The Baranko Family: "I'm a big boy!!"

Luke has been growing up at lightning speed. Our pool opened this week (yippee! on a 45 degree rainy day no less) and while the pool guys were doing their thing Luke watched them from the family room window and kept shouting at them through the glass over and over "Hey, guys! I'm over here! I'm a big boy!" My heart just melts, he is so cute. He can now sing his ABC's, which he does about 100 times a day. He trips over "LMNO", but other than that he says them perfectly. That means he is able to do his two alphabet floor puzzles pretty fast, too. When he finished his puzzle he likes to say out loud what the item is for the letter the puzzle piece is, like "Apple starts with A" but he has it turned around and will say instead "A starts with Apple". He goes down the line of the whole alphabet puzzle saying it like that. I kind of don't want to correct him, it is so sweet.

With Spring finally here we have been able to spend some time outside. Luke is Mr. Independent and is able to go outside and walk down to his sandbox and playset and play all by himself, and we can watch him from the upper patio area if we're busy doing something else. This is a new concept that an adult doesn't have to literally be next to him at all times. He will play in his sandbox for hours, he loves it so much. He makes his dump trucks and bulldozers build roads and then has the other trucks go on them.

Claire is getting so big, too. She is interacting a ton, laughing at so many things with these great big belly laughs. Here is a video of one of them, from Matt being silly with her.

She discovered her crib mobile and is so entertained by it, we wish it ran on batteries instead of a wind up so we could use it when we're trying to make dinner or something. She is getting more interested in watching Luke now. If you hold her facing out from you, you can see her eyes just watching him and she giggles at things that he does. I have a feeling this is a start to a childhood long obsession with her big brother:)

She had her two month doctor appointment this week and she is still totally healthy and growing nicely. Her only concerns are a case of baby acne and a turned left foot, both of which the doctor says she will outgrow. The doctor referred us to a pediatric orthopedic doctor if we became more concerned about her foot. Claire sometimes rolls her ankle out instead of standing flat on both feet. The doctor hypothesizes that her foot was turned that way in utero and so she is most comfortable with it in that position. Our doctor thinks once Claire starts standing and walking she will straighten it out herself, but said we could talk to a specialist too if we wanted to. We're going to wait a little longer to see if it improves on its own. Anyway, here are her stats:

Weight: 12 lbs 15 oz (90-95%)
Length: 22 1/4 inches (50%)
Head Circumference: 40 cm (75%)

Had to get one with the hair showing:)

This week we had some gorgeous weather, and I was really lucky to have some fun outdoor activities already scheduled. On Tuesday Claire and I met Donna in quaint Geneva, IL. Geneva is a beautiful historic town on the Fox River with tons of little shops and restaurants to enjoy. Donna knows all of the cute little towns around Chicago, and we enjoyed a day trip to Long Grove, IL while I was on Luke's maternity leave. Geneva is about an hour and ten minutes from my house, so it was quite a hike, but definitely worth it. The day just flew by, we had so much fun and Claire is a great shopping buddy. She hung out in the Baby Bjorn all day hardly making a peep.

Beatiful flowers were blooming everywhere

The whole downtown shopping area started with this little shop "The Little Traveler"

Lunch at the cafe in The Little Traveler

Claire and I went right from Geneva to dinner with work friends Shannon and Michelle after a quick outfit change.

On Wednesday we had a playdate at the Botanical Gardens with Olga and Sophia. Another gorgeous weather day made this visit to the gardens fantastic. All of the spring flowers are blooming here too and it was breathtaking. I can't say enough about how gorgeous all the flowers were. If you have the chance to go to the gardens anytime soon, please go!! You won't regret it.

We enjoyed the beautiful warm night at home, too.

Chunky monkey, look at that boob shelf!

Luke playing T-ball. He is pretty good, he can hit the ball pretty far.

Thursday after music class with Luke, Claire and I had lunch with Hannah and Caren.

Caren snuggling Claire

Basement is back in business after the flood! Luke helping to "vacuum" the basement after the carpet cleaners left.

This is Matt trying to smile like Luke's fake smiles.

Saturday we went to my grad school friend Bethany's son's birthday party downtown. Since it was on the 5th and the day of the Kentucky Derby she had a Cinco de Derby 1st BD party theme, and she really kept all three themes going the whole party.