Christmas Cards 2013

As much as I would have loved a perfect first Christmas card with our family of four, it just never worked out to get all of us dressed up in from of a photographer, so I settled for this MUCH more appropriate card - I love it because she is "before" the fear of Santa and he is "after" the fear!

Christmas Cards from Family and Friends

 

 

 

Five Months!

Five months old and this little girl LOVES to laugh - mostly because her big brother is making her.  He is for sure her favorite person and the feeling is mutual! 
She sleeps in such a silly position with her head buried into the bumper, probably because she wants to keep her bald little head warm. She rolls around everywhere and is really enjoying playing with toys. 

She still loves the bouncer, does great in the exerciser that Santa brought her and she loves grabbing anything she can get her hands on!




Luca took this picture!

 

Farewell, Hollywood Park

This is where Tony got his start in horse racing 20 years ago. We had our second date here 11 years ago and where we watched his first horse win his first race a year later. 

We had one final Turf Club date earlier in the month...

...and we brought the kids with us for Closing Day.

Can't believe it's really closing...thanks for the memories, Hollywood Park!

Belly Laughs!

Capri's first belly laughs came today while playing "Where's Capri?!" on the white bed.  She is totally enamored with Luca - I love it!

Four Months!

Four months old and this little girl is growing!  Already in 6 month clothes and trying hard to sit up on her own.  She's doing great in the Bumbo chair and we are working on becoming running buddies, but she is not a fan yet. 

If I can time it with a nap, she does great, but if she's awake, she would much rather have me holding her than looking at her while pushing the stroller.  She's gotten a little better at taking longer naps, but she's regressed a little with sleeping at night, getting up more than once most nights - it's a good thing she's so cute! 

She is REALLY starting to gravitate toward Luca these days, smiling and laughing the most when he is around.  Favorite sibling conversation this month was when we were at a restaurant with poor acoustics and Capri was squawking (loudly!) like a bird and Luca looked at her and said, "Capri!  Use your INSIDE voice!"

Aunt Cat's old dress and shoes!

Thankful

Our first Thanksgiving as a family of four.  I'm quickly realizing that each family member you add exponentially decreases your chance of everyone smiling at the camera!

Dude Where's My Car?

We've gone to the auto show several times, but this time was especially fun because we are actually looking to buy a new car soon. Luca, on the other hand, doesn't care what the reason is that brings us there, it is always a good time!

Date Night

Tony was out of town this weekend and Mimi and Paca were willing to watch Capri, so Luca and I had our first date night since his little sister came along! Of course he was on the Flex Cam, but the most entertaining part of the night was when the camera was on him close-up and he made faces stretching his mouth open with his tongue out!

This is Jay Flats, the crowd announcer and Luca's pal.  If Luca had any idea what he was holding, he wouldn't have given it back!

And For Her First Trick...

I got a lot more footage of Luca's early attempts to roll over whereas I pretty much just noticed Capri doing it all of a sudden.  Perhaps she was a quicker learner - or more likely, I just had a lot more time on my hands when Luca was learning!  Luca's commentary is pretty amusing...

Alma Mater Weekend

A huge THANK YOU to Mimi and Paca for watching the kids two nights in a row so I could go to a UCLA game Friday night with Kathy followed by the Amat Extravaganza on Saturday!  It was a winning weekend, as the Bruins beat the Huskies 41-31 and I "won" about 11 silent auction items!  Very fun seeing several other '95 alums!

Precious Moments

Was waiting outside with Capri at the end of dinner with Mimi and Paca at Angela's and a woman inside the restaurant snapped this picture and found me in the parking lot to text it to me...love these moments!

Thor and His Mini-Me

I think Luca has just decided what he wants to be when he grows up - a Disney Avenger castmember!  With the new Thor movie out, Disneyland now has an attraction where you can travel to Asgard and meet the mighty God of Thunder himself.  Thor picks one "worthy one" in the crowd to lift his hammer and you can guess who got the job today ; )

Click HERE for the video

Furry Fun

Aunt Velene gave Luca this Sully costume from Monsters Inc. because one of her friends had bought it for her son who later changed his mind.  Boy did she find a good new home for this costume!  Luca just LOVES dressing up!  My favorite part is where he explains that he'll use the spikey tail to fight the bad guys :)

Rubies!

If it had been up to me, I would have had Capri's ears pierced in the delivery room, but I followed the doctor's orders and waited until 2 weeks after her first shots.  It was great, they pierced them both at the same time, so she only cried for about 2 seconds, just the amount of time it took me to get her pacifier in her mouth...she looks so beautiful in her first rubies!  Same birthstone as Mimi!

Luca Skywalker and Family

I'm pretty sure this is the last year that I will have any say in what Luca dresses up in for Halloween, so it was just TOO PERFECT to dress up as the Star Wars family of Darth Vader, Amidala, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia! 

Capri's 1st Princess Costume!

Luca had a lot of fun trick or treating with Daddy, but he actually had the most fun staying home helping me hand out the candy.  We had so many trick or treaters that we actually ran out of candy, so I had to give away half of Luca's stash.  Boy am I lucky he was too young to figure out he was handing out his own candy!

So nervous watching Luca hold her :/

Darth Pumpkin

Cute outfit from Aunt Velene!

THREE!!!

Capri at 3 months and Luca at 3 years...precious moments captured at Travel Town in Griffith Park...I love how this black and white shot captures how sweetly Luca cuddles with her.  This was not long after he almost took her eye out when he went to cuddle while sucking on a dum dum!

Aunt Cherie and Nicole picked out Capri's gorgeous Etsy wardrobe!

This kid has never had so much fun getting his picture taken!

Can't wait to watch this one melt her daddy's heart!

Three Months!

Three months in and these two kiddos are inseparable - I love it!  This month, Capri is all smiles and doing great with tummy time.  She is NOT so great at sucking her thumb, something her brother pretty much had mastered by this point.  She is also not so great of a napper, just taking little catnaps throughout the day, but rarely a 2-3 hour one.  On the bright side, she is sleeping 8-10 hour stretches at night, so that is fantastic!  HERE are some video clips from the month.

She's getting a lot more "durable" now, so I'm feeling better about when Luca "cuddles" with her.  He continues to amaze me with how creatively he plays with her, pretending she is a robot, or one of his action figures, even pretending to talk for her in a high-pitched "Capri" voice.  One day, he held up her pacifier in mid air and said, "Hey look, a ghost is sucking on Capri's pacifier!"  We also have fun singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" to her.  Perhaps the best "creative" moment was when I walked into the kitchen one night to find a huge watery mess below the refrigerator water spout and with a COMPLETELY straight face, Luca told me "Capri did it."  Ahh, he is totally understanding the potential of this whole sibling thing...

Morning smiles are the best!

I can't wait for her to have more hair!

Couldn't live without this bouncer!

Our Little Monkey at 3 Years Old

"Is it time for my party yet?!"
"Is it time for my party yet?!"
"Is it time for my party yet?!"
"Is it time for my party yet?!"

That's what this little guy sounded like this morning!  At 3 years old, he totally "gets" how cool this whole birthday thing is! 

I wish I could remember all of the funny things that come out of this kids mouth, but it's just too hard to keep track!  One thing that I thought was particularly cute this month was when he explained that he would protect Capri and that Daddy would protect him...but that I would need to get Paca to protect me because he was MY daddy!  He's pretty observant about things like this these days, always amazing me with how much he understands.  He can count to about 13 right now, knows a ton of songs, knows his right from his left, and is even doing well at dressing himself.  Preschool has been THE best thing for him.  His teacher is always telling me how much "fun" he is - I'm just wondering what images in her mind are popping up when she says this!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Luca - Part II

Luca's preschool let me bring cupcakes for snack time to celebrate his birthday and lucky for me, I got to stay and observe for a whole hour. 
It was so precious - first they all sang Happy Birthday to him, then they all thanked him for bringing cupcakes.  Later Donna Marie had Luca help her during story time because they were special birthday books they read.  I was so proud that he was so well-behaved in the classroom, doing everything Donna Marie asked and even pretending to read a book while the kids all assembled in their circle.  Soooo looking forward to parent teacher conferences, LOL!