Avocago

Back in September (yes I'm still backlogged to September) I went to visit two of my dear cousins who live in the Chicago area for a week. J spent the weekdays with her grandma and I took M with me. J pronounces the city as Avocago and I think it's pretty much adorable

M only cried for about 20 minutes of each flight as was pretty good for the rest. We spent the first half of the week with Joe and Lianna and their sweet daughter Korrali who is just two weeks older than M. I'm kicking myself for not getting any pics with all of us. How did we let that happen Joe? Disappointing. It's probably because we had so much fun snapping pictures of the babies. I mean, look at these two!

They were even holding hands!

We had to get a close up of Korrali and her gorgeous 1/4 Chinese face.

I was expecting to have it feel like a bit of a heaven having just one babe, but I was surprised to find I spent about the same # of hours each day on childcare. Typically one child was just getting neglected at any given moment. It was also a bummer that my little man wouldn't sleep unless I was next to him so I didn't get my typically 2 to 3 hours in the evening without him. Although, like they say, a change is as good as a rest.

We met up with my cousin Katie and her youngest Eli at the Morris Arboretum.

Eli is actually about the same age as J.

I've always admired Katie because she just manages to exude a love for whomever she is with. I noticed it even as a young kid and felt so special every time she talked to me. I liked looking through these pictures because you can see some of it with her son.

M spent a significant portion of the outing like this.

So I had more fun taking pictures of the fun scarecrows for the contest they were hosting.

Eli loved the minions

My pacifier-hating child decided he liked the particular brand his cousin had. I tried 4 other types previously and determined he just didn't like objects. He showed me.

He also showed me in no uncertain terms that he was happier pushing the stroller.

Part of the fun of having three of us was actually getting to be in pictures instead of taking them.

The children's garden was fantastic and I wished J could have been there to experience it. I snapped pictures of the telescope and wading pond, but didn't get any of the fantastic winding paths, rope bridges and play structures. Eli enjoyed them all.

After such a fun day, M was happy to stay asleep long enough for me to slip away and even snap a picture.  Babies are always so sweet when they are sleeping.