Matching outfits

When you found out that our second child was going to be a different gender than the first, you may have concluded that you would be spared pictures of children in matching outfits. Well you were wrong!

The other morning we put Lev in some short overalls, inspiring Sadie to put on the same. And of course, even on a busy morning, there's always time for a picture of something THAT cute.

Level Up

Dad had a recent hankering to play though the Mario games again.

Sadie spied this and Dad thought he'd get to try the internet-famous parenting trick of handing her the other controller and letting her pretend for as long as he wanted to play.

Then Mom called Dad to come in the other room for a minute and he hit pause on the game.

In the 30 seconds he was gone, Sadie unpaused the game, and moved Mario around enough to actually empty out 5+ lives.

Realizing this trick was not going to work, well, ever...

Dad realized it's time to show her how this works...

European Weekend

No, we didn't travel anywhere, but we did have some guests from Switzerland and we took the opportunity to have a Europe-filled weekend.

First, we watched Eurovision, and insane continent-wide song and dance competition that really can't be described without experiencing it yourself.

Not pictured are Max (of course) and Jiwon and Ben's baby, Mina, who was asleep in the other room. 

As our guests had been traveling across the U.S. for the weeks prior to visiting us, we were able to give them a taste of home at the SwissBaker in Allston. The meal got approval as sufficiently Swiss and they have a mini playground out front (including a cow you can ride in). The firetruck seats two, though, and so we were able to grab a photo of our kids in it.

Lev says thanks for visiting!

Climbing...

We took a walk to a newer park the other day and Sadie took this opportunity to try out their climbing wall, which she is now tall enough to use.

Given the intense attention to her not falling off the wall, we apparently took no pictures...

Not one to be left out though, Lev demonstrated his ability to pull up, stand, and even hint at climbing...

That wasn't all for Lev, though. He's also taken to trying out climbing the stairs...

 

Some scenes from life...

Our music class teacher brought a Mandolin last week and gave the kids a chance to play with it a bit.

After class, Sadie was particularly interested and even wanted to hold it the right way. Our teacher grabbed this picture:

On our way to the park this past weekend, we saw the return of the yellow hat, originally popularized by Sadie in her first year of life, here being no less loved by Lev.

What's this? Children in shorts?

Behold, dear world... Children going to school in shorts! While this may not seem all that exciting to anyone else as it is the middle of May, here in Boston we have been suffering through cold and wet weather until now.  But no longer....

First day of actual spring weather, captured here for your viewing pleasure.

Happy Mother's Day

I will be the first to confess that Mother's Day hasn't really resonated with me in the 3 years that I've been a mom.  I don't know why that is, but it's true.  This year however, it's impossible not to look back and see how far we've come since last year, when Dad was still recovering and Lev was both very present and still not here.  And so, with that in mind.  I'm dedicating this post to Mother's Days past and those to come.

Mother's Day 2013 - Waiting for Sadie

Mother's Day 2014 - Exploring our Front Yard

Mother's Day 2015 - Waiting for Lev and loving the playground

And here they are today - adorable, energetic, lovely children who made me a Mom.

Lev is 9 Months Old!

Where did my baby go? He looks like a total toddler now.  He pulls up! He cruises! He babbles! He's in EVERYTHING! You can see glimpses of the little boy to come peaking out from behind those chubby baby cheeks.

And now for the comparisons