Egg Coloring Extravaganza

Sweet cousins

We had a fabulous pre-Easter celebration at cousin Satya's house this year. We all had such fun dying Easter eggs, playing in the backyard, jumping on the trampoline, spending time with family, and enjoying an incredible meal.

Luke was thrilled with the "magic eggs" on which his name appeared after being dunked in egg dye. Grandma is quite the magician with her white crayon :)!

The finished product!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Luke's 1st hockey game

What a lucky little boy to have the opportunity to go to the Shark Tank for the last hockey game of the season.

As he got ready to go, Luke insisted upon wearing his Yankees hat (sorry, buddy, but I think you have your sports mixed up!).

Of course, he wanted nothing to do with Mommy snapping a photo on their way out the door.

However, he was happy to pose upon arrival home, post a new Sharks jersey, a ginormous cotton candy, and a Sharks win! He practically leaped out of the car while shouting, "Mommy, I want you to see what I look like!" He went on to tell me all about the game, dancing to the loud music, and the players coming out of the shark's mouth .... all very cool!

Thank you to Paw for the very special tickets! What a lucky Luke!

Mia at 15 months

Hard to believe that our baby girl is turning into a little girl already!

I took Mia in for her 15 month old well check this week. Here are her stats:

Weight: 19lbs, 14oz (between 5th and 10th percentiles)

Height: 29.5 inches (25th percentile)

Dr. Dugoni asked me how many words Mia says now and I realized that I had NO idea, which is so different than I was with Luke (I had it all documented with him!). I know that Mia has fewer words than Luke did at her age, but was feeling sort of bad as I tried to quickly recount them to the Dr. So, I came home and made the following list.

Mia's words at 15 months:
hi

hello

bye

peek a boo

"what are you doing?"

Luke ("roo")

Dad

ya (as in "yes")

kitty

baby

ball

Mama

Wheee! (when she's sliding or swinging)

eye

Yay! (followed by clapping when she does something she is proud of or happy about)

She still has little interest in signing, but does use the sign for "milk" for just about anything that she wants. She also is starting to sign "all done" on occasion ... but for the most part she still just yells at us :)!

The same week that Mia turned 15 months old she started the transition down to one nap. She has done so well and is sleeping overall much better than she was with two naps. I guess she was ready - I just needed to catch up with her to realize this. She is now sleeping between 12.5 and 13 hours at night, and takes a 2.5-3 hour nap just after noon.

In terms of teeth, she still has 9, but Dr. Dugoni said that her other top molar would be in any day as she could see the gumline swollen.

Mia continues to be a good eater and will try nearly anything, which is a huge relief as we still work with Luke on expanding his food horizons.

And, the moment that I've been waiting for .... I have caught Luke and Mia play, really playing and interacting in a give-and-take way, together a few times recently!

We love you so much, little Miss Mia!

Dressing himself

Luke has taken to dressing himself some mornings. In fact, it is happening quite a bit lately that he arrives in our room in the morning completely dressed, including shoes. I have to say, his outfits aren't half bad. Here's an example from his first week on the job:

Pretty good, right?!

The only downfall? It means that Mommy loses her right to select his outfit for the day as he is NOT a fan of changing clothes once he has selected what he is wearing!

Kidz Love Soccer

Luke is playing soccer again for the Spring session through Kidz Love Soccer. He really does enjoy it, even though he tells me each week that he'd rather not go. When we get there he can hardly wait to get out on the field and always tells me how much fun he had when it is done for the day.

I am looking forward to the day that I can send Mia out to play as well since she is already becoming quite the trouble-maker during Luke's soccer practice. She insists that she should be out there running around with the big kids!

Holy cutenss

I just couldn't take how cute Mia's little crocs looked with her ruffle trimmed dress. LOVE it!

Spring in Tahoe

We made our last trip to Tahoe for this ski season over the weekend. It was a wonderful time for all of us - fun and relaxing. Some of the highlights... Luke's playdoh extravaganza which lasted for nearly 4 hours

A lunch together and some time to hang out and shop a bit in the Village

Some backyard snow play time, as well as some hanging out around the fire pit.

For Brooklyn also ... for the record, our dog loves, LOVES the snow! She is clearly living in the wrong climate in San Jose. I think laying in the snow is about the only time this dog isn't hot. Oh, and the bonus this weekend ... Carly and Cosmo were there also - it was a doggie playdate lasting the entire weekend. Brooklyn slept the entire way home ... and for a few days after our return!

Tahoe has had an incredible amount of snow since our last visit a few weeks ago and Luke was ready to hit the slopes again with Coach Jay. This time Daddy only did a few runs with them.

Luke did a great job! He did a couple of runs with the edgie-wedgie (a rubbery device that clips to the tips of his skis to help him control keeping them together), and then was able to ski the remainder of the lesson without it. Mommy and Daddy are amazed and thrilled at how much he has learned in a short amount of time ... and even happier that he has truly developed a love for being out on the slopes (evident by the crying that ensued when we told him it was time to leave for the day).
 

Skiing right up to the cookie bin for a quick snack!

Last run of the day!
 

Sweet girl on the ride home. Mommy sat in the back and she loved having someone to look at and chat with.

Thank you Day, Paw, Coach Jay, and Tahoe for such a wonderful winter season!