Ricardo & Kylie

...to be loved by you (Ricardo). Literally. This is what he made me for Mother's Day. The glaze on top is made of out nutella. It was delicious.  I do want to backtrack a little bit because this has been a very eventful and fun-filled month. One big highlight has been the arrival of warm weather. It was 88 degrees today. I love it! Back in April Ricardo had 2 weeks of final exams so I took some PTO from work so he wouldn't have to worry about taking care of Russell in the afternoons. Russell and I took a short trip to DC to see the cherry blossoms with my sister, which was a lot of fun. It was so beautiful and my iphone pictures don't really do it justice. Russell and his cousin Derek had a lot of fun playing with the blossoms and playing with each other! This is the first time they have kind of acknowledged each other, mostly by grabbing each other's faces, etc, but it was fun watching them interact. I realized how difficult it must be to have ...

Russell is doing so many fun things lately, I really felt like I needed to write them down today so I don't forget! He is 11 months old today and is such a sweetheart. Ricardo is taking finals this week and next week so Russell and I have been hanging out a lot. We've had a lot of fun. Things he is doing lately: * Making a mess! he is loving opening up cabinets and drawers and emptying out all the contents. Our house is only clean at 8 pm, but it's ok * Chatting, mostly mamama and dadada and some really high pitched screams (usually joyfu!l) * Clapping his hands, which is so cute. I have been trying to teach him to wave bye bye but to no avail yet. Sometimes when I wave at him he starts clapping, like he knows he needs to do a trick so he just does what he knows how to do * Playing in the bathroom-he knows how to work the faucets in the bath and how to flush the toilet and if I ever keep the door to the bathroom open he goes right there and starts doing one o...

Our little baby is rapidly approaching toddler-hood and it is so fun to see him grow and progress! BUT I also don't want him to grow at the same time. Being a mother is so conflicting! Russell is a lot of fun and constantly entertains us. He is SO wiggly and is crawling everywhere now at lightning speed. He also loves to stand up via the couch or the coffee table and strengthen his leg muscles. I'm sure I will blink and he will be walking.  He is curious about everything. He loves opening every drawer and cabinet in the house, makes a beeline to the bathroom if you take your eye off him for a second (not sure why), and is starting to want to play with his trucks and trains, which is so cute. He is very social and friendly, loves seeing other kids his age, though at the same time has recently developed some stranger anxiety and has been extra clingy. This is mostly just endearing, though I long ago lost hope in really getting much cooking, cleaning, laundry done while he's...