Chris is hanging out with us this weekend. We celebrated our August birthdays with a celebration of meat at Fogo de Chao. The servers kept bringing meat, as long as our cards were green. We ate too much and had a lot of fun. Pictures below are courtesy of Chris' camera phone...

Bring on the meat!

Jude at 6 weeks old

Charlie is super shy in crowds but he is a talker at home. He is always surprising us with new phrases. Here are a few of our recent favorites:

"I hear Elmo" - after turning on the TV to find a cartoon narrated by the red furry creature

"Jesus Loves me" - after I asked him what song we were going to sing before his nap

"Find Miller" - as he finds a picture of a dog that looks like Miller in a picture book (so sad)

"I fall down" - he loves this one, he falls down all the time so that he can say it over and over...

And the best for last....sorry Mom and Dad... When you hold out your fist for a "fist bump" or "dog pound," he says OMAMA - translated to OBAMA! This is a big crowd pleaser in DC :)

I'll post more pictures soon. Poor Jude has not has his sweet face photographed nearly as many times as his big brother, but we're working on it!

NEW BED
(pronounced: ne'w beddddddd by Charlie)

He went out like a light, and his parents are a little stunned.

Are we already supposed to feel like his childhood is going too fast?

I know you are probably looking for pictures of Jude and Charlie, but I had to post this one...

We haven't removed all of the bars off the windows in our row house - including the bars that used to surround a window a/c unit. As you can see, Nat decided it was a good spot for a window box. We bought this book a while ago for ideas of gardening in the city, but I can't say this was one of her suggestions :)

I love these recent pictures that Nat took of the boys. Jude will be one month old tomorrow. He is still looking a lot like his brother, but definitely has a look of his own.

I am taking advantage of a few quiet moments (C watching TV, J in the swing) to post a few pictures. :)

Family photos






Nat and Jed with the boys on Henry's birthday

Charlie "entertaining" Jude

Jude is such a great baby. We are really enjoying him.

Here are some pictures from his first week at home.

Charlie with his little brother

Nat and the boys

Auntie Alana and her nephews

Grammy with Jude

Quick visit with Uncle Scotty

First bath at home

Meeting Autumn

and his rock star friend Lauris

Announcing:

Judah Nathaniel Malkus

July 22, 2008

10:24 AM

8 pounds, 8 ounces

20 inches long

We have been preparing for our new arrival this last week.
Charlie watched as his Mom left for her last day of work,



He seemed excited to escort his Mom to the car.


With less than 48 hours to go until the baby arrives I became sick, but am feeling better now. Which is good, because apparently if I stop watching the kid for a single day he ends up in high heels.




His Aunt Alana has been here to help out and maybe to corrupt Charlie with her high heels. We will keep an eye on her.

In all seriousness, say a prayer for us, only 13 hours til baby two!

We took Charlie to this fountain that is designed, I think, to make children screech and scream as much as possible. Anyway, he enjoyed the water and looking at the other kids.



A little in the face...

not to worry


...to our dismay he has extended his compulsion to drink in the baby pool and his bath to the public fountain, giraffe style no less.



"If you had guns like these, you would be going sleeveless too, punk!"

The rule is pretty clear in our house that Mabel's water bowl is not a toy for Charlie. Apparently, it is quite a temptation for him, but he seems to be learning. We hear him walking over to it saying "No, no, no...Mabel."

So, yesterday, we found this scene in the kitchen. Charlie has his own dog on a leash and decided to give him a drink. We thought it was pretty funny and couldn't help but laugh.

Charlie is enjoying his baby pool again this year. He has enjoyed going to various pools and spray parks around the city this summer. We haven't taken many pictures lately, but we will probably make up for that in a couple of weeks with the new baby. Nat has been working hard on getting C's new room ready to make room for the little one. We are very excited.

Here are some pictures of backyard fun...

We found a climber with a slide for Charlie and Nat set it up to slide into the pool. Charlie and Isaiah tried it out and they loved it.

Isaiah takes a turn

Nat with Isaiah and Charlie - these boys are too cute together.