Mr. Bubbles

Bathtime has always been a favorite of Olivia's, but now Luke is really getting the hang of playing in the tub. He not only lays down and blows bubbles, but he thinks he is hilarious when he gets the bubbles all over his face!

5:29

I often hear a lot of my friends talk about "waking" their kids up in the morning (even cousin Ainsley sometimes needs to be waken)...what is that? What are they talking about? Doesn't everyone have children who wake up before the sun is even glinting in the sky? Doesn't everyone have a little Luke who wants to jump into your bed at 5:29 every morning (OK, sometimes it's 5:31). And doesn't everyone have an Olivia who pretends to go back to sleep only to hear noises from the other room and come to sing the "Lukie" song? My alarm clock buttons are so stiff from lack of use...really, why set the alarm when you can have a 10 month old waking you up instead? Maybe one day these two will sleep until 7:30...or dare I dream 8??

Dora, the third child

Walk into any of the kids rooms in this house and you are likely going to run into Dora the Explorer...whether it be book, doll, blanket or game (Dora Candyland anyone?). I noticed that Olivia wasn't really playing with the Dora dolls much, or even wanting me to read her one of the many Dora books we have...even the TV show isn't on much anymore. I thought maybe if I put all the toys together, she would remember her favorite character (Sorry Curious George) and play again...but it was Luke who discovered Dora yesterday, pressing all the buttons so we heard "It's great to be a big sister" over and over again. Olivia was too into her books to really take note, though after a while, she did manage to steal away one of the swimming Dora's for bathtime later!

Why does it always seem like the Dora dolls have bed-head?

Labor Day

Back in NJ, we got to spend some time with Brad's family, which Olivia loved! She really enjoyed the pool with her Uncle Kevin, and going to the super cool playground at Mercer County Park! She has really mastered the climbing wall!

New York, New York

Brad and I took a delayed 5th Anniversary trip into NYC over Labor Day to actually spend some time alone! We had a great time, meeting up with Steph and Dan to reminice about old times at NBN, realizing that we must have been the most annoying people to work with! We had a great lunch down by the seaport (which was pretty much Boston, only in New York!), and walking around the shops a bit. Then Brad and I headed up to our hotel (the Whales Hotel) uptown and had a great dinner...though getting there was a bit painful. Thirty blocks didn't seem like much when I was in the city all the time, but our feet were not very happy with us crossing all that distance in dressy shoes and in 30 minutes!! A few blisters and a stomach lurching cab ride back completed the evening! The next day we hit a "haut-chocolat" store and bought ourselves a few fancy chocolate bars (who would have though curry, coconut and chocolate could be so good!). After that it was brunch at Orsay...which being French certainly reminded us of 5 years ago in Paris when we were on our Honeymoon!

Five years has gone so fast, but it's been so great!

Mr. Independent

Luke has now mastered eating most things on his own, including his bottle. With his beefy left arm in the air, the bottle is now emptied in record time, which means Cat doesn't have to contort her arm around the back seat anymore to feed him those bottles on the go! He has also come close to mastering waving. Many a late night in the hotel room, while we tried to get the kids to go to sleep, Luke would be standing in his crib waving at the room in general...while Olivia yelled out "Lukey's waving!"...apparently that was keeping her from sleeping sometimes. Now we just need him to wave to actual people...

Piano Girl

Olivia discovered her inner Mozart while dining with Frank and Francine at their new condo. Entertaining us with renditions of "Old McDonald" and her "Canada" song, Olivia found a whole new level of musical talent. It was hard to tear her away! Frank took us for a tour of the new complex and showed us his new "toy", his red Mazda Miata!