A Tooth!

Well, Arlo is having a week of firsts. He has his first cold (boo - and I have it too), and while we were hanging out today I noticed that he is actually cutting his first tooth! He is drooling like crazy and chewing on his thumb and fist with a vengeance. He even let's out little grunts and mini screams while chewing! So very focused! I can't believe how early this is. He pulled my finger into his mouth to chew in and there it was...a very swollen gum with a little tooth right under the surface. Bottom left. He seems to be weathering it better than James did. Less crabby, but with the cold he seems a little miserable. He still smiles all the time though! Laid back kid...love him!

Arlo is Five Months Old

Yeah! Arlo is five months old! I think that if I could freeze time at this age I would. It really is such a wonderful age for babies. Arlo is so fun right now. He is such a happy, smiley, laughing baby boy (except when he isn't). Man does he love his brother. James seems to be his hero. It is beyond words. James feels the same way too still. We took these pictures before bed tonight.

Today Arlo has his first real runny nose - so sad! He had a little bit of a rough day, but was still very pleasant but wanted extra snuggles (as if you could give extra - he always wants to be held and snuggled). He also is drooling up a storm! He had his first week at Little Tree this week going now on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Hopefully it isn't a cold that he picked up there. But he is typically a little bit more ok with being put down in his swing or in his new (to him) jumper activity center thingie. His sleep patterns are not good right now since our big trip, but we are keeping our fingers crossed that this week will go better.

James is doing great as well. He is so happy-go-lucky. We had a dinner with two other families including his best buddy Oscar's family this evening and while there was some chaos with other kids, James just hung and stayed mellow (strange!). We were very proud of him. We had a nice weekend hanging out with friends. We had quite the social calendar this weekend. Dinner Friday with Bill and Maggie and their grandkids who James LOVES and of course their parents, then James had a birthday party yesterday (where he didn't get crazy from the cupcake until we left the door to come home - bonus), and then playing with friends tonight. Wow, quite the social calender for our little man this weekend!

Arlo rolled over!

Arlo finally decided to roll over! He went from back to tummy yesterday afternoon. James and I were very excited! So was Arlo. He thought it was great. He laughed and giggled. He was very proud of himself you could tell. He is a funny little guy. He just loves to hear his own name spoken to him and smiles almost all the time. And he is pretty much too cute to resist and such a little snuggle bug. We all adore him, especially big brother James. They are just in love with each other. James can always make Arlo happy when he is upset. One day a shortly after Arlo was born, James said to us "Arlo is my best friend". He has such a wonderful heart that kid.

Anywhoo...Arlo is really trying now to roll the other way. I am not helping him at all because then that would mean that we have two mobile children. Watch out world!

Four Family Members, Two Weeks, One Truck, Three Thousand Miles...

Happy St. Patrick's Day! We arrived home from our epoch road trip this afternoon at just shy of 4:00. What a whirlwind. We had a most excellent time on our little adventure to see family and attend the wedding of a great old friend of mine. We saw many different landscapes, lots of family, and had tons on new experiences. But first things first...

In the car this afternoon, I was in the backseat with the boys and was talking to Arlo - telling him his name and he repeated it!!! Seriously. Repeated it. Sean and I were stunned. Even James heard it. So, I know he really didn't know what he was saying, but we thought it was super cool that he was able to mimic the sound that he was hearing. It was very, very cool. We also noted that when you say his name he looks at you. We think he does know that Arlo is his name. He also almost rolled over tonight for the first time. So close there!

Back to almost a month ago...Arlo weighed in at his four month appointment at 13 lbs, 12 oz. WOW! He also was 23 1/2 inches. Again - WOW! I wasn't crazy in thinking that he seemed so much heavier! Considering that he was born at 5, 4 and came home at 4 lb, 11 oz, I just can believe the size he is now. For reference, James was born a hearty 7 lbs, 11 oz and 21 1/2 inches. At his four month appointment he weighed 14 lbs even and was 24 inches long. Little A has just about made up the difference! Astonishing to me.

We have not really stopped moving since then! We left on our road trip two weeks ago today after a little drama with Bodie (he took himself on quite the adventure out on the town without a collar on on Friday the 2nd - luckily Sean posted an ad on Craigslist and the guy who found him had the great idea somehow to check the site! We really thought we would never see him again) at 6PM for quite the drive to Pocatello, ID in serious wind and black icy roads. I must say that I am married to a serious rock star when it comes to keeping cool and steady in tough situations driving. He is sooo good. I am a lucky girl, for that and many other reasons. We made it to Las Vegas the next night in time to schlep all of our gear (you should have seen us, it must have been quite the site) through the Treasure Island casino, make so PB&J sandwiches for dinner, and head out to see the volcano explode at the Mirage. Next up was the pirate show at the TI. At first James was scared and didn't want to watch it because he proclaimed that he was afraid of pirates. But when he say it was a bunch of scantily clad chicks shaking their booties he was super into it. Seriously. It starts this young. Three years old and 11 months. He was really into it. We were not.

The next day Sean took James to see the lions, tigers and dolphins at the Mirage while Arlo and I hit up Nordstroms. Fun was had by all. Then we took off after lunch across the desert to Palm Springs. We took the road less traveled and ventured on back roads across the Mojave National Preserve. Spectacular. So glad we did it. The road was full of whoopdie-do's which James loved and we even met up with Route 66 for about 10 miles. When we told him we were on 66 he instantly said "We need to find Doc Hudson" (from Cars). He was grinning ear to ear and thought it was so cool. We had a great time in Palm Springs thanks to the terrific room complements of Judy and Pat and their timeshare. The weather was good and we had a marvelous time at the wedding of one of my best friends from high school. It was a very small, intimate wedding of only 28 people at the most beautiful place the Korikia Pensione (www.korakia.com) in downtown Palm Springs. We highly recommend checking it out if you are ever in the area. Super cool place.

Next it was off to Orange County for the day and WONDERFUL visits with Auntie Barbie and Uncle Bob, Grammy and Papa, and Auntie Wheeze, Steven and Hayley. We enjoyed the day so much and it was nice to catch everyone even if all the visits were too short. We headed off from Auntie Wheezes house at about 9PM for Rory and Nicole's place in Santa Ynez. Driving through LA at night is SOOOO much easier and we made it to their house in less than three hours, even after making several wrong turns.

Our visit on the central coast with Rory, Nicole and Dad and Patty was terrific. Superb weather, great visits and good food. We all ate at Full of Life Flatbread on Friday night for a most excellent meal. Check it out if you are even in the Los Alamos area! James had a blast. Especially at Funpa's house doing "farm work". He kept asking Funpa to do the work. He collected eggs, fed the horses, picked fruit, and most importantly drove the tractor!!! Funpa let him steer all by himself. When Sean got on the tractor to take James for a ride, he had hardly sat down in the seat before James had the thing started up on his own and was lifting the bucked up to take off! It was so cool.

Next it was off to the Bay Area for a great visit with the family. We got to see all the Uhlenbrock families, which was very nice. Especially since Grandma was recovering from hip replacement surgery. We also had a terrific day playing with Jason and Jessica (and of course Jen and Jeff). The kids had a blast playing in the backyard and picking mandarins from Grandpa's tree, and even riding bikes in the street out front. They had a blast. James even said to me when going to sleep that night that he wished that we lived there so that he could play with Jason and Jessie every day. It was precious. I think he may have even had a tear in his eye. Tuesday, the rain began in time for us to head out to the coast. We tried to explore Point Reyes but only made it to Point Reyes Station where we ate at the Station House (www.stationhousecafe.com) which was AWESOME. Go there if you can. We also had a nice visit with our friend Kari. Then we were off to Truckee for a quick visit with friends and with Pat before heading back North on Friday.

Phew - did we get our miles in or what!!!