M&L Celebrate a Pizza B-Day Lunch for Claire

With all of the friends and activities in the kids' lives birthday parties can no longer be restricted to weekends. Today some of the regulars headed out to Panera's to celebrate Claire's 2nd Birthday.

Buddies - Mateo, Will and Logan hold hands for safety and pose with their favorite items of the day

The gang (Will, Logan, Mateo and Maggie) enjoyed some pizza at the b-day celebration

Claire, the birthday girl, flashes a big 2-year old smile

Not to be ignored, Lucia also joined in on the fun

Maggie hamming it up for the camera

Mateo's "I'm too cool for you" pose

Once the celebration is over everyone needs to walk off that big meal

Parking & Posing

The weather in the Northeast is finally starting to show some nice streaks. Today the kids celebrated the sun and hung out with their friends at the park. Inspired by the beauty of the day, Lucia also agreed to take some pleasantly sunny pix.

Nikhil, Mateo and Logan enjoying bubble time in the park

Claire pulled up in her cool shades to enjoy a little park time as well

This next series of photos shows what a ham (and poser) Lucia has become in front of the camera. Sometimes she even smiles when she just sees the camera being pulled out.

"Hey folks!"

"Check out my tights"

I am loving this coy pose

Mateo Swims Alone (Sort of)

Today resembled our regular Sundays, but something was a little different. Soccer in the morning - check. Grocery shopping after soccer - check. Snack before swimming - check. Swimming in the afternoon - check. Hmmm what could be different. Look below and see.

If you look closely you will see that Mateo is in the water, but Papi is not. Today was his first time swimming with an instructor and without a parent...clink...

As you can see sometimes it was hard

But he did ok..here he is impressing his instructor with his back floating skills

M&L Celebrate St. Patty's in Hoboken

Today was the St.Patty's Day Parade in the Mile Square city of Hoboken. This parade is famous for wreaking havoc on the otherwise peaceful town, but if you go out early and stay uptown it is possible to avoid most of the debauchery, so that is what we did.

Lucia wrapped in red and pink decided to keep her Irish spirit under wraps

Mateo donned a jacket that had streaks of bright green and waited for the parade with Papi

Papi and Mateo waiting for the band to pass

Marching band of the local highschool (Hoboken H.S.)

Here come the mayor (Dawn Zimmer) flanked by our 2 senators (Laughtenburg on the left and Menendez on the right shaking hands with a supporter)

Mateo taking a break and eating a parade treat

Cuddling Cuties

As everyone knows already, Mateo and Lucia get along really well. He makes her laugh and adores her she watches and studies every move he makes and looks up to him (literally and figuratively). We can only hope this continues throughout their childhood and the rest of their lives.

Now that Lucia is comfortable being upright she can return his hugs

And Mateo can feel comfortable holding her up

Sibling adoration

M&L at the Gym

When the weather is bad or even when it is too hot or too cold the kids of Hoboken make their way to the Multi-service center where there is an indoor gym. Today must have been one of those days because I found these images on the camera.

Lucia and Claire (Will's little sis) decide to have some playtime on her mat

While the boys - Mateo, Logan and Will- had their own secret meeting on their side of the gym

"Hey there!"

"You talkin' to me?!"

Lucia Swinging at 7 Months

So today marks Lucia's 7th month. The question is - what can she do. Well, the short answer is a lot more than she could do at 6 months. Now she is not only rolling randomly she is rolling her way to her destination. She doesn't crawl on all fours, but she scootches backwards and sort of spins on her stomach. She is also frequently pulling herself up in her crib and she is refining her gross motor skills by grabbing at anything in sight and putting it in her mouth. She is also exploring more fruits and veggies. She can still make people smile when she flashes her big squinty-eyed grin and she is still cute and cuddly.

Lucia's first ride in a swing. Happy 7 months baby girl!