We're on Vacation

Hi everyone,

Just a quick note to tell you all that we're on vacation in Upstate NY so there likely won't be much blogging on my part for a few days (but you never know). So far Luke has been enjoying the pool, the trampoline and the screen door. Hmmm, which one of those items doesn't fit?

Mama is enjoying all the extra hands around to watch and entertain Luke :)

Happy Father's Day DaDatz!

"DaDatz" is what Luke has been calling Matt for a few weeks...not sure where it came from, but it's cute nonetheless. Matt's Father's Day treat was a round of golf this morning and he was also spared from all househould duties. Seems kind of like every other weekend, huh? :)

Dare I say it, summer finally arrived in Chicago this weekend. To celebrate, we got Luke the water table he's been eyeing everytime we go to Toys R Us. It's a hit among the neighborhood toddlers even though we've only had it for 2 days. In case you don't know what a water table is, it's a little table about the height of a coffee table with grooves in it and you fill it with water. The kids pour water into different little cuts and just splash and play in it. Luke thought it could also double as a baby pool so I've also included some pictures of this. This is not the recommended usage for the toy! Pretty much everyday, there's a collection of tiny tots and dogs in the front yard of our condo building. I think this is because we have a nice fence that can contain babies and puppies. Anyway, the water table was fun this weekend and we look forward to many warm days sitting in the yard.

Two special things for this day in history...

Luke's due date was two years ago today and Happy Birthday Grandma Zappia!!!

Mass Transit

We had a big day of "firsts," today. Luke played his first real game of "catch," rode the choo choo (the L) for the first time, and he finally got on a city bus (Luke hasn't figured out yet that you can't hail a bus with a finger point from your stroller on the sidewalk)!

As for the first official game of "catch," Matt and Luke passed a mini soccer ball back and forth on the turf field this morning. The key that made this effort an official one was that they were standing the minimum of 10 ft apart and the ball was passed between them REPEATEDLY. Matt has been asking about this day since Luke was in utero. It went a little somethin' like this:

Matt: "Just tell me when he'll be able to play catch, how many months?"

Rachael: "Uh, months? More like, years."

Unfortunately, the photog was still deep in slumber back in the condo so I have no evidence of said event. I guess we'll have to take Matt's word for it.

Now onto the title of this post: Mass Transit. Unlike his mother who loathes the CTA, Luke is a huge fan of mass transit. We headed downtown this morning on the L which Luke affectionately calls the "choo choo." We took the Brown line from Irving Park Rd. down to the Loop. He was thrilled to be on the choo choo - you could see the excitement all over is little face! Luckily it was pretty empty and Luke was able to play musical seats after we released him from the stroller. Of course when we got off the train, we bathed Luke with wipes and doused him with hand sanitizer.

After a few hours on Michigan Ave., we headed back home on the bus. Quite the experience. Did you know that freaks love little kids? They really, really do. When Luke wasn't entertaining one, he was trying to get off my lap and up to the bus driver. No Joke, the kid wanted to drive the bus. I should also mention that Luke has a thing for steering wheels - the ones on the playgrounds, he owns them. So you can imagine what he thought of the giant bus steering wheel.

Alas, we made it home and everyone took a nap. I've had enough of the Chicago Transit Authority for 2009. In case your wondering how I get to work since I hate the CTA (trains and buses)...I take the Metra which is the business commuter train - so much better than the CTA. Matt calls me a Metra snob because he is jealous of my civilized commute.

Swim Baby, Swim!

7:45 AM on a Saturday morning used to seem ungodly early to me but not anymore. Lukey baby hits to the pool at that time now! Today was Luke's second swimming class but the first one that he attended with Matt and I. Matt got in the pool with him and I was the cheerleader on the side of the pool.

Luke LOVES swimming.

He had the biggest smile on his face the whole time, well, except for when he was skimming sips of pool water. ick. He totally looked like this was his 40th swim class and Matt had a hard time keeping up. He clearly thinks he belongs in the "sharks" instead of the "guppies." Luke seriously wanted Matt to let go of him so he could swim by himself. His favorite part of the class was when he got to stand on the side of the pool and the parents in the pool say the Humpty Dumpty rhyme. The kiddies jump in the pool when Humpty Dumpty "had a great fall."

I should also mention that Luke is signed up for swim classes at a different place on Thursday nights. I'll be the one in the pool with him this time. Here's the thing though, I definitely can't wear a bikini to a "Mom and Me" class and certainly not the one I just wore on our booze bash beach trip so I had to get a real, as in one-piece, bathing suit today. I found a great one on clearance at Target for $8! Now it's not totally momwear as it's one of those "stylish" one pieces :)

Oh I have one more thing to report on tonight. I made a HUGE accomplishment today, HUGE. I FINISHED OUR WEDDING SCRAPBOOK! Yes, I know it took me 4 years but who cares, it's done!

Back from Vacation

Sorry I haven't had a chance to update the blog in a few days. Matt and I were on vacation in the Outerbanks sans Luke! We had a great time but we missed the little person so we are happy to be back. We were only gone for 4 days, but I feel like Luke changed so much in those few days we were away. He got taller, he weighs more, his hair is longer, his face is slightly different in shape and he says new things! I've kind of been staring at him since I got back - I'm sure he just thinks I'm weird.

Luke did a lot of playing with Grammy Zappia and Uncle Nick while we were gone. They went to parks, a bounce house, swimming lessons, Einsteins and Dairy Queen to name a few adventures. Sounds kind of like summer camp, eh?

Luke gets to tag along on our next beach trip which will be to the Jersey Shore in August. Hopefully the Atlantic will be much warmer by then!

Well I'm still recovering from our vacation and by recovering, I mean still going through detox and catching up on missed sleep so I must bid you goodnight and go crash on the couch!

Oh and by the way, I want to give my blog a new look but haven't found the right one yet which is why it is just plain ol' white right now! Here are some picks from Grammy's visit: