Movin on Up

So mark the date, June 9th is when our life got one step busier.  That's when Harry gave up his energetic army crawl, lifted his belly, and got moving.  He is even faster now that he's not dragging half his weight on the ground.  He also took his first hesitant steps, cruising between the couch and the coffee table, and the aptly named 'crawl and cruise musical jungle'.

would i get into anything?

This means that at least once a day we find him pulling up by george's dog food station just to survey what's inside those shiny bowls.  so far we've been able to ward off a taste test situation. ugh.
Its also a lot of fun. Unlike jude, harry seems to have no fear of the let go, fall down part.  he gets a big grin and then simply disappears behind the coffee table as he drops from holding on.  its so cute to see.

as for jude, he is also moving on up...in height.  today is his four year old check up. i can't wait to see his measurements.

checking out the view from mommy's roof

Jude is enjoying summer preschool camp for the month of june. last night he started a soccer class.  greg, a former soccer player & fan himself, with the history of the broken face to prove it, enjoyed watching jude trap and dribble the ball. i bet this is the beginning of many nights in the back yard working on some skills and spending time together.

i finished my article on social media and college admissions. it was super challenging to write, research, interview and create with the boys around. my strategy was basically -  play, feed, work.  let everything else- cleaning, laundry, etc go.   i am actually excited to pull out the vacuum again and get our house back in some sense of order after vacation, birthdays and article.

hope you enjoy this summer day.

seven months and sweet

kara didn't let a black eye keep her from getting harry's pictures taken.   here are a few from the seven month session.

outdoor fun

the forecast says 70's for days so today we pulled out a bunch of the backyard summer toys and the hose. before we celebrate the temps, we have to celebrate harry and his new sitting up skills.

mom picked the hat

i learned today it is much easier to coo, cuddle and play with harry outside. jude was so into playing with water that he didn't mind mom giving all her attention to his little brother for a bit.

when we told jude the weather was warm this week his first words were "we can get out my pool!" its still a bit too chilly to swim but he had a great time filling dumping and floating his boats.

i hear kids in florida do this all the time in march

the warm snap caught mom off guard with jude's wardrobe. we avoided malfunctions, but we have only like 3 pairs of shorts that fit. usually we can wait til april to think about warm weather attire.

set for summer, please don't snow

kara is loving the chance to also take walks as she hides her black eye behind big sunglasses. harry is an even happier baby with all the fresh air and things to look at.

we still hear from him at night with a meal request, but we are making progress towards that long awaited goal of harry and mommy sleeping through the night.

R starts with pirates

sometimes life just needs a giant repairman, or fixer man, as jude calls them. the laptop is finally fixed. the new and working computer makes me wish i could fix the rest of my house and life with two weeks away at a repair place.

i never imagined the mess and lack of time that brews up from young children in the house combined with my personality. the recipe includes moments of fun and learning, mixed with difficult challenges-- who to help first, when to sleep-- Some days its a question of how to accomplish anything beyond diapers, dishes, baby food and toys.

in the midst of this i wanted to share about jude. he is learning more letters and numbers. i just heard him tell our friend, and my helper, mikala, that R starts with pirates, as he pointed to R on his letter toy. i'm sure he meant arrrgh, but we'll let this one pass with a smile.

mister jude

we enjoy his new make believe story stage. he tells us interesting stories that usually involve bashing and breaking of all kinds of things in our world. but don't make the mistake of calling him a pretend name...silly goose, fireman jude. he will quickly correct you. "I am just a boy. but i am just a boy" is still a popular refrain from our oldest.

baby harry lives up to the title of bouncing baby boy. lately he tries to jump up and down when i hold him on my lap. he loves his johnny jump up. and just this morning i caught him up on all fours, in the crawling position in his crib. it won't be long now before he is off and moving. and we become a gated community once more.