Keepin' It Real...

So Anthony, this morning I left you downstairs and told you that Mommy had to go potty and that I'd be right back. But, I left the gate to the upstairs open because I know that sometimes you just like being wherever Mommy (or Daddy, for that matter) is. And in true fashion, as I'm sitting on the toilet trying to take a peaceful, private #2 - we're keeping it real, people, remember?! - in you walk, with two of your cars. You go on to tell me that the "neen vroom" (green car) is for Mama (although on some occasions these days, "mama" comes out more like, "muma," but that's beside the point...) and the "reed vroom" is for An-ny. So what do I do? I put on my Mom Hat and decide that at that particular moment in time, I can multi-task it - I bend down and play Crash (a game you invented and LOVE!) with you. Now that's love. :)

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As I was making dinner last night, Anthony was engrossed in his books and was reading them aloud, as he so often does. While I was in the process of cutting up chives, I heard this, "Mmmm-mmm! Ba-ba (broccoli) mmmm-mmm! Tee-tee (cookie) mmmm-mmm! Meeme (milk) mmmm-mmm!..." So I look over at him and he's thumbing through "My Little Word Book," in which each page is dedicated to a certain group of things - e.g., farm animals, transportation, clothing, etc. The page that Anthony happened to be reading was the food page - big surprise, I know. So I decided that I had to get it on video:

Fun In The Sun!

So we just bought Anthony a new kiddie pool last weekend - I know, it's very PLG, but it works! - and today, he probably had more fun outside of it as he does inside of it! He loves loves loves playing with wa-wa (water) and, today, he had a blast scooping large buckets of water out of his pool and into the yard...which created a mud puddle.

FUN!

And yes, our back yard landscaping needs loads of work. We know this, but it isn't as high on the priority list as some other things that we want to do in and around this house...

Let's Take This Outside

We have seen some pretty cool things right outside our house the past two days.

This double rainbow yesterday was beautiful! Although you can't tell in the picture, it was the kind of rainbow that actually looked like a complete semi-circle.


And as we were sitting at the kitchen table eating cereal this morning, we looked out the window and saw this:


Both awesome sights!

And since we're "outside," I just have one question. Why, on June 24th, are there still Christmas lights on 2 trees outside a neighbor's house down the street? Oh, and let's not forget...they're JEWISH.

Ok, that is all.

Cold feet? In June?

So Anthony, I know it's a cool, dry 70-something degrees out there today, which is highly uncharacteristic for the D.C. area in mid-June, but slippers? Seriously? You insisted on wearing these all morning, whether you were playing with your trucks, helping me clean the house, eating a snack, etc.! You are so funny, you make me laugh - love you like crazy!

Ayf & Dubbaya & Oooh, Oh my!

I did it! I finally got Anthony on video saying two of our favorite letters: ayf and dubbaya. F and W, of course!

(Please note that my child does have more in his wardrobe than that Nats shirt - I took this yesterday, the same day that the car pictures were taken in my last post. Ok, I feel better now.)

Who knew...

...that $2 and a yard sale could make a kid this happy?! We went "yard-sale-ing" on Saturday and bought Anthony 10 matchbox cars for $2. He is in love with all of them and keeps them together at all times. Not sure why, but they're always found in a pack. He even cherishes the white police car (that Anthony is proudly showing the camera in the first pic) that Mommy didn't notice was missing two back tires. Leave it to my 21-month old to point it out: "Oh no! Wee-oh?" So very PLG!

Father's Day

For the last 2 years, Father's Day has been a very bittersweet day for me. Mark's first two Father's Days as a dad were also my first two without my dad. I don't like to dwell on it and I don't like to sit around being sad about the fact that he's no longer here with us. He was such a funny man with a great sense of humor, a practical joker, and I know that's the last thing he'd want. But that doesn't negate the fact that sometimes I think it's healthy to reflect on the loss and what it's meant to me. And some days slap me in the face as a reminder that he was taken from me in the blink of an eye. Father's Day is just one of those days.

I remember Father's Day 2006 like it was yesterday. We all traveled down to Mom and Baba's for a Father's Day cookout - something we usually did because it's something Baba really enjoyed. Even Rhonda came home for the weekend from Chicago to surprise him. It was lots of fun. And then 2 weeks later he was gone. Just like that. Mom told me yesterday that she isn't sure how to handle Father's Day anymore, as she feels like she'd like to acknowledge it but isn't sure how. I feel the same way. We are in the process, as a family, of thinking about how we can best do that. In the meantime, I am now so acutely aware of how precious time is with those I love and I try to cherish every moment I have with them. Thank you for teaching me that final lesson, Baba. I miss you...lots.

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Father's Day 2008 was a blast! Per Mark's request, we headed out to Western Maryland to ride the steam engine from Cumberland to Frostburg and back. It's something Mark said he'd wanted to do for a while and felt it would be a perfect thing to do for Father's Day, considering Anthony's current obsession with any form of transportation, particularly "cho-cho's." (And yes just to clarify, Anthony does indeed pronounce it "cho-cho," not "choo-choo." Who knows?) The weather couldn't have been more pleasant and the company more enjoyable. Anthony was on his best behavior all day, despite the lack of a nap, and I could tell that Mark had a great time. There were times throughout the day that I'd look at my two boys and try to decide which one was more excited and was having more fun. Mission accomplished.

Happy Father's Day, Marcus - like I've said before, you are an ace and Anthony and I are both so lucky to have you. Thank you for being such a good dad and for giving me the most precious gift ever.

The train we rode - it was so cool - looked just like Thomas, but black!

Daddy & Anthony waiting for the train to pull into the station. Anthony was a bit apprehensive at the size of the train and by how loud it was. On several occasions, he asked, "All done cho-cho?"

Once we were on the train though, he loved it! He thoroughly enjoyed sitting in Daddy's lap, pointing out all the "ross" and "tis" (rocks and trees...) to both of us. "OH! Ross! OH! Tis!"

"This chocolate ice cream cone is soooooooo good, Daddy! Thank you for buying me my very first one!"

Awwww, that's my boy! He is always so willing to share and must know how much Mommy loves her ice cream!

Today I love...

* Anthony's Eskimo kisses

* Anthony's bear hugs

* the avocado I had on my sandwich for lunch

* Anthony's long nap

* thunderstorms

* new pedicures (even if they are "homemade")

* clean laundry

* Barack's (almost) victory(!) and his speech last night

With regards to this last point, I am like a kid on Christmas morning right now. I am finding myself so excited about this election that I couldn't go to sleep last night. I stayed up, flipping between MSNBC and CNN, watching coverage of all the excitement until 11pm. McCain's speech left lots to be desired in my opinion. Frankly, he annoyed the crap out of me. I found it hilarious that all of the networks broadcasting his speech cut it off as soon as there was "breaking news" that Obama had won the presumptive Democratic presidential nomination. And then instead of going back to McCain and his "that's not change we can believe in" speech (rolling my eyes), they opted to contemplate the presumptive nomination instead. Yes, very funny. And Hillary? I thought her speech was good. I just hope that when the time comes to concede, she serves as a uniting force for the Democratic party instead of a wedge. If Obama is going to win the general election in the fall, the Democrats really need to unite and support him 100%. Her speech last night seemed promising. We shall see...

Seriously, am I the only one who's this excited?!

Isn't summer supposed to be relaxing?

In the Lewin Household, the answer is a big, fat NO! With so much to do and so many places to go, who has time to relax? Having said that, many of my week days are spent preparing for the next upcoming weekend. That doesn't mean, though, that it's not fun! I absolutely love it and love our jam-packed schedule.

This past weekend we took a mini-vacation to Nags Head, NC. We got invited to go with The O'Grodnicks. They rent a ginormous beach house for a week every summer and this year's selection didn't disappoint - ocean-front, pool, 2 hot tubs, 8 bedrooms, the list goes on and on. It was awesome.

Mark and I had both been to the Outer Banks before on several occasions prior to this trip, but this was the first time we've gone since Anthony was born. We all 3 had a blast, especially since we were among friends. The O'Grodnicks are like family to me - I have been friends with Jenn for 17(!) years. It's hard to believe that now, we both have kids of our own. But anyway, with nothing to do, nowhere to go, lots of laughs, lots of booze, lots of good conversations, lots of sun, lots of good food, and lots of memories, the trip was a perfect 4-day escape. Thank you, O'Grodnicks for such a great time!

Here are a few pictures: