All in a Day's Work

Today Mommy and I went to visit Daddy's work. Apparently it's a place where they make words. I don't know any words yet, but that didn't stop me from helping him make some! (I told Daddy he should consider working in a milk factory or maybe be a fireman.)

From All in a Day's Work

We got to meet lots of nice people who held me and even fed me!









I was very sad when I found out it would be a loooong time before I could go to work like Daddy!

Big, tall and wiggly

Now that Julian is much bigger (13+ pounds!) he is finally the right size to enjoy his Kickin' Coaster. If you kick your feet on this crazy invention, it plays music, flashes lights, and propels you backward. He really cracks himself up on this gizmo.

From Kid on a Coaster

The concentration is intense...

From Kid on a Coaster

Swaddle swaddle swaddle

Mommy and Daddy try very, very hard to get me to sleep at night. But I like to stay awake. Awake! Awake awake! Mommy thinks I prop open my eyelids with toothpicks!

The one tried-and-true method to get me to sleep is/was my Miracle Blanket. I get my arms and legs all wrapped up, snug as a bug.

From Sleep (or the act of trying)

The bad news is I outgrew it, and without being wrapped up all snug, I wake myself up allllll night long.

The good news is, a desperate Mommy paid an $18 overnight shipping fee to get me a Woombie. After one night, the jury is still out on whether the Woombie will ultimately work. But I sure look cute in it!

From Sleep (or the act of trying)

PS - I graduated from my bassinet in Mommy and Daddy's room, to my OWN crib in my very OWN room!

New Arrival

Last weekend we welcomed a new arrival into our family. We also said goodbye to an old friend. First, the sad part.

From New Arrival

Lil' Blue, we're gonna miss you! We hope your new owner loves you and appreciates you for your zippiness and for being so easy to find in a parking lot. You and Monica traveled a long road together (111,000 miles, to be exact)...from DC to New Jersey and back again. And still going strong! (Except for the air conditioning....but who needs AC when you can crank open a window and let the, uh, cool DC summer air inside.)

From New Arrival

So we decided it was time to move on. Actually, it was Julian who said, "mommy and daddy, how are you ever going to fit all my stuff in the car?" And it only took one trip to the Shore to prove that he was right. So we headed over to our (surprisingly) friendly neighborhood car dealer to look for something bigger.

From New Arrival

Now we welcome...Little Silver? Big Silver? Sylvia? Hmmm...at least we know she's a she (Monica insists). Maybe Julian will name her once he learns how to talk. In the meantime, we will enjoy new technologies like air conditioning and power windows. And we'll carry a lot of stuff!

Road trip, anyone?

Nerds!

The torch is passed from one generation to the next...

From Nerds!

Bath Time!

Three months in, we finally have a bath time routine that seems to be tear-free. We sponge bathe Julian on his giant turtle sponge, then transfer him to his "bucket" for a soak and hair wash.

From Bath time in a bucket

The bucket was an impulse purchase by 2 new parents who are unnerved by the thought of getting the kid in a tub. It's some crazy European-patented design... but truth be told, it's an overpriced mop bucket. Julian looks cute in it though!

From Bath time in a bucket

Many thanks to Pop-Pop who photographed bath time (which still takes 4 adult hands, so we needed visitors to help us document it!)

From Bath time in a bucket

All done, all clean!

A Smiley Boy

Julian has been smiling more and more. Frankly, he's becoming an easy audience... he smiles at pictures, the mobile on his swing, the elephants on his Pack N Play, and anything silly.

From Julian's Smiles

Family visit

Here are a few photos from the end of June, when Uncle Doug, Aunt Katie, and cousins Kyra and Daria came for a visit on their way back from Disneyworld. Julian entertained everyone with his smiling and wiggling, and we did some other fun activities like cookie-baking and a quick museum visit. Julian definitely has Uncle Doug's expressive face and night-owl gene.

From Ohio Cousins

From Ohio Cousins

Julian inspires the urge to snuggle!

From Ohio Cousins

From Ohio Cousins

From Ohio Cousins

Cousin Love

Another post from our shore trip over the 4th of July!   This is priceless:  instead of a hug, Julian greeted his cousin Flora by offering up his closed fist for her sucking pleasure. 

From Shore trip

Flora was born in January, and right now seems like such a big kid compared to Julian!   He liked eyeing her up and watching her faces and tricks.

From Shore trip

Emmanuelle and Leo check out their cousin Julian for the first time:

From Shore trip

Glo Glo keeps it amazingly together while attending to two grandbabies!

From Shore trip

Four babies!

We hosted our first "play date" at our house yesterday. Julian was very nice about sharing his play gym. On the far right is little Rebecca, Julian's first friend in the world! We met Rebecca and her Mommy and Daddy at the hospital (Rebecca was born one day after Julian), and it turned out they live just a couple blocks from us.

My shore debut

Check out some fun pictures from my shore trip! I looove to look at people, as you can see.

From Shore trip

From Shore trip

From Shore trip

Hello from the Boardwalk!

In the old days, they sent postcards... but we modern babies do blogging instead. Consider this the first postcard from my first official vacation at the Jersey shore - hello from the Boardwalk!

From Boardwalk Baby

This is Mommy's favorite pizza place on the whole earth. I hope to return when I have teeth, because it sure did smell deeeelicious!

From Mommy's Favorite Pizza

At the end of a full evening, I headed home with my new friend, Mr. Taffy.

From Mr. Taffy

Family at the Shore

I took my first long car trip on the 4th of July weekend to the Jersey shore. My Glo Glo and Zayda have a house in Longport, NJ with a gorgeous bay view and a bassinet that I slept very soundly in. Best of all, I met lots of new people! My Aunt Cara, Uncle Francois, and cousins Emmanuelle, Leo and Flora were all at the shore house too (cousin Justin was at hockey camp.) I also met lots of other cousins and babies in the Berman family, and all the Bar Davids... plus friends galore. It turns out I am pretty popular! This is the annual family photo in front of the shore house, and the first one with ME in it!

From Happy 4th of July

After the babies went to bed, the adults dined on lobster for Aunt Cara's birthday. Daddy had to pull out the lobster meat for Mommy (even though she's an adult, Mommy has trouble feeding herself when it comes to lobster!)

From Shore trip

Happy Daddy's Day

Nothing says Father's Day like dim sum (Chinese brunch)!

From Father's Day

Julian took us downtown for the big day. We learned about a new concept: the Baby Ghetto. The Baby Ghetto is the back of the restaurant where they stick all the people with little kids and babies. At first, you're insulted, then you're relieved - no one will judge you for the spit up and noise, or gripe about your giant stroller. We ate great food, gave Daddy his presents, and wore TWO different robot outfits (we'll spare you the details of why outfit #2 was very, very necessary.)

From Father's Day

We love Daddy - even more than we love dim sum!

From Father's Day

(though we really really do love dim sum...)

The Many Faces of Julian

Who knew such a little guy could do so many impressions?

Rodney Dangerfield



Gene Simmons



William F. Buckley, Jr.



Dr. Evil



And ONE BILLION other faces!

Jungle Baby

From what I can tell so far, I live in the jungle. I like it - the animals are nice, it's indoor air conditioned, and it only requires a couple of C batteries every so often to keep the sky flashing and playing music. [Click here for more photos]

From Lil' Buddy

This pair is cute from all angles

From Cute with Daddy

Alllll day long

Allll day long. Yes, that's right, I like to be held by someone alllll day long. In fact, I sort of demand it. I have a rule: if it is light outside, I want to be held. It's a good thing Grandma and Pop Pop were here so they could help with life under my new regime. Grandma read me books, I watched some golf with Pop Pop - life was good! [Click here for more photos]

From Grandma & Pop Pop

Visitors from Ohio!

From Visitors from Ohio

Julian got to meet his big cousins, and his Uncle Doug and Aunt Katie, for the first time last weekend. Even though boys can be very stinky, Kyra and Daria decided that THIS baby boy cousin is pretty snuggly and fun.  The girls were very gentle and sweet in holding Baby Julian, and Kyra even got him to smile!

Grandma & Pop Pop came for the day too, so the whole Lesmerises clan was together. John grilled, we celebrated Grandma's birthday with an ice cream cake, Kyra did her Richard Nixon impersonation (seriously - it's good), and Daria was just grateful to NOT be the baby of the family anymore.

We can't wait for Uncle Doug, Aunt Katie & the girls to come back for a long visit at the end of June.

Follow the link below the photo to see more pix...

Portraits of a Little Guy

Here are some pictures of what I do all day...






And then, I wear myself out.



[See more photos here]