charlotte | just because.

you know i go to charlotte once a month. sometimes i line it up with holidays or birthdays, and sometimes i don't.

this is august.

( ^ that photo cracks me up because luca is really just not into the selfie thing anymore.) (and i definitely still am.)

i picked this weekend, a random weekend, a month in advance. i never usually plan that far out, but i help with the babies at church on sundays, because we now have a sunday service and a children's ministry, which is a thing i will maybe tell you more about later, but basically it means i need to plan ahead and claim my days because there is nephew time to be had.

and, as usual, i saw more people than just luca, but he is the only one pictured here. (sorry (notsorry) to everyone else.)

do not be deceived by that adorable toothy fake-smile he's throwing out, he was not into this photo shoot. but! i had to document that this is what we look like in the car now. we sit NEXT to each other, facing the same direction.

but okay, do you see his arm coming towards the camera, like he's taking our selfie? no, that was him trying to push the camera away.

i feel like taking (and sharing) photos of grumpy pouty faces is kind of like ultrasound photos. they're really only meaningful or relevant to those involved or related. otherwise, it's kind of like ....but why are you posting that. but his face! i just can't.

life is just really tough as a two year old, and (further proof) selfies no longer cheer him up.

but holding hands with auntie does! i'm not even kidding, i held up my hand as like a "stop whining and give me a high five instead" and he just grabbed my fingers and held them. sometimes all you need is someone to hold your hand when you're grumpy.

this one time, he sat on my lap and pretended to do a puzzle with me for approximately forty seven seconds. and then he leaned over and messed the whole thing up. and the thing you need to know is that he handed me the puzzle and INSISTED (in his wordless way) that i work on putting the puzzle together. he's pretty good about helping pick up the pieces though, so at least there's that.

this pouty face kills me. especially because this was his reaction after he dropped some oatmeal off his spoon. the dramatics definitely come from his mama, but i see my dad in that pout. although, i've shown this photo to people (because, lol) and i've been told i make that face too.

^ when i realized he had been holding the spoon with his left hand, which makes him a lefty! i am not left handed, but i think people who are left handed are the coolest.

^ T, teaching him how to get that bit left in the corner of his mouth.

there were multiple times over the weekend where i snapped photos of him just sitting, and not doing anything in particular. just sitting. because an average activity like that becomes something extraordinary and worth documenting when you're luca, apparently.

we can just file this under I'M AN AUNT and move right along.

what you're seeing here, on the left, is me running around the island in the kitchen, through the dining room, through the butler's pantry, and back around again, while holding bailey. because luca thought this game was SUPER FUN and bailey gets SUPER NERVOUS.

and, on the right, is me playing with luca's toolbox and unintentionally building a thing that looks like an "s," which i was super proud of.

first of all, luca is wearing pj's at 3:30pm because he found a bath toy and kept asking to take a bath. and first, T was all "later." but then luca actually said the word "bath," which he hasn't said before, because he doesn't actually say a lot of words yet. and so, in celebration, we gave him a bath.

and because wearing pj's at 3:30pm on a sunday is a perfectly acceptable thing to do.

second, leaving will never not be the hardest part. hanging out with luca until the very last second, having him wave goodbye and pretend to drive away and come home with me, makes it a little better.