Farewell

Jack left for Iraq yesterday. He will be gone for 6 months. Saying goodbye was heartbreaking, and we miss him already.

It will take him several days to get to Baghdad, where he will be staying. (He will be working for DCMA as an auditor of service contracts for the military.)  Once he gets settled we should be able to talk on the phone and do web-chats, so we are looking forward to that. Thank goodness for modern technology that makes it so much easier to keep in touch, regardless of where you are in the world. 

My aunt was telling me that when her husband went off to Vietnam that she rarely got a letter from him, and only got to talk to him once by short wave radio. (He waited in line for 2 hours to make the call, but they could hardly hear each other, she cried the whole time, and then they got cut off!) Thank goodness for modern technology!

Jack and Leo have been spending lots of quality time together the last few weeks. They've had a great time riding horse back, wrestling on the floor, and having 'tickle fiesta'.  Leo sure loves his daddy!

Cherry Blossom Festival

We drove into DC today to see the Cherry Blossoms festival. The blossoms are at their peak this week, and they were pretty incredible. Over 3700 trees surround the Tidal Basin, and the Jefferson Memorial.
People from all over the world were there to see the trees in all their splendor.

It was a chilly 40 degrees outside today, so that put a damper on our Spring-time revelry... but we had a great time nonetheless.

Here are some more photos of those fabulous flowering trees:

Laughing Leo

Shenanigans

Leo is 14 months old now, and is so full of personality. He still loves pointing at things, but now he also does this funny shrugging thing, with his elbows put together, and hands put out. (as seen in the bath photos below)  It is so charming.

Leo is also really into books. He loves pointing at the pictures, and bringing them to me so I can read him a story. (His attention span has improved slightly so he will actually sit still long enough to hear one.)

Leo was in his room today, playing while I was in the kitchen. It was a little too quiet in there... I should have known that he was up to something. A few mintues later he came out of his room covered in baby powder. 

(at least this mess was easy to clean up!)

And for the biggest news of all... it looks like Leo is FINALLY getting some teeth!

If you look closely you can see the two on the bottom starting to push through. Yesterday afternoon he was really in pain, so I just rocked him for about a half an hour until the Tylenol kicked in, and then he took a 2 1/2 hour nap... then he was fine. Poor little guy. I'm sure there are some sleepless nights ahead.

Finally, a cute video of Leo playing with a stuffed animal.
He never ceases to amaze me with his cuteness...