Hey there Hottie (I'm talking to you, March)

Boy oh boy, can you believe this weather??  Chicago set a record with a high of 81 degrees.  All of us Baranko's made an effort to enjoy the special weather day.  I made sure to walk between buildings to and from meetings as slow as possible, eat my sandwich on an outdoor bench at lunch, and to leave work right on time to sneak in a quick jog.  Luke chose to hit two parks in his shorts & sandals and enjoy a picnic lunch on his new picnic table.  And Matt argued with teamsters about a picket line outdoors:)  Then we all played outside in our backyard and grilled out our dinner.  As I type this the fan is gently whirring overhead and our screen doors are open.  What a rude awakening the 30 degree drop will feel like tomorrow.  But we'll love it while it lasts!

Luke's new picnic table - Xmas present from G&G Mackus

That kid loves baked beans, I tell ya.  

Luke has gotten very independent.  He wants to do everything himself, and he can do a lot!  He picks out his own clothes (when given options).  He picks out the books he wants to read and lets you know very clearly the ones he doesn't.  He feeds himself with a fork and spoon, metals ones, and doesn't stab himself at all.  Last night we went for ice cream and the man gave him his very own cone.  Luke was so great at holding it and licking the ice cream out of the middle, then he actually bit the cone to eat that too!  He's a natural ice cream cone eater.  (I think he gets that from me.)  He doesn't mind going to bed at all nowadays, he runs to the bath tub when you announce bath time, and then will actually wave goodnight to you and give you a kiss and hug once he's had his milk and books. (I think he gets his love for going to bed from Matt.)  He has gotten so tall that he can reach things off the counters and tables.  Tonight I watched him reach up on the counter, pick up a bowl of mango spears, select a mango spear, and put the bowl back.  I didn't think this independence would come as early as 1 1/2 years old!  With his new independence he is quite the menace to himself, though.  Almost every week he sustains some injury or another from climbing something, tripping on something, falling off something - no matter how closely we watch him.  Thank goodness he seems to heal so quickly, he has bitten his lip more times than I care to count.  Here are some cute shots of him this week, and a funny video where he spins in circles until he's so dizzy he falls over.

Playing his Paper Jamz!  Paper Jamz rock!  (Buy one at Walgreens!)

He loves Lightning McQueen - so loves this hand me down jacket from the Sosne boys:)

Eating out ice cream cones at Sweets

Being pulled around in his wagon until he announces "all done!"  This 2 way communication is wild!

Bath time is fun time!

Matt put together his new basketball hoop that he got for his birthday.  Luke loves to be held up to shoot a basket.

All net!

We had a great weekend.  Friday night Matt and I had one of our first date nights, just him and me, not going to any special event - just sticking around town and enjoying each other.  We used a long ago purchased GroupOn for an absolutely delicious sushi dinner at SushiYaki, then went to the local Deer Path Inn bar to have a few drinks and talk:)  We had such a great time!  We were feeling sad to leave Luke initially, but after the fun we had we think we may make this a regular thing!  Thank you so much to Donna and Emil for babysitting.  Saturday they joined us for a fun breakfast and a trip to the Kohl Children's Museum before I left to go up to WI.  Kristin and I had given Grandma Della a dinner and show gift for Christmas, and our girls' evening was upon us!  We went to Milwaukee's Rumpus Room for dinner before heading to our front row seats of the musical, Daddy Long Legs.  I have to admit I had low expectations for this random, unheard of musical with only two cast members but WOW, was I blown away by the talent of the singers and the funny, entertaining story.  I highly recommend it - go see it!! We had a very fun time gabbing with Grandma and enjoying the show.  Then finally on Sunday Kristin & PJ came down to LF to hang out with us on a lovely, warm day. Cory's still in India for work, but comes home soon!

Cousin Connection

I have 17 first cousins.  Tracy, Bradley, Kevin, Brian, Dana, Doug, Warren, Lisa, Michael, Greg, David, Erin, Katie, Melissa, Jessica, Jason and Ian.  Over the course of 24 hours I saw 15 of them, plus their spouses, significant others and babies!  Not bad for a day's work!  

On Saturday Uncle David and Anne hosted all of us Kurz cousins for a big send off for our cousin, Warren, who is being deployed to Afghanistan.  Warren has been based in California and is on leave before he is deployed.  Before heading home to Maryland he and his girlfriend Courtney stopped by Indiana to see all of us.  We're so glad he did!  Warren is such a special person.  He is the most caring, loving guy with an amazing sense of humor and deep dedication to our country.  We're so proud of him and we pray for a safe deployment!  

The party also provided a great venue to meet the two newest members of our family, Lisa & Mike's baby Nicole and Mike & Deb's baby Kaitlyn.  Adorable!

Lisa, Nicole & Mike Thatcher

Michael & Kaitlyn Kurz

Warren & cousin Dana

Warren & girlfriend Courtney

The Nerf gun was Warren's gift to Luke - fitting that his first gun comes from a Marine!

Lime suckers!  Warren, Erin, Kevin

Kristina and Claire

Watching home movies, especially the classic bike/big wheel collision of 1985.

PJ had a blast with all the cousins

So after Saturday night in Indiana, less than a day later we were heading up to Wisconsin for party #2 of the weekend.  Aunt Susan hosted our annual "March Birthdays" celebration.  It was strange not to be celebrating my parents' birthdays during March birthdays, or Jessica's - as we've done every year since I can remember.  With Mom and Dad in Florida we'll have to celebrate when they come back, and Jessica had to work so she's getting pushed back too.  You were missed Mom, Dad and Jessi!  The party was really fun with great home-made Chinese food and great company, as usual.  The highlight I think was getting to meet Aunt Allyson, Uncle Dan, Jessi, Jason & Ian's new puppy, Bucket.  The cutest little golden retriever puppy you ever saw.  So happy birthday to cousins Katie & Melissa, as well as the March birthday wannabe Matt:)

Bucket - 8 weeks old

Sean kindly preventing Luke from opening the basement door and falling down the stairs.

Birthday Kids (plus PJ)

Aunt Kristin and sleepyhead.  Time to go home, it has been an exciting weekend!

Luke had his 18 month checkup this week and he is still super healthy and progressing well.  No concerns is always nice to hear!  Luke managed to sneak in a couple more words into his vocabulary a week before his appointment ("milk" and "more") so we dodged a bullet on a potential language development concern raised by the doctor.  He had told me at 12 months that Luke should have 5 words by 18 months.  We got there, plus one!  Mama, Dada, All done, Milk, More.

Here are his stats, if I may summarize though - tall, skinny, giant head

Height:  33.25" (75%)
Weight:  24.8 lbs (25-50%)
Head Circumference: 19.25" (75-90%)  big head!  opposite of PJ who was affectionately dubbed "pinhead":)

Here are a couple Luke shots from the week.  He has been SOOO cute lately.  He knows all the hand motions to The Itsy Bitsy Spider song, some of the ones to the Wheels on the Bus song too.  He can wag his finger when Thomas the Train says "No, no no!" to the Troublesome Trucks.  He definitely understands so much of what we're saying.  We can actually ask him to get things or do things, and he will!  Quite a concept!  Our favorite is when you ask him for a hug or a kiss, and he'll give you one.  It is so sweet.  He also is sometimes asserting his independence and at times gets frustrated when he's not allowed to do things.  The books say that this is all very natural and is part of him being a toddler.  Phew!  I thought I had a stinkers on my hands for a moment.  Oh wait, I do!  Love you little stinkers.

Eating grapes

Reading books, he climbs up on the couch by himself carrying a book and spends a good 5 minutes looking at the pictures by himself

P.S.  Incidentally, Matt has a ton of first cousins too.  Twenty four of them, in fact, so it is quite strange to us that Luke will only have a couple cousins at the most.  If anyone is curious - here are the names of all of Matt's cousins.  I had to write them out for myself to count them!  Irene, Christine, Denise, Theresa, Lisa, Tony, Fritz, Jennifer, Susan, Mick, Jenna, Jessica, Stephen, Anna, Nick, Chris, Dan, Steve, Mike, Matty, Joey, Katie, Jenae, Justin

Baranko's Hit Bonita + Matt's Birthday

Vacation time!  Last week the Baranko's and Carpenter's headed down to Bonita Springs, FL to spend the week at Mom & Dad's rental house.  They are there for 2 months trying out snowbird-dom in a beautiful house on one of the Gulf's canals.  We had an awesome time, swimming, eating, sunning, playing, boating, hiking, lounging & laughing.  Went by too fast!

PJ catching a ride in the airport on her Trunkee - worked like a charm!

The only way we got through containing Luke on a long flight - strap him in!  Matt enjoyed carrying the ginormous toddler car seat through the airport and on to the plane.

The snow birds welcome us to sunny FL.  Brunch on the water on our first full day.  

Hitting the beach for the first time - Barefoot Beach just five minutes from M&D's rental house

Family vacation photo!  Love Luke's Hawaiian outfit compliments of  Nikki & Brad Kurz

Checking out the swampy wildlife at the Corkscrew Sanctuary and Audubon Center

Luke wasn't quite into the 3 hour nature walk.  Matt spent most of the day trying to keep him quiet in the sanctuary, until he fell asleep on his shoulder in the nature center.

Beach day at Lover's Key 

Luke loved the beach and playing in the sand.  

The Dads went swimming with the kiddos.

Huge margarita for the boys at Coconut Jack's

Sisterly love.   Also huge love for all the alfresco dining.

Boat tour leaving out of Naples

Hanging at the pool back at the rental property.  Kid nap time = adult free time for pool lounging

Matt playing with Luke and PJ in the house.

Dad doing the finger touch with Lukers

We celebrated Matt's birthday early

Breakfast on Barefoot Beach, can't beat it!

Nice beach walk after the grub

Last full day was a pool day - we didn't want the day to end!

Last dinner at The Fishhouse, yum!

We walked home from dinner and caught this lovely sunset

On our last morning, we took a quick trip up to Sanibel Island  to see the bird sanctuary and grab some lunch.

Even though we were devastated to leave fun vacation for normal winter life, it made it slightly less sad to come back knowing that we would see the Richardson family the next day.  Joe had a conference in Chicago on Friday and Saturday, so Katie & Isabelle tagged along.  Sunday they came up from the city for a visit with us.  Matt was very eager to meet little Isabelle for the first time.  Look at that beauty!  So big already:)

Matt meeting Isabelle

Family picture:)

Then Monday was Matt's 34th birthday.  First day of work after vacation is always sort of a drag, but having Matt's birthday brightened it up a bit.  We celebrated with Isolene's famous spagehetti dinner and a homemade red velvet cake (made by Lukers and I).  Happy Birthday, Matt/Daddy!

Matt's birthday - 34 years!

Full after all that birthday cake

Grandpa Emil made this awesome puzzle jeep for Lukers, and one for PJ too!