A whole lotta Lima's got together today at Newport Beach for a fun day in the sun with Aunt Karen's family at their beach house. Going to the beach is SO much more fun when you have a kitchen and bathroom just steps away from the sand!
In a word? CURIOUS! At 7 months old, Luca is the most curious little thing...he is utterly fascinated by every sound he hears and any new texture he touches - and anything he sees he absolutely MUST figure out how to get in his mouth to "taste-it-see-it." Also, before now, it was pretty much "out of sight, out of mind," so it was easy to take something away from him with minimal distraction, but now he KNOWS that you're taking something away from him and he is like "Hey, that's not cool - I wasn't done with that!" He isn't crawling yet, but he can roll with the best of 'em. Seriously, he will roll all the way across a room if you'll let him. Here is an early attempt at his crawling...
We think he is really teething at this point because he is now getting up twice a night - either that, or he just can't stand to be away from me for that long : ) Also, changing him has become somewhat of a wrestling match these days - NOT an easy task! We're working on sitting up, but I think we still have a little ways to go. He's doing very well with all of the foods I've introduced him to so far - now we have to start working with him to drink water from a cup. 
Speaking of water, bath time is now splash central - it's amazing to me how much of the bathroom he can get wet from his little tub - I think he impresses himself, too! Here are a few snapshots from this past week, one of him in his first Mickey ears, imported from Disney World, courtesy of Jada and the other is Nolan's Davy Crockett hat.
Look out veggies, Luca has just discovered fruits! We just started with bananas today and I think he likes 'em...
Friday afternoon was so fun because I got to see Gregory off to his Junior Prom! Here is a picture of me holding Greg on the way to MY Junior Prom...pretty crazy that I was 16 when Gregory was born and he was 16 when Luca was born! Can't believe how much Luca looks like him!
Tonight was Amat's annual "Lancer Pops" talent showcase featuring the Lancer Choir and Chamber Singers, where Gregory gave two showstopping performances with "The Prayer" from Quest for Camelot and "Come What May" from Moulin Rouge. Mom and I are ready to sign Gregory up for American Idol! (Click on the song titles for you tube videos of the performances.)
So great to have Stef Cedro out here, too - it was so fun listening to Greg and Stef talk musical theater all weekend!
It's official, Luca is utterly infatuated with Daisy, but Daisy doesn't exactly reciprocate...
Dear Luca,
n an ultra- sound...as you grew to be more recog- nizable as a baby with all your baby parts on that same ultrasound screen...when we saw you sucking your thumb in a 3D scan, and when I watched you move around inside of me the night before you were born…
I couldn’t wait to meet this tiny little thing that would change my life in the most enormous way.
dy for all the love and cuddling that was waiting for you from all of the people that had come to be there for your birthday.
ber how scared I was to take you home, wondering how I would ever manage on my own without the nurses, as I needed their help every hour of the day with you, since I was still so weak from the surgery. One especially kind nurse with twins of her own simply smiled, promising me that I would figure it all out. I didn’t believe her then, but, thank God…she was right.
Someone once said “To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.” You are absolutely that person to me right now and I am humbled to be that person to you. I realize that within a few years, you will figure out that daddy is the fun one, but for now, I love that I’m your favorite. I love the way that you light up every time you see me. I love knowing that I can always calm your crying by feeding you or changing you, or singing to you, or simply holding you close to me. You make me 
feel like I have super powers or something! I love that, when I scoop you up into my arms with your head on my shoulder, you quickly inch yourself down into my chest until your head is right on my heart. With your thumb in your mouth, you drift off into a beautiful calmness, as though you can actually hear my heart singing to you.
to stay up an extra hour at night to finish doing the laundry. The lullabies that we listen to together at night will forever be my favorite music. You are a little miracle in my arms. Your tiny breath on my skin is blissful, your sneezes and yawns are adorable, and your smiles and laughs are absolutely magical. It’s as though, after the first few months where you could only communicate “I-need” emotions with crying, you have happily found this new language to show me with a simple laugh or smile
“I-love-you-so-much-and-you-are-everything-to-me-TOO”!
You make me a better driver because I want to keep you safe. I love you so much that sometimes it actually hurts. Right now, you are this perfect and pure little soul, a blank slate that only knows love and goodness. I watch you with such joy as you discover and study every little new thing in life: my voice, the outdoor air, the sound of your own voice (listening to you sing and talk to yourself, as you are quite entertained by the wide range of sounds you are able to make!), the way you have started to learn how to use your hands, mostly to grab my hair or pajama strap, and how you have just recently found your feet, which will most likely soon end up in your mouth. 
I can’t wait to teach you about ABC’s, numbers, colors, animals, prayers, and more! What a gift you are giving me to rediscover the beauty and wonders of this amazing world God created for us. And I want to protect you from all of the sadness and hurt in our world. I can’t bear the thought of your first sickness, your first trip to the emergency room, or your first unkind word from another child. I want to protect you from all of these things and I know that I can’t shield you from everything, but I promise you that I will try. 
And I know that one day you will be a teenager and our love might be tested, but I promise that I will re-read this letter time and time again to remind me how special and perfect our love is right now. Thank you for this beautiful first Mothers' Day, my love bug, my little pumpkin pie, my sweet Baby Luca.
Being one of the millions of Americans captivated by the dance craze, having seen every episode of the 11+ seasons of Dancing With The Stars and counting
down the days until the next season of So You Think You Can Dance, I couldn't resist heading to the Pantages to see SYTYCD stars Anya and Pasha lead an ensemble of 
AMAZING dancers at the Pantages for a night of ballroom bliss...thank goodness Michelle was up for the outing, cuz this AIN'T Tony's thing!
Okay, call me crazy, but it seriously looks like Luca is saying his prayers before bed! My little angel!Our new favorite thing to do is enjoy a lazy afternoon on a blanket under a tree in the backyard. Luca practices his "superman" pose and we just lounge around as Daisy and Thea hang out with us, too. My original plan was simply to put Luca on the blanket while I started working on cleaning out the storage shed, but it was just too fun to stay with him and ditch the work!
Knowing that Tony and Luca get a full day together on Tuesdays makes it much easier for me to tear myself away from the little guy to go to work. I think they have a lot of fun together and Tony is really getting the hang of Daddy Duty - I even got him his own "Diaper Dude" dad bag!
Tony's a lot rougher with Luca thank I am and he loves it! Sometimes he seems a little afraid, but then he just belly laughs, so as to say "Again!"
