Playtime

Most of the time, Alex and Amelia play independently.  Their interaction was usually limited to Amelia stealing away a toy from Alex and making him cry.  However, The last few weeks I have noticed a sharp jump in Amelia and Alex's interaction with each other. 

I've noticed a positive change in Amelia!  She still steals the toys away, but it appears that she is now sticking around to "show" Alex how to play with they toy.  I also think she tries to make him laugh, which I absolutely love.   Amelia has also started to play pee-a-boo with Alex, which is very sweet.

 

Peek-a-boo
You can't see from the picture, but Alex is cracking up! It was super cute and went on for about 10 minutes. I so enjoy watching them laugh together.

After stealing it away from Alex, Amelia redeemed herself by showing Alex how to use it.  Again, they were both cracking up, so it was absolutely adorable.

Bossy, big sister Amelia grabbing Alex's hand to get him to use the pop pop toy. 

Stealing the cups from Alex, but then showing him how to stack them.

Stealing away the baby blackberry, but showing him how to use it.

Peek-a-boo with the scarf

OMG, so freaking cute to watch them play!

Amelia hugging Alex... poor guy didn't know what was happening

Jimmy and his sisters loved Fozzie Bear when they were growing up.  On her own, she found Fozzie in the toy box and has grown quite attached to him!  Fozzie Bear has replaced her baby doll, ha ha.

 

"Be Nice"

Amelia got a new car from her Lolo and Lola for her birthday.  When we asked her what it was, she kept calling it a "be nice."  Jimmy and I were perplexed and confused, but came to the realization that Amelia's school has several of these cars in their play area. 

 

Now, stop and think about how she would make the word association...... 

 

We couldn't stop laughing when we figured it out!  I don't even want to think about how Amelia interacts with the other kids at school.  Does she share?  Is she mean?  OMG.  Are the teachers saying "be nice" to her or other kids when she plays with the car?  I'm just going to try to block those thoughts out of my mind, ha ha.

 

She still calls it a "be nice" every so often, but now she mostly just calls it "Mimi's car." 

 

Thanks Lola and Lolo!

While Amelia was napping, Alex took it for a spin.  If Amelia knew about this secret joy ride, she would be so mad, ha ha.

She insisted that she drive it into her room when she needed a diaper change.

"Can I see?"

Amelia grabbing for the camera.

Gadingan Sibs

Mere minutes before Steven had to go to the airport, we realized we didn't have any sibling pics.  In true Filipino style, we took a few posed shots before he walked out the door.  Like I mentioned before, we only get together once or twice a year, so we always try to get a few pics together. 

 

The Gadingan's

Bye Uncle Steven

(He looks so much like our dad in this picture!!!)



Back in TN

Birthday shopping

She kept asking to go through the Hello Kitty aisle.  I think we went through it more than ten times.  She just asks to hug all the Hello Kitty dolls and puts them back.

Auntie Jessica and Uncle Ben wanted to take Mimi and Alex to the park

Feet up because she didn't want to touch the "ickys."

Splash park

The bromance continues...

Jimmy and his Boo

Chowing down on Jessica's bag of chips

Ninang love

Vacation Thoughts

Relaxing, swimming, sunbathing, sleeping in, staying up late, shopping, mid-day napping, cocktails, outdoor adventures, going out to eat...  These are all things one would normally expect to enjoy when taking a beach vacation. 

Almost none of these things occured during our vacation!  ;0)

Jimmy and I knew that having kids, especially young ones, would change all that.  We knew going into our first official vacation with two young ones that things would be totally different.  Honestly, I didn't know what to expect.

The reality is that I spent less than 30 minutes, total, at the beach the entire time we were there.  We drove nine hours to vacation on the coast and I spent a whopping 30 minutes with my feet in the sand, ha ha. 

The little time I spent outside was spent in the pools and splash areas.  Total number of hours I spent outside?  Less than five.

Catering to the kids naps, mealtimes, nursing, moodiness, and just getting them prepped to head out is logistically difficult .  Add into the mix, trying to get myself together and the needs of the group.

Did I have a good time?  Of course!  The times I will remember and cherish the most is the quality time I spent with my family.  Watching my kids interact with family, inside jokes, teasing each other, laughing at Amelia's aversion to water and sand, playing board games, and just talking.

And that's what it's all about.  It's not about being on a vacation, it's about being with your family and making memories ;0)

Orange Beach: Homebound

As Amelia would say, "All done!" 

It's time to go home :(

 

Amelia and Uncle Ben holding hands

Eating on the road

Orange Beach: Hanging Out

More Random pics...

 

 

We are singing happy birthday to Amelia... she loves it!

 

 

Same awkward face

She's walking on her tippy toes.  Doesn't want to touch the "ickys."

 

Combing Uncle Ben's arm hairs

 

 

Ice Cream cake for breakfast ;0)

Time to go home :(