Liam has taken the big step up to eating *real* food. Well, it looks gross to me and I wouldn't really consider it real, but he's got to start with something. The first couple times I gave him the rice cereal, he gobbled it down. Then he did a 180 and gagged and grimaced when I brought to the spoon to his mouth. After trying some bananas in with the rice cereal he decided he likes it MUCH better. So enjoy some photos of Liam and his milestone.
We've been a busy family running about to various birthday parties and family gatherings. The 4th of July was spent at the Isabell's home. It wasn't a warm enough day for the pool, but that didn't stop us from thoroughly enjoying a relaxing afternoon. Now that we have little ones, we don't get to see fireworks since those happen WAAAAY past bedtime. It would have been traumatizing to Liam, anyway, who gets upset when he hears an applause at church. The only photo I got from the 4th was him sleeping on our friend Christine Friedrich's shoulder. She has a way with my children, putting them into deep states of relaxation whenever she holds them. 
On Friday night we went to Olive Garden for Grace's 17th birthday. Happy Birthday Grace, now go get your driver's license so you can drive up here to babysit!
I only got a couple photos while there, and none with the celebrated Grace. Sorry! I'll get them at your party! Well these are the only photos that came out. Uncle Jon with Jackson and me with Liam.
Saturday was a long day for us. After a two-hour, napless drive down to south Jersey, we went to cousin Sarah's baby girl Lila's first birthday party. It was awesome to see the Zarrello side of the family there. Jackson loved playing with his cousin Ava. And AACK, I got not one photo. Bad mommy! Well I had to keep a sharp eye on Liam's great aunts, as one in particular, eh hem, Aunt Betty, wanted badly to give him cake since he was staring at it. Just because he likes to look at food doesn't mean he needs to eat it! He's only 6 months old! :)
Tomorrow will not be a fun day. Liam has his 6 month well check up. Four shots. Ouch.
Today was an adventurous day! We got an early start, went through the Dunkin Donuts drive thru (2 times - duh, forgot to get Jack's sprinkle donut! Can't forget that!) and headed to Kutztown for the Folk Festival. Adventures like these aren't what they used to be a year ago. Now we can't really bribe Jackson into seeing what *we* want to see. It's all about him now apparently! We spent most of the time playing the guitar and various bongos around the fair grounds. A nice Amish man repairs discarded guitars and lets kids just go to town on them. After quite some time playing, he asked for Jackson's autograph, just in case he got famous some day! We saw loads of old tractors, crafts and handiworks of the Amish, some farm animals and enjoyed Sassparilla and Birch Beer. A grand time was had by all!
Oh, and just to add, if you noticed Jackson's blue and orange - err, leggings - they're his latest must have accessory. I got them for Liam since they look cute with his cloth diapers and function as pants pretty much, but Jackson has taken a liking to them. He'll probably be mad at us when he's older... But in actuality, if you attempt to take them off him, he gets quite upset. So leg warmers it is!
I can't believe June is heading out the door. Where did this month go? It was a busy one to say the least! Let's see if I can try to sum it up! We're slowly but surely getting better with getting to go outside on a more regular basis. It's difficult to get sleeping schedules syncronized so we can do anything! Some days are better than others, but it's not so fun for Jack to stay indoors and close to home all the time because Liam is napping. Liam is generous though and doesn't put up too much of a fit if we miss his regular nap or make it shorter so we can do something special, or heck, just grocery shop! One day this week we went to the local pool. For some reason Jackson was the only one in the toddler pool! Where was everyone?! Quiet day I guess. We found out the Quakertown pool has a little slide and mushroom fountain thing, so we'll have to try there next. 
Father's Day was a beautiful day! We started the day by piling in the Outback and driving to Pop and Gramma's in Medford Lakes, NJ to visit for a while and to pick up the Explorer for Justin to drive. (Thanks Dad!) My brother Bill was *done* with it since he didn't need in San Fran. My wonderful dad was generous enough to let us have it since Justin's car was kaput. Jackson thought the Explorer ('93 sport edition - old and I took my driver's test in it!) was the coolest thing ever. He calls it the truck or the Hummer. (??!) So he and Justin drove that while Liam and I followed him to Doylestown to spend the remaining day with his family. We went to Dilly's Corner, a roadside stand on the Delaware River (and has the best cheeseburger I've ever had!) to have a laidback dinner and then to Tohickon Park to fish along the creek. Justin's mom got Jackson his first fishing rod, so of course we had to try it out. 
Liam is nearly 6 months old now. We've dabbled with his first try at rice cereal and after having a great go at it at first, he's now decided he must gag and act like he wants nothing to do with it. So we're backing off for a bit. He's doing so great. He's now started sleeping through the night. I'm amazed because with Jackson it seemed like it was something we had to work hard to achieve with him. We were always going in to plunk his Nuk back in, or it seemed he'd be hungry all night. Liam just decided to plain old sleep. Awesome! He's working on sitting up now, too. I don't trust him on a hard floor, but he can hold his own sitting up on the carpet for a few minutes before forgetting he is verticle and then he topples over. Jackson is amazed that he is doing *things* now. Well, annoyed too, actually now that I think of it! Like when Jackson was playing with his cars nearby Liam, and Liam squirmed forward and *touched* a car. Jackson was a bit dismayed and moved his entire fleet of vehicles further away. I must looking at these moments as teaching opportunities! Haha!
I just had to share that one little bear hiney picture for his uncles and Pop's and Poppy's. Liam is still wearing cloth diapers and it's fun to have a little more "style" with them along with helping the environment and keeping his butt rash-free!
We celebrated Mom (Isabell's) birthday the past Sunday at Cascade Lodge. It's is so beautiful there! The restaurant itself is dated, but charming in a way. It's probably the same as it was in the 50's! It's situated between rolling hills and horse farms. There's a stocked trout pound with montrous trout that Jackson LOVED checking out. They cook tableside, depending on what you order, and flambe, making quite the spectacle. Jackson enjoyed watching that, too. We had the longest dinner of our lives. Four hours! But it was relaxing and so enjoyable spending time with everyone. Jackson got to pick out Josh's dinner by going down to the cellar where the trout swim through this little stream that runs under the building. He got a kick out of that!
OK, a couple last pictures and I've got to wrap this post up!
Justin was just looking through the pictures from the day with me and said that this photo shows who Jackson is more than any of them. He is Mr. Perpetual Motion. Feet moving, arms moving, mouth moving and looking for the next thing to do. You can just see it in his eyes. 
Justin, Jackson, Liam and I met with Julianne, Travis and Gabriela today at Green Lane Park to BBQ. What a relaxing evening we had! No toys to squabble over or kitchens and messes to clean up. I think we must hang out like this all the time now. It was fairly deserted in this picnic area which had lots of nice shady trees and big rocks to climb, and little rocks to throw in the lake. Next time I don't care what Justin says, we're bringing Jacksons fishing rod. Anyway, we ate hot dogs and sausage and made smores and just enjoyed our time. Thanks guys for a fun day!
I took this first "I found my feet" picture of Liam recently and had de ja vou when I uploaded it to the computer. I scrolled through Jackson's baby pictures and found a very simliar one! Kinda neat.
When I was in Coast Guard Bootcamp, catching a minute of shut eye while taking a toilet break was a popular thing to do. Basic training was so mentally and physically exhausting, and naptime wasn't in the schedule, so a minute or two of shut eye was a covetted thing! Jackson seems to have adopted this philosophy now... We had a big day today at Lenape Swim Club in Chalfont. THP (Justin's employer) had a picnic and much of Jack's time was spent in the kiddie pool. He was bleary eyed when we pulled in the driveway tonight, but insisted his tummy hurt and he was hungry. Well we can't send the little man to bed half starved. He's skinny to begin with, so any opporunity to add a couple extra calories to his diet is taken advantage of. Before bed he declared he had to *poop.* So we can't deny him of this privilege either. He said he needed some privacy so Justin was waiting outside the door. After a few minutes of Jackson saying, "I'm still trying, I'm still trying," and then some silence, Justin called me over to peek through the crack in door. There was our little boy, falling asleep on the toilet! But unlike my potty naps in bootcamp, Jackson realized he was falling asleep and began trying to hold his eyelids open. That's when we called an end to his potty time and got him to bed. Guess he didn't have to poop afterall?
OK, so keeping a blog is hard work. I must add it to my list of chores. It's something that I'd like to get done on a regular basis. That just doesn't happen, though, does it?
So what happened with us the past month? Let's see... Hmmm, I'm coming up with nothing. There are fun things going on in the lives of those around us though! Our latest news is that my sister, Trisha, is having a boy. What a wonderful addition a baby boy will be to their family. Ava is going to love having a brother! Liam will have fun with another little boy close to his age as he grows up, too. In other news, Jon, Justin's brother, got engaged. We all love Emily already. It's so fun to watch the family grow and gain another sister. Also, Bill, my brother, has moved to San Fransisco to work for Apple Computers. He has worked for them from PA for the past year and has held internship positions with them each summer. Well now it's permanent and he's up and left us for the Left Coast. I'd venture to guess he'll never leave. We'll come visit Uncle Bill! Lastly, Mimi (Justin's mom) and Grace (his sister) just got back from England safe and sound. They enjoyed a two-week visit touring around London and Wales. I'm glad the trip was just what they were needing! Can't wait to see pictures!
OK, I thought of what we've been up to. Keeping cool as of late. We've had some hot weather and that has been tricky to manage. Jackson loves to be outdoors, but Liam is too little yet for sunscreen. So it's been a balance to keep each of them happy. Justin took Jackson for a little motor boat ride this past weekend. Apparently the boat was much too slow for him (electric motor?) He told Justin to go faster, and when he told Jackson it didn't go any faster, Jackson said, "This isn't fun, Dad. I want to go home. I think I hear Mom calling me!" Now mind you, they were many miles from home! This boy has good ears! We've been working on potty training with Jackson, as well. Hopefully by the end of the month he'll be official. I know he can do it, but I think Jackson struggles with a little bit of laziness. If he has on a pull up or diaper, he'll take advantage of not having to stop what he's doing and just do his business. But if I leave him nude (just at home, don't worry!) he'll run to the potty to go. Amazing! So I think we just need to take a few days of not going anywhere, and keep him in underwear until he learns that they are not so absorbant. Hopefully that will do the trick!
Liam is growing by leaps and bounds and doing some fun baby stuff now. He's not so much of a lump anymore. He's begun to roll from his back to his tummy, and back again. He's working on sitting up. He can reach for things now and we're testing the waters of solids now. He seems to be more interested in what we're eating and reaching for our plates and silverware. So I figured it must be time! He's a sweet baby, so gentle and content. A wonderful compliment to busy Jackson. Well he's awake now, speaking of, so I must end now! I'll add pictures soon!
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