Ricardo & Kylie

Well, we survived our first family road trip/vacation. It was so much fun!  Russell did great and we got to see and do a lot of fun things. We are loving this summer and wishing it will slow down!! On Thursday we left Philadelphia and drove about 2.5 hours north to a beautiful state park in the Poconos mountains. It is called Ricketts Glen for those of you locals who want to go. The park is HUGE and has something like 15+ waterfalls as well as a great beach on a lake. The lake water was actually warm, which was amazing! We only planned a few hours to spend here because we didn't know how much there was to do, so we are definitely making plans to return! The water coming off of the waterfalls was freezing-here's Ricardo dipping his toe in it in preparation for jumping off one of these cliffs. Russell and I were content to watch, though we did both enjoy the water at the beach until one of us got hungry. :) Ok, so I'm the worst action photographer ever....

Last week we decided to take a trip to the Jersey Shore, more affectionately known by people in Philly as "The Shore." We thought the middle of July would be the best time to go to the beach here in the northeast. Well, it rained and we did not swim at all, though it's highly unlikely I would have gone swimming in the glacier water even if wasn't raining. Definitely missing Miami beaches right about now! Still, it was fun to dress Russell up for the beach and we did have fun walking along the boardwalk, which is something we don't really have at our Florida beaches. Russell did great in the hour-long car ride, which was a relief because we were planning out trip to New York/Canada around this time. Thank goodness for the toy bar on his car seat-it entertains him to no end!

Russell turned two months old on July 11th! And while we feel he is getting huge, his stats at the pediatrician didn't exactly reflect that..I think he is smaller than he looks in pictures, though he is gaining ground on his sock monkey friend. Height: 22 inch (12th percentile..Ricardo is now paranoid he will be short. It didn't help when my sister called laughing because her son is in the 99th percentile. A whopping 0.5 inch difference!) Weight: 11.1 lbs (23rd percentile) We love this little boy so much and have enjoyed his most recent accomplishments of beginning to making cooing sounds all the time AND actually grabbing onto toys and rattles and hanging out to them to play. On his "birthday" we had yet another photo shoot in his crib (it's the best lighting in our house). Love this last one because I was the person off to the right that he was looking at. :) Happy 2 months Russell!

Russell will be 2 months old on Thursday! He is excited to get his shots. :) He has been so much fun lately, smiling all of the time and starting to show his personality more. Things he loves include: bathtime, being outside, classical and country music, being held if the person walks around at the same time, and playing with the toys that hang over his carseat and swing. Things he doesn't like so much: being held if the person is sitting down (we are getting our exercise around here!), tummy time most of the time, and...that's pretty much it. He is such a sweet baby and really happy most of the time. Look at how much he has grown!! We have been taking advantage of the nice weather and exploring lots of the local parks! Russell usually sleeps but when is awake he loves looking around at the trees.    I'm so glad he loves taking baths! It instantly calms his down. Who do you think he looks like now??