A new little Blu!

So ironically, my last post was almost 10 months ago, and was right before we went on vacation. Which turned out to be the vacation that got us...Avery Grace Blumenthal 10 months later! So it has been a busy year being pregnant with a toddler, and as of 3 weeks ago, I'm now a mother of two - well, 3, including Bodhi. Avery joined us on Jan 13, a day before her daddy's birthday, at 7 lbs 14 oz (exactly what her brother weighed), and 19 inches long, at 11:06 am. Welcome Avery - our world is officially crazier, but we're so glad you decided to join us :)

Easter...

Okay, so this first picture isn't from Easter - it is Jackson modeling his cool new pjs that I got him in Shanghai. That's right, you read correctly. I got a chance to work on a project this spring that has taken me on 3 trips in 6 weeks, and we leave on vacation again tomorrow, so it has been quite a busy spring. But I really can't complain - the trips took me to Paris, Dubai, and Shanghai, so it has been great experience and with 2 sets of parents close by Kevin has been managing pretty well. I was really thankful for his support, though he reminded me that I paid my residency dues already, so now it is my turn. I'm not sure I love that analogy, but I really appreciate him keeping everything going at home while I've been away.


Easter was fun this year with Jax - he got the concept of gathering the eggs only when we related it to the clean-up song, but you take what you can get! We went to my parents along with Jamie and her family, and the weather was beautiful. Finally, Tansy and I squeezed in a trip to the zoo in late March during her spring break. Another beautiful day, 3 excited boys, and 2 exhausted moms - but a lot of fun. And finally, on one of the colder days, we took Jackson to the kite festival on the Mall. We met up with other toddler parents, and he had fun watching the kites, but his favorite kites were the 747s taking off every 10 minutes from Reagan airport nearby...he is obsessed with airplanes! That's what we get for living in the DC flight path and near so many helicopters - he is loving it. Happy Spring!

Catching up...

I realize we've been busy, as our little boy turned from a baby into a toddler - but I didn't realize how much so until I saw that we haven't updated the blog since Halloween...and it's now Easter. So, to catch up in rapid fashion, here's the highlights of the past 5 months:

• Jackson started walking right around Halloween, right before 15 months. He has quickly mastered the art of sprinting, and now keeps us pretty busy chasing him around!
  


• We got to visit friends this fall; Dre and baby Will, and I went on a girls vacation weekend to North Carolina to meet baby Vance, Sarah's little boy.
  
  
• We had a great Christmas and Hannukah, with Jamie and her family visiting for the holidays (and the first of many snowstorms - 2 feet!), and us going down to North Carolina for New Years, Chambers' 3rd birthday, and Baby Kav's baptism. Jackson follows Chambers around like she is a goddess, which I think works with her first-born cousin status:)


• Kevin's brother Eric and his wife Eve welcomed baby Charlotte! She is very cute, and her siblings Dylan and Daisy are big helpers; Jackson was not a fan of a new baby around, but we're sure he'll warm up to her. Eventually.
  


• Virginia got hit with snowstorm after snowstorm, with several funny names in the area and reported on TV for the experience: The storm of the century, Snowmaggedon, and my personal fave: the Snowtorious B.I.G. We've included some shots from our inside fun during the biggest storm in February: we got over 2 feet of snow and were out of work for a full week while businesses and roads shut down. Needless to say, our creativity for inside games was directly correlated to the ability to leave the house...
  


• And now, it is FINALLY spring - and the fun thing about this summer is that Jackson is old enough to be discovering his world just as the snow melts, flowers bloom, the playground is dry, and (soon) the pool opens. Can't wait. It will be nice to have some built-in activities for the weekends and post-work strolls with my boys.
  

Halloween

Jackson endured his 2nd Halloween - this one as a vampire with his matching twin vampire brother, Bodhi. We started off the holiday the weekend before at the pumpkin patch with Mozzie and Opa, selecting the perfect pumpkin...or just sitting on them and admiring a piece of straw. Regardless, it felt like fall.

Halloween day was pretty warm, so we went on a nice fall hike with our friends Dave and Jo, and their daughter Lauren who was born 1 week after Jackson. After skipping his nap, we carted a very tired vampire to Chevy Chase to trick-or-treat with cousins Dylan and Daisy (and the impending cousin, whom we are affectionately calling either Lily, Tulip, or Violet until Eric and Eve announce her real name). Jackson was a little overwhelmed, but seems to be attached to holding things, perhaps his retriever brother is rubbing off on him. So as you can tell, he felt better clutching a Snickers. Just like Papa.

Afterwards we handed out candy in our neighborhood and visited with Henry, the cowboy. It rained and was cold, but we had fun anyway.

Caught in the act - leave us alone with our candy, mom.

Jackson is really up to a lot these days - he took his first steps last weekend, which was so exciting (and he was holding Bo's leash). And he is now cruising on all the furniture and pushing his train all over the living room, down the sidewalk - he's really flirting with walking and we're so proud of him. He's also learned the sign for 'more', he's standing on his own, and says bye-bye, mama, dada, and bobo, and carries on full conversations with the contents of the refridgerator. We can't tell whether he is trying to liberate the butter and leftovers or eat them. All in all, we cannot complain; he remains an enormously laid back kid - as evidenced by his laughing through the 3.5 hours we waited for his H1N1 vaccine - we'll take it. Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

Brotherly Love

Jackson has a big brother - Bodhi - and a brother to play with daily - Henry, his nanny mate. Lately Jackson and both brothers are up to trouble at every turn. Here's a video of his real brother Bo tickling him with his tail, and another of just another day of fun when Jackson sat on his tractor, Henry started pushing it, and Kevin happened to be there with the video camera. Check out Jackson's face on the tractor; he doesn't seem to realize that he's moving!

Fall Fun...

We have definitely been slacking here for a few months - correlated with how much Jackson is on the move! September brought a much-needed but rather spontaneous vacation to Bermuda to end the summer before Kevin started his job. We had tried to plan something for 3 months, and wound up just doing it a mere 2 weeks out - and took Jackson. We kept trying to explain that he was the luckiest 13 month old in Bermuda, but he didn't really get it. We had a great time - lounged by the pool (well, lounging is confined to a 45 minute attention span, but we'll take it), swam in the ocean, played in the sand, and explored the town. Our hotel had views of the harbor and the beach, and everyone was really friendly. All in all - we can't wait to go back! And even better- Kevin is loving his job, so coming home happy :)

October brought some real Fall weekends, beginning with a long-standing Loudoun tradition of the Waterford Fair, which Jamie, TJ and their kids came home for. It was a warm day and Jackson seemed to enjoy the guys playing old school instruments, the hayrides, and getting on a tractor for the first time.

My family all went to a lakehouse for Columbus Day weekend, so it was great to have the cousins together just a week later. Jackson loved watching everything his big cousin Chambers did, and Kav is the happiest baby - he just cooed the whole weekend. After 3 weekends travelling, we were happy to be home and resting up, though it did involve a week of crying it out to get Jackson back on schedule - but all's well that ends well ;)