house guests.7: the kids

Kids in our house! Cute voices and the pitter patter of little feet! Adults speaking baby language! An-almost-three year old speaking like a grown-up!

J&B, our good friends from the States, brought their kids, T&J, along with them for a trip to Grand Cayman. Little J was born shortly after we moved from the U.S., so it was great to meet him while watching T function as a big brother.

Baby J: Such a perfect little (strapped-in) subject while I play with my new flash.
T knows what to do when a camera's around.

Speaking of T, he's gotten so much more mature in the past eight months. He's just absolutely brilliant. Smart, happy, funny - but with just the right amount of drama that any 2.8-year-old brings to the table. Goodness, he makes me laugh.

Did I mention he is helpful? You should have tasted the brownies he assisted in making. And look: He certainly seems to take ownership of his work:

One of T's favorite island activities was boating. He and his dad were pretty keen to spend a day on the water, and that is just what we did.

But first: Checking out coconuts and iguanas near the dock!

 

He soon learned that running after iguanas doesn't get old. I still do it too.

Now onto that all-important boat ride!

         

 

The captain and his skipper take off!

Since the trial run went so well, we were off to Stingray City in the morning. This is the "smile" face I got from T. Which was much more interesting than what I expected.

This guy wasn't so sure about the stingrays. Actually he was quite sure: He would not go anywhere near them.

         

The rocking of the boat agreed with Baby J, who snoozed (on my pink towel) while we fed/held/photographed the rays.

Almost in dream-land...

The trip back home proved to be very relaxing.

T also loved our former-hot tub turned baby pool.

This was right after these two combined forces for some serious sand castle-making.

Meanwhile, Baby J spent some time couch surfing. Pretty much every day I got home from work to see this:

Jabbering away, watching some 'toons.

Sometimes he got ousted by these guys, who insisted on a steady diet of Sports Center.

Yes, NS' foot is purple. That is one bad ankle sprain, folks.

Baby J spent most of his week trying to master his rollover maneuverer. I'm pretty sure his days of laying solo on the couch are numbered if he's going to pull stunts like that.

Uncle NS spent some quality time with Baby J, but only under the condition that all drooling activities be suspended.

Just check out those yummy rolls!

Little J thought he should be involved in meal times, and he's just on the cusp of getting to eat table food. But first he'll have to finish cutting those teeth (refer to drooling activities above.)

On the other hand, T got to join the rest of us at each meal. His two favorites: Breakfast-for-dinner and just-his-size ice cream at Sunshine Grill.

Oh, and lemons. He loved his lemons.

These kids are unbelievably cute, and I took a ton of photos during our patio dinner at Sunshine. Here's a little collage sampling:

Favorite shots: T's fake smile (well-trained kid) and J's tiny toes.

There are only a few things in this world that bring out my silly side. I've narrowed it down to my sisters and toddlers. I may have read aloud Sesame Street board books using all the character voices. I may have made really strange faces at T while sitting in a nice restaurant just to make him laugh. I may have pretended to sleep on the couch so that T could scare me out my slumber. Multiple times. And I certainly cuddled with Baby J and all that delicious pudge on a daily basis.

What a great week for all of us. I loved having my faux-phews all to myself for a week, and I hope they enjoyed their island vacation.

Until next time boys! Love, Aunt J