Best Buddies

If you thought your Friday night was fun, you got nothing on Jack and Lauren.  SpiderJack was playing peek-a-boo with Lauren and she was shrieking with delight!  They had so much fun and we were cracking up too.  I can see the great fun they will have as they grow up together.  Lauren ADORES him and he is adorable with her.  I couldn't be happier than when they are playing together.  Win, win, win!

DaDa

Who?  Me?

Guess who is saying her first word?  Miss Lauren says, "DaDa."  Over and over and over.  Even after I ask her to say MaMa.  Or Brother.  Or Dog.  No, she says DaDa.  I have devoted the last two years of my life to her from fertility treatments (Rob just had a hand in it), to pregnancy (and all the fun complications), and every minute of her life (she is just shy of 9 months old now).  But does she say MaMa?  Nope.  Rob sweeps in on his white stallion every night for 20 minutes of cuddles before bed and HE gets her first word?!  *sigh*  Well, when I DO get a "MaMa" it'd better be accompanied by a big smile and maybe a hug.  In the meantime, her sweet, sleepy cuddles on my chest will have to suffice....and oh do they suffice :-)

Chillin' in the Crib

Jack decided to join Lauren in her crib after her nap this morning.  She was very surprised to have company in there!

Another big milestone...Lauren's first tooth FINALLY came through!  YEA!  After teething for months and months, and suffering with swollen, tender, red gums we can finally see some relief.  While I know this is only the begining of many more teeth, it is a step in the right direction.

Happy Saturday

We started our morning with a yummy breakfast today.  Fresh baked croissants and fruit salad.  If you have not tried Trader Joe's croissants, do yourself a favor and go get some today!  They are frozen, but you leave them on a cookie sheet at room temperature over night to rise and then pop them in the oven when you get up.  They only take about 20 minutes to bake and are one hundred times better than those soft, mushy croissants at the market.  These get super crisp and flaky.  They also have chocolate ones.  Great treat!

Miss Lauren loved our fruit salad.  She had mangoes and nectarines in her new feeder.  It is a mesh pocket with an easy to grab handle.  I put fruit inside and she can suck it out through the mesh.  I don't have to worry about her choking and she is totally entertained.  She is becoming more independent all the time, and easily frustrated when she can't do things by herself.  So this is a great gadget for both of us.  I plan on freezing some watermelon to try later.  She is teething SO BAD (I can see the tooth pushing through her swollen gums, but it still hasn't cut all the way through) and I think the cold melon might feel soothing and taste yummy too.

And finally, Captain America is Jack's latest alter ego.  Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream Parlor (or "Batman-Robin" as Jack calls it) is featuring Captain America ice cream as their flavor of the month.  Since Jack took a good nap yesterday we treated him to ice cream after dinner.  He got the very last scoop of Captain America in the building!  It was delicious, if you are three years old.  Now he can use his shield to protect himself from Baby's drool.
Have a great weekend everyone.

Haircut...Oh No!

Rob keeps reassuring me that this is Jack's "summer haircut."  If by summer he means "God awful," then I agree.  Same stylist as always, but I don't know what happened this time.  It is so short that all his cowlicks stand at attention.  Please pray for Jack's hair.

Blackmail

Now THAT'S what I call bed head!

Uuuhhhhh...needless to say, I immediately called to schedule an appointment for him to get his hair cut this week.  But if this is not one of the cutest photos of him, then I don't know what is.  Mommy will be using this for sure when he is in high school.  For sure!

Fireworks

Brunch in Redondo

Waiting for fireworks

Wow!  Fireworks!

Snoozing in the stroller

After brunch in Redondo Beach we journeyed back to Ventura in time to catch fireworks at Ventura City College.  We had a picnic dinner on the lawn, listened to music and waited for the sun to set.  Jack and Rob wandered thorough the vendor booths and came back with a cool Batman cape/mask for Jack.  We had hot chocolate (boy does our Thermos work, yikes!), cookies and popcorn to munch on as the sun slowly sank in the sky.  Finally it was time to cuddle in our chairs and take in the show.  Great display, as usual.  The biggest shocker of the evening was that Baby stayed awake for the entire evening!!  We brought her in her jammies since she usually falls asleep between 7:00 and 8:00, but she was wide eyed for the entire event.  She wasn't scared of the explosions, thank God, because the ear plugs didn't work in her tiny ears.  When the last burst fizzled in the sky, we packed up the stroller and wagon to head home.  Both kids were sound asleep before we got off campus.  We literally poured them into bed (Jack couldn't be roused enough to even get his jammies on ) and then sacked out ourselves.  What a crazy, busy, extra fun four day weekend!

Asleep in the wagon