Photo alert!

New photos are up in both of the kids' albums.

Belly laughs

Raleigh thinks Rowan is funny. He was goofing around tonight doing somesaults and jumping jack legs. Every time he did the leg thing she would belly laugh. It was too cute and very funny.

She's pretty funny herself. Her way of communicating is to make raspberry noises to get your attention. She really likes it if you do it back to her. Sometimes she'll go on like that for a few minutes at a clip. Such an interesting way to interact with world.

Pffftttt!

Happy 2.5 Year Birthday, Rowan!

Wow! Rowan is 2.5 already! We celebrated (sort of) while we were at the beach last week. Some of the highlights from the trip revolved around The Man, of course. He's just so stinkin' funny. For example...

Jeremy told Rowan that he couldn't get in the pool because he had taken a bath and had on clean shorts. Rowan thought about this for a minute and then took off his shorts and pull-up. Problem solved!

Rowan was downstairs in our bedroom taking a nap. While he was sleeping the rest of our housemates had gone to the beach. He walked up the stairs and asked, "Where did my friends go?".

This boy is so hilarious. It's fun to have a conversation with him. You just never know what he's going to come up with next. Here are some other funny stories from the past weekend.

Last night, Rowan didn't want to go to sleep. He started crying inconsolably. My mom asked him what was wrong, what was the problem so she could fix it. He replied, "I want to go out there and G-Daddy hold me. That's my problem."

While we were waiting on our dinner an elderly lady walked by our table on the way to the restrooms. Rowan watched her pass by and proclaimed, "There goes my grandma."

On our way back from dinner tonight, we were talking about who has hairy legs. My mom asked Rowan who has hairy legs and he said G-Daddy and G-Ma.

My guess it that the stories will get wilder and more funny. I can't wait!

Happy birthday wishes to my sweet, funny boy.

News to me

Here are a few things that I have seen and heard lately that made me think and/or smile. Maybe you'll like them, too.

• Paperless Post: It looks just like fine stationery except it's virtual. You buy virtual "stamps" to email your notes. It's a lot cheaper than regular mail and it's really cute. I received an invitation for a baby shower and it was very cool. I think this would be good for a save-the-date announcement or something casual like that. This is a neat concept, but I still prefer real mail for stuff like this. There's nothing like seeing a fun envelope in your mailbox and opening it to read happy news.
• Mila's Daydreams: Cute, Anne Geddes-type photos of a sweet baby named Mila. Her mommy is the photographer and states that this is her maternity leave hobby. What?! I feel quite accomplished to get in a shower and one healthy, balanced meal per day! If you dig a little deeper you will find that they live in Finland. Aha. That explains a lot.
• The Novaks: I heard them on XM channel 59, Little Steven's Underground Garage. (Great channel. Check 'em out if you have satellite radio.) They remind me of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, circa Damn the Torpedoes. It's been a long time since I have heard a band that made me want to search them out and hear more.
• Jazz and 80s: This makes me giggle. But, after the second listen, it's quite good - something to chill out to. Some of the songs sound better jazzed up than the originals. My favorites are Purple Rain and Do Ya Think I'm Sexy (from Jazz and 70s).

Happy 4-month Birthday, Raleigh!

I took Raleigh to the doctor yesterday for her 4-month checkup. Everything went really well. She's doing great and charmed the doctor with her fabulous smile and amazing tummy skills. Here's a little summary of all the fun things Raleigh's been up to this past month.

• Height: 25 inches
• Weight: 14.0 pounds
• Overall disposition: Content and happy
• Likes: tummy time; playing with toys; hearing new sounds
• Dislikes: not being able to walk and talk like the rest of us; having her neck washed; blow-out diapers (I can't fault her for that!)
• Skills: sucking her thumb at will; laughing (the best!); proto-crawling sometimes; reaching for objects; drooling; sleeping pretty good through the night (I hope I didn't jinx us by writing that!)
• Miscellaneous: Raleigh is very curious about her surroundings. If she can't see, she'll arch her back or twist her body to try to get a look at what's going on. When she likes something or wants to do something, she kicks her legs and makes a grunt-coo sound. One of my favorite things to do is wake her up in the mornings. Once she sees me, she smiles so big.

It feels like Raleigh is aging so much quicker than Rowan did. It is so fun to see her gain more skills and to watch her personality emerge, but I am a little sad that my tiny baby is growing up. Sometimes when I've had a long day and start to get frustrated with either of the kids I have to remind myself that soon enough I will be wishing that they were this young. Being a parent is hard work. It seems like there is always something to be done, and it's usually something less than thrilling, like washing the dishes and sacking the trash. Sigh. But, those magical moments that happen in between the drudge are what make it all worthwhile.

I've got some photos on my camera that I need to upload. I'll try to get to those tomorrow. We're getting ready for our beach vacation so the free time will be limited for the next few days. I'll try not to leave you hanging too long.

Happy birthday to my lovely baby girl!