Who needs toys when there’s a baby brother to be played with? Mika, Luce, and her big sister Mia had a blast with Tobin today … marveling at his tiny hands and feet, and teaching him to crawl (almost!). And how does the baby keep his cool at 95°F? He played with an ice pack!

I just googled “Mika, Tobin” to check how well our new WordPress plugin has removed MiNiToSu from Google search results … and a link to this news article came up as top result instead: “Colonel and Mrs. Robert E. Tobin, USMCR announce the engagement of their daughter, Miss Catherine Agnes TOBIN, all of Chester, Va., to Matthew Dalton MIKA, son of Drs. Katherine and David Mika, all of Keswick, Va.”

What are the odds?!? Only in Richmond, Virginia!

We have a ‘no TV for babies’ policy in our house. Mika felt bad for Tobin because we turned his chair away from the screen while she was watching one episode of her current favorite, Word World. She decided to substitute his experience by putting on her own TV show for him (you’re watching the Animal Channel).

Big day: Halmoni, Harabogi, AND Uncle Joe came out to Brooklyn for a family visit. Despite the sudden, scorching heat outside (95°F … 35°C!), we had a very pleasant day together. Halmoni cooked up a storm and brought not only today’s feast but several days worth of Korean food. Kam-sa-ham-ni-da! The grandparents headed back home to Baltimore in the afternoon, but Uncle Joe is staying overnight and flying out to L.A. tomorrow.

First thing this morning, Tobin and Bruno tagged along to Saja’s annual sample sale. They got the royal treatment being watched by YooHyun herself, while their moms quickly tried on a number of her exquisite designs. It was a win-win situation and we left the Garment District very happy.

The rest of the play date was spent chilling at Bruno’s pad – except for Tobin, who wouldn’t stop doing his push-ups…

Next exercise in Tobin’s self-imposed ‘Crawling Boot Camp’: push-ups. He continues to put relentless zest into his morning routine. If only he would bend his knees, he’d be moving forward already. But you never know when that extra strength will come in handy…

It’s officially summer at Carroll Park and i brought Mika’s bathing suit to school pickup for the first time. She and Diego hit the sprinklers (swings are soooo last week!). They competed at who could get soaked more thoroughly … and Diego won by a landslide. Note the little rainbow in the second thumbnail? The kids were so excited to see it. Don’t know what Diego was listening to on the floor … probably the F train rumbling underground ;-)

Today i woke up realizing that Tobin had not only turned 180°, but was relentlessly inching forward for the first time – towards the foot end of our bed. His motivational workout partner: Luna! It brings back memories from 3 years ago (1) (2) … only that the cat has much better nerves this time around.

A few minutes later, ‘Coach Mika’ joined the session, teased Luna off the bed, and mimicked all of Tobin’s exercises … down to the final burnout.

Get the latest Flash Player to see this player.

Luna is still Mika’s favorite animal, but nothing beats squeezing her baby brother!          Especially on a slow, rainy day.

Keeping a close eye on the radar map, we were able to make two scooter trips outside though – perfectly wedged between the thunderstorm fronts.

Until today, color had been randomly used in Mika’s drawings. Most objects were defined by line drawings anyway, with no colors. Today she started drawing 3 strawberries from memory on her own, using red and green. I gave her a ripe banana and she copied it’s shape and colors really well. The green grape (on the vine) is drawn from memory again. Funny how outlines are completely absent here. I am curious when she’ll discover to combine both…

Of course she wanted to write the words on the picture too (with our spelling help).

Tobin and i agree: 79°F (26°C) is the cutoff for comfortable Ergo traveling – no matter how light we dress. By the time we arrive at Mika’s school for pickup, both of us are glad to separate. Good thing Mika loves to ride her scooter all the way back home … one stroller kid is enough!