Today was a good day

Nothing monumental happened. I mean, yes, we *did* have breakfast (doughnuts and bagels) with the Easter Bunny at the firehouse. And one of James's classmates was there, and they were so cute and excited together.
And I *did* get a mani and pedi at the spa with a gift certificate that was about to expire.

But that's not what made it so great.

Even though we were working on a few hours of sleep (thanks to each child in his own special way), and the big brother still knocked the little brother down once or twice, it was a great day.

The weather was perfect.
I had a perfect fourteen mile run to start the day.
We spent all morning together as a family.
We played outside together all afternoon.
Dan made us a delicious and nutritious dinner.
Dan and James went for a walk after dinner while John spent time in his favorite place (the bath. Seriously. He tried to climb in fully dressed. Thrice.)
I put both my kids to bed with songs and stories about Easter. And even a little Q&A with James.

There was no big tension today. No yelling. No big stress.

And now it's quiet. And I'm trying to do a little tidying (since I am way behind on my chores this week).

It was a great day.

Super Boys

James and John are both sporting their Superman shirts today. They come by their superpowers naturally; Daddy is quite the super hero for letting me go to bed at 6ish last night (I was asleep by 7:30) as I battled some tummy ills.

Palm Sunday Prepsters

We threw these outfits together this morning, and I'm a little obsessed with the cuteness (and coordination).

Happy St Joseph's Day!

My two little Leporis decked out in red.

My lil' leprechauns

A little photo shoot of James and John sporting their shirts that Grandma and Grandpa got them in Ireland.

"Irish" Breakfast

James was pretty excited for his green shamrock bagel this morning.

I love these feet!

The first week as a 13 month old

The first full week of March was a big deal for John:
He started signing "more" clearly and consistently. Very exciting (and far better than his prior method of screaming in a ridiculously high pitched tone. Just ask Auntie Ali and Uncle P.) and quite helpful since the boy loves. to. eat.
He officially kicked the pacifier habit. Cold turkey, baby. He was on a quick path to becoming a paci junky-- he would see one and get excited and grabby. It was so easy for us to give him a pacifier at bedtime and naptime, too. But we knew it was time, so we stopped. So glad he's adjusted well! (And hopefully this will also mean less of his teething-drool-induced face rash!)
John is a toddler! He now prefers bipedal mobility to crawling. We celebrated with a trip to our favorite kids' shoe store on Saturday where he got some cute size fives. (James was measured as well; no new shoes just yet.)
John's current oral vocabulary: that, light, James (doesn't sound like "James", but I consistently, recognize his way of saying it), boop (said when touching your nose-- super cute!), hi (very often it's "hihihihihi"), uh-oh, ow, Daddy, D (which is short for diaper. As in, "One, two, three, it's a stinky D!").

Long John Lepori

Just sporting my Euro drawstring jammies.

"Happy One Street Birthday!" Part Two

On Saturday, February 2nd (yes, Groundhog Day), we celebrated our sweet secondborn's first birthday with a Birthday Brunch.

 

Dessert table: cupcakes, cake, cookies

bagels, munchkins, fruit salad, hummus & crackers, quiches, veggies, dilly dip, wheatberry salad, Palmetto cheese sandwiches

foyer (where gifts were set)

Goodie Bags and "one street birthday" blowers

birthday cards and photos

flags with John's monthly photos

In addition to all the food, we had coffee, juice, milk, seltzer, bloody marys, and mimosas.

The kids had a lot of fun playing with magna tiles, basketball, trains, blocks,.... I had a craft for them to do, but they stayed busy with the toys, so we didn't get to it.


(James happened upon the craft supplies once the guests had headed home.  When I told him that they were door hangers and stickers to decorate them, he got right to work.  That night, I discovered his handywork on display upstairs.)

John was thrilled to enjoy another cupcake after blowing out the candle on his big cake.  

Everyone enjoys cake. Yum!

It was a fun morning, and we were so happy to have our good friends here to celebrate John with us!

"Happy One Street Birthday!" Part One

I admit that I had to squeeze John into the ONEsie on his big day.

 So, this post is LONG overdue, I know.  My sweet little John is already over thirteen months old, and I still haven't posted about his birthday!  By the way, James (who is reading everything he can get his hands on) reads "1st Birthday" as "one street birthday," so he was constantly enthusiastically wishing his little brother a "Happy One Street Birthday!"  Hilarious.

Back on January 29th, John turned a year old.  It was a Tuesday, and we had the luxury of having Daddy home all day since we were getting the trees taken care of that day.  We started the day with a festive birthday breakfast of blueberry muffins.

Happy Birthday to you!

Jolly John enjoying his breakfast (as ever).

In the morning, John had his one year doctor's check-up where he weighed in at over 20 pounds and was 30 inches long.  He was given the green light for cow's milk and got his shots.  The highlight of the visit was when the doctor walked into the examining room and greeted us by asking me if we had shaved John's head.  Seriously.  In her defense (which she also stated), it *is* a tradition in some (not ours) cultures.  But no, our baby is naturally bald.  Hilarious.

After spending the afternoon watching the "tree show" and going to Cherubs (where John got to see his BFF Mr. Peters), Grandma joined us for a special birthday pasta dinner.  Both boys thoroughly enjoyed their meals...

...and then it was time to enjoy some delicious and beautiful cupcakes from Baked in a Cup!

Oh- that's like my breakfast muffin, but with frosting?!

This looks interesting!

Mmmm... delicious!

Wah! It's all gone!

When we'd finished our dessert, it was time for gifts!  

James had wrapped some of his old puzzles and toys to give to John, which was very sweet.  John was delighted and we all had a fun time working on the puzzles!  Grandma brought the birthday boy some adorable new clothes and a "bike" which he found very exciting.

It was a fabulous day, and the fun was only beginning.  A few days later we had John's party!