucas loves to stay close to Jesse when he's in the bouncy chair. Here's our green-eyed boy pulling up a chair next to our blue-eyed (as of this point) boy:

It makes Lucas feel so good when you tell him that his baby brother is looking at him (even if it's that Jesse is really just looking in Lucas's generally direction).

Jesse

Pancake Morning

...Made all the more enticing because they were formed into the letters of Lucas's favorite subway trains.

(Plus an "L" for the first letter of his name, and an "O," which he says is his favorite letter).

Yum!

So True

(Sorry about the blurry pics.)

Thanks, Barnharts, for the cute onesie!

Juice

Here are some old pictures from before Jesse's birth that I had almost forgotten about. Lucas created a silly ritual for a few weeks where he'd request juice in one of those cute espresso cups in which we serve cuban coffee. I would pour o.j. and water into a larger glass, then replenish his cup after a few sips. He just thought it was a hoot to sip from these little cups and make a mess.

Just click on the thumbnails below to view each picture on our snazzy pictobrowser.

And congratulations to Tio Bryan who passed his written and oral exams, and who is on his way to a Ph.D.!