Antonio is such a sweet big brother.

As I was making breakfast this morning, Julia was playing on the floor as Antonio watched cartoons. I noticed he got up and left the room & came back with a tissue.
Then he did something with Julia, but I couldn't quite tell.

I asked him what he was upto & he said he had wiped Julia's nose because it was, "Drooling down her face".

We have mobility!

The girl is on the move.

Last week and over the weekend, I've been noticing that she inches forward a little bit, using her toes to propel her towards a toy that's just out of her reach.
This weekend, mom and I noticed that she was scooching herself with more purpose to get to things.

Monday evening, I had her in the kitchen, and wanted to catch her on video to send to Geno. All she wanted to do was snark and fuss, totally bored with her wooden spoon and wire whisk. I found a metal measuring cup, banged it on the floor, and I have never seen anyone slither that quickly towards something! It took only a few tries and I did get it on video, & hopefully it doesn't crash Geno's inbox.


This evening, when things settle down, I will go room by room and move all things up about 3 feet. Knee high decor is all the rage now, right?

This afternoon we took a break from playing outside and now that I no longer have carpet to worry about, we fingerpainted!

Antonio was in. to. it.

He was very interested in mixing colors to see what new colors they make. He was most impressed with the shade of purple he created.



Julia, well, I tried to sit her down on the floor, but she rolled off trying to get into the paints. I held her and leaned her towards the paper, which she snatched up and tried to eat.

Then, I held her up and let her jump in the paints on her paper.
I don't think she was as impressed with her art experience as she was with free for all jumpapalooza.




After painting, she hung out in the sink and splashed around while Antonio and I set the paintings out to dry.

Grandma came to visit this weekend.
We decided to get out of town and find a place to day hike.
Into the truck we went and North we drove.

We ended up in Sequim at Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge


Grandma brought Antonio a kid backpack with hydration system, & packed a few necessities for him to carry. It was only about a half mile downhill to the beach.
Julia and I only made it halfway with the stroller. I thought I saw stairs and didn't have it in me to lug her down stairs in a stroller, then the return trip.
Grandma and Antonio continued on,



had a fantastic walk, found a great log lounge at the beach, hung out and had a little lunch. They even made it back, without a single whine from the boy. I am so impressed, simply because I know that I couldn't have made it back without whining myself.

Julia and I had our own snacks in the car, and she played with toys on the passenger seat while I read the latest issue of Maxium. I think we all had our versions of the perfect afternoon.

On the way home, we stopped off at the Purple Haze lavender farm. I picked up a bunch of plants for the front yard and some amazing smelling soaps.

Sitting up

Julia's been sitting on her own for a few weeks, but this evening after bath, I laid her on the bed, reclining on the pillows.

This is what she did



Proud isn't she...

Julia had her 6 month well baby check up today.

She weighed in at 18 pounds, 14 ounces & is 26 1/4 inches long.

After she had her weigh in, we had to wait a little bit to see the pediatrician.
The office staff kept on coming around and talking about how cute and chubby she is.
Julia adored the attention and tossed out smiles to them like a clown throwing candy in a parade.


The ped says Julia coming along just fine.
She gave me a few things that she'll be looking for at the next appt.
Like, she should be pulling herself up to stand, and maybe creeping along. (!)

I am so not ready for this.

I've got this throat yuck cold, and felt bad enough to stay home today.
I decided that I'd bet better rest if the kids went to daycare, they'd definitely have more fun.

I asked Antonio to please work with me this morning & just do what he's told, since talking hurt my throat.

He started off well enough, got dressed with minimal prodding. Then he wanted a yogurt, and went ahead to the kitchen to take care of that while I got Julia dressed. A few minutes later he comes in with a scraggly, dew dampened dandelion wish.

"Aaahhh! Don't blow that in the house!!!"
So much for saving my throat.

He says he brought me a wish, so I could wish to get better. The things this sweet boy can come up with.
While thoughtful, it's not him eating yoghurt as he's supposed to be.
Additionally, he went outside, I suspect he got sidetracked letting Tigger in.
The kids made it to daycare(s) eventually, and I did get a decent amount of rest.

~~~~~
Julia is going to be more on the move here real soon.
We were at the neighbor's house for a quick visit this afternoon, Julia was on the floor discovering treats under the area rug. Already she can maneuver herself in whichever direction she wants to roll towards, but today, she scooted forward!

I suspect she hasn't done that yet at home, because I always have socks on her icy little feets.
Since it's starting to get warmer out, she'll have more opportunity to check out this forward motion stuff.

Today seems to be going better so far.
Here they are a few minutes ago.....




I tried to get just one of Julia sitting all by herself, but CheezMaster jumped in at the last minute, which turned out perfectly!

I wish everyday could be the fun day

But that's not the case.
We're all adjusting to Geno being deployed.
I'm hoping that as soon as he gets his internet connection & a web cam, that kind of daily (I hope) connection will make us seem less apart.

Antonio always has a rough time.
Today was day 3 of him telling me he hates me.
I know he's looking for any reaction, and each day he's gotten less of a horrified one from me.

Even with a trip to the big park, outside time with the neighborhood tribe, art projects and movie time, once home, or finished, he'd do something rude or naughty.

I'm hoping that if I continue keeping us all busy with fun (park), or not so fun (laundry) things to do, and by ignoring the mild naughty-ness, the kinks will work themselves out.

Right?

right?!

Perils of backseat riding

Maybe it was the Taco Bell from the night before,
maybe it's just becuase that's the way he is,
but Antonio farted the entire way to school this morning.

Once there, I go back to get Julia out of her carseat and she has this frantic, pained look on her face.
As I'm unbuckling her from the seat, she's flapping her little arm trying to get out of the seat faster.

Then the smell hit me, mannn it was thick back there!
How terrible is it to be trapped in a reeking car and not even be able to complain about it?

Rainbows!

Swim lessons started up tonight. He's one of three children in his class, so while it wasn't as rowdy as prior classes, he had way more swim time. It was a new instructor, so Antonio showed off a lot, swimming to the bottom of the pool and splashing the instructor. I saw his regular instructor and the new guy exchange glances, so I suspect that new guy will be less gullible next lesson.

As we came out of the gym, there was the most amazing rainbow!

Antonio was so impressed, and even more so when we saw that it was a double rainbow.
"Today is a very special day." he said

Then he went on about piles of gold and how we needed to get in the truck and get after it!
We had a little lesson about pots of gold, how leprechauns hide them at the end of a rainbow so they'll never forget where they are.
As we drove home, Antonio noted how the rainbow moves pretty fast. Well, yeah, if they were slow, the leprechauns would loose their gold to everyone.

Julia as always is happily along for the ride wherever we go. Unless we're on our way home, then she has to freak out a little. We've figured out that if we don't try and entertain her and let her be mad, she calms down way quicker than if Antonio and I offer toys, binki, pats, anything.
Mind you, we're never really that far from home, usually no more than 10 minutes.

She has started babbling. We decided that she sounds like a little goblin, we just love it.

Antonio’s teacher handed me his hackey sack this afternoon when I picked him up.
Just that morning, we had a lengthy discussion about not brining our toys from home to school.

Seems he tried very hard to convince Miss Helen that I had told him he needed to pratice every opportunity he had at school.