Good Things Come in Threes

Both LT & JR hit the "three" mark this month - Julian is now 3 months and Luca is now 3 years old.  Hard to believe...and seeing our big boy in action is all the more stunning when we look at Julian and see how many changes take place between 3 months and 3 years of age!

Julian at 3 months


When the time comes around to write about Julian, the hardest part for me is that we never have pictures that capture him as truly as I would like.  A classic story of the second-born - we spend far less time staring at Julian and snapping photos than we did with Luca.

That sweet face...

Perhaps in part because of this, Julian adores eye contact and dedicated attention.  He lights up when one of us connects with him, and has the warmest, whole-face smile.  From the look on his face, I would guess that he already feels that the sun rises and sets with his big brother and I can only hope that that feeling lasts forever.

In the past month he's plumped up and is growing fast enough that everyone is commenting on how big he is getting.  When we brought home that little guy, I couldn't have imagined the delightfully chunky thighs that he is now rocking.  We'll have to wait until his four month appointment to get the details, but there's no doubt that he's a healthy, growing baby.

In other news, he is an expert at clasping his hands, gnawing on them, and drooling while doing all of the above.  He continues to have remarkably strong leg and neck muscles and is working on rolling over, a sign that sedentary babyhood is drawing to a close.  Most importantly, he strikes a lovely balance between being willing to go along for the ride (critical to family happiness) and being able to make his voice heard (critical to his own happiness) - and I admire him for it.

Luca at 3 years

Where to begin?  Well, I can get the stats out of the way.  Our suspicion that Luca is the biggest 3-year-old on the block was confirmed this week at his doctor's office, where he weighed in at 36 pounds and came in at 38 7/8 inches tall, both in the 75-90th percentile range.  He's doing a perfect job of his most important job: growing big and strong.

Every day, Luca lives up to his name.  He is a veritable lightbulb in this house, with all the energy, interest, and hilarity one could ever want. Sometimes I can't believe my good fortune at getting to spend every day with him.  Of course, there are some days when I feel I've gotten some other kind of fortune, but that's just life with a toddler.  Recently he achieved a major communication breakthrough and is suddenly speaking and telling stories at a whole new level.  In the weeks leading up to it he was very difficult, and only in retrospect could we see why - he couldn't understand why we couldn't understand him.  And thank goodness we can now, because these are some of the gems he comes up with:

Conversation #1:
Luca: Murphy
Me: (blank stare)
Luca: sometimes I say Murphy

Conversation #2:

Scene - I am in the powder room, holding Julian while peeing while Luca chats with me - proof that I could not tell the future when I was 26. 

Luca: can you bounce it?
Me: can I bounce what? Do you mean balance it?
Luca: no, I mean bounce it. Can you bounce your penis?  And the water goes straight into the toilet when you shake it?
Me: no, honey, I don't have a penis.

This summer Luca has been just slightly less interested in sports, and a little more interested in scooters and bikes.  As always, he is obsessed with cars, airplanes, helicopters, and anything else that goes.  His fascination with super heroes is up and running, with rarely a day passing without the need to wear a spider/bat/super-man something.  And he is a generous-hearted boy who adores his baby brother and his dad with total devotion.  Oh, and he really, really likes sweet corn.