Haircuts and More

Baby #3 has given me a bloated belly, a chocolate craving and even bigger varicose veins.  Great.  Charlie and Diego are getting more excited about the baby and charlie even says goodnight to him/her at bedtime.  Actually, I think it is just one more delay tactic.  He finds a million and one things to do instead of going to bed.  We often leave them in bed and then when we go check on them a few minutes later Charlie has turned on the light and is dancing or otherwise entertaining Diego.  Here is my favorite night owl activity....he found tia Veronika's sticky paper and wrote notes then stuck them on the bathroom door.  You'll notice they are very complete and very illegible...

Charlie has been spending mondays with tia Veronika which he LOVES.  It has also been nice for us to spend time one on one with Diego.  He is so different without Charlie around - no crying, screaming or fits.  It made me realize how, as the younger one, he is always fighting for attention and space around Charlie.  I didn't believe when people said to be careful that Diego doesn't get the middle kid syndrome when #3 arrives but I'm seeing that it is true.  It also feels like Diego is fierce in his independence while Charlie feels like his heart belongs to us. 

Diego is all little boy now - no more cozy baby.  He loves water - he talks us into at least two baths a day - and loves to be outside.  Usually he spends part of the evening in the kitchen sink "doing dishes" while I cook dinner.  I also find that he eats better when he is in the sink so I often feed him dinner there!  Here he is enjoying dinner in the sink and breakfast on the porch:

Last weekend Stephanie joined us for a mini-hike to Great Falls followed by bubble tea and haircuts for the boys at the Eden Center.  Despite my fear they look cute and I saved some of Diego's hair. 

This past weekend we got the rare treat of seeing the Ralles family who were back in town briefly from Vienna (that's Austria, not Virginia).  I wish they would move back here and people would stop fleeing DC!!  Here is the mini-SAIS reunion (charlie took this picture).

 

Charlie on a REAL tank!

Charlie in deep thought at yards park