As you can see, Carmen is fast following in her sister's foodie footsteps. Avacado, turkey, banana and rice are at the top of her list so far... we gave her one of Lucia's first foods, but she didn't devour quite the way Luce did back in the day. And speaking of treats, the girls got a visit from Nonne complete with fairs, face painting and my all time fall favorite. We all had a blast and Nonne, being the super trooper that she is, even came to watch my football game in the pouring rain/snow... I'm sure her feet will thaw sometime in the spring.
Let's see, where were we... oh right, updating the blog. Ok, so my time out on "baby bonding" leave has been a bit hectic so sue me (I double dog dare you). Well much has happened since last I wrote: Lucia and Carmen have a brand new cousin, Jackson McDevitt Leary [insert link to Jackson's blog here - hint, hint Uncle Sean], Carmen has sprouted 2 bottom teeth and I have officially entered my "late 30s" - blargh. Luckily my birthday blues were mitigated by a lovely weekend up in Maine with my family. Mama Mer continued her exploration of unique recreational activities, Lucia enjoyed sampling the wares at the farmer's market, and Carmen was along for the ride. Lucia and Carmen also enjoyed spending quality time with their cousins. That is until Lucia thew a diva sized fit and the Mothers Goose had to cut their trip short (I think Nonne and Papa are still recovering). Speaking of the diva, she has had *a lot* to say lately. Things like: "I used to be afraid of owls, but now I'm brave of them" (makes sense right?) and "Last day we went to the zoo" (I assume that's a mix of last night and yesterday?) or the name of her latest persona "Princess Semi-Circle" (????). Anyway, when she comes out with zingers like these it's hard to stay mad at her for cutting my weekend short - - but she'd better keep them coming. And as for Carmen, well now that the teeth are through she's back to her smiley, happy self again. She decided to pull herself up to a stand this weekend so now it's only a matter of time before all hell breaks loose...
Despite a slllllow start the Mothers Goose is winding the summer up with a bang. Last weekend our big haired friends from Jersey showed up to cure our summertime blues. Lucia, Luke and Carmen had a blast playing together and apparently so did we. Friends are fun. And speaking of fun - did someone say carousel?! We decided to park it at home for this three day weekend and ventured out into the city for some urban fun. Kennedy carousels, sea dogs and lunch at an Irish bar - sounds like a perfect Friday in Boston to me.
To celebrate her 6 months on the planet, Carmen gave Mothers Goose the bestest present ever - she slept through the night 2 nights in a row! Of course, now I probably just jinxed it but whatever, I'm running on 7 straight hours of sleep... I don't know what to do with myself. Amazing what a full night of sleep can do for you really, we've had the most productive weekend ever. Which is doubly impressive considering the current heat wave. Of course, kids know exactly how to beat the heat where as moms just clean. I have pretty much cleared the master bedroom of the last vestige of babydom - - anyone in the market for a used baby glider?? Oh, speaking of kids I promised cuteness updates. First the half birthday girl: Carmen has been doing the funniest repetitive arm extension/pull toy into mouth thing that I've tried to capture on camera but keep failing. It's like a rapid motion arm curl to the head/mouth move that is occasionally painful depending on the toy she is holding. Head bonks aside, it is adorable and we love it. As for her big sister, her vocabulary continues to amaze us (she used the word "peculiar" to describe a sound the other day) as does her negotiation skills (must be the lawyer in her). For example the other day we drove by a public pool in the Boston College part of Brookline. She asked if she could go swimming there and I said no, that pool is for big kids. Now she knows that Carmen is a baby and we're always calling her a "big sister" so she said, "But I'm a big kid!" and we said, "No, that pool is for kids in college." To which she screamed, "I want to go to college! Please, mom can I go to college pleeeeeeeaaaaase??!?" Yeah, I'll remind her of this very conversation 16 years from now when she tells me she wants to take some time off to explore Europe.
