Robinette's

Ethan, Lucia, and I met some work friends (Kirsten and Ashley) and their kids (Kylen and Lauren) at Robinette's this afternoon.
Robinette's is an apple orchard on the north side of town for those who don't know (like me until today!). They have a lot of fun activities, including a corn maze (see pictures), horse drawn trailer rides through the orchards, pick your own apples, a store, etc. etc. We decided on the corn maze. Ethan and Kylen had a fun time. Lucia also did well- she didn't start crying until we were in the car on the way home!



Ethan and Kylen walking hand in hand through the corn maze- too cute!
























At least they are looking in the same direction in this picture- even if it's not at the camera!























Here is Ashley and Lauren, Kirsten and Kylen, and me with Ethan and Lucia- in the stroller.

Artprize

We walked around downtown yesterday with family to check out some of the art prize. I didn't take too many pictures of the art- oops! The second picture is Ethan's fun behavior of covering his face when we reprimand him or tell him not to do something- we remind him that we can still see him!

Ethan, Emily, and Addison in front of the basket of flowers near the public museum.

Smile for the camera!

So, this is what I get 99% of the time I try to take a nice, sweet picture of Lucia! She actually gave me a few decent pictures yesterday and I believe one will work for her birth announcement.

Lucia continues to do well at night- last night she slept from 9pm to 6:30am! I couldn't believe it! She makes up for it during the day though- still wanting to eat every 2 or 2.5 hours, but I can't complain with her nights going so well!

Asleep/Awake

Yesterday was the last day of summer and boy was it nice here in Michigan! I was excited for the hot weather becuase that meant Lucia could wear this cute little jean dress outfit at least one time before it gets too cold. I love how fat she looks in the bottom picutre!

Antique Archaeology

On the way home we stopped at an antique dealership call Antique Archaeology. The people who own the shop have a show on the History Channel called American Pickers. Apparently Francesca and some of her co-workers watch this show- so Cecca wanted to stop to get some souvenirs for her friends. Francesca was flabbergasted when she saw that Danielle (in the top picture) was at the store (Danielle is also in the show). She asked Danielle to sign the souvenirs for her friends and I was able to take a few pictures of them (Danielle suggested that they pose like they are drinking coffee and laughing).
Francesca was so worked up after meeting Danielle that she needed a cigarette!







Here is aunt Francesca with Ethan and Norah. Cecca was a huge help with the kids in Iowa. She would refer to her experience as a "boot camp" for would-be mothers. The kids sure did keep us busy- Ethan and Norah especially.

Princess Ethan

I'm sure he will kill me when he's 16 and I pull out these photos! He loved Norah's dress up collection and would twirl to show off the dress. Here Norah and Ethan are playing doctor in their princess outfits. We would here Norah say "Ethan lay down and be sick so I can check you." It was pretty cute!

Luke vs. Lucia

Francesca, Ethan, Lucia, and I headed to Iowa last week to visit Chiara, Norah, and Luke (James was in Chicago starting his new job). Lucia did awesome on the way to Iowa- she slept the entire 6 hour car trip! What a trooper! Ethan also did well in the car.

Lucia is catching up to Luke, but he's still quite a big boy! It's fun to see how different they are- when Luke is hungry he starts to make grunting noises- when Lucia is hungry- she starts a cry that gets progressively louder until I feed her. By the end of our visit Luke was also trying the crying approach when he was hungry- Chiara kept asking "what did you do to my sweet baby?"

What are you looking at?

Lucia at 6 weeks. She's now 7 weeks- I need to update more often!

I also need to send out birth announcements- but she is making this face in most of her pictures- she doesn't look to happy to have arrived into this world! Hopefully I can get one of her smiling soon . . .

Go Grease Lightening!

Ethan showing off his new shoes- he's very proud of them! I think he looks like a greaser from the 1960s!

Bath time

Lucia enjoying her bath tonight.

What!?!

"you want me to go two hours between feeding! You must be out of your mind!"

Lucia seemed to be on a feeding frenzy today! I keep telling myself I shouldn't complain- she did sleep from 10:30p-5:30a last night- so she must be making up for that long stretch!

I love her faces in these photos- as you can see- she is having no trouble packing on the pounds. I bought some 3mo. size pants for her the other day and the bands were too tight around her fat stomach!

Feeding Ducks

We took the kids to John Ball Park a few night ago to feed the ducks. Ethan had a good time. I tried not to care about all the geese and duck poop that we were all stepping in- but it was gross!

Lucia- 1 month old

I can't believe a month has already come and gone! Lucia has been doing well- though she can be a bit fussy and needy at times- but family members reassure me that she does not seem as bad as Ethan was. She had a couple nights where she slept for 6 hours- but now seems back to her 3.5 to 4 hour max stretch at night.
Ethan has been doing well as a big brother. He likes to hold her and shove the pacifier in her mouth when she starts to cry. We have also been working on potty training with Ethan- so far a handful of successful pees on the potty- but no poop! I hope he gets the hang of it soon because those poor size 6 diapers are having trouble containing his messes!

Swimming

Ethan does so well in Nonna's pool with his swimmies! Here are a few pictures from the weekend and yesterday.

New hair cut . . .

I'm not sure how I feel about this yet . . . Jim took Ethan for a hair cut a few days ago and this is how he came back. My baby is growing up- and that makes me sad and happy at the same time.

Now- if he could just get the hang of poop on the potty . . .

Arianna and Lorenzo

My cousin Arianna and her husband Lorenzo came to visit Michigan for a few days during their vacation. Ethan loved the attention Arianna gave him and was more than happy to show off his many cars. Lucia was a big hit too!

Ethan and Lucia

Some photos from yesterday. Ethan started asking "please hold the baby?" in his cute little high pitched voice! Of course you can! He does really well with her- I have to remind him to be gentle- I almost threw up yesterday when he pressed on her soft spot a little harder than I would have liked!

Lucia- 3 weeks old

Lucia had her 3wk appt. yesterday. She is doing quite well according to her doctor. Already 10lbs 2oz- only 2oz less than Ethan weighed at his 3wk appt! She's filling out quite nicely. Feeding is still a work in progress. During the day there are times when she wants to eat every hour it seems. I asked her doctor about this and she said that Lucia should be going at least 2-3 hours b/w feeding- so she may be nursing for comfort when she wants to eat every hour. We are trying to encourage the pacifier a bit more during the day. At night she is doing better since I started swaddling her. She will go about two 4 hour stretches during the night- which I'm appreciating!

Hopefully she will figure out her daytime nursing schedule soon!