He's going to get you!

Wonder Twins Power!

Harry got to catch up with his old friend, Sofia, recently. Sofia is the daughter of Kim and Jeff, our friends who moved to Arizona a couple years ago (sniff. sniff.), and niece of Frank & Nicki. It was so good to see them again and see the kids together! (now FOUR kids instead of the TWO little munchkins who existed when they moved.)


Harry and his girl twin, Sofia. How much do they look alike? I've thought this when I see pictures of Sofia on her blog, but in real life, I was like Wow! (And note how they're touching feet! ;) Both SUPERCUTE!


Sofia and Harry, with Vivienne and Max in between. I love that Max is the only one noticing that we're taking a picture. That kid is all about posing for the camera as soon as you bring it out.


The adorable Vivi and Max, who is saying: "Mommy, (if he actually said Mommy, but is choosing to say every other word except that!) I have my two lovies in my hand and I'm ready for bed!"
(Current word list: Waffle, Tractor, Dada, Brother, Baba, Papa, Water, NO, and today GO CUBS!)


I love this photo because all of the kids are playing separately on their own within one foot of each other.

And on another note, Harry recently realized a dream: DRIVING a tractor! Notice he's steering it all alone! (Although Papa is definitely on the case in this photo. They are driving half a mile an hour, but Dad looks very intent on making sure Harry doesn't do something crazy! Get well soon Papa!)

Summer update

Hi Everyone! How cute are we?

My Boys

Crabby after another extended car ride.

Totally ignoring the beautiful river nearby.


Hey Brutha! Let me get a look at that Toy Story too!

A Day at the Farm

This is my new favorite picture of Max. It actually makes my heart hurt. Look at that smile!

Rob's good friend from grad school got married on a very cool farm near Rockford this weekend. Of course, with 6 weeks to go until the deadline for the book, we squeezed in some book research with it, taking in Rock Cut State Park in our dress clothes before the wedding. The farm had some awesome cabins as well so I was able to churn out a book entry during the wedding!

Rob and I just had Max for the night because Harry went to a car show with Nana and Papa, AND had a sleepover at their house. WEIRD! (Not the sleepover, just weird to have Max as one child.) When Harry was this age, the two of us were focused on him all the time. With Max, we are distractedly focused on him all the time, so it was fun to just be able to dote on him for the day. Poor second child.

"Waving" to the goats, bunny and chickens on the farm.

Max has a random assortment of first words: Duck. Dada. Truck. Ha (Harry) and Waffle. (of course) And then at the farm, he added Tractor. (pronounced by him as "tra-tor") He has yet to say Mama but he says Tractor? He chanted it all day as he directed us to take him over to all the different tractors on the farm.

Such a hard life I lead.

City boy relaxes in the hammock in the country.

Summer!!!!

At 'the bean.'

Dancing at the Wiggleworms concert at Millennium Park. He also rushed the stage.

SPLASH!!!

"This is so awesome."

I wish I had a soundtrack to go along with this photo. So much giggling!

Harry takes on the Millennium Park face fountain.

Sleeping on the L. Yes, the baby who never sleeps fell sound asleep on the el on a day when it was packed with drunk twentysomething guys going to the Cubs game. ????????

Mishmash

Harry is in a daddy phase right now. So last night, when he wanted to play trains with Daddy alone, he said: "Can't you leave, Mommy?"
It had been a long day, so I said: "You're hurting my feelings."
And he replied: "Can't you get a Band-aid?"

* * *

But after that, he gave me a hug WHILE he said "Can't you leave Mommy?"

***

So Rob and I just celebrated our five-year wedding anniversary (our 7-year anniversary of our first date -- both happened on June 4th!). We were in romantic Galena -- with the kids. So here we are hiding quietly in the front living area of our hotel room so as to not wake the two sleeping children, one of whom managed to take up most of our king-sized bed! We did sneak some wine from a bottle of Ravenswood (a wine we drank upon getting engaged.) but we both worked afterward. :( The next morning, we both woke up clinging to the edges of the bed, while Harry slept horizontally across most of the bed! (Little Bedhog!)


They look so tired.

But we have good news on this front! Little Max, who chooses the path of MOST resistance for everything, slept 7-7 this week. Oh glorious morning!

But he's so cute, little summer baby.

We went to the park with Sofia, Georgia and June but hadn't planned for the sprinkler to be on. ("Mommy! I want to go in the sprinkler!!!!") So we stripped to our diaper and went crazy with the other kids.

This photo screams summer.

Harry and Georgia Part II. (I shouldn't say that. They are their own adorable people. They are June and Max. But these two are so flirty and cute, I can't take it.)

Overheard

Harry is adamant that we take the CTA wherever we can, and he is obviously soaking in every detail. I peeked in on Harry playing trains today, and heard the following:
"Smoking and littering are prohibited on CTA trains."
I felt like I was on the train, he used such an important-sounding voice for that announcement to his train table.
He's so accurate, maybe it's my reporter genes coming through!