Our family blog

23 months old

2012-01-18T18:00:00.003-05:00

Age: 23 months!

Weight: I've been wrong on this lately. We actually weighed him this week and he's not quite 32 lbs.

Length: Over 34"

Size: Size 5 diapers during the day; size 6 at night. Shoes size 6. Clothes are 24 months or 2T. Pajamas are 3T.

Hair: Looking good :)

Teeth: I think 19 - which means one more 2 year molar and we're done!

Sleeping: Same as usual! My mom is always saying that she can't belive how good he is - apparently we were bad sleepers.

Eating: We are making some progress here! He's actually been willing to try different foods now - although after a few bites he decides he's done. At least he's trying. He'll eat any kind of chicken (not just nuggets now) - especially if he can have mustard with it. He ate a cheeseburger at school one day and came home and told me that it was "nummy" (yummy) and said he wanted to eat one. So off we went to McDonalds. Not the healthiest, but I was so excited it was something new.

Talking: nonstop. I wish that I had been keeping a list of his words, but that seems impossible now. Some of the cutest things come out of his mouth these days. He was wanting something the other day and I wanted him to say please, so I asked him to ask me nicely. He said "more nicely?" Sometimes we actually get please out of him. :) He's also learning to say "Excuse me" instead of "move mommy" when I'm in his way. He's also very demanding when he wants something. "Sit mommy. Play choo-choos mommy." He's starting to pronounce some of his old words correctly now - the one that sticks out is that water is no longer wawa, but water.

Favorite toys/activities: choochoos, dinosaurs - especially when combined. Dinosaur Train is a favorite show. He loves to be rocked before bed and wants his favorite books read - right now those are Where the Wild Things Are and Tickle Monster.

Dislikes: diaper changes in a big way.

Disposition: He's been such a happy little boy, although a bit needy

Other things about him:
*He peed on the potty! He sits on it occasionally and last week he actually peed. We're not sure that he knew he was doing it, but when he realized he got a sticker he wanted to do it again. Maybe potty training won't be so bad?
*He's learning to play us. I was rocking him one night and he kept wanting one more book read. Finally I told him we were done and were just going to rock. He settled down and we rocked for about 30 seconds. Then he leaned back and said "Daddy rock?" So Jason came in to rock him. As I was walking out of the room I heard him ask for a monster book.
*When he coughs he covers his mouth with the back of his hand.

*He's learning his shapes. He can recognize and say circle, triangle, squares, and diamonds.

I'm going to have a new brother-in-law!

2012-01-15T21:17:00.005-05:00

For NYE we went to some friends house for drinks and games. That wasn't the most exciting part though.

At midnight, Matt and Karen got engaged!

Matt had asked my mom and I to help him go ring shopping, so we knew it was going to happen. It was so very hard to keep it a secret though!

I'm beyond excited for them and can't wait until April 27, 2013! (And let's be real - I'm pretty excited about getting to play wedding planner too!) :)

Other holiday happenings

2012-01-15T20:41:00.008-05:00

Luke was able to meet with Santa (or Tatas as he's referred to around here) 3 times this year. He talked a big game going into each meeting (he was going to say hi to Santa, and tell him that he wanted to choo-choos) but when we got there he'd get really shy. He'd go up to up and reach his arms up to be picked up, but would just stare. One of the Santas was lucky enough to get a high five when we left.

One night somewhere in there before Christmas we decorated a gingerbread house. I decided to be smart (er, lazy) and buy one that was already put together so we just had to put the icing/candy on. Luke tried to eat most of it. :)

What a difference a year makes. He he is brushing the reindeer at the museum.

And lastly, I can't forget our elf. The elf on the shelf is a huge thing now it seems - the elf comes to your house to visit. He is magically in a different place every morning, because overnight he went back to see Santa. Luke didn't really get it, but loved to look for his elf each morning. Here were a few of our favorite spots:

And lastly, this has nothing to do with the holiday, but happened in December so I figured it was appropriate.

Christmas Catch up

2012-01-15T20:20:00.006-05:00

So I meant to have all of the Christmas posts done before the start of 2012. Oops.

I'll do a quick picture post of the rest of our holiday!

After having our own family Christmas we went down to Jason's parents for Christmas down there. Luke got lots of fun presents and we all had a great time!

An old present, but still a favorite!

Watching Frosty the Snowman. (Side note - we also watched Frosty Returns - do not waste your time.)

We left there for our third and final Christmas at my mom's.

This was probably my favorite gift to give this year. Patrick seems to really like vintage sports apparel. He has a vintage IU sweater that got him on the front page of the IDS (IU newspaper) a few years ago. I searched on Ebay and found him this awesome UK sweater.

My mom has talked about wanting cowboy boots for years - and now she has them!

Playing with a fun food cutting set (It's Melissa and Doug brand - and is awesome!)

Such a wonderful holiday!

Christmas!

2011-12-31T07:38:00.005-05:00

Since we're almost to the new year, I figured I should update on our Christmas celebrations! We started at our house on the 23rd - Santa was nice enough to come to our house a night early. We started with a pizza picnic dinner in front of the tree.

And waited on our cookies to bake

And read lots of Christmas books

We left out milk and cookies for Santa

And he came to our house!

On Christmas morning when Luke woke up he asked for his cookies. He was very concerned that "Santa eat Luke cookies?" When we got downstairs he bypassed the presents and went to inspect the cookie plate.

No worries though - he went back to his gifts! We opened everything and then did lots of playing! The best gift was the train table top that Jason and I made.

Close runner ups were the dinosaurs (rawrs) that Santa left in his stocking.

He also loved his easel and table/chairs from Santa!

Merry Christmas!

22 months

2011-12-19T18:40:00.003-05:00

Age: 22 months!

Weight: I'll guess 33lbs or so

Length: Over 34"

Size: Size 5 diapers during the day; size 6 at night. Shoes size 6. Clothes are 24 months or 2T. Pajamas are 3T for some reason.

Hair: The boy needs a haircut! We're hoping to get that squeezed in this week sometime.

Teeth: 16 - I can't tell how many of the 2 year molars are coming in, but I will be so happy when we're done with them.

Sleeping: Same as usual!

Eating: Staples are veggie pouches, chicken nuggets, mac&cheese, peanut butter and crackers. And he loves mustard and ranch. And syrup.

Talking: He said his first real 3 word sentence! "Help me daddy" - in reference to his trains. Just like last month, every day brings brand new words. He repeats things over and over (and over and over) until you acknowledge it.

Favorite toys/activities: choochoos, dinosaurs - especially when combined

Dislikes: having to sit in the cart at a store. He would rather walk. Unfortunately after a few minutes of that he decides he's done shopping period and will lay down in the middle of the aisle and tell me "night night."

Disposition: Emotional. He'll go from so very happy to so very not happy in the blink of an eye. This is not all the time - just on emotional days. Hey, we all have them right?

Other things about him:
*He wants to sit on the potty now. He hasn't gone and we are not potty training him yet, but he'll ask to go and wants his diaper off, so we'll sit him there.
*He loves all things Christmas. LOVES. I feel sorry for him when this holiday season is over.
*He is now forward facing in the car and just loves it!
*He's become very mommycentric. We think it's because Jason traveled for a little bit and he was a little mad at him. (On that, he would wake up in the morning and ask for daddy. When I'd tell him daddy is on a trip he'd ask "plane?")
*He dislocated his left elbow last week - 4th time this has happened, first in that arm. I'd like him to grow out of this soon!

Family pictures

2011-12-11T20:22:00.006-05:00

I wanted some family pictures this winter so Karen came over and took some awesome ones!

Letter to Santa

2011-12-11T20:06:00.003-05:00

Luke wrote a letter to Santa this year (er, mommy wrote it.) He told him that he'd been a good boy and that he wanted a choo-choo rawr for Christmas. (That is Luke talk for "dinosaur train.")

Then he took the letter to the special Santa mailbox - and we've already received a reply back!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2011-12-11T19:48:00.002-05:00

Christmas time this year has been so much fun. Luke loves everything about it - the tree, Santa, lights (and more lights and pretty lights and tree lights ...), the baby Jesus, snowmen, elf, etc.

We decorated our tree the week after Thanksgiving. The night started with a fun make-your-own pizza. Luke mostly wanted to eat the cheese.

Then we decorated the tree. It was one of the most awesome memorable nights of my life. Luke absolutely loved it. He loved the ornaments coming out of the box and hanging them on the tree. We had Christmas music playing and the fire going. I teared up several times just taking it in. (Which is also why we don't have many pictures.)

I do have this short video though!

Life with a toddler

2011-12-11T19:39:00.002-05:00

I posted this on facebook as my status a few weeks ago:

"One piece of the train track came apart from the rest. This led to angrily throwing the rest of the tracks to the floor, which resulted in a total meltdown because the choochoo was no longer on the table. Ah, life with a toddler ...."

Sadly, that is not the only time it happened. It's something that has occurred enough that I was able to get it on video. Such a mean mommy ...

So that you don't think it's always like that, here was a status from this week:
"One of my favorite times of the day is when we go into Luke's room at bedtime and he looks up at me and says "rock, mommy?" Sweetest moments ever."

Some fun pictures

2011-12-11T19:30:00.003-05:00

Wearing daddy's slippers

Shopping at Target. :)

Luke loves to stack things now. This was at my mom's one evening. She asked him to go pose next to his tower of cans and he did!

Catching up

2011-12-11T19:01:00.008-05:00

So my last post was when Luke was 21 months old. He's now a week away from 22 months - safe to say I'm a little behind.

I'll do a quick November recap and then jump into the fun happenings of December!

Nov 4-6 - we made a trip up to Chicago. I was going to be running a 5K with my cousin Ryan and his wife Anne but that actually didn't end up happening. We had a great time visiting though! We stayed with Anne and Ryan, but also spent time with Matt and Alli, and my friend Chrissi.

That week we also got back Luke's school pictures. Yes, those are actually all different pictures. He apparently just wasn't feeling it that day and they couldn't get him to smile at all.

On November 12th we went to a holiday festival at Hamilton Town Center (the outdoor mall near our house.) We got to meet a reindeer and then later at night heard a band playing. That is also where Luke got his reindeer hat that was seen in the last post. It was getting cold and late though so we didn't stay for Santa's arrival.

This led into Thanksgiving! We celebrated at my mom's on Thursday and then down to Jason's parents on Friday/Saturday - I think I gained 5 lbs that weekend. :)

We did some crafts leading up to Turkey Day. This one was supposed to be a pumpkin turkey, but we had some issues with it so it was a deconstructed turkey.

I wanted to decorate some cookies on Thanksgiving - Luke just wanted to stack the sprinkles. I'm hopeful that the Christmas cookies will turn out a little better.

We did something fun that night - we went bowling! Luke really seemed to enjoy it - the bumpers came out for his turn, we would carry the ball up, and he'd push it. The first time we let him do it himself and I think it took a good 5 minutes to get down to the pins. After that we helped just a little.

Luckily he only decided to run down the lane once. I'm sure that was a sight, seeing this mama run after him.

We had a great time down at Jason's parents as well. I don't any good pictures (my camera started to crap out that weekend) but we played a lot, especially with all of Jason's old dinosaurs. Rawr!!

21 months old

2011-11-19T20:36:00.004-05:00

Age: 21 months old. 3 months away from turning 2, although the tantrums that have been thrown lately make that seem a lot closer.

Weight: I'm guessing 32 lbs?

Length: He was 34" 3 months ago, so taller than that.

Size: Size 5 diapers during the day; size 6 at night. Shoes size 6. Clothes are 24 months or 2T.

Hair: Almost to the point that he needs another trim. I also think it may be starting to get a bit darker.

Teeth: 16 teeth - some of the pesky 2 year molars are starting.

Sleeping: Night time is the same (7:30-7.) The time change threw him off a bit, but we're just about back to normal. Naps seem to be getting shorter though (about an hour.)

Eating: We are making some progress! He ate strawberries and oranges the other day! His current favorite thing to eat is cheese. "More cheese!"

Movement: He loves to jump on the bed

Talking: I'm having a hard time keeping up with his new words. He seems to pick them up so quickly. We were outside the other day and Jason mentioned it was windy. When we left the restaurant 30 minutes later, the wind hit his face and he told us it was windy. Our current favorite words are: gobble, Santa (which half the time comes out like tatas), moon (with a long drawn out nnnn sound at the end), and several others that I can't think of right now.

He's starting to put some words together into short sentences: "more cheese", "no cat", and my favorite "love you."

Oh, and Nemo has gone from "momo" to "memo" - he's getting there.

Favorite toys/activities: playing with his choo-choos, reading books (lots and lots of books), wrestling with daddy, and dancing.

Dislikes: being told what to do, having something not go his way, sharing (are you noticing a theme here?)

Disposition: Still just the sweetest little guy - he loves to give kisses and when you say "I love you" he'll sometimes say "love you" back. However ..... the crazy toddler emotions and terrible twos are starting. When something goes wrong (the train comes off the track) he has a total meltdown. He's also had 2 or 3 temper tantrums - screamed at Marsh because I took my credit card from him, threw a fit in downtown Chicago because he didn't want to leave, and laid down in the middle of the library lobby looking up at me like "what are you gonna do about it?" He also is having some struggles with sharing at school, but we're working on it.

Other cute things about him (or "here is where I brag about him!")
*He seems so very smart to me. The words that he repeats now astound me. He knows the color yellow. He knows that 2 is more than 1. He recognizes, points out, and tells us the letters B, D, E, O, and I. He recognizes and will point when you ask the letters A, C, and others that randomly pop up here and there.
*He continues to point out things that belong to certain people and tell us who's it is (specifically cars." He also has a great memory and if we all sit somewhere one day he'll tell us where to sit the next so that we're in the same spot.
*He can drink out of a regular (but small) cup. We still use the sippy most of the time, but will give him water in the little cup once a day or so.
*The pacifiers are gone!!! This was about the biggest non-issue yet. One night we left some in his crib, just didn't actually hand him one. The next night we just put one in there, up near his pillow, and he never touched it. We keep an emergency one for backup (but have only used it 3 times in the last few weeks) and they have one at school. This morning he found one on the floor and came and gave it to me laughing.
*He loves books and loves to read. He knows what they're all about now, even the ones that we get from the library every few weeks. His favorites are his "moon" book (Goodnight Moon) and his "roar" book (Goodnight Sleepy ones, with lion cubs on the front.) The moon book is not to be confused with the "choo-choo moon" - a library book that has both trains and a moon.
*He loves to line things up in a row. He'll carry things across the room, one at a time, and then line them up over there. Very anal retentive.
*He tells us when he needs his diaper changed! Granted, he says "pee" for it all - but still, this is great progress! I guess at daycare he stands by the changing table and tells them. I think we might add potty chair to his Christmas list.
*He's had a few "boo-boos" over the last few weeks. A run in with a little dog that left his cheek/eye a bit puffy for a few days, and he dislocated his elbow again.
*He's had his first dentist appt. It was actually my appt, but he came in at the end and let them (quickly) look in his mouth. Then he got to pick a toy from the treasure chest - he thought it was great fun. Hopefully he won't take after his mama with the whole dentist fear thing.

We just had Christmas card/21 month pictures taken today - so stay tuned for those!

Toddler Halloween Party

2011-10-31T20:24:00.008-04:00

(Last Halloween post, I promise!)

We had some friends over on Saturday for a toddler Halloween party and had a blast! Parties are so different these days, and in some ways, more wild than they were in college.

We had lots of great food - and several things that were Halloween inspired!

First, pumpkin straws for the kiddos:

Ritz cracker spiders:

Spider web Nachos that Kelli made:

Mummy dogs - they were supposed to have eyes made out of mustard, but we didn't want to use that. I tried ketchup, but it was too hard and the kids were hungry - so they eyeless mummies.

And mummy cupcakes that Laura brought!

We did a craft of sticker pumpkin decorating

Luke loved this craft so much and has made about 6 of them since then.

Everyone's final masterpiece

Before we ate, we tried to get a group shot. It actually went better at this get-together than it usually does. I think it's because we've gotten smarter - we give all of the kids crackers (or candy) and it keeps them happy. Well, maybe not happy enough to get them all to grin - but it keeps them sitting.

Elliott (puppy), Rowan (was an elephant, but here in a cute Charlie Brown pumpkin shirt), Andrew (puppy - and older brother of the smaller puppy), Luke (dinosaur!), Sammy (train conductor), Quinn (little ducky), and Tyson (farmer and older brother of the ducky.)

Time to eat!

Then more playing ...

Luke and Rowan cheezing it up for the camera

Intrigued by piano music ...

A few videos on what a toddler party looks like:

What our living room looked like by the end of the party

And lastly, we got out the bumbo chair for one of the little bitties, and Luke decided that he wanted to sit in it. He kept pointing at it and saying baby, and then decided he was the baby.

Trick or treat!

2011-10-31T20:11:00.004-04:00

We took Luke trick or treating tonight and he had a blast!

He was pretty shy at first, but he would occasionally tell you that a dinosaur says rawr and also say trick or treat.

After going around in my mom's neighborhood to a few houses, we stopped over on Anne and Kyle's street for the famous annual hotdog giveaway. :) Luke tried to pick up a 327lb pumpkin while we were there.

Luke and Eleanor (or Nanor as he calls her)

Eating a piece of chocolate before bed!

Worn out little boy

The dance moves get better ...

2011-10-31T20:10:00.002-04:00

I have no idea where he learns these moves, but it certainly isn't from us (make sure and watch until at least past the 20 second mark ...)

Dennis the Menace

2011-10-31T20:08:00.003-04:00

Luke was running around yesterday in overalls, with his hair sticking up in the back, and being a little mischievous. He reminded us of someone and we finally figured it out - maybe he should have gone as Dennis the Menace for Halloween?

A dinosaur says rawr!

2011-10-30T21:05:00.005-04:00

Luke loves his dinosaur costume! The first time we put it on him he stood in front of the mirror and just grinned and pointed and said rawr. So adorable!

Freeman Farms

2011-10-30T20:52:00.003-04:00

When we were down in Bloomington last weekend we went to a fun little place called Freeman Farms. Luke got to pick out another pumpkin, and he got to pet and feed several animals!

Riding a pony

Corn maze for blonds - love it!

Pumpkins!

2011-10-30T20:30:00.001-04:00

Luke loves pumpkins, so we had 3 main ones this year. A Mr. Potato Head one, one decorated in stickers (we actually have about 5 of those - it was a great toddler activity), and a Nemo pumpkin!

Costume pictures to come later :)

20 months old

2011-10-18T21:45:00.002-04:00

Age: 20 months - I apologize now for the length of this post :)

Weight: 30 lbs. Length: Taller than 34"

Size: Size 5 diapers, and mostly in 18-24 months clothes

Hair: Just had another haircut, but style is still the same. That is, unless Jason styles it - then it looks like this:

Teeth: 16 teeth - the 2 year molars are the only ones left

Sleeping: 7:30pm -7:15am. Unless it's the weekend - then he's been giving us the wonderful gift of sleeping in. He has made made it until 9am a few morning!

Eating: He continues to be an awful eater, unless it’s crackers, peanut butter, mac & cheese, cereal, pancakes, yogurt, applesauce, or granola. No matter how much we try he just will not eat actual fruit, vegetables – or really anything that we’re having for dinner. I have recently discovered baby food in pouches though. They make these great apple sauce things in pouches that are great on the go that he loves. When I saw the mixed fruit and veggie baby food in pouches, I thought we’d give them a try. It seems a little strange to me that my 20 month old is eating baby food again, but at least it gets some veggies in him while we were on the actual vegetables. It took a huge stress off my shoulders just knowing that. He also gets a Flinestone vitamin after dinner every night.

Movement: When is he not moving? He wants so badly to go up and down the stairs like a big kid. He gets frustrated easily and will just give up and then not even want to crawl up them. I don’t know how many nights he’s stood there with his arms reached up wanting mommy to carry him up the stairs.

Talking: I’m not even going to try and count the amount of words that he says. He’ll repeat so many things, and even though other people may not be able to understand him, Jason and I can have a whole conversation with him.

He can repeat almost the entire alphabet, and recognizes at least the letters O and B (That is probably because of one of our favorite songs “The B Song” sung by the Dixie Chicks on Sesame Street.) Sometimes when I ask him if he can say the alphabet, and I start with A – he’ll follow up with B and C. If he sees a bunch of words written out, he’ll start with the B and then start telling me random letters that he thinks should also be there – O, P, Y, E …. B is his favorite though.

He can also repeat his numbers up to 10. Sometimes he seems to know the order they go in, and if I say one, he’ll say two. One day he fit nine by himself into the sequence at the right point.

His current favorite color (and my current favorite word that he says) is yellow. He’s pretty good at picking out the yellow things and sorting out the yellow colors from the rest.

Favorite toys/activities: Nemo, cars, rocks, sticks

Dislikes: Like last month, he doesn't like waiting. He has not yet learned that patience is a virtue.

Other cute things about him:

- He loves to dance – especially bobbing his head and raising the roof. When we were at the cabin last weekend, we got these awesome moves on video.

-He has started to sing, which is just about the most adorable thing I’ve ever heard. His favorites are the B song, and also the “oh oh oh oh” part of The Right Stuff, a New Kids on the Block song. If a song on the radio has a chorus with some ooohs and ahhhs or lalalas, or just a repetitive word that he knows (baby for example) he’ll sing along.

- He is such a boy – he loves rocks (throwing them), loves dirt, loves sticks (breaking them) … I was excited when were at the cabin that we collected some rocks and acorns in a bag to bring home. We were lining them up on the front porch back at home and I thought he’d think they were treasures and want to keep them. Nope – he just wanted to throw them in the yard.

- He’s learning to say people’s names. He can say almost everyone in the family. “Grandma” comes out an awful lot like “mama” but it doesn’t bother me so much since I’ve been promoted to “mommy.” He really struggles with the “K” so Karen is a work in progress. He can also say some of his friends name’s at school – his teacher Miss Bobbi, Kate (ate), Josh (osh), Anna (nana), and my favorite, Eleanor (Nanor.) In case you can’t tell, we like to drop off the first letter of the word.

- Nemo (or rather “Momo”) is still his best friend. It’s pretty cute – even his little friends at school know that it’s his momo. The funniest part about that is that he could say it correctly, he just won’t. Jason asked him to say knee the other day – he said knee (which by the way, is one of his favorite body parts to point out.) That was followed up by Jason asking him to repeat “mo” – which he did. Then you tell him to put it together and repeat “Nemo.” The response? Momo!

- Another cute thing that I want to remember – we’ve tried to teach him the phrase and hand motion for touchdown! That is so very confusing for a little kid that is also trying to learn the difference between up and down. Why do you reach “up” when you say touch”down”?

- He thinks it’s funny when Jason gives me a kiss. He’ll laugh and exclaim “Daddy!” like he thinks he's being silly on purpose.

- He likes to play Simon says, play ring around the rosie, wrestle with daddy, and still hide and seek. - He tells us when he poops. Sometimes right before, sometimes during, sometimes after. He'll grab his diaper and say "poop" - He has a great memory. When we were at the cabin last weekend, for breakfast he started pointing at chairs and telling us where to sit. He was pointing at exactly where we sat the night before at dinner - I was amazed that he remembered that!

Videos

2011-10-18T21:39:00.003-04:00

Here are a few videos from the cabin weekend.

Luke touching a fish:

Uncle Pat skipping rocks:

Luke skipping rocks:

Playing in the leaves in Story, IN:

Brown County Cabin Weekend

2011-10-18T20:26:00.007-04:00

We went on our now annual trip to Brown County this weekend and had an absolute blast! Lots of good food, good drinks, a hot tub, campfire, pool table, hiking, fishing, collecting rocks, sticks, acorns ... those last few activities equaled heaven for a little boy.

I'll let the pictures do the talking - such a wonderful time!

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-18T20:11:00.003-04:00

We had a great time at Stony Creek Farm again this year picking out our pumpkins. Luke was able to ride a little train, play in the straw, go through a maze, and ride a pony! He was very serious the whole time, but also kept saying "neigh!"

And for fun, last year versus this year. :)

Mr. Smarty Pants

2011-09-25T18:44:00.003-04:00

Luke is starting to learn colors, numbers, letters, and shapes at school. They focus on one or two in each category each month, and we try to reiterate them at home. The only color he seems to know is purple - and more often than not, all colors are purple. He has repeated red, blue, and a version of yellow - but mostly we get purple. He was right here though!

We work on the letters ABCDE all the time. He can point out and tell you the letter B. Most of the time he can also point to A when you ask him. He can repeat almost all the way to I though! (This video just goes through G.)

Fall Art

2011-09-25T18:17:00.003-04:00

I use this awesome website now called Pinterest - basically it's like bookmarking, but you save things by category and it shows pictures instead of a web address. It makes finding things again so much easier.

I have a whole category of fun art projects to do with Luke and today was a great day to do a fall inspired one.

This was our inspiration - an autumn tree with falling leaves

http://myblessedlife.net/2011/09/fall-kids-crafts.html

This is how ours turned out. Our leaves were not so much falling off, but rather being blown off in the middle of a tornado. I love every bit of it.

Reading our favorite book

2011-09-25T14:54:00.000-04:00

If you'd like to read along:
A cow says Moo
A sheep says Baa
And three singing piggies say la-la-la
No no you say, that isn't right
Little pigs go oink oink all day and night.
Rhinoceroses snort and snuff
and little doggies go ruff ruff ruff
and other dogs go bow wow wow
and cats and kittens say meow
quack quack says the duck
a horse says neigh
Shh! it's quiet now - what do you say?

19 months

2011-09-18T16:45:00.000-04:00

Age: 19 months

Weight: I would guess between 29 and 30 lbs.

Length: Taller than 34"

Size: Size 5 diapers, and mostly in 24 month shirts. 18 month pants still fit. Someone explain this to me - Luke is 19 months old, and 89% for height - yet some 18 month pants are still too long. Short legs I guess!

Hair: Almost to the point that he needs another trim.

Teeth: 16 teeth - the 2 year molars are the only ones left

Sleeping: He goes down at 7:30 and lately we've been waking him up just past 7. He takes one nap. On Sundays that nap seems to be 3 hours - and then it dwindles down as the week goes on.

Eating: He loves peanut butter now - yay! Other staples are still cheese, cheerios, yogurt, mac&cheese, and crackers. He's been willing to try other things - we actually ate apple slices yesterday!

Movement: All over the place. He can do the small porch step up and down, unassisted now.

Talking: he tries to repeat almost everything we say now, even if he doesn't know what it means. He's also added several words that he uses on a consistent basis. I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but words that were new this month: turtle, paper, poop, mommy, door, bowl, Pat, choo-choo, apple, trash, truck, knee, and Nemo.

There are some words he has said but doesn't necessarily on a regular basis: star, crab, backpack, and pancake. He also does several animals sounds: a cow says moo, a horse says neigh, a sheep says baa, a dinosaur/bear/tiger/lion says "roar", a chicken "clucks" (said by clucking his tongue), and a birdy says "tweet tweet."

The words from last month still apply as well: mama, dada/daddy, ball, no, yea, wow, uh oh, cat, dog, hat, hot, hi, duck, more, Matt, rocks, water, frog, and car.

Signing: This is really phasing out, although there are some words he refuses to say and will only sign. Bird, fish, and airplane are some of them.

Favorite toys/activities: He loves his little people. We have a garage/ramp and a town and he stays busy with them for hours. He also loves music and loves to dance.

Dislikes: He doesn't like waiting for food - when he decides he's hungry he'll start yelling eat until you get him some food.

Disposition: Happy and loving. I was cooking yesterday and he came up to me and put his arms around my legs and gave me a big hug - then went on with whatever he was doing.

Other cute things about him:
*We find out that he knows all sorts of things from school. He can do hand motions to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and he can sing the first part of "Row row row your boat" also with hand motions. It was the same on the animal sounds - we didn't know he knew them until we were reading Brown Bear one night and he told us what they said - we were shocked!
*He knows all of the kids in his classroom. He can't say their names, but they have a poster with all of their faces and if you quiz him he will tell you where each person is.
*Nemo has replaced Cars in the movie obsession.
*Nemo IS the obsession. He loves his little Nemo friend and takes him everywhere.
*He now calls me mommy most of the time, instead of mama.
*They are working on letters, numbers, and shapes at school. There are days when I would swear that he knows A, B, and C. I'll draw them and ask him where the A is, etc - and he knows it! That seems to come and go though, so I'm not sure if it's just coincidence.
*He likes to go around and tell us who things belong to. Daddy or mommy. It's funny to see who he thinks owns some of them. For instance, toilet paper = daddy.

Catch up post

2011-09-17T22:50:00.006-04:00

I realized tonight that I've had several pictures on my phone and just saved on my computer that I've been meaning to share. As summer is ending, I thought now might be a good time to do that.

First up - Luke's black eye. This was his first one (yes, he's had more than one) - he ran into a toilet paper roll holder.

You have to keep an eye on him when he decides to feed the kitties - apparently they were very hungry.

He had lucky charms for the first time recently - can you tell which part he liked? (Hint: notice what is missing ...)

We made the mistake of letting him drive the car at the grocery - now he thinks he gets to everytime we go.

That bin on his head? It used to contain all of those pom pom balls that you see on the floor.

He went to see his very first baseball game a few weeks ago. Karen's boyfriend Matt is on a softball team and Luke had a great time cheering them on! (Or rather, like any little kid - he had a great time climbing up and down the bleachers.)

We made another trip to the children's museum. I absolutely love that we have a membership there. The most recent trip was mostly spent in the dinosaur and train areas and we didn't have to feel guilty about not hitting up many other exhibits.

We went to an awesome ice cream social hosted by my friend Annie. I think I ate 9 different kinds of ice cream - my favorites were a salted caramel and a strawberry one - so good! There is a chance that Luke has a slight milk allergy, so he got to have his own special almond milk ice cream. His friend Andrew is drinking a milk shake shooter here.

We've been hitting up several parks. This was at one called Coxhall gardens - they have a neat little area that looks like a miniature village. Luke got to play in the jail, the bank, and here in the garden.

In August we had a picnic with the other kids from Luke's toddler room at daycare. I rented a shelter at a local park and I think everyone had a great time! (The water table certainly helped!)

Our little neighbor came up and asked me if Luke had eaten some chocolate. Nope, that was dirt.

We made another trip to the zoo, and got to see our new baby elephant!

This was a great trip for Luke - he was more interested than before. He told us about the animals as well. Did you know that lemurs are actually cats? And meerkats are really dogs? Luke will tell you all about it.

Petting a shark!

I think that's it for my summer catchup post! Tomorrow's post - my baby boy is 19 months old!

September 11, 2011

2011-09-11T20:24:00.002-04:00

Luke's first best friend

2011-09-06T20:15:00.003-04:00

We made the mistake of letting Luke watch Finding Nemo recently and he's now obsessed. We happened to stop by the Disney store at the mall over the weekend and Luke came home with a friend .... a friend who now does everything with him. Luke talks to Nemo, hugs Nemo, makes Nemo ride in the Little People airplane, school bus, shoves him in the elevator in the car garage, holds his fin to make him swim ... and is always telling me that Nemo should be in water. I'm afraid we'll find him floating in the toilet one of these days.

This morning Nemo even helped make french toast at Grandma's house.

Not sure what Luke thought Nemo needed to do here ...

Sharing a morning snack

Luke loves him so much he was willing to share the entire bowl!

Nemo had to wear a bib at lunch too - peanut butter can get messy.

Recently Luke has had an obsession with blowing his nose.

Sure enough, Nemo had a runny nose too.

Time to get ready for bed and brush your teeth!

Gotta make sure Nemo doesn't get cavities either

Time for bed!

Luke and Mommy Day!

2011-09-02T20:34:00.007-04:00

When I start my new job next week, I'll be working Monday-Friday. I've been trying not to dwell on how much I'm going to miss my Fridays home with Luke - I just start to cry if I think about it. Instead, I made sure that our last Mommy and Luke Friday was a great one!

We had a breakfast date at IHOP. We split 2 pancakes (with strawberries!), eggs, 2 pieces of bacon, and 2 pieces of sausage. I think Luke ate most of the pancakes - he was only willing to share a few bites. Still, the best part in his eyes was the balloon that he got when we were leaving.

Then it was on to Monkey Joes! It's a great place with lots of bounce house type things. Luke had an absolute blast! It was nice for me that he could do his usual running around, jumping, crashing into things - but this was like being in a padded room.

They had bigger ones that Luke could do as long as I was with him. This was one of the bigger slides - it was fast!

After Monkey Joes it was time for McDonald's happy meal! Luke thought the toy inside was awesome - he kept looking in the box for "more!"

After naptime we did a little shopping at fun store called Garden Ridge. You'll see what we bought when I get to the dinner portion of our day.

Then we came home, watched a little Nemo, and made chocolate chip cookies! Luke helped me pour everything in. He especially loved when we cracked the eggs open.

He wanted to help hold the mixer, but ended up settling for just touching the back of it.

Then it was time to put in the chocolate chips ... which he did one.at.a.time. (Until he realized that it was more fun to eat them!)

When it was all ready, he helped put it on the cookie sheet.

Although didn't quite understand why it wouldn't easily come off of the spoon. At one point he flicked it so hard that we had cookie dough splattered all over the place.

And of course, what is making cookies if you don't sneak a little bit of the dough?

Why do these take so long?

While we were waiting, we watched some more "Nemo!" and played with a new car garage.

Finally! The cookies were done! He worked so hard that I let him have one before dinner.

To end our day, we were going to have a picnic dinner, but it was way too hot. Instead, I made toast with peanut butter and used our fun new sandwich cutter that we bought today! It's an awesome cutter that cuts bread/sandwiches into a train! (Or "tchoo tchoo" as Luke calls it.)

So a great great day with my favorite little man!!

18 month pictures!

2011-08-28T18:20:00.008-04:00

Once again Aunt Karen took some amazing pictures! We went over to Lions Park and downtown Zionsville on Saturday morning and had a great time!

Sorry for the picture overload, but I love so many of them!

You can see the rest of them here: https://picasaweb.google.com/jasonandlaura.f/EditsResized?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOT05rjbr7P3aQ&feat=directlink

18 month appt

2011-08-28T18:15:00.003-04:00

Luke had his 18 month appt last week and all went well!

He's 34 inches tall (89%), weighs 29.4 lbs (87%), and his head is 50.3 cm (98%.) Still a growing boy!

We talked alot about his eating habits and are going to change some things up to hopefully help with the picky eater. She also discussed the possibility of an allergy to cow's milk. It could be one of the causes of his eczema. They can test for it, but typically only do if it seems severe (vomiting, not gaining weight, etc.) She suggested that we take him off of cow's milk for 3 months and see what happens. I'm not looking forward to the changes this is going to mean, but am interested to see if we notice a difference.

Like mother, like son

2011-08-20T13:28:00.004-04:00

This was me, September 1981 - which made me about 19 months old. I apparently was having a blast climbing up onto the chair and then falling off the chair - so my parents put pillows down to help break the fall.

This was Luke yesterday. The pillows were put down after the first time when I thought for sure he was going to break something.

18 months old!

2011-08-18T20:43:00.003-04:00

18 months ... is this the point where we start saying 1 1/2 years old?

Age: 18 months

Weight: I think he's still under 30 lbs (Edited to add: we weighed him this morning, the 19th, and he was 28 lbs. Less than I thought and I'm pretty sure it means that he's lost some weight.)

Length: No idea - his 18 month appt is next week though

Size: Size 5 diapers, and a toss up between 18 month and 24 month clothes.

Hair: He had his first big boy haircut - I actually kept some of the curls. This haircut just seemed more real than the others.

Teeth: 16 teeth - the 2 year molars are the only ones left

Sleeping: He goes down at 7:30 and wakes up somewhere between 6:30 and 7. He takes one nap that is close to 2 hours.

Eating: Seems like he's a typical toddler. Staples are cheese, cheerios, yogurt, mac&cheese, and crackers. He's finally starting to eat more at daycare for lunch so that's good. For a while there he would only have his milk at lunch.

Movement: Everywhere. He has no fear. He's already had one black eye (thank you toilet paper roll holder) and has added several more bruises and rug burns.

Talking: mama, dada/daddy, ball, no, yea, wow, uh oh, cat, dog, hat, hot, hi, duck, more, Matt, rocks, water, frog, car (although his version of car is to buzz his lips.) He frequently puts 2 words together like "cat ball", "dada car", "uh oh me", "no no me." He also combines words and signs. Signs go, and then says car for example. He wants the car to go. :)

Signing: I won't type them all out, but the same as last month, plus flower and baby.

Favorite toys/activities: He likes to play in the dirt, although doesn't care to have his hands dirty. He loves to play hide and seek. The hiding part is hard for him because he gets excited and will come out from whatever he's hiding behind when he hears you. Very obsessed with sport related things and cars.

Dislikes: Will diaper changes ever leave this category? Lately we've also been struggling with daycare drop off.

Disposition: For the most part he's such a happy little guy. He loves to gives hugs and kisses, which makes me melt every time.

Other cute things about him:
*He's started squealing. He's not mad or upset - but will squeal/scream for a good 10-15 seconds. Semi-annoying at home. Embarrassing in the middle of Walmart.
*He loves to play hide and seek. The hiding part is hard for him because he gets excited and will come out from whatever he's hiding behind when he hears you.
*He plays ring around the rosey.
*Yesterday he demanded that I sit down and play next to him.
*He is obsessed with the movie Cars. We watched it one day while he was sick, and now he wants to watch parts of it all.the.time. He loves the race scenes.
*When we were at the zoo last week, he told me that the lemurs were cats, and the meerkats were dogs.
*Every night when we lay him down for bed he blows us a kiss goodnight.
*We were at a park recently and he saw a guy shooting hoops. When the guy made the basket, Luke clapped for him. On that note, he gets excited to see any sporting event on tv, will yell "ball" and then start clapping.
*He claps for himself when he finished a puzzle.

The best part of the fair ....... FOOD!!!

2011-08-16T20:14:00.007-04:00

When you go with a group of people to the fair, and it's on $2 Tuesdays - you get to try just about everything the fair has to offer! I'm slightly embarrassed at the amount of pictures in this post, but I swear - we each only had a small bit of each item.

Here is a quick run through of the calories consumed!

Cinnamon roll

Funnel Cake

Corn dog

Pork barbeque slider ... getting hungry yet?

Chicken gyro

Time to quench the thirst - Lemonade Shakeup

Dippin Dots

"Pig" Ear - a smaller version of the Elephant Ear

Breakfast meal - sausage, eggs, biscuits, potatoes, and gravy

Deep friend Klondike Bar

Consuming the Deep Fried Klondike Bar

Pineapple Whip - one of my new favorite things!

Eating is hard work - time for a break

Deep fried Jalapeno Cheese

Grilled Cheese from the Dairy Barn

Soft Pretzel

Cotton Candy!

Luke's first taste of the amazing cotton candy

Blue Raspberry Slushy

Things that we missed this year were the Ribeye sandwich and Lamb Kabobs. Hmmm ...maybe we should go back tomorrow??

State Fair x 2

2011-08-16T19:32:00.006-04:00

Tuesdays are $2 days at the state fair - $2 admission, $2 off of the train ticket, and lots of special $2 items. Since I now have Tuesdays off, we were able to go both weeks!

Last week, Luke and I rode the train down with my mom.

We saw lots of animals and ate tons of food (see next post) but weren't able to get everything in before we needed to take the train back. We decided that we'd go back this week!

This time we drove down, and Jason and Patrick came with us. We tried to talk Karen into it, but she had to prepare for court - I guess that was probably more important.

The first thing we did was the Little Hands on the Farm exhibit. It was so much fun! Luke wore an apron, had a little basket, and became a farmer for the day.

He started by picking up corn and soybeans. He had to have those so that he could feed the pigs and cows a little bit later.

He also got an egg from the chicken coup.

At this point, the sun was beating down on the farm so he got a Pioneer Seed Corn hat to wear.

He had to plant some seeds for the crop to grow.

After some rapid growth, he picked up the onion that he grew.

He had to ride a tractor around to check out the farm.

Picked an apple and also sheered a sheep for the wool.

Then it was time to milk the cow!

After a hard day's work it was time to cash in his goodies.

He was paid and then he got to buy something in the store - he chose a nutragrain bar - gotta keep your energy up! It's tough work being a farmer!

It really was one of the neatest things at the fair and he seemed to really enjoy it, even if he didn't quite "get" all of it.

That wasn't all we did though! Luke got to go fishing:

And drive a tractor:

And feed and pets some goats!

Both Tuesdays were great days!

I can't have a post about the state fair without mentioning the tragedy that happened there this past weekend. For those that don't know, the stage collapsed before the Sugarland concert due to storm that was coming in. Several were injured and 5 people lost their lives. It was just a tragic event and everyone involved and affected have been in our thoughts and prayers since then.

More Monday pictures

2011-08-15T21:48:00.003-04:00

Out for a drive

Hello ... is anyone in there?

Golf lessons with Uncle Pat

Dining on the deck

Just being cute

Playing in the kitchen

Does this cleaning stuff ever end?

2011-08-15T21:39:00.002-04:00

My mom sends me emails with pictures when she has Luke on Mondays, which for the past few weeks have honestly been all that get me through the day. This picture was one from a few weeks ago - Luke loves to sweep.

The next sequence of pictures and captions were from this morning:

"It's back to work on Monday morning."

"Let me see if I remember how to do this."

"Grandma, can I quit now?"

"Can I at least take my morning break?"

Grandma is such a slave driver!

New backpack

2011-08-14T20:34:00.004-04:00

Luke needed a little bag to carry to daycare and I stumbled across this one at Goodwill this week for only $2! He loves carrying it around and looks like such a big kid!

Unfortunately when we first put it on him, it was all packed to go to grandma's and was a little too heavy for him:

Hair cut!

2011-08-12T20:30:00.005-04:00

Luke has had his hair cut before, but it was mostly to get rid of extra wispys. Lately his hair has been crazy so it was time for a "real" haircut - and at a barbershop! I loved the curls in the back, but it was getting ridiculous.

This morning, pre-haircut. (Please excuse the paci - he had just woken up.)

The back, a few weeks ago:

The after - such a handsome little guy!

Catch up

2011-08-12T19:43:00.000-04:00

I've had several pictures to upload, but things have been busy. Here is a catch up post from the past few weeks!

He's an artist

Also, he gets a little crazy now

Playing in rain puddles for the first time

And throwing a temper tantrum

Mr. Daredevil

2011-08-12T19:41:00.000-04:00

Raise the roof

2011-08-04T21:54:00.004-04:00

Jason taught Luke how to raise the roof tonight. It doesn't even have to be the right kind of music - I'm pretty sure he'd do it to "I've been working on the railroad."

Living with Luke

2011-07-27T20:28:00.000-04:00

He's finally starting to have that word explosion that everyone talks about - he'll try to copy a lot of things that you say now - even if they don't come out quite right. I love it!

Aside from that, he's said/done some of the cutest things in the last week:

- I was in the living room and he brought me an empty bowl and said "uh oh." Turns out it was the bowl that used to contain the cat's water. Uh oh is right.

- If you're doing something that he doesn't like (changing his diaper, or doing something for him) he will tell you "no no me." We think it either means "no, don't do that to me" or "no, I want to do that."

- He loves to play the piano. If he starts banging and you tell him to "use one finger" he will start to nicely play with just one finger on each hand.

- Tonight he brought me a book and said "dog" and then signed "go". Yep, the book was "Go dog go." Such a little smarty pants!

- He brought me a cat toy and told me that it was "ball cat." I love that he's putting words together, even if they aren't quite in the right order.

17 months old

2011-07-18T20:00:00.002-04:00

Age: 17 months

Weight: 29ish lbs

Length: ???

Size: Size 5 diapers, and mostly 18 month clothes. They are starting to get small though so I just bought a ton of 24 month/2T clothes at a garage sale. PJs and 1 piece rompers are most definitely in the 18-24 month range. Shoes (according to Stride Rite measurements) are 5 ½ wide – although 5’s in other brands are still too big. He does have fat feet though.

Hair: People are surprised by how blond his hair is.

Teeth: 16 teeth! Now we wait on the 2 year molars. I’m hoping for a break, but he has been so drooley lately.

Sleeping: Great! Between 11 and 12 hours at night and he typically takes one nap now for 2 hours.

Eating: I would like to have a different answer this month, but still picky picky picky. He will almost always eat yogurt, granola bars, french toast sticks, mac & cheese, chicken nuggets, cheese, and cheerios. He's started to eat peanut butter on graham crackers. He still loves his milk, but will go through cups of water a day.

Movement: All.over.the.place. He seems to fall down more now, but it’s because he tries to run. He’s now had at least 3 bruises on his head from falling down.

Talking: mama, dada, ball, no, yea, and wow. He will whisper hi, hot, duck, cat, and finally the actual version of dog. He’s also tried shoe, but it came out more like “ish.” It’s adorable though – as he tries to actually say a word, he’ll whisper it until he’s confident enough to say it out loud. Also, when he says no, most of the time it’s “na-no” – sort of like a stutter. We think he’s doing it because a lot of times I tell him “no no Luke, we don’t do that.” Guess he’s a better mimic than we thought – we’d better start paying attention to what we say.

Signing: As he's starting to try and talk more he doesn't sign quite as much, but the words that he knows are: more, milk, eat, sleep, water, please, thank you, mom, dad, yes, no, uh oh, all done, wash hands, bird, fish, cat, dog, friend, play, dirty, stop, go, car, and book

Milestones: First family vacation!

Favorite toys/activities: This hasn’t changed at all since last time - playing outside, playing in water, playing with balls - he loves to throw them, kick them, shoot them into the basket, hit them with a bat - I think he's going to love sports.

Dislikes: diaper changes, being told no

Disposition: For the most part he's such a happy little guy. He loves to gives hugs and kisses, which makes me melt every time.

Other cute things about him:
*He can now hold up his finger that he's 1.
*He gives high 5's AND he fist bumps. :)
*He is becoming pretty opinionated and lets us know when he doesn't get his way. He got really mad at me because we shut the door to his room, so he sat in the ball pit in his play room and cried.
*He likes to test us. If you tell him no (don't throw that, don't touch that) he'll grin and reach out like he's going to do it again, but then doesn't.
*He knows almost all of his body parts.

Sidewalk chalk and popsicles

2011-07-17T20:24:00.001-04:00

What a great way to spend a summer afternoon!

Great Wolf Lodge

2011-07-17T19:48:00.007-04:00

We went on a mini vacation this week to Cincinnati and the Great Wolf Lodge. We planned it months ago, knowing that our little water baby would love it. Imagine our surprise when 2 weeks before we left, he decided he hated pools. He didn't want to go near them, which was surprising because he still loved the sprinkler pad and loved water.

To our relief, he started to warm back up to pools shortly before we left and while we were there he starting jumping back in again. Whew!

After the 2 hour drive (which was great for a nap!) we stopped to eat lunch.

We started by eating at the Rootbeer Stand. I'd heard Anne talking about it and knew that we would have to stop there. It was kind of a hole in the wall type place, but was so good and we loved eating outside.

Then we went to IKEA - yay! And we (er, Santa) did some early Christmas shopping for Luke. No pictures of the shopping trip, but Jason also bought Luke a little train set that he loved playing with in the hotel room.

Finally, at Great Wolf Lodge!

We had so much fun playing in the water park! There was a whole toddler area with some toddler slides - Luke went down a few times, but had a hard time staying in a sitting position. His favorite was the whole Fort MacKenzie area - a huge fort with all sorts of splashes.

There was also a wave pool and a lazy river - both where he had to wear a life vest. He hated it at first, but got used to it and was happy to put it on when he realized he could go do other things with it on.

There was also a fun outdoor area - as you can see, our waterbaby is back!

We did some fun things away from the resort as well. The waterpark itself didn't open until 10am, so on Thursday morning we went to a nearby park. Luke loved the ducks!

Other highlights were a trip to an outlet mall, and dinner at Frish's Big Boy!

Back at the lodge, we also played in an area called Cub Club that had some arts and crafts and lots of toddler toys. There was also a fun game called Magiquest that older kids could play - you had a wand and went on an adventure throughout the lodge - Jason and I almost wanted to sign up!

One of Luke's favorite things were the pictures of dogs (aka wolves) that were on every single door. Every.single.time we walked down the hallway he would point them out. And yes, that is how he says dog. (Although I'm happy to report that just today he started saying it the right way! Well, almost ...)

At night they have a little show at the clock tower and then read a bedtime story. The kids show up in their pjs - and if you're Luke and especially when it's an hour after your bedtime, you also show up with your paci and blankie.

Poor little guy was worn out!

We had such a great time on our very first family-of-3 vacation!

Can't hide from grandma

2011-07-17T19:40:00.005-04:00

Last Monday while my mom was watching Luke, he snuck into the bag and decided to put the sunscreen on himself. They were planning to go to the pool and apparently she wasn't moving quickly enough for him. She found him hiding in the corner of the sunroom.

Sprinkler Park

2011-07-17T19:37:00.003-04:00

One of Luke's favorite places to go this summer is to the sprinkler pad down the road. Most of the time he runs around making faces like this:

Nooooo!

2011-07-04T21:10:00.004-04:00

Luke has been communicating the word no by shaking his head for awhile now. This morning he actually learned to say the word! For now it's adorable, but I fear it will get old quickly. :)

(Sorry for the bad quality video - it was still early in the morning. The sound is all you really need though.)

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T20:38:00.006-04:00

(Picture taken by Kathy!)

We had an amazing time this morning with some of our friends at a parade and lunch. Kelli's neighborhood has this great little parade in their neighborhood with a band, some cars, a fire truck, and lots of the neighborhood kids! We decorated Luke's little car to push in it. Balloons, candy, water, and popsicles were passed out!

Here comes the parade! We waited on a corner just a little ways down from the start so that we could see them coming. We joined in as they passed us.

Balloons are cool!

Buddies Rowan and Andrew shared a wagon

Miss Leah - poor thing had to put up with boys all morning

Popsicles are good!

Ok, I'm done now. I think I'll climb out.

After he got bored with the car, Luke got to chill with his friend Sammy in their swagger wagon.

After the parade we had lunch and played in Rowan's backyard. Luke seemed to enjoy pushing the car around.

Today's attempt at a toddler group shot. Luke says "see ya! I'm out!"

Holliday Park

2011-07-04T20:29:00.003-04:00

There is an amazing park in Indy, near 64th and Springmill Road. Awesome playgrounds, lots of shade, some trails, the White River, and a nature center. We met up with some of my mom's group on Saturday morning and played at the playground.

It is difficult to get a group of toddlers to sit still for a picture, but yogurt melts go a long way in bribing them. :)

Stony Creek Farm

2011-07-04T20:14:00.004-04:00

I bought a Living Social deal last week that let us go play at Stony Creek Farm for half price. We went with our friends Kari and Josie and had a great time!

He got to ride a pumpkin train - twice! After he got out the first time he tried to climb right back in.

We rode push pedal bikes. Little man's legs weren't quite long enough, so I pedaled. It was my workout for the day!

Some fishing was done ...

And the best part was the super bouncy pillow. Luke LOVED it!

When daddy gets home

2011-07-04T20:10:00.002-04:00

I know I've mentioned how much Luke loves daddy's car. This was on Thursday - we were outside playing, and around the 12 second mark Luke hears Jason's car - coming down the street that is behind our across-the-street-neighbors. How he heard that, and knew it was Jason, I don't know. He gets so excited and goes to the end of the driveway to wait. (Also, he signs his version of daddy - which is identical to mommy. You just have to guess which one of us he wants.)

Attack of the chocolate chip cookie

2011-07-02T20:09:00.002-04:00

Luke and I got a chocolate chip cookie to share at Target. I let him finish it on the way home. Maybe that wasn't the smartest idea ....

(Yes, it's on his face, forehead, arms, legs, and hands.)

He thought it was fun!

Dinner out

2011-06-27T19:51:00.003-04:00

Matt and Alli also came into town but didn't make the parade. Afterwards we went out to Red Robin for dinner. Luke enjoyed some wonderful mac & cheese - and wore most of it home I think.

Then we went and spent some time at the playground across the street.

He's become so independent and wants to climb up and then go down the slide all by himself.

Fishers Freedom Festival

2011-06-27T19:38:00.005-04:00

This weekend was the annual Fishers Freedom Festival. Last year this was the weekend that Luke had his very first ear infection, so it wasn't really all that memorable. Luckily this year we had a great time!

Karen and I took Luke on the 2 mile family walk on Saturday morning. He did a great job, until the 1.5 mile mark when he decided that he wanted to walk too - only not in the same direction as everyone else. Due to that, we may have been some of the last to finish ...

On Sunday afternoon we went to the parade with Mamaw and Papaw. Luke LOVED it. I was a little worried that he'd be scared by the loud firetrucks, but he just kept peering around people to see if more were coming. He clapped when people clapped and waved at everyone and loved getting the candy from people. One of the floats was from his daycare so he got to see Miss Stephanie (the other toddler room teacher) and Miss Krista (the director.)

Our setup - we went over a little early to put our chairs out and then got there about an hour early to hang out.

Luke thought that he could help kick the parade off while we were waiting.

Our family!

Sitting with papaw

Watching the fire trucks go by

One group on the parade handed out stuffed dogs instead of candy - just what Luke wanted!

Clapping

Luke's second chore

2011-06-26T21:56:00.000-04:00

Soon he'll be washing dishes and folding laundry.

Helping daddy out

2011-06-26T21:18:00.002-04:00

Luke is all about helping right now - helping me cook, helping me clean, and today - helping daddy fix the toilet. He even learned how to turn the screw driver by himself!

Camping!

2011-06-23T19:57:00.004-04:00

We went on our first family camping trip for Father's Day weekend! We went down to McCormick's Creek State Park with our friends Anne, Kyle, Molly (3 years old) and Eleanor (1 year old.) We picked McCormick's Creek because it's 12 minutes from Jason's parents house - and when you're camping with 3 little ones a backup plan is a good idea. Luckily we didn't need it!

The weather forecast wasn't promising, but we got there at 12:30 on Saturday and it didn't rain until 7:30am Sunday.

We had lots of camping food (hot dogs, s'mores), went on walks, saw a waterfall, threw rocks in the water, played a lot, slept in the tents, listened to raccoons eat our oreo cookies ... all typical camping stuff!

The 3 kids! Molly, Luke, and Eleanor ...

I'm pretty sure this is when I noticed Luke signing "bird" for the first time

Anne and her almost-1-year-old Eleanor.

Luke's favorite thing was to run around and throw the various balls we brought - luckily he stayed away from the campfire!

Eating a snack in his little camp chair

Having a toast (yes, champagne is solo cups) to celebrate Anne and Kyle's 6 year wedding anniversary.

Down at the waterfall

Getting ready to throw rocks in the creek

A very very tired and dirty little boy right before bed

Luke's first chore

2011-06-23T19:55:00.001-04:00

Luke loves to help feed the kitties. Aside from getting the actual container open, he can pretty much do it all by himself! (Sometimes the food doesn't quite get in the bowls, but close enough ...) I fear he's going to start asking for an allowance soon.

Trip to Kentucky

2011-06-23T19:46:00.004-04:00

My mom, sister, and I took Luke on a trip to Kentucky a few weekends ago and we all had a great time!

On the way there we realized that we might want to invest in a portable dvd player for car trips - although he made the laptop work!

Luke seemed to have a great time playing with his great uncles. This is his Great Uncle Kent.

And reading books with his great uncle Danny. It was so funny - Luke would scowl at him and then demand to be picked up - over and over again.

Taking a picture of his Great Grandpa Sonny.

We also stayed at Great Grandma Rae's house for a day. I think it looks like they're playing "Rock Paper Scissors" here.

And played in water there!

We also saw Great Grandma Barbara, Great Aunt Lesa, and Great Aunt/Uncle Denise and Chip - somehow I didn't get pictures though!

DAD

2011-06-20T13:49:00.003-04:00

For Father's Day, we gave Jason a frame holding some D-A-D pictures. It was a frame that held 3 4x6 pictures, so it ended up looking like this:

I actually tried this last year, but then instead we went with pictures of him dressed up in daddy's work clothes. Here was the DAD attempt then though. Maybe we'll do it every year!

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T19:48:00.003-04:00

Luke wants to wish his daddy a great Father's Day!

Getting ready for bed

2011-06-19T19:36:00.003-04:00

He likes to try brushing his teeth by himself now - and looks pretty excited about it!

He's just practicing for when he's older and can read the paper while on the toilet.

16 months old

2011-06-19T18:30:00.000-04:00

Age: 16 months

Weight: I'd guess between 27 and 28 lbs

Length: Something taller than 32 1/4 inches

Size: Same as last month - Size 5 diapers, and 18 month clothes. Carters 1 piece rompers and overalls seem to need to be 24 mos. Shoes are 4 1/2 (little guy has small feet.)

Hair: blondish brown but general consensus is that it's getting blonder by the day. He's had 3 haircuts so far.

Teeth: That awful last molar is through! Now we're working on the last canine - so he's almost got 16 teeth. I'm praying for a break until the 2 year molars.

Sleeping: Great, at night, like always! We've pushed him a bit closer to 7:30 to give us more time together in the evenings. He wakes up anywhere between 6 and 7am. Naps still suck. He typically gets one a day, for anywhere between 1 and 2 hours. There have been days at school when he only gets 45 min. Some weekend days he'll have 2 good naps, and other ones (Fridays it seems) he fights even one nap with all he's got. He sleeps with a pillow in his crib now and 2 blankets that he loves.

Eating: Still picky picky picky. He will always eat yogurt, granola bars, and cheerios. He hates all fruit. He loves soup. He's at least willing to try more now - I'll ask him to "just try and put a small piece in your mouth" and he does. Most of the time he spits it back out, but he actually ate some ham this weekend.

Movement: He is all over the place! He can climb on top of the coffee table now. He no longer likes to go down the steps on his belly, but wants to sit and scoot down them. Luckily he'll wait for me to go down with him.

Talking: mama, dada, and ball are the biggest ones. He has quit saying his version of book, he says "aa" for cat, and "pu" for dog. I've been worried about about his speaking abilities, but his pediatrician said it's fine and he'll have a word explosion soon. I've asked several mommy friends and had the same response. The biggest thing is that his comprehension is great and he communications wonderfully - he's just quiet. We asked him the other day if he could say cat and he looked at us, grinned, shook his head yes, then went back to playing. He'll watch us say words, really paying attention, and then just sort of nod his head and turn away like "ok, I've got it now."

He's been signing more lately too, which is funny to me because we don't watch signing time all that often anymore. Some of the things he "signs" like "all done" aren't the correct signs - but the biggest point is that he has something he does everytime he means that. He signs more, milk, eat, sleep, water, please, mom, dad, yes, no, uh oh, all done, wash hands, and bird - which is just about the cutest thing I've ever seen. I had no idea he could do it until this weekend. He was playing with a ball that had a picture of a penguin on it and we realized he was signing bird!

Milestones: Isn't everything?

Favorite toys/activities: Playing outside, playing in water, playing with balls - he loves to throw them, kick them, shoot them into the basket, hit them with a bat - I think he's going to love sports.

His other favorite past time is playing with the flashcards, or his "First 100 Words" book. He amazes me everyday with what he points out. When you're on a particular 2 page layout you can see 18 pictures. We'll randomly ask him to show us the "X" and he knows so many of them! Right now he knows baby, duck, chair/seat/sofa, cat, dog, cup, flower, teddy bear, ball, car, shoes, fish, hair brush, bathtub, boat, pillow, lamp/light, book, clock, keys, phone, TV, table, flower, leaf, socks, and bird. He understands lots of other words too, but those are ones from the book. :)

I'm just amazed daily with how much he picks up. He's started doing his puzzles (the ones where you take the piece out and you put it back into the same place that shows the picture) and gets pieces put back. He's started to learn how his big lego blocks work.

Dislikes: diaper changes

Disposition: He's such a happy little guy!

Other cute things about him:
*He is getting better and better with the kitties. He's so sweet with them and loves to give them hugs.

*he loves when daddy gets home. We can hear his car coming down the street and I'll say , "Luke! I hear daddy's car!" and he runs to the door. We also go outside to meet him so that Luke can sit in daddy's car for a few minutes.
*He loves balls so much that I think he dreams about them. I heard him talking last night and thought he was awake - but no - he was just saying ball in his sleep.
*He knows so many body parts! Head/hair, eyes, nose, ears, mouth, hands, belly button, feet/toes. One day he seemed to know knees but hasn't done it since.
*He has a toy vaccuum that he loves. If he sees me vacuuming he goes to get it. Once we were sitting on the couch and he had to make sure that it sat with us.

I said it last month but it's so much fun having a toddler!

Product rave: Touch and Feel Picture Flashcards

2011-06-05T20:30:00.003-04:00

We have these flashcards and LOVE them:

It started out with Luke just carrying around the ball card - as that was (and still is) his favorite word. Now we play games and so far he can point out the ball, dog, cat, shoes, bear, keys, car, mirror, and baby. It's a lot like his picture books, but these he can actually find and then hand to me. They make other sets that I think we'll be ordering soon. I highly recommend them!

A new playground

2011-06-05T20:23:00.002-04:00

A park near our house had their grand re-opening this weekend with a brand new playground. Luke and I invited grandma and went over there Saturday morning.

They had some cool musical instruments to play.

After he goes down the slide, Luke wants so badly to climb back up. He just keeps sliding down though.

Belly button

2011-06-05T20:21:00.000-04:00

Luke found a new body part this week - his belly button!

Saying yes

2011-06-05T20:19:00.000-04:00

While it seems that he tells us no 90% of the time, sometimes we get a big yes out of him. (All by shaking his head - he doesn't say either yet.)

A missed picture

2011-05-30T19:58:00.003-04:00

I realized when I was doing the Mother's Day Grandma gift post that I forgot to post this picture from Mother's Day. It's of my mom, Luke, and I and it's one of my all-time favorite pictures:

Grandma's Mother's Day Gifts

2011-05-30T19:47:00.005-04:00

I wasn't able to post these sooner because we hadn't finished them yet. For Mother's Day, Luke got both Grandmas a stepping stone kit that he made with each of them.

Mixing up the cement!

Putting on the pretty stones

The finished product!

And then we got to do it again! Pouring the water:

Placing the handprint - and daddy got involved too!

Placing the stones

The (almost) finished product - it still needed to dry

Memorial Day

2011-05-30T19:37:00.004-04:00

Today was another beautiful day that was spent mostly outside. Daddy and Luke started the morning by swinging and bonding outside.

Then we went over to Grandma's house for a cookout (where I may, or may not, have had a little too much to drink and may, or may not, have needed a tiny nap afterwards.)

We played in the sprinkler outside. Luke wasn't too sure of it so Grandma showed him how to run through it.

Then the turtle pool was put to good use.

Mr. Dare-devil. We're trying to teach him the phrase "sit down."

Visit with Grandma and Grandpa

2011-05-30T19:23:00.004-04:00

The ear infection meds seemed to be kicking in and Luke was quite a bit happier than he has been in awhile, so we were able to enjoy a beautiful Sunday with Grandma and Grandpa!

Helping plant some flowers

Helping daddy wash Grandma's car

Luckily he wasn't quite strong enough to pull the trigger otherwise he would have had a face full of water

I love this picture of them!

Ready for a walk. (On a side note - he loves strollers. On Mondays my mom can't keep it out in sight, or he'll want in it to watch cartoons and then he'll demand to go on a walk. Over and over again.)

We found a turtle!

Riding on the fire truck

Being pushed by Grandpa on the fire truck

See you later!

15 month appt

2011-05-30T19:13:00.004-04:00

Luke had his 15 month appt last Wednesday and I thought I'd post the stats:

Height: 32 1/4" (80%)
Weight: 27 1/2 lbs (86%)
Head: 49.7cm (97% - yep, still a big noggin')

The appointment timed out well because he just hadn't been himself - not sleeping, cranky, just wanted to sit with his blanket, etc. I told someone earlier that day that if it weren't for the fact that he had tubes in his ears and that they weren't draining, I'd say he had an ear infection.

Yea, turns out I was right - his right ear was infected - just not draining yet. He was a mess most of the appointment, and had a low grade fever so he got out of his shots that day. (Maybe all part of his plan??)

We talked about his words (on track), his eating (picky, but not 100% unusual. She said that toddlers don't have much control over things and one thing they can control is if they're going to eat something. We're supposed to try what we're eating for 10-15 minutes, but if he won't eat it then move on to what he WILL eat - yogurt, crackers, mac & cheese, granola bars, etc. If we make a big deal out of it, it will become a big deal and we'll all be stressed. It should come with time and one of these days he'll surprise us and want some fruit.)

I also took in a picture of his legs from last week to confirm that it was eczema - and yep, it is. Apparently outside/heat/grass triggers his. Luckily it doesn't seem to bother him (itchy wise) so we just apply cortizone in the bad areas, and moisturize his skin daily.

A hodge podge of videos

2011-05-29T21:11:00.004-04:00

Luke has been doing some of the cutest things lately so I tried to get them on video.

1. He's learning body parts! He knows his nose, his head/hair, his hands, his feet/toes, and we're working on eyes and mouth. This video is him showing off his feet, hands, and head.

2. He hasn't quite gotten down saying "Uh oh" but now anytime he drops something he throws his hands up in the air. Of course this was great fun so it became a game of dropping the cup, throwing his arms up in the air, repeat.

3. Luke now likes to tell us when it's time for a nap.

4. Sometimes we just call him David Beckham.

5. And the word of the day is ..... mama! :)

6. Luke has learned to shake his head yes and no. He especially loves to say no when I ask if he'll share something with me, but then he'll turn around and share it with daddy! Little turkey. Still, when someone looks this cute saying no, you can't hold a grudge.

7. Luke has really gotten into signing "more" and "please" lately. Usually more is tapping your fingers together, but most in Luke's room at daycare do it by pointing into the palm of the hand. Please is rubbing your chest. Such a polite little boy!

The hobby horse revisited

2011-05-29T19:43:00.003-04:00

I know that I posted this picture at Christmas when Luke got it, but here is Jason back on the Hobby Horse in 1982 (I think!)

And here is Luke on it today. Can you tell he's his father's son?

All ready to shoot some hoops!

2011-05-22T19:54:00.001-04:00

Fun at the park

2011-05-22T19:47:00.002-04:00

Mommy and Luke - I love his grin in this picture!

Having a snack

A daddy, a little boy, and his truck

2 videos

2011-05-19T21:22:00.001-04:00

Luke has found a new way to go down the rollar coaster:

He wants to play with the cats so badly, but they just keep running from him.

15 months old

2011-05-19T20:00:00.001-04:00

Age: 15 months

Weight: maybe around 27 lbs?

Length: no idea - we'll find out at his appt next week

Size: Size 5 diapers, and 18 month clothes. Carters 1 piece rompers and overalls seem to need to be 24 mos.

Hair: blondish brown. It's finally starting to fill in up front so he doesn't look as much like a little old man.

Teeth: Almost 15. Still working on that last 1 year molar, plus now 3 of the canines. He has been a pretty miserable, drooly little guy.

Sleeping: He goes to bed so well as long as he has his paci and his blanket. The last few nights have been rough in the middle, we think because of the teeth. Right now he goes to bed at 7pm, but we're hoping to move that to 7:30 so that we can enjoy more of the beautiful evening weather.

Eating: Picky picky picky. He will always eat yogurt, granola bars, and cheerios. He hates all fruit. He loves soup. He had peanut butter for the first time and the jury is out on that one. He'll eat a bite, look at it, eat some more - and then after a little bit decide he doesn't want it. It must be an acquired taste. :)

Movement: He's so mobile - it's great! When we get home from work now I can just set him down outside the car and he'll walk inside. He rarely crawls anymore, and if he gets excited he will, dare I say, run?

Talking: mama (officially directed at me!), dada, ba (ball), bo (book), and sometimes when he signs eat he also says "eee!". He frequently signs more, milk, eat, and sleep (all of his favorite things!) I've seen him try cat, dog, please, and mom.

Milestones: getting so much better at walking

Favorite toys/activities: Playing outside, especially on his swingset. Last week I asked if he wanted to go outside and he went to the back door. I took him out front instead, so he promptly went around the side of the house and pointed at the gate to get into the backyard. He's starting playing with cars and driving them around, which makes his daddy proud! He still loves to color, play in the ball pit, and ride his rollar coaster. Oh, and dance! Ever since the Mother's Day video he has loved dancing and music.

Dislikes: being dropped off at school, being laughed at

Disposition: He's such a happy little guy!

Other cute things about him:

*he puts things away. Cutest thing ever - after playing with a little car ramp, he picked it up and put it away on the shelf.
*he loves to fall asleep to music now - and has to have the remote with him in his crib
*he specifically loves that Josh Turner song. He'll get fussy and point at the ipod player until that particular song starts - and then he'll clap. Don't believe me?

It's so much fun having a toddler!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-05-11T19:47:00.002-04:00

Outtakes

2011-05-08T20:43:00.001-04:00

I laughed so hard I was crying when I watched some of these. I love my boys!

My Mother's Day gift

2011-05-08T15:56:00.004-04:00

I got a great homemade card, a flower pot painted with fingerprints, a "house cleaning coupon" from daddy, and this awesome video!

A little bit of background first. Luke and I love to have dance parties in his room and have been doing it ever since we brought him home from the hospital. (Sometimes we even let daddy in on the fun too.)

There are a few songs that are pretty much always on our playlist (don't judge) - Just Haven't Met You Yet (Michael Buble), Rock and Roll (Eric Hutchingson), Baby (Justin Bieber), and Why Don't We Just Dance (Josh Turner.)

For Mother's Day, Jason wanted to get video of Luke dancing to the last one. Below is the result. :)

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T15:16:00.006-04:00

Happy Mother's day to my mom, Jason's mom, all of our mommy friends, and all of our friends who are moms at heart but are having a hard time getting there! We love you!

I've had an absolutely wonderful day, although it may have started a little earlier than I like ...

After presents (more on that later), we went to breakfast with my mom. Karen and Matt had been out of town but got back early to surprise my mom and the restaurant. Pat was stuck working all day - boo!

We went home for a quick nap (try only 20 minutes, grrr.) Then we went to the zoo! We haven't been there since last fall and I think Luke had a great time.

Miscellanous pictures

2011-05-08T15:11:00.002-04:00

Hungry boy at Qdoba

Yesterday morning Luke decided that he didn't want his clothes on - just shoes. He watched Mickey Mouse dressed like this.

So pretty! :) I've been wearing headbands a lot lately and Luke found one and insisted on wearing it.

Let's play a game

2011-04-30T23:45:00.003-04:00

Can you find all of the Cheerios?

Mowing with daddy

2011-04-30T23:35:00.000-04:00

Garage sale shopping

2011-04-30T23:11:00.003-04:00

Because I am my mother, I have an obsession with garage sales. And luckily that season is now upon us. We went out yesterday and today and found several fun things - clothes and shoes for Luke, some books, puzzles, a basketball goal, refrigerator magnets, some shelves, a step stool, and some other miscellaneous things. Luke has been such a trooper through it all, although it finally wore him out this morning.

(On a side note, he was also a trooper because he put up with watching the Royal Wedding with my mom and I.)

Back to the garage sale finds:

Here he is playing with a new puzzle, while sitting in a new booster seat.

And now for the favorite purchase. While I was searching garage sale ads on CraigsList I saw that one in Fishers had the Step 2 rollercoaster. I emailed her on Thursday to see about buying it early but she wanted too much for it. It's not something that I was actually looking for or needed, but I thought it looked cool if I could get a good deal. We went by her sale on Friday and she still wanted too much. I went back over there today at 2:30 (the sale ended at 3) and she had marked it down quite a bit. I offered even less, and now we own a roller coaster! Luke is a fan!

It's good for just laying on too.

Shopping at Lowes

2011-04-30T23:10:00.001-04:00

Luke and Pickles

2011-04-30T23:07:00.003-04:00

I'm not entirely sure why he was doing this, or why she was letting him. Regardless, good times had by all!

If you watch towards the end, after Pickles jumped down - I'm convinced that he goes around to the side of the chair to tell her to get back on. When she doesn't, I'm pretty sure he thinks he's going to pick her up.

A moment I'll never forget

2011-04-24T21:11:00.002-04:00

I've posted video of how Luke will give kisses when you ask him (or he'll smack you in the face, depending on his mood!)

Last night though, as I was getting ready to put him to bed, I kissed him goodnight. And with no prompting at all, he turned and kissed me back! My heart melted. I love this little boy!

Mr. Muscle Man

2011-04-24T16:53:00.001-04:00

Where did Luke go?

2011-04-24T11:29:00.002-04:00

I heard noises in the living room and came in to find this:

Apparently a ball had rolled under there and he was trying to get it and got stuck, so he just decided to hang out there for a little while.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T11:20:00.003-04:00

The Easter bunny came to visit our house!

Oh wait, that was last year. Don't worry - he came this year too.

Luke got a Mickey Mouse clubhouse book, some colored bubbles, some flashcards, a car shaped piggy bank, and eggs filled with puffs and yogurt melts.

Playing with the flashcards. They are "touch and feel" so for instance, the puppy dog has fur you can pet.

We also colored some more this morning (this seems to be Luke's favorite thing to do right now.)

And then we watched TV like a superstar. (He got these glasses last week at school and LOVES to wear them.)

Happy Easter everyone!

A meeting with the Easter bunny

2011-04-24T11:15:00.002-04:00

We took Luke to go see the Easter Bunny on Friday. I was convinced it would be a disaster, but he seemed to love him! He watched some other kids sitting on his lap and just started pointing at him. When he came to be his turn we even got some smiles!

A blast from the past ...

Pictures and videos from a Saturday afternoon

2011-04-23T21:44:00.003-04:00

Coloring Easter bunny pictures with daddy. For some reason, Luke loves the brown one. He automatically picks it first and if you hide it from him he looks all over for it.

Along with coloring I had an idea that we'd glue cotton balls onto a picture of an Easter bunny. Luke wanted nothing to do with that.

Playing with our two favorite things - balls and books

Cat toys are fun too!

Boom goes the dynamite! (Earlier in the day Jason taught Luke to fling water up in the air and go "Boom!") When we went out later Luke showed me how it was done.

And lastly, Luke loves his kitty cat - and she loves him as long as he's on the other side of the screen.

Temper tantrums already?

2011-04-23T21:07:00.003-04:00

We were coloring before bedtime tonight and when I told Luke we had to put it away to go to bed, I got this reaction.