Little Piggies

Identical Brothers

(This time I'm serious. If you don't believe me, look at old blog posts from 2008 of Joey. Like this one. IDENTICAL.)

Bigger Every Day

So I really tried to use the carseat as a guide and scale both pictures the same. Wanted to give you a little idea of how much bigger Jacob is today (well, yesterday, really). The picture on the left is from the car ride home from the hospital, so three days old. The picture on the right is yesterday, at seven weeks. He's getting so big!

A Morning at the Beach

We met up with our friends at the beach on North Avenue on Saturday morning. In the ten years I've lived in the Chicago area, this was my first trip to the beach. I mean, there's no ocean, so how much of a beach could it be?

Here's the whole crew taking a little snack break. We bought the sun shade the day before, and it was a little bigger than we expected, but it worked out great. Kept Jacob out of the sun completely.

This is the view from the beach. How cool is it to see the skyline like that? Not something you see at the Jersey Shore.

Tano had lots of fun playing with this beach ball we found.

And Diego and Joey had fun playing with the sand. All said, I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun I had at the lake beach. There were even some waves that were just big enough for the kids. Joey went in the water when I dragged him in, but maybe next time, he'll go in on his own.

Random Fun Out East

A few more images from our last-minute weekend trip to Pennsylvania.

Going for a walk with Nana.

Joey going down the slide on his belly.

Makayla going down the slide "on her own" (with Nana close behind).

Cleaning the windows at Nana Mousie's - because what's more fun than cleaning?

Pop-pop and his babies - at least the younger two.

Amazing Spiderman face painting at the Sacred Heart Church picnic.

I swear, we spent lots of time with Shae, too. I know Rachel took some pictures, so you'll have to check her blog to see all the shenanigans (and pictures of all the cousins).

New Besties

Jacob and I visited Mommy's friend (and ex-college roommate) Laura and her new son Owen yesterday. Jacob is sixteen days older than Owen, so I'm sure they'll be experiencing lots of new things together - including their first side-by-side babies shot.

Paul (Owen's Daddy) pointed out that the best part of this picture is that there are four feet and only one sock in it!

When Joey got home from school, he had fun showing Jacob all the cool features of his bouncy chair. Not sure who had more fun with that one.

Swimming Progression

For someone who practically grew up in the pool, I have felt like I failed at instilling that same love of the water in my son. I'm sure it's not really anything I've done (other than not exposing Joey to the pool enough), but summer is just not the same on dry land. So was I ever thrilled with how well Joey took to the pool this past weekend in Easton. It took Nana to pull him in, but then I could see that by the end of the summer, I could easily mold him into a fish like the rest of my family.

It all started just putting his piggies in the water.

Then Aunt Shelley was able to hold on to him (and Makayla) to experience the "bubbles" (also known as the water return).

I couldn't believe it when he let me throw him up into the air and splash down into the water. Granted, I didn't let him go under, but he definitely got plenty wet. And although I missed it, he even "dunked" himself, putting his head completely under the water. I plan on building on this through the rest of the summer, spending lots of time on the weekends around the water - Buszi's pool or maybe even a few lakes. We'll see how it goes!

Visitors

Jacob and I had some visitors this week, which was definitely a welcome change to our normal routine. On Tuesday, Aunt Danielle and Wolfie stopped by.

 Wolfie loved his little cousin, and kept wanting to touch him. They're going to have so much fun together when they get bigger.

He also had a lot of fun playing with Ginny. Not sure how much fun Ginny had, but Wolfie had a blast.

On Wednesday, our friends Cara and Grace stopped by to say hello. Grace is going to have a little brother in a few weeks, so she couldn't wait to practice holding the baby.

 Like Joey, she just loves to look at him.

Her mommy was able to capture a shot where she was looking up at the camera. (Apparently that doesn't happen all that often.) And Jacob stayed awake just long enough for us to snap these.

Bedtime Hijinks

Not sure what they're up to, but these two, I tell you. They'll be up to no good in no time.

Enjoying the Sunshine

Sleeping Beauty

Pillow Talk, Brother-Style

Alternate Title (as suggested by a good friend): Mirror Mirror (just add/subtract three years)

How We Spent Our Fourth of July

Editor's note: We didn't actually get to the bowling alley until after 6:00pm. Joe spent the whole day prepping our basement so the HVAC contractor can install the new condenser and furnace. So excited!

Not So Busy Days

Jacob is starting to stay awake a bit during the day. Not nearly as much as his big brother did, but he's finally staying awake. Here he is playing on the bed.

 And of course, not too much later, sleeping in his pack 'n play.

It's a hard life for a 4-week-old.

Identical Cousins

OK, Joey and Shae are obviously not really identical, what being different sexes and all, but they sure do love to do everything together (even if not at the same time). They had fun at the park ...

on the couch watching tv ...

and even at Target!

But I think the most fun they had together was at the Kohl's Children Museum, when they got to play doctor to the babies. (Sorry for the grainy photo - only had my iPhone with me.)

I'm sure Jacob can't wait to join them. In the meantime, he did everything he could to stay cool during this oppressive heat wave.

Catching Up ...

With my sister and her family in Chicago, I got a little behind on the blogs. Here are some photos to catch up. (Check out her blog for lots of photos from the trip - I have some, but she was definitely the photographer.)

From our first walk. June 22nd. (He took an earlier walk with Nana and Pop-pop, but this was our first trip out in the stroller.)

Chilling in the swing. June 24th. 

Joey was a little jealous of me taking all the pictures of Jacob, and told me, "Take a picture of me by Jacob." So here he is standing by Jacob.

Trying to keep cool in this oppressive weather. June 29th.

More pictures of the weeklong adventure with the Gonzales family to come.