Lydia is 2!

"I'm TWO!"


Once again we give God the glory for the miracle and blessing of the life of Lydia Elise. We are overcome with thankfulness and joy when we consider how the Lord has moved in her life and we are humbled by the way He has used us to share His love with her. It honestly amazes us to see how even the mind and heart of a 2 year old can grasp His truth and exhibit such enthusiasm for His word (“Read the Bible”), His house (“Go to church?”), and singing His praises (“I’ve got the joy joy joy joy down in my heart!”).

A couple weeks ago as we were driving to my parents, Lydia blurted out, “I see Jesus riding a bicycle.” Now, I didn’t see anything remotely resembling that picture, but Daddy did tell her that she could see Jesus anywhere!

One of Lydie's favorite activities is playing on her playset. I hear, "Wanna fwing (swing)" atleast 5 times a day. :)


Slide static. What fun!


Following in her mother’s footsteps, Lydia simply LOVED her birthday. She would sing along as she was sung to by her friends and family. She even pretends her crayon container is a cake and sings and blows out the “candles”. She was absolutely adorable opening her presents. She’d get this look on her face of true awe and gasp. Then she’d repeat, “Awww, that’s so cute.” Or “That’s cool.” When she received pieces of clothing she would hug them or kiss them & of course to every toy she exclaimed, “Open this please!” She even expressed her thanks with a little encouragement (it was tough to divert her attention from her gifts).

Opening her singing "Old McDonald" card on her birthday morning.

Singing "Happy Birthday" to herself along with...

...her play group friends.


Happy girl during her birthday dinner.

This child LOVES ice cream!

Our little imitator got cleaning tools from mommy & daddy - we'll use this mimicking to our advantage!

She was VERY intent on vacuuming.

Gasp! Look at it!

Chillin' in her tent.

Cupcakes: A Lydia favorite. She picks all of the sprinkles and icing off and leaves the cake.

"Buh-rown" ice cream - a frequent request.

Hugging her new outfit. She gave it a kiss too. :)

We love you, Lydie Lew!

Here are some more little stories in the life of Lydia E...

Since we knew Tobias was coming along, we haven’t really worked on potty training due to the potential for regression. Recently she has been telling us as she performs a B.M. and when she's done asks, “Change my diaper, please?” Last week I caught her pushing and I said, “Lydia, are you pooping?” Her response: “C-mon poop! Hi, ho, let’s go!” Is cheerleading in her future? ;)

She is so very sensitive and perceptive. As I was reading to her she pointed to my eyebrow and said, “What happened, mommy?” I thought, “What could she possibly see on my eye (besides the dark circles under them)?” Then I remembered: I have a chicken pox scar at the end of my left eyebrow and she had spotted it! I told her about it and reassured her that her shots protect her from getting that horrible disease.

Lydia on her first day of school. When I ask her what she did at school her reply is, "Take a nap." or "Play with balls" Last week it was "Make bats" (they made a craft bat to hang on their spooky tree). Unfortunately she's having a bit of separation anxiety - it just started a couple weeks ago and she has done it at school and at church in the nursery. I feel badly leaving her screaming, but I know she calms down in a couple minutes. She really does have a good time there and is often quite energetic when I pick her up. Always hungry, always smiling.


Lydia can now sing her “ABC”s and count to 10. Of course, sometimes she gets distracted and mixes things up but the basics are there. This child just loves to sing. She often wakes up singing and it’s her favorite thing to do in the car. I love her sweet voice any time. The past couple days she has requested "CD"s and that I sing with her.

A common response (if she's in a good mood) when Lydia is asked to do something, "Sure!"

“Why?”: Not constantly, but in the past week she has started to ask, “Why?” Whew, I know I’m really going to be tested now!

Sibling shots

Lydia and Tobias hanging out on my bed watching Sesame Street, a favorite morning activity.


She looks so sweet and loving here.

Singing the "shake hands" song with Tobe


God's planning and timing is greater than we can fathom - He knew these two children would come into our lives and the lives of one another at just the right time. These photos remind me that despite the challenges of "2 under 2", the blessings far surpass them!

Tobias is 2 months old!

Well, our relatively “predictable” newborn followed suit in his second month, unfortunately his predictable pattern included lots of screaming. Poor thing would wake out of sleep almost exactly 2 hours after nursing screaming at the top of his little lungs. It truly is amazing the volume an infant can create. In fact, I read in Baby Talk this month, “The average newborn shrill measures 110 decibels, more than the sound pressure generated by a passing freight train or a jackhammer.” I believe it!!! It has been a trying time. It’s so difficult to console him and so hard as a mother feeling unable to take the pain away from your child. After exhausting all of the "tricks", I hit a point of desperation and decided to take him to the doctor’s 3 days before his scheduled 2 month visit. She put him on Zantac for reflux which has greatly improved the situation. He still has his moments but thankfully the intensity and frequency has diminished. I hope and pray he grows out of this soon.

I love how babies look when they just get out of the bath.


Noone is quite sure who Tobe looks like... Here are photos of him and my brother John as a baby. See a resemblance?




Our friends Jen & Ryan sent Tobi this Redskins outfit for the big Skins/Giants game. Mark almost hyperventilated when I put it on him and required that he also have some sort of NY apparel on. This is what resulted...




Since the moments are few and far between I cherish being able to catch my sleeping little boy. He looks so incredibly peaceful in direct contrast to his painful, red-faced grimace when he has these painful screams.



On a positive note, Toby LOVES music. We sing to him in a high-pitched voice which elicits a smile every time. :) He also coos in response to our melodies. It’s quite entertaining to hear daddy belt out “Twinkle Twinkle” in falsetto. Tobe has “found his hands” and keeps himself entertained by waving them and watching them fly. We also found he enjoys rocking and swinging. He was quite content watching a dangling Pooh while swinging high while mommy showered.

Tobias had a wonderful 2 month doctor’s appointment. He continues to be in the 50th %tile for weight at 11 1/2 lbs. (This is so crazy for me having such a small first baby). He handled 3 shots as good as a newborn can – fell asleep immediately after getting dressed. The doctor is keeping an eye on his belly button – he thinks there may be an abnormality, but nothing to be too concerned about right now. We praise God for His amazing gift of this healthy little life.



CHEESE! See, he does smile sometimes! :)

Tobi is one-month old!

Tobias’ nicknames: Toby, Tobi, Tobe, Tobes, Tobe-meister, Toblerone, Buddy boy. We use them all pretty much interchangeably.

Some sweet sibling shots.



When Toby is upset, Lydia will lovingly (but quite firmly) pat him on the chest and say, “It’s ok, buddy boy.”

Mommy & Daddy with Baby Tobi





Tobe-meister's first smile :) That grin makes all of the sleep-deprivation, crying bouts, and poopy diapers worth it. :) Love just gushes from his beam as those eyes light up. :)

I couldn't get Lydia to "pose" but I was successful at catching a kiss!

Touchdown, Giants! Toby & daddy were thrilled to cheer the NY Giants to their first victory of the season

Woo Hoo!

End of summer...

Toby's had lots of snuggles over the past few weeks. So much love. So much to be thankful for!
Aunt Laura and Uncle Nick came to welcome him.

Riley loves Tobias - she is so good with him: she sings to him, kisses him, and gently pats his head. So sweet.


Labor Day was full of picnics and love.
Cousin (once-removed) Julie and Great-Aunt Sarah

Aunt Leslie

Great-Aunt Judy

Tobe chillin'

Mommy & Daddy enjoying the freedom of having all of the "extra hands" around.

Dessert at the Dortenzo's - the toddlers obviously take cupcakes very seriously

A crew of friends - Jude, Cooper, and Toby meet together for the first time. These boys were born within 4 weeks of each other.

Now a visit to Gramma & Gran-papa's!
Reading with Gran-papa & cousin Gabby

Snuggles with Gramma

Aunt "M" has the special touch :)


Lydia is totally into playing “tea party.” We bought her a bunch of plastic food. Her favorite thing is to take the “shopping baskets” and dump all of the food out on the floor. (She’s really testing my OCD tendencies to clean up constantly!) Then she proceeds to put the food on plates and serves whoever will take it. Her favorite dishes to prepare: “salad” and “cereal”


Lydia’s obsession with her baby doll continues. Her G-pa named it “Baby Blooper” as he used to call Lydia the “Bald-headed Blooper” when she was a newborn. She loves to carry “Bloop” around under her arm. It only took about 4 weeks of observing me nursing and Lydia decided to “feed Blooper” by pulling up her shirt and putting Bloopers mouth on her belly button. Quite cute. She also “burps” Blooper by putting her over her shoulder and then forcefully throwing her on the floor. At least she got 1/2 of it! The other day Lydia went upstairs. I called to her from the bottom of the steps asking what she was doing. Her response was “Changing Blooper’s diaper.” She promptly returned downstairs when Blooper was clean. I found the remnants of her imaginary diaper change: a changing pad spread out on her bed (what we do with Lydia), diapers scattered all over her bedroom, and the entire box of wipes strewn all over her bed. That was one costly diaper change – good thing mommy doesn’t have those habits! J She also will not let clothes on Blooper. Last week I convinced Lydia that she and Blooper should both wear pink dresses to church. However, as soon as we came home Blooper’s outfit was ripped off. She’s remained clothes-less ever since. I got out my Cabbage Patch dolls from my youth and she found a bald one and proceeded to take all her clothes off too. At least Lydia keeps her own clothes on.
G-pa holding "Baby Blooper"


G-pa taking requests. Most popular: "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" "Jesus Loves Me"

Mimi & Gpa teach her all sorts of fun things, like her parents' names. :) When Lydia wakes up from a nap she usually just plays, sings, & babbles, but when she’s really serious about wanting to be free she screams, “Hey, Liz!”