A new way to play -- Thank You Grandma Coral!

Since we are at home a lot, having a nice place to play in our own back yard is something we really appreciate.  We have been blessed with a beautiful, shaded, fenced back yard and now Grandma Coral has blessed us even more with our very own play place.  It was supposed to be Jonathan's birthday present, back in November, but as with all construction projects we experienced quite a few delays.  For instance, apparently the bamboo should not be cut while in bloom, or it will only last 6 months!  It was definitely worth the wait for the bamboo to mature!  What a dream come true that it is finally complete and wonderful beyond our wildest dreams!

We were able to get ocean sand from the local aquarium store.  It comes complete with bits of coral and complete miniature shells!

This baby swing was a hand-me-down from some neighbors in Mount Vernon!  Now it was super light-weight to pack in our luggage and now has a new life in the tropics!

This "river" forms in our backyard daily, and drains away by evening!

Joshua is already a pro climbing up and down this ladder! 

Two firemen making a strategy how to put out the fire and rescue the people.

 The funny thing is, Jonathan LOVES to be in the baby swing and Joshua likes the grown-up swing!

This little guy is always swiping somebody's shoes and running off with them!

The shoe-caper strikes again.

Snacks with friends taste so much better in the fort!

Thank you Grandma Coral!

Big boys can swing!

 Time to teach Joshua how to swing!  Jonathan gives a skilled demonstration while Dave helps Joshua get his arms positioned.  The little one kept wanting to put one arm behind. 

 The look of triumph!  I'm doing it!

Jonathan's been swinging on his tummy for over a year, and has recently learned to sit-up swing and pump his legs too. 

Look who's 2 months old!

   Joshua is learning to smile -- big huge wide opened mouthed grins!   They are still a bit hard to catch on camera, but we spent a bit of time today to do just that because it's his 2 month birthday!

Here's another.  As my friend Stacey says "I love it when babies smile with their eyes."  I never thought to put in those words exactly, but she's right.  Here we get both....smiling eyes and smiling lips.

I'm including the above picture of Jonathan at 2 1/2 months old because people keep asking me "How does Joshua compare to Jonathan at this age?"  See for yourself.  I think they look like brothers, but not extremely alike. 

Here's the photographer(s)....Yep, Jonathan is still feeling rather clingy after the arrival of his brother.

So they say a growth spurt happens at 2 months.....a few days ago Joshua slept almost the whole day through and sure enough, the next day none of his size Extra Small diaper covers fit anymore! 

This week Jonathan and I were water painting at the table, and I had to leave him to go change Joshua's diaper.  When I came back I found a tattooed pirate with a full beard and mustache!  This is his reaction when I put him in front of the bathroom mirror and told him to clean himself up!

Dave has been taking Jonathan to our school playground everyday, so we must include a few pictures!  In many ways, it doesn't compare (especially in safety considerations!) to all of the fun playgrounds in Singapore, but it does have some impressive features!

So this day one of Jonathan's friends was in the sandbox with him, eager to smile for the camera.  I was trying to get Jonathan to look at the camera and smile, too ....but I think it was more important for him to demonstrate/document what he can do with his toy digger and dumptruck.