The many faces of Leonardo..

I took the kids to the park today. I took pictures and happened to capture at least 1/1000th of Leonardo's personality on film. I can tell you exactly what he is thinking in each photo. Dear Blythe: A LOT of these are for you.

Would you be a love and help me onto the see saw with my Sissy? Ahem.. Kindly put the camera down and help me or shit will get REAL LOUD. You have 2 seconds. GET ME THE FUCK UP ON THIS SEE SAW OR I WILL BRING THE PLAYGROUND DOWN WITH THE FORCE OF MY ANGGERRRR!! I like the see saw. Get me down. You have 2 seconds. Walking! Falling! Fake smile. Real cry. I have buck teeth. It hurts my feelings. I like the park so much I am showing you all 3 of my dimples. (I have 2 on my left cheek). I also have buck teeth. I may have mentioned that in the past. See ya.

She

is so sweet. She is just so damn sweet.

Him

The longer I am with him, the more complete I feel. I have, in the past, imagined 3 kids surrounding me.. jumping in my lap, asking me for snacks and drinks and hugs. And in that image, I am smiling a really content smile. If a 3rd baby ever did find its way into our family, I would welcome it with joy and love. But do I ache for a 3rd? Sometimes I look at this in my backseat: and I wonder what on earth else I could possibly want from life. Now, keep in mind I am saying this while my baby is still a baby. Still on my hip. Still letting me nibble his cheeks and neck and thighs (and I admit sometimes I bite his fanny. You would too, it is very chubby and dimpled). I do really well with a little one on my hip. A partner in crime. Some little person who needs me to hug them a lot and who will let me squeeze them to me and in response will relax and rest a little fuzzy head on my shoulder. I'll have to get back to you when he is running away from me and not toward me..

Chaunce

This outfit was a gift:

When he wears it (which has been twice), I call him "Fancy Boy" and ask if he'd like a spritzer. It is... not my style of dressing a DUDE baby, but alas, I don't have dressy clothes for him so when we go for a nice dinner or say.. Thanksgiving dinner, he is forced into fancy-ness. On a normal day, you might see him in camo pants or muscle shirts. His knees are skinned up and he has a few bruises on his face. Because he is ALL BOY. Something I was really not sure I would like and has turned out to be something I FREAKING LOVE. He is not thoughtful or pensive.. he is not delicate or shy. He is a baby completely out of his shell and if you give him a toy, he may test it by walking over and slamming it into the nearest wall. Until he is satisfied. Because he is the only boy in a sea of never ending girls, I am thankful that at not yet 15 months, he is showing himself to be quite man-ish. It is not easy to do around here, the house is covered with pink and princesses. But, should he encounter a princess his M.O. is to rip her head off and shout "APPLE!".

I see a future in Rugby.

Gentle Giants

I know I talk about how gentle my dogs are, and I got it on film for you guys. Leonardo is 22 pounds of NAUGHTY, but the dogs tolerate all he dishes out. The first video is Leonardo feeding himself and Schutz goldfish off the floor (the horror! the germs! hahahaha). Please note how gently Schutz takes the food from the baby's hand. In addition, please note that Leonardo ends up back at what I like to call "home base" which is directly under my nose.. hugging both of my legs. 99% of the time, if I just look down, I see the top of his blond head.

Next, Wolfgang showcases the definition of TOLERANCE. I have literally never worried one second about the dogs and my kids. Except to worry that the kids take advantage of the dogs' ability to tolerate them. I have watched Leonardo take food out from under both dogs' mouths as they eat their dinner. They just eat around his hand and let him eat what he pleases too. Yes, Leonardo likes dog food. Full of fiber! And vitamins!

In short, I love my dogs. This house would never be home without them.

Slow motion

This last week, Giovanna has been sick. It started Wednesday with fatigue and nausea. I kept her home from school. Thursday and Friday I sent her because she really wanted to go, but I had a nagging feeling something was wrong. She had no fever, no runny nose, no coughing, no symptoms. She just seemed off normal. More tired, less talkative.. my gut was telling me something was up, but with her eager to go to school and literally without even one symptom, I tried to shrug it off. Friday night she complained of tummy pain. She woke up about 10pm and threw up all over her bed. Giancarlo stripped the bed and prepped her bath and I cleaned her up and put her in a little travel bed right next to our bed.. incase she got sick again. She has a spotted history with gastro viruses. Like that one time she ended up in the hospital.

There have been other times when she has thrown up one time and been bouncing off the walls in 24 hours. So I really never know how these tummy things will go with her. This one was not as bad as the gastroenteritis she had in January of 2008, but much worse than the 24 hour bug. Saturday and Sunday, she did this:

and this:

This is noteworthy because Giovanna has not taken a nap since 1902. She started the "Toddlers Against Naps" Association at the age of 2 1/2. She is the FOUNDER. She excels at night time sleeping, she is a rocket scientist of sleeping all night. But if you even say "nap" she will call a meeting to order with all her Non Nap-ist followers and next thing you know your house is full of nap hating pre schoolers with destruction on their minds. I'm totally emailing the VP these pics. Giovanna should be overthrown by noon tomorrow. Updates to follow.

The whole napping thing was totally great. I want her to sleep and heal. What wasn't so great is that when she was awake, she didn't move. Or act at all like Giovanna. She was stationary for 48 hours and by Monday morning when she asked me to carry her to the couch because her whole body hurt, my heart couldn't take anymore. The dr deduced that since:

• No fever was ever present

• No respiratory distress

• TONS of gas and terrible noises in the tummy

she had a gastro related virus, non flu, and the lack of nourishment over the days had caused her muscles to feel tight and sore. So basically, we waited it out and are still waiting it out a little. I have soothed myself by bathing her often, keeping her clean and in the coziest clothes she has.. keeping her hair out of her face. Wrapping her in the softest blankets we have, keeping socks on her feet.. she may be sick, but she smells SO GOOD. Granted, these are all my neuroses but it makes me feel better to do SOMETHING for her. Today was her best day in that she didn't nap and sat up most of the day and actually PLAYED WITH SOME TOYS. In not so great news, she lost some cheeks:

Giovanna is a very petite child. She had no padding to spare so she is looking a bit spindly at the moment. Don't worry, her cheeks are still fluffier than most and very kissable. But I don't like seeing her quite this thin so my plan is to feed her fried cupcakes until she can't button her jeans.

Because she has been so sick and is finally perking up, I bought her a new toy to celebrate. I think I bought it half for her, half for me in utter relief that she is finally progressing to wellness. She loved it:

I found it at a consignment shop. It is a gently used "Little People" toy and the Little People are numbered. She quickly lined them up in order and noted "The one holding #5 is missing". I said "Maybe she is home sick with her Mommy?". She sat on the driveway and played for an hour. Her brother was VERY interested in what she was doing:

But how does he even balance on those teeny tiny toes? How?

I'm no physics major, but even I can see that he is padding around on feet no bigger than most 6 month olds'.

It was a good day. I expect tomorrow to be even better. I love her.

A whole lot of cute

The baby decided that he would walk a LOT today. Every time I turned around, he was wobbling by on his two TEENY feet. Every few steps he stops to center himself. He kind of looks like a jolly drunk heading home from the bar. He's all "left, right, left, right, leeefff.. WHOOPS! try again, left, right, left, rrrrrr.... wwwhooooooo ho ho hooo... okay, I got it! right, left, right". You get the idea. His bottom half doesn't really look connected to his top half, but he makes it work. Kind of like how he works his buck tooth smile and fat thighs. He's one hot mess. Here is a video of him kind of walking and then turning it into a game where every time he falls down, I chase him.

Please note how he sings to himself as he stumbles about (also note the full laundry basket of clean and DISINFECTED laundry from Giovanna's illness). This next video is a really good one. He showcases his SKILLZ. The problem with this video is that he made a game of walking over to his VERY sick sister (who has laid on the couch for 2 days) and patting her on the head. Really hard. Like "HI!!! HOW IS YOUR HEAD FEELING NOWWW???". Subtlety is not his forte. You might have guessed that by now. This is a very rare video where you will see Giovanna yell at him. She is not really in the mood for his antics. Not that he cares..