The Car!

Joey is really just content to sit and play with anything in his reach. I need to be careful not to ignore him too much. One of his favorite things to play with is magazines. I just get worried that it will dissolve in his mouth or give him a papercut. While we were playing in the rec room today and Joey was just playing with little toys around him, I remembered the car we got for MJ. He was about 11 months old then and could already walk, so when he got it, he mostly sat on it and pushed it like a ride-on toy. But it is designed so babies who can sit up can play with it. I "transformed" it to it's sitting function and voila, Joey had a super fun toy to play with.

...Beep... Beep...

This is his casual driving position.

MJ eventually realized Joey was playing with his car. So he came over and tried to climb on it. I hear sharing is a lesson that gets harder when the second gets older, but I have a feeling I'll be saying it about 100 times a day, so smarty-pants MJ should pick that up pretty quickly. I liked this picture where MJ was sorting the shapes in the front on the car and Joey was playing in the back. I can't quite tell if this is a happy "oh we are playing together" look or a "hey, you're playing with my toy" look.

Colds in the Summer

From about Thursday to Sunday our family was sick with colds. Joey and MJ seemed to have it the worst at first. I thought I could handle it until Saturday morning when I just didn't want to get out of bed. I felt terrible. I fell asleep while the boys were playing with Mario. Mario thought I was being a wimp. I made the call to cancel the sitter we had for the night (we were going to go out with Booz Allen for a dinner and to see a hypnotist which I was very excited about). Mario was bummed that I couldn't go with him, but somehow I got the kiddos off to bed early, cleaned the house, then took a nice jacuzzi bath myself. Sunday, Mario woke up and realized he was sick. I believe he first words were, "Tricia, this is bad. I'm sorry I teased you yesterday." Then I popped him with the drugs that made me feel the best, and he got to sleep.
Meanwhile, the poor boys were getting a little stir crazy being stuck in a house with sick parents and rain outside. So, we got out the shaving cream and MJ had a blast. Good clean fun. Although, we are still working a bit on the rules and keeping it on the table.

Joey tried sweet potato. He thought it was okay, but would make an immediate "yuck" face. I was proud of myself for catching such a good action shot while feeding him at the same time.

Back at the Kazas

We returned from Jacksonville, NC Tuesday evening. The Kaza family generously hosted us that night so we could hang out a bit more. MJ and Joey enjoyed playing with their cousins Wednesday morning.

MJ and Peter wanted to get in the stroller so they could go see the train. You can hear a train from their house and whenever the boys hear it, they talk about it for 10 minutes.... "I don't see the train...Maybe it's too far away"... it's pretty cute.

Here are Joey and Catherine. She is 10 weeks older than Joey, and a very healthy girl. But Joey is a bit taller and definitely heavier. Catherine is crawling and pulling herself up to standing... not too much longer for Joey. It goes way too fast.

The kids put on a play in the Kaza's basement where there is a stage. It is really one of their favorite things to do when they get together. I actually saw two plays this week. The first was their own creative plot line. Wednesday's show was their version of Hansel and Gretal.

MJ and Tommy played pretty happily upstairs while the play was going on. I'm so happy MJ can get together with his cousins. They are good playmates and help us learn how to behave socially.

Stink Barns

Uncle Christian had some leftover fireworks. The younger kids really enjoyed when he light the "stink bombs" which MJ called "stink barns." He was a bit excited and nervous about the whole thing, but had a pretty good time.

North Carolina

Here are Joey and I with Michelle and Baby Natalie. Doesn't she look amazing for just having a baby 1 week ago! Joey was a bit tired and cranky so we had to use the pacifier for the picture. I like how Natalie and Joey both have their arms strecthed out.

Natalie is such a sweet baby. I think she is about 6 1/2 pounds and Joey is about 24 pounds. There are 5 months apart.

Here is Joey with Godfather, Luke.

Joey really had a fun time.

Carrots and trip to NC

Later on Sunday, we tried giving Joey some carrots. Why carrots? I'm not sure, I think I should look at the order of food introduction for MJ. Carrots were not a big hit. Joey ate them, but didn't look as happy about the taste.

Monday, Mario headed off for work again, this time back to Cincinatti. My mother-in-law and her family were making a trip from NY through VA to NC to meet their newest grandaughter, Natalie. They entertained my crazy idea to hitch a ride with them, so off me and my boys went in the van. There were 11 of us altogether, and we had a great time. I'm glad it was able to work out. MJ and Joey were able to spend a lot of time with many of their aunts and uncles, and Grandma Suarez. Here's MJ in his carseat in the "big van".

Uncle Christian and Aunt Michelle have a lovely home with a nice fenced in yard. MJ found the dirt quickly and was literally rolling in it. What a boy!

Wedding in Charlottesville

Last Saturday-Sunday we headed back to good old Charlottesville for Jack and Montana's wedding. It was fun going back to a place we lived for 2 years. We had to take the standard boys in the hotel picture. Can you see Joey's incredible drool spots?

I'm bummed our canera was taking fuzzy pictures. Below is most of the Darden gang in attendance at the wedding. It was probably the most well-organized and best time-managed wedding we have been to. They had babysitters lined up for the 2 families (with 3 kids total). So, our kids were watched in a suite where both the wedding and reception took place. I think both of the boys were good, but MJ didn't fall asleep again. He eventually fell asleep on the drive back to the hotel at about 12:20am. Poor kiddo was a little off his normal schedule for a few days after that.