weekend-o-rama

We really enjoyed this weekend (although it was like a fast forward into summer weather and I don't want to miss out on spring completely!) The March for Babies was the definite highlight. Aiden cruised sitting as far forward as possible in his stroller (so that he wouldn't miss anything or even consider napping in his stroller). Hasbro Children's Hospital was handing out these adorable bears to everyone, so Aiden's new friend "Marchie" cruised the whole way with him and got plenty of snuggles. Remembering a fun day is a good reason to collect another stuffed animal friend. Here's a video rundown:

March for Babies 2009 from LB on Vimeo.
We also grilled out twice in one weekend after bringing out our patio furniture. We were invited to our friends for a brunch and Aiden loved playing with his favorite girls. I also took some pregnancy portraits for a friend of mine. I have to admit that a combination of her darn cute belly and some sort of crazy hormone imbalance, but it made me want to be pregnant again... um, no thanks at least for a little while.
Here's some patio and playground highlights, including Aiden eating his first "burger":

Patio and Playground from LB on Vimeo.

shorts weather

These are the first shorts of the season for Aiden! We put out the patio furniture and really couldn't get enough of this weather.

yeehaw

Talking on the skype and riding the horse....I missed getting him sauntering aroung the room like a cowboy that had been riding too long.

zoom zoom

happy earth day!

marching on

I read a lot of blogs. Most of the time I glance over the tidbits, but sometimes I get more invested and I start feeling like I "know" some of these women. They are sharing their lives and tidbits about their families that I don't think I know about some of my own good friends. I was recently really, really hit when one of them lost their 17 month old daughter (born just 8 days after Aiden). I was hit by a ball full of thorns. Thorns that continue to stick in me as I read her write about picking up her daughter's ashes. I won't continue to make everyone sad, but I want to do something. I want to walk for the March of Dimes and raise some money so that maybe less people will have to deal with the pain of losing a child. If you have a chance to pitch in, even just the teeniest amounts add up, so don't be shy.

The March of Dimes uses 77 cents of every dollar you raise in March for Babies to support research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives. And your funds are used to bring comfort and information to families whose baby was born too soon, or sick.

Support our walk this upcoming weekend: http://www.marchforbabies.org/loviatt
Or just support the March of Dimes.

weekend 'o spring

Spring is here. We had a mega BBQ/playdate with five babies under under 18 months (with Aiden being the oldest). It smelled like bbq kabobs, strawberries, and popsicles. Cannot go wrong with that combination! We originally started at the playground where Aiden is quickly becoming a regular. He knows his way around those ramps, and unfortunately the kids over 4 years old don't like to always stay on their side (which is awesome and J couldn't even resist trying it out) so he got slammed to the ground by some girl being chased by her "monster" father. Oh well, life goes on even with a little bite of the tongue. And, of course, we had our first Del's frozen lemonade of the season to help bring him back to the land of happy babies. I didn't have my camera, but that kept my hands free to catch the giggling baby and then later feed him some kabob. You get the picture. Although it might be hard to imagine the five little ones nicely playing with a big batch of crayons (one ten days younger than Aiden, one 15 mo, two 14 months - all mobile is the key). Although "nicely playing" may be an overstatement if you're a crayon that doesn't like to get stomped on and occasionally munched when the many parents simutaneously looked away.
Sunday I went to a baby shower while J and A went to the Children's Museum (which Aiden continues to looove, despite the huge talking head that he was scared of this time). It was so fun to see all the new baby gear and the new clothing lines... It's amazing how quickly things change. I was obsessed with this cute little handknit giraffe sweater and matching hat (the little dangly legs - oh goodness so cute - I hardly know what I would do if it was spit up on though) and the awesome quilt she received. I made my second diaper cake eva, and I think I'm getting better based on the fact that I didn't burn through a whole bag of rubberbands this time (my trick was to put a chip and dip server underneath).
I'm taking this RISD design class with some Talented people (intentional capital T) and I had some catching up to do on the class assignments I missed while on vacation. Aiden was trying to help scribble on/destroy the perspective study that J worked hard to help me on (what a sweet smart husband because I'm not sure I could've figured it out on my own - seriously it was complicated - see above - then I had to paint this with different tones of grey paint! Reminder: I'm a photographer). I'm almost caught up, but I'm thinking of not taking my next class until the fall.

In the mean time, I will continue my art appreciation of the Aiden series ;)
What patience our nanny has, eh? Nanny cuts it for him, so that he can scribble and hang.
Spring colors looks an awful lot like fall colors, don't they?
Shape stickers!
Smudgy shamrock handprints!
Stars from space week!
He loves to stomp around like a Dino especially with paint on his tootsies.

kites!

Oh, did we have fun flying kites! Hope we can get a chance to fly more soon- maybe with my Poppie (aka. Aiden's Grreat Poppie)?!


Or go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCOJuiGTbMI

vaca photos!

In reverse order, here are photos from our trip:














I had surprisingly few photos from Chicago, I guess I was busy taking video ;)

chicago slides

ohio slide

more video

Chicago Aquarium was a highlight:

Chicago Aquarium! from LB on Vimeo.
Beebopping at Robyn's in Ohio:

Playing at Robyn's from LB on Vimeo.
Playground around the corner:

Browning Playground from LB on Vimeo.
Goofing around in Ohio:

Playing in Ohio from LB on Vimeo.
There are more believe it or not, but I have a limit on my upload. I will have to add the kite flying from Ohio later since it's a biggie.

vaca tidbits

We had a grrrreat time visiting everyone on our vacation extravaganza (11 days away!) Thanks to everyone!

We talked to my folks last night when we got home, and they asked Aiden when he was coming back to visit and he replied with what could've been his first sorta sentence (other than "bye bye gigi"), by very clearly saying, "I'll be right back!"

We started the trip by tagging along with J on his conference to Chicago where we had a great time visiting some of my best friends. I'm going to steal tidbits from my friend's email since she did such an awesome job explaining our chicago fun:
"we had a great weekend with the brennans! we ate our way through the neighborhoods of chicago. thursday night we went to ed debevic's, the cheesy diner that lauren and i used to frequent on our model UN trips with HB. aiden loved bee-bopping to the music and playing with the paper hats. robyn, lauren and i piled into the photo booth for souvenir photos, just like high school:) friday we went out for deep dish pizza and had dessert at robyn's--a sundae bar! jon was nice enough to share his elmo ball and muppet movie with aiden.

saturday we checked out the farmers market and the butterfly exhibit at the nature museum, then shopped around and lunched on armitage where lauren spotted super cute sock monkeys and a matching night light for baby shank's nursery! last week i also bought super cute monkey-themed crib bedding so the nursery is slowly taking shape. we went to my hood for margie's milkshakes (amazing as usual!) then swung by my place for a quick tour of the new shiny bathroom. that night we had dinner at a hibachi place and then crawled into bed after a day o fun!

sunday we brunched at the bongo room and sadly said goodbye--the weekend flew! luckily lauren will be jet-setting into town again for my shower that ms. robyn is throwing me in june:)"

Then here is more from an email I wrote - look at me saving time and boring the socks off the friends that have already received these emails ;) but the blog roll keeps it for-eva ;)

"Friday was a work day for everyone but Baby AB and I so we were sooo excited that the weather was so nice. We cruised to the Institute of Art which is awesome. Aiden charmed all the security guards as he cruised around looking for as many horses as he could find. Then we found out that they have this awesome touch gallery where there are kiddie exhibits. Then I decided that it was so nice we should take a long walk to the Navy Pier to go the Children's Museum. Unfortunately, even though he'd already had a morning nap, Aiden was so relaxed that he fell asleep on the way there, so we didn't end up visiting the Children's Museum. Instead, I cruised around inside this awesome speciality grocery that Robyn really likes Fox and Obel... they were handing out jelly beans ;) So you can't beat sweet treats and a sunny day.

Since AB was up pretty early and stayed up pretty late (the time change and the excitement (aka. ice cream) really wacked him out), we were out and about pretty early most mornings. We had a great visit to the awesome aquarium before the farmer's market too. It was a really full trip and the city really spoiled us a bit by waiting to snow until after we left. Aiden spoiled us by being so, so good on BOTH flights - even when I was by myself with him on the full flight to Ohio."

J left us to come home to teach and then head to another conference in Vancouver, so we had a nice full week in Ohio with my family. Everybody spoiled Aiden with new toys galore and he was in heaven with a new toy or book in his hand all the time. We got out as much as we could (I was happy that the snow didn't stick around more than about 24 hours). Here are some tidbits:
We hit the mall for the bunny train (3 rides total with mom, lizzy, and gran) and the playzone.
We flew kites 4 times (and even got two new awesome airplane kites).
We checked out the library kids rhyme time program (which rocked).
We visited and loved the local Ohio Gymboree on our international membership.
We got to visit Robyn (A was so excited to see her again!) and her adorable little nephew.
We nibbled some of Auntie Liz's new cookie of the month.
We ate pancakes - willoughby's best and cinnamon chip from Bob's! - and of course, rejuvenated the Breakfast Club with Uncle Billy.
We decorated eggs and Aiden loved marker-ing and sticker-ing them.
We played on the playground with Cassie dog and fan club cousins.
We drove through Eggshelland to see the thousands of enameled eggs laid out on the lawn to form zoo animals.
I shopped around for some fun things to wear at all the fun upcoming showers/work events.
I caught up with an old friend from my space camp days that I hadn't seen in about 13 years.
I got to go to pottery class with my sister and make a wavy bowl with grapes and vines around the inside edge.
I also got to try on bridesmaids dresses for September and they were all adorable.

Photos are coming soon...

I missed my baby boy terribly today when I was back at work! It's so, so nice to spend such a big chunk of QT with my little guy and my family. We miss you and we wish we could "be right back!" Thanks for everything!

vaca videos

Thanks to everyone! More coming soon... but I did manage to upload some videos:

From Chicago:

Chicago: Grooving at Robyn's from LB on Vimeo.

Chicago Art Institute from LB on Vimeo.

Chicago: Eat at Ed's from LB on Vimeo.

Chicago Cloud Gate from LB on Vimeo.

Chicago ETC: Butterflies, Milkshakes, and Play! from LB on Vimeo.

Chicago Fireworks, Brunch Bye Bye from LB on Vimeo.

From Ohio:

Ohio Easter Outings: Train and Eggshelland from LB on Vimeo.

Easter Decorating 2009 from LB on Vimeo.

Ohio PlayZone with PopPop from LB on Vimeo.

happy easter!

easter flash

fall flash

Spring has sprung - But isn't fall nice too?! Can't decide which we like better long falls or long springs?

ohio flashback

We're off visiting and laughing it up, but I'm preposting some flashback photos:

17 months!

Dear Aiden,

It's been a nice refreshing start of spring. It came in like a lion and will hopefully go out like a nice calm lamb. Your favorite part of this month has definitely been getting out in the yard. You hear birds and notice the moon in the middle of the day before we do. My favorite is to yell down at you from the second story window while you are playing outside. You were bumpity-bumping through the grass as Rebecca pulled you in your wagon the first time I did it, and I thought you were going to jump up two stories to get a hug because you were so, so excited to see me. The other day when you and your dad were down there playing, you immediately started playing your little "this is my mom, this is my dad" game. You point and say My Ma, My Da, and sometimes even My Ba (which has become Rebecca's new name)... then you clasp your hands together and giggle as we shake our heads to say yes.
This month you extended on your independent streak. You started walking up and down steps without help. You were super proud of yourself walking down the steps in our living room with no railing. You would sorta bop down them one step at a time and then look back at us with a smile. I'm glad that you know to take it one step at a time.
Your independent mode also led to you not wanting to be held while sitting on our laps including while you play drums. Our solution was to put your chair booster in front of it, so you could be strapped in when you would rail on the drums and reach for more sticks. If you drop a stick you would yelp, sometimes scream, but now you've learned how to "ask nicely" for things. You've discovered that saying puuuhleeeease and pease in the cutest little voice will get you just about anything you want. Sounds like trouble, doesn't it? But gosh darn it, your politeness deserves to be rewarded. You know just when to say it and flash your little impish grin.
You showed glimpses of wanting to help. You started "holding" the dust pan when we swept the floor after you eat (since you insist on letting us know you are done by throwing your discarded food all over the floor and hiding bits in your lap). Most of the time you just smear the dust pan over the food, but at least you're trying to help (ahem, interfere). You also found it really fun to stuff clean diapers in the Diaper Champ and try to flip it back and forth. I think we nipped that in the bud before we lost any diapers.
You thought shoes were really doggone interesting this month. You wanted to try to put them on yourself, on the kitty, on daddy, on the chair leg... Shoes are usually fun to put on you lately because you get so excited. You usually will jump up after you put them on and check to see if they give you a bounce in your step. I'm betting that your new crocs are going to be your favorite summer shoes because of that cushy step. Your list of potential future careers should now include podiatrist since feet get plenty of attention from you. At Gymboree, you find your own shoes on the rack and you enthusiastically reach down to tickle his toes as they sing that song. You catch the tickle bug pretty quickly and those are some of our favorite giggles.
You loved running free whenever you had the chance this month. You wanted to run back and forth while flying kites in DC and this was just enough to help you burn off some steam. You took to walking out of the front door while holding our hands instead of being carried to the car. At Gymboree, you get excited to run after other little kids. There was a little girl wearing an elmo tshirt that didn't know what she had coming the other day. You just wanted to chase her down to tell her how awesome elmo is.
We had lotsa fun talking on the skype to everybody this month. You're so funny now because you knows where the camera is. You offer PopPop your sippy cup to drink. The little straw can sometime geyser a bit, so we're going to need to set aside an empty decoy for you to feed your skype pals. We feel lucky to have this opportunity for you to get to know your family that is far away, and for you to have a good excuse to wear your lucky charm headband hat and try on the cool shamrock shades.
Dad noticed a chipmunk while playing at your new picnic table (which we set up inside right next to the big slider door because we're convinced it will get warm enough for patio furniture eventually and in the meantime, the sun coming through the window is enough to trick us into thinking that this New England spring is mighty chilly so far). He decided that you didn't know what a chipmunk was so he decided to put this little rodent in the mouse category. He said, hey, look at the mouse!" You peeked through the window and when you discovered the little chipmunk your face lit up. You watched and babbled at the mouse until you couldn't help yourself and you banged on the glass and the chipmunk ran away. Then you spent the next half hour insisting that Daddy bring back the mouse... which sounds like different pitches and tones or "Moh, mouse, pease." pease, moh, more. (every once is a while you will spit out a perfectly pronounced version of a word). Days, even weeks later, you will go to that window asking for that "mouse". You will put your arms out, palms up and shrug your shoulders when the chipmunk doesn't appear. I was thinking that we should get you your own mouse, but dad says that I'd have to clean it up after our cats eat it.
Rebecca has started catching what I call parent pride - It must be contagious. She gets wicked excited when you learn something new. I really believe that she works with you well and the one-on-one is the best learning for you right now. She's really reinforced your colors this month and you are getting more consistent at identifying all your colored beads on the twisty wires. You love to color in the bath and you can snap out of any funky mood if given the opportunity to color.

You grew so much taller this month and you suddenly had a big collection of high water pants. It seems like you are in between sizes, so we are back to rolling/cuffing some new pants. I guess we are also in between the seasons, so soon enough the shorts I've been buying for you will venture out of the drawers. We really can't wait for more of those "sunny days"...We're working on "sweeping those clouds away" with all those slightly too long pants...

Love, Mom