BBG

This past Saturday the weather reached mid-80's! (The summer-like weather continues to hang out this week!) Papi was attending a baseball game, and I didn't want the day to feel like any other by going to one of our usual parks. So we went to our favorite Brooklyn Botanic Gardens for the first time since the Fall. We realized how spoiled we are by Papi taking Wednesday's off to explore the city because everyone else seemed to have the same idea as the BBG was more crowded than we've ever experienced.

A Nif snuggle. I wouldn't dare navigate those long lines (especially the bathroom line for Lucas) with two boys alone! Nif is a good friend who also happens to be a church member and our babysitter extraordinaire when Papi and I go out on dates. The boys adore her.

Now a Mama snuggle:

This is sort of what Lucas does when you ask him to smile for the camera. Not his most genuine look!

A more natural face, believe it or not. Like Jesse, he's been making this scrunchy face lately:

Jesse is walking so beautifully these days inside the house, even pivoting and walking in circles and navigating the doorway thresholds that before served as speed bumps. Walking outside on uneven grass or pavement is so much trickier, though. He still keeps his arms up by his chest for balance, and together with his waddle-walk, he's the sweetest thing to behold!

Pretending to sleep while we wait for Nif while she fills up the water bottles:

Jesse was very angry about being carried around at the gardens. He wanted to get down and strut his walking legs!

We probably had at least half a dozen people remark at Jesse's hamhock-like thighs in the few hours we were there.

1 1/2 sets of warm, red cheeks:


Nothing cools you off better than an Italian Ice:

Later on at home, studying the map of the BBG. Lucas liked showing Papi the paths we took, the cherry blossom esplanade where we picnicked, and most importantly, the entrance/exit where the Italian Ice vendors were standing:

3-Year Old Preschool Pictures

Lucas must have had his game face on for Picture Day because look at how adorable these are!! Didn't the picture people do a great job?

I didn't seek permission from the parents of Lucas's classmates to post their faces here, so forgive the creepy blue lines, but I couldn't help but show you Lucas's facial expression and body language. If the camera person said something funny, why is Lucas the only one laughing so hard?!

Too, too cute. We love having Lucas in preschool (and he loves it, too!) but it's these special little things like Picture Day that also make us feel so fuzzy-achy-happy-proud inside that he's doing it.

Beach

Warmer beach weather finally arrived, so we hightailed it to the sand! The resort offered a free shuttle service to the beach just a few miles away, which Lucas always looked forward to.

We mostly did this:

Or this:

Some of us sampled the sand as well (and more than once)...

...and other found objects like seashells.

While dropping Lucas off at preschool this week, I heard him tell one of his teachers that the waves on the Florida beach kept coming and going back and forth, back and forth, and that finally one of them carried him all the way back to Brooklyn!!

The water was cold!

On the private beach was a cabana club complete with refreshment stands, bathrooms, and pools. Kiddie pools are the best!

Belly shot:

Jesse was in a signing frenzy all week, pointing out the abundance of (ceiling) fans, water, and lights that we saw everywhere. He also liked walking big-kid style while holding one of our hands instead of two like you see here:

Then back to the sand and the shore...


Another belly shot that I can't resist posting. We love watching our boys while they sleep.

Our flight was canceled the day we were supposed to leave town, so we ended up staying another day and night in Florida at this airport hotel where Jesse is sleeping above and Lucas is picking a wedgie below:

Many NYC taxi cabs have been updated with mini touch-sensitive television screens in the back seat for viewing weather, news, and other information. As we were riding home from the airport as part of our epic journey home, I could hear Lucas sounding out the letters he saw on the screen: "Mmmm... M. Aaaahhh... A. Puh, puh, puh... P. Mmmaaahhppp. Hey, that says 'map'! Mama, touch the button that says 'map' so that I can see the map page!"

We were flabbergasted. We often sound out letters and simple words like Lucas's name, "dog," etc. but this one he did completely on his own! (And, he surprised us the other day by writing the letter "L" with sidewalk chalk, even though his teachers assure me that they've never practiced tracing at preschool!) Looks like we might have an early reader!

Jacksonville Beach

The next day we checked into our fancy resort located just outside of Jacksonville in a fancy area called Ponte Vedra Beach -- lots of fancy golf courses and fancy restaurants and fancy, fancy. Not really our scene but beautiful nonetheless (and we were deeply grateful for the gift of this vacation).

Abuelo also gifted us with babysitting the boys a few times while Papi and I attended dinners. He came away with hilarious stories to tell of their adventures together, most of which involved plenty of poop. :)

Abuela was busy working her tail off but we were able to spend plenty of moments here and there throughout the event and have her abundant help as well. The boys loved spending time with their abuelos!

And then another special treat -- Uncle Reid drove all the way from Tampa to spend a day with us, offering another set of helping hands! We're learning that family vacations are the way to go when you have kids!

This is one of Jesse's latest faces. Scrunchy!

The resort included a wonderful playground as well as the option for borrowing bicycles. Neither of the boys loved the bike ride (the seats were uncomfortable; we think they were poorly installed) so we only did that once but we did spend every day at the playground.

We slept in the villas you see in the background, behind the trees and overlooking the water. It was beautiful!

Jesse's turn on the bike..

He loved drumming on the bicycle seat most.

A kid inside a playground tunnel always invites plenty of picture-taking...

Jesse is outside of the tunnel here and kept playing peek-a-boo with us.

Another one of Jesse's latest scrunchy faces.

The resort had several pools, one of which was heated! As you can tell, the first few days were cooler than we expected, so the boys were dressed in layers depending on the time of day. The heated pool was perfect for an afternoon dip. Here's Papi literally catching fearless Jesse before he attempted to step into the pool.

Lucas was content to splash around on the pool steps. When he first got into the water and then came out, he yelled in despair, "My shorts are WET! Take them off!" Our super sensate kid had to be talked through the idea of bathing suits and how they feel "sticky" and strange when outside the water but just fine inside the water. Water has always been a source of overstimulation for Lucas, so a pool experience is BIG. He loved it.

Just before leaving, Lucas had fun watching others jump and dive into the pool. Lucas never fails to find a way to fully participate when vicariously enjoying an experience through other people. We so love this about him.

Little boxer outfit.

Our rooms had these beautiful balconies under the moss-filled trees where Jesse quickly learned to avoid skimming his knees on the rough pavement by doing this funky walk:

One more set of Florida pictures to come tomorrow, then we'll show you Lucas's preschool pictures that arrived just yesterday. Prepare yourself for even more cuteness!

St. Augustine

Our little family was offered the opportunity to take an all-expense paid trip to Ponte Vedra Beach, FL to attend a churchy event, so we didn't dare pass up the chance. As part of the deal, we were required to attend a pre-conference event (how's that for vague?!), and since Abuela was staffing the committee in charge and Abuelo was tagging along for fun, we all decided to come yet another day early to be together and visit St. Augustine just 30 miles away.

Lucas mostly did this on the flight down:

...while Jesse and I did this. Jesse had been running a high fever for days up until 1:30 a.m. the morning (just a few hours before) we left the house to catch our plane. Phew! What a relief to not have to care for a sick child on a plane and on vacation!

We credit the NYC subway system for instilling a love of maps in our Lucas. He begged to check out the sightseeing map and poured over it for a good while.

As we approached the fort, Lucas saw the cannons and yelled, "Look Mami, lots of telescopes!" I told him they were called cannons but didn't go into explaining their original function (and he was fine with that -- as far as he was concerned, a fort is just one big playground). I think a dozen or so telescopes on top of an old fort would be so much better, don't you?!

I remember coming here with my parents and brothers as a child and touring the fort and the old town and the sites and thinking that the place seemed so large and ancient. I even remember its smell. I wonder what -- if anything -- Lucas will remember of these special days...

Playing with Abue, below... All of this was just before dinner where Lucas proceeded to vomit his food all over his shoe and the street (just a few feet from where others were enjoying their outdoor dinners...) And then he needed to tell everyone with whom we interacted on the street or at the hotel about what happened. Yes, I think Lucas will indeed carry some of these memories with him for a while...

Abuelo and Abuela standing in front of the very same place where they stayed the night of their honeymoon 36 years ago! The window at the top right is the room where they slept.

This shot is for Mema and Mempa. Can you two make out what it is?

The next day at the hotel in Jacksonville Beach. I love how when there are little to no toys available the boys find ways to have good, simple fun.

We ended up pushing our queen-sized beds together and against a wall to make one large family bed. One night after we had put the boys to sleep, I came back into the room (we were in a suite with multiple rooms) not 5 minutes later and saw this -- our sweaty, cuddly, sleepy boys:

More pictures to come!

Look Who's Walking!

We spent the last week in Florida where Jesse was mostly carried or placed on new and unfriendly surfaces, such as spiky grass, steep hills, mulch, hot cement, sand, and carpet. I thought for sure that the hotel carpet would encourage his walking skills but we found that it gave him too much resistance, so he rarely bothered. So we were surprised when we finally came home today and he decided to take off once he set foot on our hardwood floors! Of course, he'll likely still use crawling as his primary mode of getting around for a while to come, but we're definitely beyond the 5 or 6 running steps we've been seeing lately. Today he seemed to figure out that he doesn't need to run or lunge towards his destination but rather that taking his time and one slow, deliberate step at a time works best! Now I just need to videotape his adorable crawling for posterity!

This video was taken after dinner (note the wet spots on his clothes), and after a long day (we were up at 4 a.m. to catch our flight) and lots of walking (do you think his little legs will be sore tomorrow?), so he wasn't as motivated and strong as he was earlier in the day.

Toddlerhood has begun!

Blowing A Kiss