The Baranko Family: Back to Backs

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Back to Backs

We had our first ever adult dinner party on Saturday night, hosting 3 other couples. It was so fun to get our outdoor space all prettied up, with breakable things no less! Matt indulged me with stringing lights across our table space and Luke picked wildflowers from our backyard for the mason jars on the table. We had marinated beef tenderloin, chicken and shrimp and had a lot of wine to go with it- perfecto! We put the kids to bed and partied the night away past midnight. We had a nice warm night, too, for our outdoor dinner party.

The next day we had another party, thus the "back to backs" title. We had a few of my Kellogg friends and their families over for a lunch and pool playdate. Matt and I were dragging a bit from our party the night before, but still managed to have a good time. We must be getting old.

Here is a bit of this and a bit of that from the kids' lives lately:

Luke & Claire have both been sleeping in our bed in the morning. Luke will wake up and crawl into our bed, bringing his starlight turtle with him. Then Claire will wake up and cry for one of us to get her and bring her into bed with the three of us. They both fight to be next to Mom, but Luke will usually move over when Claire comes in. Claire doesn't really sleep much, she sucks her thumb and twirls her hair (which tickles my nose) and smiles at me. Luke is pretty good about falling back asleep though.
Claire is becoming such a stinker. She enjoys taking things from Luke and then runs away laughing.
I think, knock on wood, that Claire's hair twirling is getting a little better. She's not making as many knots and her hair is starting to grow back on the side of her head.
We have been trying to take Spumoni for a walk most nights. Luke rides his "stunt" (balance) bike and Claire has been choosing to walk. Walking for Claire really means running. Her stamina is impressive! She can run almost the entire walk, which is around the big block.
Luke likes to sing the ABC's while washing his hands, which he learned in school is the right amount of time to wash. I hear him from the other room and it is so cute.
Luke is in summer camp at Kinderhaven all summer and he loves it!
When Claire is asked what her name is, she says "I'm Clairebee!"
Last but not least, I'm sorry to say that Claire has been on a major whining kick. She seriously whines what feels like is all the time. It is like nails on a chalkboard to me. I am hoping this is a phase that passes quickly, it is detracting from all the wonderful, cute, special things about her