Gazebo

He's Still Not Sure If He Likes This

Poor Jesse, born into a house of snugglers (or more appropriately, of smotherers)....

Christmas In July

Wow, wow, wow!

Yesterday we were surprised with a box in the mail containing this perfect gift for Lucas, made by Amy, our amazingly talented friend and potter extraordinaire, just for being a good big brother. (It just so happened that Lucas was wearing his 'I'm the Big Brother' t-shirt that same day!)

It's Lucas's very own R-train bowl! And she was thoughtful enough to send it after just having had a baby! Wow again!

I told Lucas that our friend Amy had sent a regalo/present for him. After I handed it to him, he smiled the biggest smile and exclaimed, "Oh my goodness! The R-train, Mama!" He then looked up at the ceiling and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Thank you, Amy!"

Then he asked if we could eat pasta RIGHT NOW. So funny!



Dinner was only a couple of hours away, so we snacked on tortilla chips instead:

He was quick to point out all of the details that she included -- the platform, the doors, the 'R' in the circle. What more could a train and food lover want?

To Amy: You've completely outdone yourself. THANK YOU indeed!
To sweet Lukie: She is so right. You are a GREAT big brother.

Speaking of Christmas, here's a link to a video that we should have posted months ago. It was put together by Mama's brother Tio Bryan (yet another uber-talented person in our lives) when family was in town during the Christmas holiday. We thought we were posing for pictures but didn't know he was filming half the time. Look at how much Lucas has changed since then!

Pool

Some very thoughtful, very considerate, gracious, hospitable, lovely parishioners from Papi's church invited us to their pool this week to keep cool while they weren't home.

Tio managed to get Lucas into the very cold water:

Then Lucas enjoyed throwing into and retrieving pool toys from the water, as well as watching Papi's antics:




Cousin Lee-lee is such a water baby:

Jesse put his feet in the pool and enjoyed lounging around. And Lucas was having so much fun that he didn't want to leave. We were able to bribe him with french fries and lemonade (he calls it "yellow jugo/juice").

Now this is what summer should look like!

Butchered

Lucas was a very brave boy yesterday when he let us give him a new summer look with Papi's (very loud and very scary) clippers. Now his hazel-green eyes seem to stand out more, as well as his 100%ile head.

We Call This 'The Flying T'

(The 'T' is for "toddler.")

Cousins

4th of July

Things have been busy for us these days, so the holiday came and went quickly. This jumper on Jesse is just about the most patriotic we get around here anyway:

And this week, Lucas surprised us with his new ability and interest in interlocking puzzles:

A Favorite Place

When Lucas woke up from his nap and I told him that we were going to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens again, he asked if we could bring his watering can!

Subway Recording

If you're a New York City subway fan, you might appreciate this.

Here's a picture of Lucas after I caught him in the kitchen opening all of the cabinet doors, then saying "Stand clear of the closing doors please," then chiming *bmm, bmm* and finally shutting the doors.

We can relate to this illustrated NYTimes piece, which for the most part could very well have been written about our subway lover.

Faces

Here's a picture from September of '07 that Lucas made for a few months. He loved to crinkle his nose like this for everything -- when he smiled, when he was sad or pensive, or when reading a book...

This is his latest "face." We see it especially when he's being reflective, is frustrated or perplexed, or has stated very boldly (rather than asked) that we're going to do something (often followed by a sheepish "okay?").

And here's the best face of all:

His Favorite Place

Wet 'N' Wild

After dinner last night the boys went outside to the alley to play. Another heavy rain storm came quickly, and when they didn't come home, I went down to see where they had gone, and this is what I found:

Papi promises he wasn't inebriated, but I'm not so sure...

Singing In The Rain

Watching the big rainstorm and waiting for more thunder and lightning:

Swinging and singing: "I'm singing in the rain, just singing in the rain! What a glorious feeling, I'm happy again..."

Mema and Grempa - Part II

Though we visit Coney Island pretty regularly, Lucas consistently associates the place with his grandparents. Every time we talk about Coney Island and the dragon roller coaster and the big train station and the hot dogs and lemonade and the sand and beach and the aquarium, he mentions wanting to go with Mema and Grempa. So of course we had to go with them again during their recent visit.

Lucas was as happy as a clam running through the sprinklers and playing in the sand:

We have no idea who the other kid is, but this shot was taken just before they collided:

Meanwhile, Jesse did what he always does best:

Lucas isn't a huge hot dog fan but Nathan's fries and lemonade are always a big hit:

We were so proud of Lucas. After months of turning down our offers and preferring to simply watch the kiddie amusement park rides from the sidelines, on this day he didn't hesitate or blink and rode the train ride with Mama and loved it! What a big boy! Can you make us out in the pic?

And it turns out that we're those parents. Because we didn't anticipate playing on the beach, as you can see we failed to pack swim shorts (or a towel or change of clothes) for Lucas. Our little cutie wore a dry t-shirt that Mema bought at a souvenir stand with just a new diaper and sandals -- all the way down the boardwalk, around the amusement park, on the little train ride, while eating french fries and a dog, and all the way home on the subway. Why we didn't take a picture of that unbearably cute but embarrassing scene beats me, so we'll have to let you use your imagination.