Winter 2009 Forget-me-nots

1. Luke used to climb up onto the recliner and sit with me while I was feeding Emma.
2. Luke was an incredibly picky eater, but always loved meatballs, pancakes, (golden) and Grahams cereal.
3. Luke would say "maybe tomorrow" instead of "no" when we'd ask him a yes/no question. Guess I overused that when I didn't feel like doing something.
4. When Luke would wake up in the morning, he would stay in his bed and say "Daddy... where ARE you?" in a sing-song voice.
5. Luke transitioned to the big-boy bed that Nana & Poppa got him when Emma was only 3 weeks old... and I was so scared that it would be a disaster, but it wasn't!!!
6. For the first few weeks after Emma came home, Luke would go up to her, shake her hand, and say "Nice to meet you, Emma!"
7. Luke loved his Gummy Vitamins, which were themed after Marvel comic book superheroes. He called them his "Hulk Vitamins- 2 per day." This is because Luke would always ask for more, and Phil would say "you can only have 2 per day."
8. Luke was the King of No. He would change everything into a "no."
9. Luke was obsessed with the movie "Howl's moving castle" and loved to build a moving castle out of Mega Blocks.
10. Once, when he was going "Pee Pee in the Potty," Luke said in reference to the toilet, "I don't go in there... rats will bite my penis." I SWEAR, we never said anything like that to him. Ever. After all, we *want* him to get potty trained, not traumatize him forever!!!!
11. Emma smiled at us for the first time the third week of March, when she was 6 weeks old.
12. We spent many mornings walking laps around Riverfront Park in our Zooper double stroller, in a somewhat futile attempt to lose the baby weight. Luke would read books, Emma would sleep, and I would walk walk walk walk.
13. Luke loved to say "okay, sure" instead of "yes," on the very rare occasions that he would say yes to something!
14. Luke's favorite songs were "How Far We've Come" by Matchbox 20, "Not My Time" by Three Doors Down, "American Boy" (still!) by Estelle and Kanye West, and "Pocket full of Sunshine" by Natasha Bettingfield. He would say "I LOVE that song!" when it would come on the radio or Ipod rotation.
15. Luke loved to say "I can't try" when he couldn't do something, "thats pretty good!" when he tried a new food that he liked.
16. Luke looked so cute in his baseball hat and sunglasses.
17. Luke loved to fill buckets with sand from his sandbox, walk it over to the patio, and dump it on the cement and on the patio table. This provided endless fun for LUke and endless sweeping for me.
18. Every single day, when Phil would leave for work, Luke would say, "Where'd Daddy go?" I would say "he went to work to earn money for the family" and then Luke would say "go see him?" Every single day.
19. Luke decided that he loved his pediatrician, Dr. Bean, only when we started going in for Emma's well-baby checks. Before that, he would scream through the whole appointment.
20. Anytime anybody would get a boo boo, Luke would say "Gotta go see Dr. Bean!"
21. Luke finally completely mastered his colors! We taught him his colors by quizzing him on the colors of passing cars and trucks when on the highway.
22. Emma slept in a little white bassinet in our room at night. When she would wake up, I would get her, change her, and feed her. Then I would swaddle her and put her back in the bassinet. If she didn't go right back to sleep, Phil would get up with her. That was our system and we loved it!
23. Luke's favorite pajamas were his Batman and Superman outfits, complete with capes!
24. Every night when we tucked Luke in, we would say "Show me McQueen!" and he would shine his Lightning McQUeen (from the movie "Cars") flashlight on the ceiling. Then, after we shut the door, he would use that flashlight to look at books until he fell asleep. So cute!
25. On nice evenings, Phil would take Luke to the "Nastics Park," this little playground at the end of our street, to play. Luke named it the Nastics Park during the Summer 2008 Olympic Games, when he thought the playground equipment looked like gymnastics apparatus. He would hang on the bars pretending he was a gymnast.
26. When Emma would sleep in the swing, Luke would go up to it and start rocking it. He would try to sing the "Rock a bye Baby" lullaby. I would sorta get irritated because i wanted her to stay asleep, but it was sooooooo adorable.
27. Luke just could not wrap his mind around the fact that American cheese comes wrapped in plastic. He would go into the fridge, take out a slice, and try to eat it plastic and all. And then he would get confused.
28. I became addicted to Facebook.

...more to come...

The Crazy that is my life...

Those of you on Facebook have already seen some of these, but I thought I'd post them for my family. Emma is 6 weeks old today, and I already can't remember life before her! I think that Luke has adjusted really well- in part due to the fact that she sleeps most of the day, which allows for plenty of quality mommy/son time. He hasn't felt displaced yet, so he hasn't felt the need to act out too much. Aside, that is, from the running off at parks and answering "no" to everything we ever ask him. Par for the two-year-old course, I"m told. Funny story: we were at Sunday family dinner last night, and Luke's cousin, Gabe, was there for the first time in about a month. Gabe is three and is going through a really bossy phase. Like I said, Luke is two and is going through a really defiant, "no" phase. You can imagine how their conversations went! Gabe was always trying to get Luke to do things, and Luke was always saying no! They were frustrating each other to no end! It was hilarious to watch! :)

I call this one "Future Blackmail"

We were snuggling on the bed this morning, and Luke was being so cute to Emma. He was hugging her and singing to her, all while pretending he was a garbage truck driver... and when I tried to take a video, he did what he has been doing a LOT lately even though I beg him not to.... you'll see. ;)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day is one of those holidays I never really cared much about. In school, I always made sure to wear green to avoid the pinching, but once college rolled around, I really stopped caring. I'm not a barfly, and don't drink much, so the "green beer" never did it for me. I don't even think I have any Irish in me. BUT, now that I have kids, I love to get my festive on! And what better way to spice up an otherwise bland month (except for Strayer Week, of course!) than to dress up in green and green food!? Exactly.

The fun began for us yesterday, when we headed off to our friend Marcie's for a St. Patty's Day themed playdate. Everyone brought green snacks (green in color- not in environmental friendliness, although my snap peas would probably be considered environmentally friendly... right?), and wore green clothes. We decorated shamrock shaped sugar cookies with green frosting, made a green foam shamrock craft, and whooped it up in the backyard. I had a great time chatting with Marcie, Carol, Michelle, Courtney, Kristen, and Sarah, and Luke seemed to enjoy himself with the kiddos. Emma slept through the whole thing, so I'm not sure what she thought of it! :P




Then, today, we headed over to Brandi Fenton park for the Meetup Moms St. Patty's Day Craftdate slash Parkdate. The weather was pretty warm (upper 80's) and it was super sunny. Emma, again, slept through the whole thing, which was such a blessing because Luke was pretty high maintenance- running off to explore the park (this time with his buddy Jack), making the craft, eating green muffins, and playing in the play area. It was a relaxing morning overall, and I was happy that I got to chat a bit with my friends and catch up with some I haven't seen in awhile. Also, we managed to avoid sunburn... and its only March!





So for tonight I am trying to think of something festive to make for dinner. We don't have any corned beef (although it makes sense to me now why Costco had so much of it last weekend- duh!) but we do have potatoes. The Irish love potatoes, right?! And green things?! Maybe I'll make green mashed potatoes. Remember, I have an audience of a 2 year old and a man who will eat almost anything... and loves mashed potatoes. They're sure to be a hit!

Edited to Add: Never got my act together on the mashed potatoes. Made green french toast (dyed the egg/milk mixture!) and hash browns. Good enough...

Hell has frozen over

Luke ate veggies today. Snap peas to be specific. Drenched in ranch dressing- but who cares! Also- I should have known better than to use the phrase "Proud Poppa" when referring to Phil. Luke heard me and to him, Poppa is his grandfather... who lives in Phoenix. This confused him, which was actually quite funny!

Awwwww

I am so happy I captured this on video...

Thanks Mom!

My mom came to visit this week, and it was so nice having her around. Even though we were pretty settled into a routine, her timing was perfect because a) I'm exhausted and b) I've been having "issues" with Luke... he's entered the terrible 2's. I'm about ready to pull my hair out! I realize that this is all developmentally normal, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating that he runs away from me at the park! Mom helped me wrangle him at the park and the mall and held Emma when needed so that I could take care of Luke. Luke enjoyed having the extra attention- he loves Nana! Also, my mom watched both kiddos while Phil and I snuck off to Cracker Barrel for some much needed adult conversation and pancakes. Awesome!

This one is for my mom...

...who is coming to visit tomorrow but keeps asking how Luke is handling his new sister...

Picnic Day!

Today was the Meetup Moms annual picnic! The Assistant Organizers and I worked super hard to plan a fun day for the group, and everything turned out perfect. The weather was beautiful, the train and jumping castle were HUGE hits, the food was delicious, and everything ran really smoothly. Luke had the best time, and fell asleep on the way home. :) Here are a few of the pics from our fun day with friends!

Luke loved the castle!

Week Three...

We have been going to the park every day, and I am now pretty comfortable with getting us up, ready, and out of the house in the mornings. And although I did forget to brush Luke's teeth three mornings in a row (and mine once), we haven't forgotten anything major, or had any huge issues. It helps when one of us sleeps through everything...