Friday Giggles

Happy Friday!

The weekend

We had a great weekend!  The weather was gorgeous and it was Father's Day!

On Saturday morning, we all got out and walked down to the Farmer's Market in Larchmont for breakfast -- challah bread (yum!), goat-gurt (just ok) and pickles (yum!  for later, of course).

As much as we can, we try and spend some one on one time with Malina.  So our thing lately has been to take walks with her around the neighborhood.  And it's just so much fun -- she opens up when it's just us.

After our walk, we came back inside and decided to be silly...

We also decided that for naps we are going to let the kids nap together...

Just kidding.  Bryan put them in there.  Can you imagine??  But I love seeing them together like this.

Overall, it was a great weekend!  Right, Luke?

Luke's in the exersaucer and bananas!

We recently started to put Luke in the exersaucer and literally, it blew his mind.  Buttons to press, fun, rattly things to pull on.  I love his expression here...  Like, "Why didn't you TELL me about this sooner??"  

I find it fascinating to look at the world through his bright eyes...  Like, over the weekend we gave him banana for the first time.  And he literally went B-A-N-A-N-A-S!  What an explosion of taste!!  It's just fun to think about these "firsts"...  "Luke, this is the first time you're hearing a bird...  or Luke, this is what a bicycle looks like!"  Sensory overload!  No wonder he naps three times a day!

Get down!

Did you know that amongst Malina's many talents, she's also a pretty awesome dancer?  She is.  She's been asking to hear Pink's song, "Raise Your Glass," except she calls it "Mommy & Daddy's song" -- probably because it's filled with a bunch of swears.  Anyway, here she is, our little girl getting down to Pink... that is, until she spots a bunch of stickers on the counter.

Malina

I've been trying for days to upload this one video of Malina dancing but keep getting this error on blogger.  It's awesome and as soon as I figure out what is going on, I'll be sure to share it with you.


I know I've been all gooey over Luke in the last few posts, but I wanted to take some time and get all gooey and sticky over our little girl, Malina.  She's all of two years and three months old.  And because she's two and three months old, she's going through what everyone knows as the TERRIBLE TWOs (can you hear the haunting echo??).  Honestly, she has had many a moment where I want to give MYSELF a time out but I can hardly fault the girl.  It ain't easy -- she's at the intersection of Two and I Have a New Baby Brother.  But you know what?  She's doing great.  And she will always be my first.  


I was looking through some "old" pictures of her and I'm just stunned at how much she has changed.  

Here she is at around 8 months -- her first Halloween.  This is such a classic Malina poker face.

She's a total water baby.  Loves splashing in the tub and hanging out in the pool (love those Flap Happy hats).

One thing that hasn't changed is her love of reading.  She reads A LOT.  If you ask her to get any book, she'll run and pluck it off the shelf.  And she can read you almost any book -- just ask her!  I love how her chubby little legs are crossed here -- she's such a lady!

I love this shot of her that Bryan took last year, soon after we moved into our new house.  Can we quickly talk about this curly hair of hers??  Someone, please explain to me where this came from!  

And it has to be said that, she has adjusted amazingly well to having a new baby brother. She stepped up to being Big Sister immediately.  Look at how loving and motherly she is to Luke.  Melts me...  All gooey.

She makes being two totally fabulous.

And when she does give me those moments where I want to give myself a time out, I try and remember this picture of her.  She is just so peaceful and sweet, holding on to Big Bird.

Malina Lee Santee, you've come a long way, baby.  And I love you more and more each day.

Luke ate pizza!

No!  Come on!  What kind of parents do you think we are?  He had cereal for the first time this morning!!  And guess what?  He DEVOURED it!  He devoured it like he had just run a marathon and went for a huge Big Mac... he devoured it like a contestant on the Biggest Loser who was given free reign of the dessert pantry.  He devoured it like it was the best thing he ever ate -- because it was!  Because it was the ONLY thing he ever ate!  But he loved it and it made me SO happy!!  Here are some shots.  And yes, this high chair comes equipped with a five point safety harness -- the kind they use for sky divers.

Of course I have an adorable video to capture the memory.  And part of what makes the video so stinkin cute is Malina in the background giddy with laughter as she's watching her little brother take his first bite.

Part of me intentionally waited to give him cereal (maybe for the sake of holding on to his baby-ness).  But I should have known he was ready for solids when he started doing this a few days ago.  Yes, that's his foot in his mouth.

He had his five month check up yesterday and no surprise, he is doing marvelously!  He are his stats:

Weight: 19 lbs 6 oz

Height: 26.5 in

Head circumference: 17.5 in

Overall: A++, total stud, magnificently adorable and generally irresistable

We topped off the weekend with a trip to the pool.  The water was too cold to go in, so Luke just lounged around, showing off his muscles.

Photo Dump

It's been a while since I've blogged but not for lack of material -- I've got a couple of posts in the queue.  But the kids are growing up faster than I can write so I thought I'd just use this time to show you how they're growing like weeds (practically overnight) and how much cuter they're getting everyday (how is this possible??).

Here's Malina eating some of her favorite strawberry cookies.  I ate these as a kid growing up.

Here's Malina (and her side-kick, Pete) on her way to her first (non-family) birthday party.  (This shot was hard to get because she kept staring at her new pink sandals).  

Seriously, have you ever seen a stuffed animal look more terrified of getting eaten by a 5 month old, than Big Bird??  Big Bird looks scared, doesn't he??  Awesome, Luke.

"I see you, Big Bird."

"Come closer, my dear.  You feel so soft!"

"Closer!"

"You're mine, Bird!  Mine!"

We took the kids to the beach last weekend.  Some just adorable shots...