Play Date with Caden (and Jerrae) - Next Door Neighbors

Our next door neighbors, Jerrae and Caden, invited Luke and I over for a play date today.  I'm never quite sure how Luke is going to behave on play dates.  Here again I worry too much. In general he is SUCH a good boy.  But I think I worry because of the unknown - I'm not quite sure how he'll react to things, if he'll share, if he'll scream and heaven forbid he hits the child! Yikes!  But he did SUCH a great job and again I really had no reason to worry.  I felt like today they (Caden and Luke) seemed to interact more with each other than they have in the past and were actually somewhat playing with one another.

They even sat down together and had a snack of fruit leather and Pirate's Booty.  Luke was in heaven - I think this was only the second time he's had Pirate's Booty. He kept asking for "More... More... More." He even went so far as opening their pantry door to look for more.  That's my boy! 

It was also nice for me because at one point they were both wanted to sit on my lap and have me read to them. They were kind of "pushing" each other to get the best seat. I think this is the first and likely the only time I've had boys fight over me! :)

Turn Off!!

Today we went over to our friends, Matt and Jodee Cohen's house.  They have 2 kids, Lincoln (3) and Keeley (9 mos). They made a amazing breakfast of quiche, homemade waffles, different kinds of butter for the waffles, strawberries and whip cream, bacon and other fruit! Yum!!  We had a great time over there and Luke and Lincoln got along so well! There wasn't any screaming or saying "mine." I was really impressed and happy with both of them.   After a while Matt asked if we would be OK if their dog, Daphne came out to play.  Daphne is a little dog, but pretty rambunctious.  We said OK, because we do want Luke to get used to dogs since he's not around them too often. He usually just sees them on our walks and at the park and generally does OK.   So they let Daphne out and she came out in a flurry of activity... Running from one person to the next to say, "hi."  When she got to Luke, he turned his back and got a little scared. I was somewhat surprised by this because in the past he's been OK around dogs.  I tried to show him that it was OK, that the dog was nice.  And for those of you who know me, I am generally a little (ok a lot) scared of dogs. Don't make fun of me... I grew up in Enumclaw where rabid dogs ran loose and loved to eat little girls on bicycles with rainbow flip flops.  I hate that I'm scared of dogs so I wanted to set a good example and went over to Daphne and started petting her and saying, "See, Luke.. Nice dog. She likes you!"  He completely ignored me and my brave attempt to let him know everything is OK and my demonstration that Daphne just wanted to play.

Luke went about his business and started playing with more toys (Lincoln has amazing toys!) and was caught up in the "work" he was doing.  Daphne headed over there to play some more and Luke's back was to her... Once she got over to him she nudged up against him and licked him. That got Luke's attention immeditately.  He hunched up his shoulders and you could tell in his face he was scared and he pointed to Daphne and said, "turn off!"  While on one hand I felt bad for him on the other hand it cracked me up...  He thought (or maybe hoped), Daphne, had batteries in it that you could turn her off when you were "done." 

We said they didn't have to "turn Daphne off," but Matt went ahead and put Daphne in one of their rooms so Luke wouldn't be scared.  Luke will need to work on his fear of dogs - which means I will too (yay?!).  Who knows maybe being afraid of dog is a hereditary condition? :)

Bed Head

'Nuff said :)

9-1-1 - What's Your Emergency?

Luke woke up a little earlier than usual today.  We went downstairs and had our breakfast of yummy millet (OK he had millet and I had hot chocolate - just don't tell him).  After filling our tummies we started our morning of playing.   Luke was playing on his play mat with his trucks, books and cars and I was paging through a decorating magazine.  All of the sudden I heard loud beeping that startled me.  I looked up and Luke said, "Beeping."  I see a light on from our Carbon Monoxide Alarm.  I read the display and it reads "Evacuate Immediately."  I tried to stay calm - since the beeping has gone off before. Seconds later the beeping stopped but I decided I should still call Bryan just in case something is wrong.  Through all of this Luke kept repeating, "Mommy... beeping.  Mommy... Beeping... Button."  

Luckily I got a hold of Bryan on my first call (which is rare). He picked up the phone and I told him what happened.  He asked me to go to the alarm and push one of the buttons to see how many parts per million there is of Carbon Monoxide.  He tells me it should read 0.  I told him it reads 30.  He proceeded to tell me that I needed to call 911.  Then I started to freak out a little (OK a lot).  I'll skip most of the rest of this part since Bryan and I got into a little "disagreement" about 911- and why or why I shouldn't call.  The long and short of it is I didn't think Bryan was being very understanding about what was going on and he thought I was ridiculous and it went on.  This disagreement was going on while Luke and I are potentially being gassed out by Carbon Monoxide (you see where our priorities were). 

Long story short I ended up calling 911 and they told me that I needed to evacuate my home immediately and wait outside because they are sending a Fire Truck ASAP.  ARE YOU SERIOUS?! I couldn't even believe it!  To top this off it had started snowing outside and was getting pretty chilly and Bryan had the car with the car seat in it.  The only option we had was to bundle up and head outside and wait on the sidewalk.   Luckily the Fire Truck showed up within minutes (fortunately or unfortunately depending on whoevers perspective, the fire engine siren wasn't on!).  Three extremely nice fireman show up, two of them get out of the truck and I explain what happened.  Luke was in complete awe.  He just stared at all three men, with his toy policeman in hand (Dang! I wish we had had his fireman in hand - one of the fireman even made a comment about it!)

The Firemen went inside to inspect the house and do a carbon monoxide reading. They came out 5-10 minutes later and let me know that everything was OK.  Then they asked if there was any chance Luke pushed the button.  I told them I didn't think so because I was right by him and I didn't see how he would have done it without me knowing.   They gave me some warning signs about Carbon Monoxide poisoning that I should be on the lookout for in the future.

As they left Luke waved at them and they waved back (I was so hoping they'd leave him a firemen's hat - they didn't).  I also had the slight urge to ask them to wait, so I could run inside and get my camera to take a picture of them with Luke (but thought better of that... probably not a good idea?).   As we walked inside Luke kept saying, "beeping... button."  And then I asked him... "Luke, did you push the button?"  He shook his head yes.  But I can't really take that serious as he says yes to alot of things... such as, "Luke, are you a doggie?  Or "Luke, Is your hair blue?" You get the gist. And while I really don't think he hit the button (becasue I'm sure I would have seen it) I'm not 100% sure....  So I guess we'll never know the answer to this mystery...

Snow Angels

We had about 6 inches of snow today, so Bryan took a snow day! Right after breakfast we all bundled up and headed out on a walk to the park:

Once at the park Bryan and Luke made some snow angels. At first Luke was having fun, but then the snow got on his face and he wanted up:

I made a snow angel and was trying to coerce Luke to do one more snow angel so we could have a picture together...  But I couldn't convince him.  Instead he stood on my legs and gave me a hug and kiss.  Which is WAYYYYYY better than any snow angel!!

Snowball

Snowpacolypse was happening (as the news stations coined it) and began collecting quickly on the ground.  This was very exciting for Luke as he likes to make snowballs.  Bryan took Luke outside to make a snowball and when they tried to come inside Luke wanted to bring and play with the snowball inside the house.  So Bryan put the snowball in a plastic baggie:

I think this was when Luke realized it was melting:



If the Shoe Doesn't Fit - Wear it Anyways

Luke absolutely loves trying on shoes right now now.... I love seeing him walk around (or try to walk around) in Bryan's shoes:

Apparently he likes to talk on the phone with mine:



"Sharing" in the Park

Our day started out like any other.... Beautiful sun in the sky, crisp air and my "perfect" baby boy in the best of spirits.   We headed out to our neighborhood park to try and steal some of the Vitamin D rays that we Seattleites need so badly in the winter.

Our walk was enjoyable as we pointed out birds, planes and dead dried worms on the sidewalk as we walked.  Upon arrival at the park - we had it to ourselves.  We played red light-green light, played in the red toy house, picked up bark and played Luke's new game of finding rocks and then "dinging" them on the swing set.  I can't believe how loud that sound is if you get the "right" rock. Pretty sure the neighbors don’t love this game like Luke does.

All was going well and then suddenly I heard noises of kids, tricycles and scooters from down the road.  I was actually happy to hear those noises since I knew Luke would like playing with the kids. The kids swooped in (4 of them). As the kids were parallel playing (definition: kids play side by side, but not together) I started talking to one of the moms.  Luke came over to us and the mom started talking to him.  Luke, being his sweet self, smiled and said, "Hi!" He also said, "Thank-you" when she handed him a pinecone.  To me, she said, "He's so sweet and adorable."  I beamed; my little babycake is the best and most well-behaved boy there ever was!

Then she and I started talking about tricycles and I was trying to get her opinion on which one would be best (she had two older kids).  She started telling me about the one they had when her kids were younger. She said she'd go get it from their garage and bring it over so Luke could try it out.  I thought that was a great idea and SO nice of her to offer (I have found that park moms are really nice! A lot nicer than the mall moms who run you over with their strollers).  A few minutes later she was back with the tricycle and Luke hopped on (with my help) and we scooted around the park a few times. I started to get the sense that this mom needed to leave and Luke had started saying "done." So I thought it was a good time to get the tricycle back to them.

Luke jumped off and I thanked the mom.  Her son then got on the tricycle to head home.  Luke saw this and facing the mom and son (his back to me) I hear him scream "NOOOO!"  The boy and mom stopped.  I quickly went to Luke's side and said, "Luke this isn't ours. They were sharing with us. Isn't that nice? Say thank you." Then his body went stiff, his little fists balled up and he screamed, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" just in case those in San Francisco didn't hear him the first time.  I was horrified and wasn't quite sure what to do.  This was his first public tantrum.  I said, "If you behave like this they won't share their toys with us again."  He squished up his face in that face only a mommy can love, eyes are hidden, nose somehow disappeared and mouth was gone except for a tiny slit and tears squeezed out of his "invisible" eyes and streamed down his face.  

I couldn't believe it. I had just been praised by how adorable and SWEET Luke was and then this woman is left with an impression of him like that?! I apologized profusely and she gave me a look like she completely understood. As they walked away Luke continued to shriek, even as I picked him up and started walking him home.... Ahhhh... Good times... And I'm sure many more times like this to come!!

KIIIIIIIMMMMMMM!!!!

Luke was trying to get my attention this morning:

Luke says, "Mommy?"
Mommy is busy doing work and doesn't respond
Luke says, "MOMMMMMYYYY?"
Mommy is still busy doing some work and doesn't respond
Luke says, "KIIIIIIIIIMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!"

Uhhhh....What just happened???? I didn't think this happened until his teenage years???  How he already knows my name is also beyond me....

Good Posture Reduces Back Pain...

70% of Americans suffer from chronic back pain. We don't want Luke to fall into that statistic so we've started him on some early posture training:

Placement is everything:

Ok... Good.. Easy does it. Just hold that for 15 minutes and then you can eat :)



Pajama Time!

Lately many of Luke's "winter" pajamas have gotten too small so I needed to get him some new pajamas, size 3T (and he is only 2!!). I thought he looked so handsome in striped pajamas that I took a few pictures of him and then decided to take a few from our night time routine:

Showing off his new threads:

Reading Pajama Time (one of his FAVORITE night time books) with Daddy:

Introducing BEARY (his very bestest friend):

The next morning:
(Note: This video was taken unbeknownst to Luke AND me.  We thought Daddy was taking still shots - which explains Luke's squinting eyes in the beginning of the video as he likes to smile with his eyes (Tyra Banks would LOVE him) and me periodically trying to "fix" his hulk hair for these "still shots.")

Breakfast at 12th Ave Cafe - Issaquah

We took Luke out to breakfast with us on Saturday.  I think this is only the second breakfast we've taken him out to.  We are lame and hardly ever take him out to eat with us for two reasons:

1. We are never quite sure how he'll act/react at the restaurants.  So sometimes it seems like it might be more stressful to take him out than what it's worth. However, Luke has NEVER acted up in the times we've taken him out. So not sure what we are "afraid" of  :(
2. We like the breakfasts we cook at home more. Bryan can make a mean pancake and I can make some mean scrambled eggs!

He did such a good job!  He was SOOOO interested in watching all the activity around us:

That is until his mickey pancake came around: 



YUM!!! Not quite as good as Daddy's but he really liked it...

He finished most of this pancake, save for one piece of Mickey's left ear and that's ONLY because we took it away from him... Which he didn't like at all!!

Pump It Up

Friends, Matt and Jodee Cohen's little boy, Lincoln, turned 3 this year and celebrated by having a birthday party at Pump It Up in Kirkland.  While Luke seemed a little bit intimated by all the huge bouncy houses/slides he thoroughly enjoyed himself:

Going down....

Mommy was lame and forgot to wear socks (they wouldn't let you go on any of the bouncy houses/slides without socks)... But I still wanted to get a picture with my bouncy boy:

My Little Teenager

The past week Luke has been going down to sleep for the night a little later than I'd like.  This is mainly due to the fact that this week he has been waking up SO late in the mornings, which pushes out both his nap and bedtime times. Some mornings he'd wake up at 9:30, a couple of times he woke up at 10am and then one morning he woke up at 10:45!!!  Potentially this is all a part of yet another growth spurt, but I couldn't help but think this may be what our future holds when he is a teenager.

He also loves jumping up and down in his crib...  The second picture is mid bounce - I LOVE how the "wind" catches his hair in this picture!

Working Out??

After three, maybe four, years I've finally dusted off my Bosu ball.  Just to be clear, I dusted off the box of the Bosu ball - I wasn't even dusting the ball itself.  It's been 4 years since my friends graciously gave me a Bosu ball as a birthday gift.  At the time I'd been going to a trainer and was using a Bosu ball a lot in the gym and really enjoyed it.  My friends picked up on this and all chipped in to get me one of my very own.  I was really excited about using it... But then life happened and sadly I never even took it out of the box... :(

Recently I've really been trying to get back into shape and I decided to finally get the Bosu ball into my exercise rotation (Ok... I don't yet have an exercise rotation, but I'm working on it).   It's been a challenge, but this time for different reasons:

Easy does it...

Steady.... steady...

Tighten the core, and lift up from the glutes... 

Back off, Mommy, this is MINE:

Needless to say, the Bosu is getting lots of use now.... Just not from me. :)

Errands - PCC

Weekly Luke and I will go to our favorite grocery store, PCC.  We've been doing this for the past month or so and I'm really starting to enjoy it.  I'll try and psych him up for the trip telling him that I need him to help me find the avacados, bananas, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, etc.  He really does seem to get into it because when he finds what I've asked him to help me look for his eyes light up and he points and he'll say, "OH!"

Today was especially nice because a woman came up to us and told me he is so well-behaved and looks very happy... And then she complimented Bryan and I by saying, "That's because of good parenting."  That made my day! )

Here are a couple of pictures from our trip today:

Luke and Mommy Art

One of the things Luke and I do after his meals or snacks is to draw pictures on his high chair tray with washable crayons.  This is really fun, for both of us, because it's interactive.  Basically it starts with me asking Luke to pick out 3 colors from our crayon bag. He'll say which colors he wants (he knows ALL of his colors now, including the not-so-standard colors, i.e. gray, gold.  We are still working on puce and burnt umber).   Then we'll  both start drawing and he'll usually pass the crayon to me and say, "mow-mow", "tree", "birdie".  This means he wants me to draw some of those things.  Once I've drawn the item, I'll ask him to draw grass, sky or point to where he wants me to put the plums on our plum tree.

Here is a picture of our latest artwork:

Far left -  Plum tree.  Luke painstakingly selects where each plum should go.  Then he'll add grass in any color he is "feeling" in that moment (looks to be orange, blue, and green today). 

Top center include pictures of his favorite foods- O's and noodles (quinoa noodles, that is). 

Middle center - Green birdie with orange sky and blue water.

Lower far right- Daddy with his mow-mow. Lots and lots of green grass... So much grass that it's growing straight up into the sky!!

Top right-  Luke is SO advanced that he insists upon writing "I love Mommy" on his tray every time!!!  :)

Ohhh... I's scared!!!

Luke has been talking in two, sometimes three, word phrases for a couple of months now. This past week his talking in phrases has REALLY picked up.  Unless he is saying NO, which at this stage is more than I would like, he is using 2 or 3 word phrases. Some of his most recent and common phrases include:

• Button... Push it - He absolutely loves this one and uses it several times an hour (just a slight exaggeration - maybe once an hour). He uses this line to either tell you to push a button or to ask if he can push the button.  This goes for anything with any sort of button; washing machine/dryer, remote controls, DVR's, car keys, carbon monoxide alarms, belly buttons (Visitors, be forewarned, if you don't want Luke to push your belly button, wear spanks to cover it up).
• Daddy, Go?  - Meaning where is Daddy?
• Napkin, please - Replace napkin with any word he knows how to say.  Luke is really good with using thank you, please, welcome. Sometimes not using the right word for the right situation, but he is still using them, thank you very much :) 

Today Luke was vacuuming. His version of vacuuming is converting his mega block Fire Truck ladder into a dust buster and making shusssssshhhiiiinnnnggg sounds as he drags his dust buster across the wood floor.

Fire Truck and Ladder BEFORE Luke's dust buster conversion:

Dust Buster with green mega block extension (for all those nooks and crannies):

Luke spends some quality time vacuuming  (Readers, please don't take this as a note that our floors are disgustingly dirty. It's just a past-time of Luke's, I swear "wink wink" Bryan)

Today, with a firm hand, Luke was vigorously dust-busting.   Unfortunately his strong firm hand "broke" the front end of his dust buster.  The front end went flying up in the air and landed behind him:

Being in the "zone" of dust-busting Luke didn't notice the front of his dust buster was missing and continued on with his task.  Then suddenly he stopped and I knew he noticed something was missing from his dust-buster.  He turned to me, with one hand firm clenched around his dust-buster handle, threw both hands up in the air, puffed out his lips in an expression, like "what happened?" 

I asked him, "What's wrong?"  He answered by throwing up both hands higher in the air, puffing his lips out further and this time adding the widening of his eyes and puffing out his chest. I'm a mean mom and pretended not to understand what was going on to see what he would do/say/ask.  He kept his hands up and I could tell was trying to communicate to me that something was wrong with his dust-buster. I finally said, "What happened? Oh... I see...The front of your vacuum is gone??" I said, "Where is it?"

I could see Luke was getting very concerned and I could also tell there was sadness, which started to make me feel sad.  So I said, "Let's look for it."  He started turning around in circles trying to find it. On one of his turns he saw it.  I looked at his face expecting to see happiness and instead I saw the beginnings of watery eyes.  He was still sad and getting more sad by the second.  Then I realized he thought his dust buster was broken.  This piece of the ladder had never come off before. Usually the extension (the green block) will come off, but never both the green AND white piece.  He walked over to me, arms wide, eyes watering and lower lip starting to straighten out into his crying face that I know and love so well... 

I said, "Lukie, its OK- Mommy can fix it!"  Almost instantaneously his "crying" face turned into a smile, he heaved a huge sigh, put a hand over his chest and said.... "Oh, I's scared!!!!" (Which translates into, Oh, I was SOOOOOO scared!). Then he smiled and laughed in happiness.  The huge sigh he exhaled can only be compared to when you think you lose something, like your purse or wallet, your keys or a fifty million dollar check sent to you from Publishers Clearing House (I can dream) and then you find it after looking for it.   That feeling of relief and happiness is one of the BEST feelings in the world, and I got to see Luke experience that feeling for the first time - which is one of the new best feelings I get to experience with having Luke and experiencing his "firsts" with him!

Look Both Ways, Luke....

Whenever Luke and I go on a walk or go to the store, I've tried to be SUPER diligent about asking him if he sees any cars before we start crossing the street.  Luke is much smarter than me and replies, "Yes." I've finally realized I'm asking the wrong question... He is answering Yes because of all of the cars he sees parked in the parking lots, people's driveways, etc.  I've finally learned my lesson and now ask if he sees any cars driving on the street coming towards us.  That question is a little harder for him to understand and he usually doesn't say anything to that one.   Nevertheless, the other day I was making dinner and Luke was off playing by himself on his "mow-mow" and was actually "driving" it this time.  I look over at him as he was driving and saw him come to a complete stop (which any police officer would be proud of). He looked to his right and looked to his left... Then he said, "Cars?" (I swear it was in a question like tone!!!) and then said "no", then he proceeded to cross the street... I was SOOO proud!!!

* Not actual footage from a scene of the event mentioned above... But I had to find an excuse to use this picture.... This "cycle" as Luke calls it, is a gift from his Mimi and Poppy - Bryan's Mom and Dad.