I Love You!

Each night when I put Lucas to bed, we have a little cuddle time before I put him in his crib. The lights are out, we snuggle and rock, and then I give him a kiss and tell him I love him. He usually says "something" back to me but it doesn't sound like anything. As you all know, Lucas' speech is a little delayed and it's just compounded by him being a pretty quiet kid. So when we figure out what he is saying, it's a major event because he just doesn't talk that much.

Last night I decided to pay better attention. And we started earlier. I said "Lucas, I love you!" And he smiled and said "I you!" "I love you, Lucas!" "I you!"

"I you!" My little boy loves me! And I you him, too!

Lucas at 2

Happy Birthday, Lucas!

My baby just turned 2. 2!!! Where has the time gone? I always think that a child is a "baby" until they turn 2. Does this mean that Lucas is no longer a baby? Is he now a little kid? He's certainly a toddler and for sure he is an angel. He brings a smile to my heart every time I look at him.

Lucas had his birthday party at Build a Bear in the mall. We invited the neighbor kids and my friend Liz's kids and it was cute and fun. There were 11 kids total (although one didn't make an animal) and the whole party pretty much consisted of everyone making their own teddy bear (dog, cat, bunny, monkey, whatever), but it was really sweet because everyone gets a turn stuffing their animal and then they all get a heart to put into their animal and a heart to put into Lucas' animal. So Lucas ended up with 12 hearts inside of his stuffed doggie and all the hearts are filled with love from his friends. Since Build a Bear doesn't have a party room, I made cake pops for all the kids to take home with them afterwards. None of them made it past 2 steps outside the door of the store (most of them inside the store) before they were devoured. I gave some to the girls who worked at the store too and think I made some lifelong friends. :)

The crown was from daycare -- he loved it!

At the age of 2, Lucas is very coordinated, very happy, and very sweet. He loves stuffed animals (especially dogs), his blanket, and his mommy. He loves meatballs and birthday cake. He loves coffee (no mistaking it, this is MY kid!) He loves his high chair (we're having a hard time transitioning to a booster seat) and he loves water. Bath night happens every night and he is pretty good about going to bed quickly afterwards. Lucas is still in a crib although I think in the next few months we're going to try to take the front rail down and see how he does in the toddler portion of the bed. I kind of think though that if we are going to take him out of the crib that we just turn the crib right into the full-size bed that it will become. Bed vs. toddler bed -- any difference here? We are introducing the potty to Lucas and he is very interested in reading the potty story, but not so interested in using the actual potty. He's not uninterested though and does sit on it sometimes (before his nightly bath). His speech is still a bit delayed although I'm hearing a few more words and consonants from him lately.

Today was Lucas' 2 year check-up at the doctor. I was anxious to speak with the doctor about several things and had a list in my head of what to talk to her about. Poor Lucas remembers well though what happens at the doctor's office, and he was clingy and crying while we were there. I did get to speak to the doctor though and she made me feel a lot better about many things. 1) We have used the nebulizer a few times this winter with Lucas. Should we be concerned about asthma? Her response: keep an eye on it, but not concerned. It seems mild and many kids grow out of this by the time they're 3. 2) I'm seeing a pattern with the "colds" each spring. Could Lucas have allergies? Her response: Good for you for paying attention! Yes, he might, but again, if it's mild, he may grow out of them in a few years. He is at this point okay for taking OTC allergy meds. 3) Lucas' speech is behind what Zach was at this age. His hearing is fine. Should we be worried about his speech? Her response: he's a few months behind where he should be, but all kids are different and he is still in the range of "normal". He wouldn't qualify for early speech intervention but let's keep an eye on this and see if he is progressing. So overall, a good check up. Lucas is growing well and is now 35" tall and 31.9 pounds. That puts him in the 75th and 85th percentiles and she said he is beautiful. She said this while looking at him and said it probably 3 more times. Of course, Lucas was flushed (all that crying) so his cheeks were red and his eyes were brilliant blue and he did look quite beautiful. :)

The water table was a gift to Lucas from Grammy and Papa Bob!
Both boys clearly love it!

Easter and Anniversaries

April 8, 2006

 Easter is one of those holidays that "jumps around". Meaning, it's never the same day each year. I think it has something to do with the full moon, but I have never quite figured it out. I think it's funny that Easter was early in 2010 (so before Lucas was born) and then late in 2011 which meant that Easter came that year after he had already turned 1 year old. I just think that's kind of funny. :) But anyway, this year Easter happened to fall on my wedding anniversary! Happy 6th anniversary to me and Kevin! What a beautiful day we had for our wedding. So much fun and such great memories. It's funny to look back at our wedding pictures now and think how far we've come -- we bought a house and moved to the suburbs, had a couple of kids, graduated Emily from high school, and have made a life together. Kevin and I have been together for a looong time (longer unmarried than married, so far!), but the last 6 years have absolutely been the best years and I sometimes want to pinch myself, to be sure this is all really happening to me. I really am the luckiest girl in the world!

Emily had the Easter weekend off from work and came home for a couple of nights. These visits home are becoming more of a rare occurrence since she works most weekends so it was a special treat to have her visit. She even babysat for us on Saturday night so Kevin and I could go out for a nice dinner out. The boys were of course thrilled to have her home, and Lucas was so cute when he woke up on Sunday morning. He usually calls for me if he wakes up before I do: "Mama, Mama!" So he did that but I didn't get up right away. His voice is so cute (and I was so tired) so I just laid in bed listening to him for a minute. Well, then Lucas remembered who had put him to bed the night before so he started calling: "Em, Em!" I got a big smile on my face and ran out of bed to him so he didn't wake her up just yet.

I'm starting to recognize a pattern (and I've been in denial about this) with the last 2 years that Lucas seems to have a cold on his birthday. Clearly these are allergies (the part I've been in denial about), but poor baby, he is just miserable for about a week or two in the spring. This year was no different and Lucas was not feeling great on Easter. He was pretty grumpy and we decided to not take any chances on him melting down in church and opted to not take him. Kevin and Zach went though and prayed for us. :) Lucas and I played at home and eventually woke up Emily so she could partake in the Easter egg hunt. She didn't actually collect any eggs, but she did follow along behind Lucas and pick up the eggs that kept falling out of his basket as he toddled around the yard. We spent the rest of the day sorting through the eggs and giving each boy a big tupperware container with the contents of their eggs inside, and then finally coloring eggs! Zach was excellent at this part. 4 years is a good age for so many things -- he finally has patience and understanding of how things work, and he really got into the egg dying. Lucas was a riot with picking up eggs that were in one color and plopping them into another color. The plopping was accompanied by a nice "crack" sound as the egg hit the bottom of the bowl.

Egg dying is fun!