First Day of School

Today was a big day for Antonio, and mommy and daddy....First Day of School! Antonio is now going to the Burbank Montessori three days a week for the half day program. And the best part of school is this awesome new lunch box that he chose at Target! Yes, it is pink - Antonio was given all the options and he chose this one and was SO excited about his choice.

This morning after a big breakfast we got on our shoes, grabbed our pink lunch box and headed out the door for school.

Inside the class, Antonio took a look around at all the things and kids.

Then, mom left him alone to be a big boy and as she drove away she saw him running through the play area.
At 12:30 mommy came back to find a happy boy sitting outside eating lunch. We packed up and headed home, water and lunch box in hand. And a happy "bye - bye" to Miss Kit and Miss Mona, his new teachers.

And when we got home it was time to carry our things into the house and up the "alligator" aka the elevator. We'll be back to school on Wednesday!

A Very West Seattle Day

Antonio has enjoyed all the best hot spots of West Seattle and has even become a regular at several. On his last, West Seattle Day we decided to visit them all, starting with breakfast at Easy Street. For those that have never been, Easy Street is an awesome record store with a diner open for breakfast and lunch. Antonio and Laurie use to walk to the record store so that Antonio could hear the tunes and kick to the music and as he got older we would take him out to breakfast there, where he would listen to the tunes and dance as we waited for food to arrive. Antonio orders the Lil' Kim and we order the Lil' Richard and share it so he can have sausage, bacon, hashbrowns, french toast, eggs and toast with jelly. And believe it or not he eats it ALL!

Since Antonio is a regular he knows everyone there and they all know him as "boyfriend". This is the barista who has a daughter Antonio's age and one of the many waitresses that Antonio has befriended.

But from day one, Antonio's favorite was "girlfriend"-aka Darcy - who has awesome platinum hair with pink or purple accents depending on her mood, and awesome tattoos, which Antonio loves. He runs in and gives her hugs and then walks to his favorite table up on the stage where he can look out over everything in the joint. After breakfast we often head down the block to Coffee to a Tea with Sugar, a great little coffee shop with a fun play area.






Then it was time to walk home, down our favorite stretch - our street. Antonio has loved this walk his whole life and enjoyed it one more time this lovely day, until we reached his favorite rocks, where he played for another hour.



It was the perfect West Seattle Day.

Windows to the World

Antonio has had a wonderful couple years looking out these windows. This past week a little bird has started hanging out on them, but today we saw something we have never seen before...


...that's right, a cat in our tree! Poor Havana, it had to happen when she was gone.
Of course, sometimes we just like to look out at the world at nothing in particular.

Once there was a tree

Antonio loves his tree in his yard and every time he sees it he tells himself the Shel Silverstein story while he plays with it. Today was a beautiful day and a great chance for some great pics of the little guy growing and playing in his yard.

Bubbles & Jeeps

Grandma and Grandpa figured out the best thing ever to play with....bubbles!
Elijah and Grandpa loved them too.

Then Antonio was finally interested in driving the Jeep that Grandpa and Grandma got for the cousins to share....
This was the first time he ever stepped on the gas!!!

After all that hot rodding, Elijah had to help Grandpa fix the Jeep!

There Goes My Baby

We went to the Ft. Nuget Park in Oak Harbor on Saturday. It was a pretty day and Antonio was so happy to climb and see kids, until the girls caught his eye. After watching them for many minutes, one took a liking to him too....Nicky.

They held hands all through the park, shared a snack, a hug, and she could get Antonio to do things his mom couldn't.... ...like go down the slide....

And then they held hands and were off again. Women.....

Two at Two

Ok, not quite two but darn close. Elijah will be two in two months. Anyhow, they are spending as much time as they can together before we head south to California next week. And their favorite part of it is sitting across from each other and eating.
It is so funny to hear them compare what each other has, make faces at each other and copy every sound the other makes.

And Elijah likes Antonio's windows just as much as he does.

Mamma Came to See Me!

Obviously, Antonio was so excited! Especially since it was an unplanned visit....what a treat!

Sunny Seattle

We always say there is nothing better than a sunny day in Seattle and lately there have been quite a few. It has been great!

When Mommy's Away

When mommy leaves, thankfully, Laurie comes to play. And sometimes, when Laurie comes she brings Antonio's favorite friend, Pal. Havana on the other hand, not as excited, but will eventually give-in.
And sometimes Baine comes too. Which is very exciting for Antonio, and like work in "life" for Baine.

And even weeks later when we looked at the pictures on the computer (the first time ever) he was very excited to see them again.

Thank goodness when mommy's away Laurie is there to play!