Funny Faces

Well the week started out with Jack and some swollen lymph nodes resulting in a stiff neck - the last thing we wanted to see based on the bacterial meningitis bout just over a month earlier. Fortunately, per the doctor is it is just a bout of strep throat and he was pretty much fine by Wednesday and is finishing up his course of antibiotics. Because of his illness Jack got to hang out at home with Mom on Wednesday, and on Friday Lily decided to go to school so Mom and Jack hung out at home, and went for a walk to the creek - Jack loves to throw rocks and dirt into the creek and overall get dirty! Late afternoon Friday, we took another stroll/bike ride

On Saturday, Lily had her swim lessons, and we spent some time outside playing although we tried to stay in the shade because we are in the middle of a heat wave with temperatures in the 90's! Later in the day we visited with and dined with Ms. Michelle, Mr. John, Hayley and Cole. On Sunday, Lily had fun at tennis lessons, and later Jack and Lily played in the backyard which included time on the swingset and in the sandbox and water/sand table. We got a preview for the summer as Jack proceeded to soak himself with sand and water! Sunday evening Granpa Maurice and Grandma Phyllis came over for a barbeque.

On Monday, Lily went to school and prepared for the Parent Breakfast/Music Presentation being held tomorrow and for her ballet recital in a few weeks. Late Monday afternoon, we got a special visit from Great Uncle Stephen who is in town just for the night, Lily and Jack had a great time with him.

Lily and Jack want to send special birthday wishes to Aunt Tracy who celebrates her birthday on Wednesday, and cousin Casey who turns 1 on Friday!

** We seemed to have some camera issues this week ... here is the best of the lot.

Jack lounging at tennis - like I said, camera difficulties.


Jack trying to drown himself in the water sand table.


A game of UNO with Grandma Phyllis and Grandpa Maurice.


Getting a push.


Riding the slide.


Jack dressed for a safari ... just missing a pith hat.


Lily and Jack with Uncle Stephen.

Love the Outside

Finally some beautiful weather this weekend thus there was lots of outdoor activity. On Friday, Mom and Lily cleaned the playhouse in the backyard while Jack napped. The downstairs area contains the kitchen, food and table, and the upstairs area contains blankets and pillows for use by Lily and friends. Later in the morning Erin and Holden came for a visit, and we went for a walk/ bike ride and then had lunch. Jack then took a long nap, and Mom and Lily hung out in the backyard, capped off with some chinese food for dinner with Daddy.

On Saturday Lily had swim lessons - she is swimming on her back and front across the pool, assisted by a backpack, which Mom (a former swim lesson instructor) thinks is a ridiculous way to teach swim lessons, but is trying to let Lily just enjoy splashing around and adjusting to the water. ;) Later in the day Mom, Lily and Jack went on a walk/ bike ride with Ms. Annemarie, Madeleine, and Claire, and then Lily played at Madeleine's house for a bit. We then back to our old neighborhood to have dinner with friends Chris, Kristen and Wyatt. Unfortunately, Wyatt was a little under the weather, but Lily and Jack ran around the backyard and at the neighborhood park.

On Sunday, Mom ran a 10K, and then Lily had her first tennis lesson with some of her school/neighborhood friends. She hit the ball pretty well off the tee, and seems to be picking up the concept pretty well. The fam then went to brunch, and then headed over to Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom's to celebrate Grandpa Tom's birthday - while there we got in some swingset time, picked some "dandeflowers," and checked out the new ski boat! The summer goal is to get Lily up on water skis!

Lily and Jack want to send out Happy Birthday wishes to Great Uncle Stephen who is celebrating his birthday this week!


At the park with friend Holden.


The summer wardrobe.


A quick hug in between playing.


Mr. Serious.


Hard at work on a masterpiece.


Jack - the artist assistant.


Relaxing on the porch after a few drinks :).


The ladybug which was given to our grateful neighbor Miss Pam.


Nature study.


Hiding his eyes during a game of hide-and-seek.

Tennis!


Playing tennis.


Checking out Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom's new boat.

Kitchenware & Candybars

Lily and Jack want to send out belated Easter and Happy Passover wishes to everyone.

On Friday, Grandma Gail came over and we decorated Easter eggs. Later, the kids played in the backyard and then once Dad got home we went shoe shopping for Jack - he is already wearing a 6 1/2! Saturday was a yucky day weather wise so we ran errands and the kids got haircuts, and later in the day Madeleine came over for a play date. Dad went to the Frozen Four hockey game, and Mom, Lily and Jack headed over to Madeleine's house for some pizza.

Sunday brought an Easter egg hunt at Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom's, easter baskets filled with candy and toys (including M&Ms for Jack and a chocolate bunny for Lily), and dinner with Great Yellow Grandma (i.e. Katie). Sunday night Lily and Jack spent the night with the grandparents because Lily's school was closed Monday, so Mom and Dad had a rare quiet night at home before working on Monday. Grandma Gail brought the kids back today after Mom finished working, and Mom, Lily and Jack went on a bike ride/stroll, fed the ducks, and threw rocks in the creek.

Lily and Jack want to send out special birthday hugs and kisses to Grandpa Tom who is celebrating his birthday tomorrow!

Black bean face.


Dyeing some eggs.


Playing in the sand box. Lily is so good at playing with Jack.


Riding along with his sister's Tinkerbell wand.


Checking out Easter bunny loot.


TInkerbell towel.


All dressed up in their finest pastels.


Jack finds an egg.

Hit The Ground Runnin'

A really busy week is in the books - we are still exhausted and are still recovering!

The weekdays were all normal for a change - no trips to the doctor for a change. Lily had a great time at school and even wanted to go on Friday. Jack finished up the week with his temporary nanny Victoria and is glad to be back with Beatrice.

The weekend started off with Lily's weekly swim lesson. She did a great job and had her best lesson yet. Then she and I went off to breakfast with Grandpa Maurice. After breakfast we returned home for a bit of playtime before Marcy, Lily and Jack were off to the zoo (again) and visited with friend Purnima. A dinner out and then home for bed.

An early rise Sunday so we could all accompany Marcy downtown for her 10 mile race - which she did great in. Then it was home to a birthday party (with a moon bounce)! After the party it was home for a little bit and then off for a bike ride down to the creek. A bath, then bed and we were ready to go again this morning!



Blowing bubbles.


Jack climbing the stairs.



The troublemaker.


Phoning home.


At the zoo ... again. On a giant pizza.


Jack hanging out with Purnima at the zoo.


Mid-jump.


Checking out the creek with Madeline and Claire.

Lily made some great art at school this week. These were part of an art show her school put on to raise money for a charity. Here are a sample:






A rocket - this picture was actually used as the introductory piece for her classroom's art show.

Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite

Another week with a doctor's appointment but this time it was just Jack's 15 month appointment. Despite his bout with meningitis, he was absolutely healthy and his stats were 22 lbs 12 oz (30th percentile) and 30-3/4 inches long (40th percentile) - his weight was a little off but only because he lost a few pounds when he was sick, no concerns though. (His head is huge and he is in the 70th percentile for head size!) On the development front, Jack is now feeding himself with a fork when he feels like it, he had pasta tonight. He makes a zoom noise when he plays with cars and makes growling noises when playing with dinasours and other animal figurines. Whenever we saw a dog yesterday on the path, he made barking noises, he loves dogs and think they all sound like Ivan. He is a dancing machine and any time there is even a hint of music on the television or heard in a store, he shakes his bum or bops his head. Lily has a microphone attached to a tape recorder that he loves to talk into. He seems to be trying to say some words like ball and dog but nothing we can really make out at this point. He can go up stairs no problem but has problems going down, he seems to think someone will always be there to catch him. He definitely is not a very good eater, he likes lots of meats and carbs but not a lot of veggies and fruits, we are working on it though. He essentially refuses to eat anything that we feed him from a spoon and still refuses a banana in the morning. He drinks lots of milk though, and loves to walk around with his sippy cup.

Lily continues to say and do hilarious things on a regular basis, lots of eye rolling and sighs these days towards her parents. She has made some fabulous art in the past few weeks, we will try to get some pics on the blog soon, so much more detail it seems every week. She likes to make up songs, and sing into her microphone. Today, she picked berries, leaves, and grass and put them in a bag for her teacher Ms. Linda - she seemed to think her teacher would know what to do with her concoction.

On Friday, Lily, Mom and Jack hit the zoo with Grandma Gail - we saw lions, gorillas including a 3 month old baby gorilla, elephants, etc. Lily and Jack especially had fun playing in the prairie dog playground tunnels, they could have stayed there all day. Friday afternoon, the kids played in the backyard with neighbors Madeleine and Claire. Madeleine and Lily had a picnic in the second floor of the playhouse, this is really the first time that Lily has really ventured up there and we anticipate that she may become a permanent fixture now that there are pillows, blankets, and her mother to serve her treats!

On Saturday morning, Lily had swim lessons and then went downtown with Dad to the 43rd Annual Smithsonian Kite Festival where she flew her Nemo kite. Many people wanted to know where they got the Nemo kite and when Stuart tried to tell the first person Amazon.com, Lily corrected him and told them it was from Santa, so that was the answer he stuck with the rest of the day. If you recall from our December post, she had specifically asked Santa for and received a kite for Christmas! Anyways, despite the rainy/cloudy weather she had a blast flying her kite as you can see from the pics, and we swear that the speck of Nemo made the front page of the Sunday Washington Post. (BTW, Mom and Jack stayed home in the warmth and one took quite a long nap while the other one cleaned house.) Saturday evening, Dad's friend Nick from work came over with his wife Jackie and son Cannon, who is 10 months old - Lily and Jack had fun showing off all of their toys.

On Sunday brought some much nicer weather, and Mom, Lily and Jack went on a bike/stroller ride. Lily played a bit in the creek and Jack has to be watched very carefully around the creek as he would just jump right in - he is going to be a nightmare at the lake this year! Sunday night we had a visit by Grandpa Maurice and Grandma Phyllis, had some Italian food, and Lily and Grandma Phyl spent a lot of time playing games in the basement.

Pics of Jack are pretty limited this week. He would not stay still for any zoo pics, and then Mom's camera died the rest of the trip.


Checking out the lions.


Eating lunch at the Washington Monument.


With Dad.


Getting Nemo ready to fly.


Flying Nemo.


More ...


Close to the monument.