This baby has a name and it's....
PRETTY BABY!!!
.
Friday, March 25, 2011
The Last 2 Months...
There has been a lot of transitions going on in our household over the last 2 months. It started with the potty training in mid-January, which I of course blogged about. I have to tell you that Luke has not regressed one bit (yet!). He is doing so awesome. I can say that I 95% trust him. He will go when he has to go. I only 'make' him go before we leave the house or before he takes a nap or goes to bed. He actually worries me sometimes because he goes so infrequently. He has a really great bladder and is too stubborn to take time from playing to go potty.
He now sits forwards most of the time, but he still straddles hence why the pants have to come off (or at least one leg anyways)!
One funny story is that just this past Monday Luke was at the park a couple of blocks from Punky's house when he ran up to his teacher Jaime and said he had to "go poo poo". She quickly gathered the kids to walk back to the house. He did so great 'holding it' all the way back to Punky's. I have to laugh though because he probably didn't have many friends the rest of the afternoon since he made everyone leave the park - ha!
Another transition is the one to Luke's new room, which I posted pictures of previously. The first night in his big boy room was Sunday, February 20th (the day we came back from Key Lime Cove). He was more than excited to sleep in his big bed and fell asleep with no problems. He did not wake up once during the night! And that is pretty much the way it has gone since. Not once has he gotten out of his bed in the middle of the night or given us issues going to sleep at night.
Our nightly routine goes like this: put on jammies, brush Luke's teeth (which he has gotten so much better about!), go potty, he climbs into his bed and turn his lamp on, he crawls under the covers, grabs his paci, we all lay in his bed together and read 2-4 books, he crawls out from under the covers to turn his lamp off (he must do it, we can't), we sing songs, we giggle, we give kisses and say 'I love yous', mommy and daddy leave the room and Luke drifts off to dreamland.
Luke and I have a 'thing' at bedtime. It goes something like this:
Me: goodnight
Luke: goodnight
Me: sleep tight
Luke: sleep tight
Me: don't let the bed bugs bite
Luke: ok mommy
Most mornings Wally and I are awake already getting ready for work and Luke will get out of bed and come walk into our room (at the beginning he would call out for me, but not anymore). One morning though, Wally and I were both still sleeping when I could feel this 'presence'. Sure enough, I opened my eyes and Luke was just staring at me. It was very startling and funny though because I remember doing that to my parents when I was little. I wouldn't say a word, but just stare at them until they realized I was there.
The next big transition was to wearing big boy underwear at nap and bedtime. Our daycare makes the transition at naptime after they have started potty training for a couple of weeks. Luke did great aside from maybe 1 or 2 accidents at the beginning. I was never brave enough to make that transition at home. It was just 'easier' to put a pull-up or diaper on him. Finally, after 2 straight weeks of him waking up perfectly dry in the morning, I decided to go for it. We did nap time first with no problems at all and then on Saturday, March 12th, we went for it at bedtime too. I reminded Luke a million times before he went to sleep that he was wearing his underwear so he needed to call out for me if he needed to potty. The first night was a success!!! Night 2 was our first and only accident. I checked on him when I woke up at 5:30 and he was dry so somewhere between 5:30 and 6:3o he had an accident. That night I began sending Luke subliminal messages in the middle of the night. I would wake up to check on him and remind him that he had on big boy underwear so he needed to wake mommy up to go potty and in his sleep, he must have really heard me because he said "ok". It was too funny! But he has been great since! I just make sure to remind him every night.
Luke has also been making the transition himself to being Mr. Independent. This of course is a Jekyll and Hyde thing though because sometimes he MUST do everything himself and other times he acts completely helpless. One thing he is very independent about though is dressing himself. Ever since we started potty training he puts on his own underwear and pants each times he goes potty (he actually has to take everything off completely when he goes). He knows and repeats to himself and us that Big Bird or Elmo or Thomas (whoever he is wearing that day) goes in the back and that the tag goes in the back too. That is how he learned how to put his pants on. He does a really great job of this! Luke has also gotten pretty good about putting his own shoes on too. While I am loving how independent he is, it also makes it that much longer for us to get out the door. We definitely have to 'plan accordingly'!
It was pajama day at daycare!
We have started reading a "Big Brother" book a couple of nights a week. Luke is learning that things will change a bit when the baby gets here, but it is all for the better! He basically knows the book by heart already and will tell you that he has to put his toys away so the baby doesn't get hurt and that he is going to teach the baby to play basketball - 2 things that are mentioned in the book!
I am 100% aware of how lucky we are that Luke has met so many of these milestones already and that he adapts so well to whatever change we throw his way. I am also 100% aware that all of this could go out the window when the baby comes. I know there may be some regression, but I feel really good about how things have gone so far. We want the transition from an only child to a big brother to be smooth and fun for Luke.
I am just so proud of Luke and so amazed at how big he is getting. Both mine and Wally's parents are so amazed and proud too, but they keep warning us that we are going to be "in for it" with baby #2. Is it possible to be this lucky 2 times in a row?!?! Time will tell!!!
(I have been really bad about taking pictures lately...I need to get back into the swing of things!)
He now sits forwards most of the time, but he still straddles hence why the pants have to come off (or at least one leg anyways)!
One funny story is that just this past Monday Luke was at the park a couple of blocks from Punky's house when he ran up to his teacher Jaime and said he had to "go poo poo". She quickly gathered the kids to walk back to the house. He did so great 'holding it' all the way back to Punky's. I have to laugh though because he probably didn't have many friends the rest of the afternoon since he made everyone leave the park - ha!
Another transition is the one to Luke's new room, which I posted pictures of previously. The first night in his big boy room was Sunday, February 20th (the day we came back from Key Lime Cove). He was more than excited to sleep in his big bed and fell asleep with no problems. He did not wake up once during the night! And that is pretty much the way it has gone since. Not once has he gotten out of his bed in the middle of the night or given us issues going to sleep at night.
Our nightly routine goes like this: put on jammies, brush Luke's teeth (which he has gotten so much better about!), go potty, he climbs into his bed and turn his lamp on, he crawls under the covers, grabs his paci, we all lay in his bed together and read 2-4 books, he crawls out from under the covers to turn his lamp off (he must do it, we can't), we sing songs, we giggle, we give kisses and say 'I love yous', mommy and daddy leave the room and Luke drifts off to dreamland.
Luke and I have a 'thing' at bedtime. It goes something like this:
Me: goodnight
Luke: goodnight
Me: sleep tight
Luke: sleep tight
Me: don't let the bed bugs bite
Luke: ok mommy
Most mornings Wally and I are awake already getting ready for work and Luke will get out of bed and come walk into our room (at the beginning he would call out for me, but not anymore). One morning though, Wally and I were both still sleeping when I could feel this 'presence'. Sure enough, I opened my eyes and Luke was just staring at me. It was very startling and funny though because I remember doing that to my parents when I was little. I wouldn't say a word, but just stare at them until they realized I was there.
The next big transition was to wearing big boy underwear at nap and bedtime. Our daycare makes the transition at naptime after they have started potty training for a couple of weeks. Luke did great aside from maybe 1 or 2 accidents at the beginning. I was never brave enough to make that transition at home. It was just 'easier' to put a pull-up or diaper on him. Finally, after 2 straight weeks of him waking up perfectly dry in the morning, I decided to go for it. We did nap time first with no problems at all and then on Saturday, March 12th, we went for it at bedtime too. I reminded Luke a million times before he went to sleep that he was wearing his underwear so he needed to call out for me if he needed to potty. The first night was a success!!! Night 2 was our first and only accident. I checked on him when I woke up at 5:30 and he was dry so somewhere between 5:30 and 6:3o he had an accident. That night I began sending Luke subliminal messages in the middle of the night. I would wake up to check on him and remind him that he had on big boy underwear so he needed to wake mommy up to go potty and in his sleep, he must have really heard me because he said "ok". It was too funny! But he has been great since! I just make sure to remind him every night.
Luke has also been making the transition himself to being Mr. Independent. This of course is a Jekyll and Hyde thing though because sometimes he MUST do everything himself and other times he acts completely helpless. One thing he is very independent about though is dressing himself. Ever since we started potty training he puts on his own underwear and pants each times he goes potty (he actually has to take everything off completely when he goes). He knows and repeats to himself and us that Big Bird or Elmo or Thomas (whoever he is wearing that day) goes in the back and that the tag goes in the back too. That is how he learned how to put his pants on. He does a really great job of this! Luke has also gotten pretty good about putting his own shoes on too. While I am loving how independent he is, it also makes it that much longer for us to get out the door. We definitely have to 'plan accordingly'!
It was pajama day at daycare!
We have started reading a "Big Brother" book a couple of nights a week. Luke is learning that things will change a bit when the baby gets here, but it is all for the better! He basically knows the book by heart already and will tell you that he has to put his toys away so the baby doesn't get hurt and that he is going to teach the baby to play basketball - 2 things that are mentioned in the book!
I am 100% aware of how lucky we are that Luke has met so many of these milestones already and that he adapts so well to whatever change we throw his way. I am also 100% aware that all of this could go out the window when the baby comes. I know there may be some regression, but I feel really good about how things have gone so far. We want the transition from an only child to a big brother to be smooth and fun for Luke.
I am just so proud of Luke and so amazed at how big he is getting. Both mine and Wally's parents are so amazed and proud too, but they keep warning us that we are going to be "in for it" with baby #2. Is it possible to be this lucky 2 times in a row?!?! Time will tell!!!
(I have been really bad about taking pictures lately...I need to get back into the swing of things!)
Monday, March 21, 2011
Playdate
Saturday we had a playdate with my friend (and co-worker) Lisa and her daughter Dinah. You may remember Dinah from the New Year's Day Party. Her and Luke are 2 months apart!
We met for storytime at Barnes & Noble. The featured story that day was "A Very Hungry Caterpillar". The two of them started like this:
Then it turned into this:
And well both of them became very busy with other books and things! After a few books were read, it was time to color.
[Luke getting his crayons and sheet to color.]
and time eat cookies!
After some more playing and reading at the bookstore, we headed over to Chik-Fil-A for lunch and more fun in the play area.
The kids had such a blast! It was so fun to watch them play together and both were sound asleep within minutes of getting in the car!!! We definitely need to get these two together again soon!
We met for storytime at Barnes & Noble. The featured story that day was "A Very Hungry Caterpillar". The two of them started like this:
Then it turned into this:
And well both of them became very busy with other books and things! After a few books were read, it was time to color.
[Luke getting his crayons and sheet to color.]
and time eat cookies!
After some more playing and reading at the bookstore, we headed over to Chik-Fil-A for lunch and more fun in the play area.
The kids had such a blast! It was so fun to watch them play together and both were sound asleep within minutes of getting in the car!!! We definitely need to get these two together again soon!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Happy St. Patty's Day!!!
Luke of course had more than one shirt for the holiday (as seems to happen with every holiday!) so we had to start the St. Patty's attire yesterday!
He has been great at posing for me lately - I usually get one cute and one silly one!
Cute one
Silly one
Cute one
Silly one
Now let me take you way back to 2009 for Luke's first St. Patty's day!
A cute one
and a silly one.
Gosh, I can't believe how much Luke has changed and how quickly it has gone by. I am becoming even more nostalgic these days as I prepare myself for being a mommy of 2! I just can't believe how lucky I am :)
He has been great at posing for me lately - I usually get one cute and one silly one!
Cute one
Silly one
Cute one
Silly one
Now let me take you way back to 2009 for Luke's first St. Patty's day!
A cute one
and a silly one.
Gosh, I can't believe how much Luke has changed and how quickly it has gone by. I am becoming even more nostalgic these days as I prepare myself for being a mommy of 2! I just can't believe how lucky I am :)
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Spring Fever
Today was a GORGEOUS day and tomorrow is supposed to be even better - yay!!! I rushed out of work as soon as I could so Luke and I could take a walk to the park and play outside as long as possible! It felt really good for me to get out and walk - I have been pretty much a couch potato all winter and fresh air is always good for everyone!
We played at the park!
Seriously, no more pictures Mom!
We chatted with neighbors and waved to school buses (who kindly honked back at us - Luke loves it!). We rode bikes and just had a great time enjoying the weather.
Can't wait to do it all again tomorrow!
We played at the park!
Seriously, no more pictures Mom!
We chatted with neighbors and waved to school buses (who kindly honked back at us - Luke loves it!). We rode bikes and just had a great time enjoying the weather.
Can't wait to do it all again tomorrow!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Seriously...
the baby gender vote is 50/50?!?! I guess we have a 50% chance of having a boy and a 50% chance of having a girl, who would've thought?!?! LOL Someone break the tie already!
One quick update from my doctor's appointment on Friday - my doctor mentioned that when reviewing my 20-week ultrasound, they were only able to get a limited view of the baby's spine, heart, and lungs so I am going to have another ultrasound just to have everything checked out one more time! It is better to have the reassurance than go through the next 17 weeks wondering...
One quick update from my doctor's appointment on Friday - my doctor mentioned that when reviewing my 20-week ultrasound, they were only able to get a limited view of the baby's spine, heart, and lungs so I am going to have another ultrasound just to have everything checked out one more time! It is better to have the reassurance than go through the next 17 weeks wondering...
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Big Boy Room
and other room changes!
We have been busy over the last month or so with some demolition, painting, building, carpeting and decorating. I have to say that we have been in this house almost 4 years and I finally feel like the upstairs is exactly the way it should be. The carpeting in the kids' rooms makes it much more homey and feeling like what was previously the guest bedroom (and now Luke's room) has more of a purpose feels really good!!!
Let's start with the other rooms since Luke's room is the biggest change and most exciting!
Here is a before of the master bedroom. When we were looking at houses, we thought it was a sign that the master bedroom was painted with the different color stripes because it matched our comforter perfectly!
However, we have since changed bedding and had the same paint on the walls so it was time to go with a different color and curtains, etc.
Next up is the upstairs bathroom. This was previously blue, but since Luke's new room was going to be blue I decided to change this bathroom too and make it the kids' bathroom! It is so bright and fun - Luke loves the monsters!!!
The baby's room (Luke's old room) hasn't changed too much other than we got carpeting put in. Previously it was really cheap wood laminate. While Luke was still sleeping in there, we had moved the furniture around a bit. We put the changing table in the closet since he wasn't needing that anymore (and we are very lucky to have big closets in this house!) so there it still remains. I actually really love the look of the room without the changing table, and the furniture will have to be rearranged again if we bring it out of the closet. (Did anyone get by without a changing table? I feel like it is an option now since we have carpeting in the room, but I know Luke was a huge fan of laying on his changing table when he was a baby. Sometimes that was the only spot that would calm him down!)
All that this room needs now is a baby :)
Here is a before (like, way before - when we first moved in).
And now!
Here's the changing table in the closet...
Our one hallway change. Previously, the mirror that is now in our room was in this corner. However, after cleaning out the guest bedroom closet to get it ready for Luke to move in, we realized that we needed more storage for our extra sheets, blankets, pool towels, etc. Luckily we found this narrow storage cabinet that works perfectly! All it needs is some decoration on top.
And finally Luke's new big boy room!!! This room underwent the biggest change. We decided to keep the full-size bed in there since that still gives us options if we have anyone stay over, but the built-in shelving had to go. This was a worry of mine because of climbing and I wanted to make sure that Luke had plenty of room to play with the full-size bed in there. Thanks to my dad for doing the shelving demolition for us!
So here is the before:
And now! There are still a few pictures, etc. to be hung on the wall, but for the most part the room is done and Luke loves it!
We didn't realize that the headboard would make the bed not be right up against the wall so for now we are just shoving pillows there to keep Luke from falling and then the rail on the other side (which folds down so that is nice!).
As I mentioned before, we have large closets in this house so I decided to put his dresser in there so that he has more room to just play!!!
Don't mind the tv. It still needs to find a new home or be put in our storage room.
I will do a separate post on how Luke is doing in his big boy bed, but I will say right now that thus far, the transition has been flawless!!!
Here he is his very first night in his big boy bed! (2/20/11)
We have been busy over the last month or so with some demolition, painting, building, carpeting and decorating. I have to say that we have been in this house almost 4 years and I finally feel like the upstairs is exactly the way it should be. The carpeting in the kids' rooms makes it much more homey and feeling like what was previously the guest bedroom (and now Luke's room) has more of a purpose feels really good!!!
Let's start with the other rooms since Luke's room is the biggest change and most exciting!
Here is a before of the master bedroom. When we were looking at houses, we thought it was a sign that the master bedroom was painted with the different color stripes because it matched our comforter perfectly!
However, we have since changed bedding and had the same paint on the walls so it was time to go with a different color and curtains, etc.
Next up is the upstairs bathroom. This was previously blue, but since Luke's new room was going to be blue I decided to change this bathroom too and make it the kids' bathroom! It is so bright and fun - Luke loves the monsters!!!
The baby's room (Luke's old room) hasn't changed too much other than we got carpeting put in. Previously it was really cheap wood laminate. While Luke was still sleeping in there, we had moved the furniture around a bit. We put the changing table in the closet since he wasn't needing that anymore (and we are very lucky to have big closets in this house!) so there it still remains. I actually really love the look of the room without the changing table, and the furniture will have to be rearranged again if we bring it out of the closet. (Did anyone get by without a changing table? I feel like it is an option now since we have carpeting in the room, but I know Luke was a huge fan of laying on his changing table when he was a baby. Sometimes that was the only spot that would calm him down!)
All that this room needs now is a baby :)
Here is a before (like, way before - when we first moved in).
And now!
Here's the changing table in the closet...
Our one hallway change. Previously, the mirror that is now in our room was in this corner. However, after cleaning out the guest bedroom closet to get it ready for Luke to move in, we realized that we needed more storage for our extra sheets, blankets, pool towels, etc. Luckily we found this narrow storage cabinet that works perfectly! All it needs is some decoration on top.
And finally Luke's new big boy room!!! This room underwent the biggest change. We decided to keep the full-size bed in there since that still gives us options if we have anyone stay over, but the built-in shelving had to go. This was a worry of mine because of climbing and I wanted to make sure that Luke had plenty of room to play with the full-size bed in there. Thanks to my dad for doing the shelving demolition for us!
So here is the before:
And now! There are still a few pictures, etc. to be hung on the wall, but for the most part the room is done and Luke loves it!
We didn't realize that the headboard would make the bed not be right up against the wall so for now we are just shoving pillows there to keep Luke from falling and then the rail on the other side (which folds down so that is nice!).
As I mentioned before, we have large closets in this house so I decided to put his dresser in there so that he has more room to just play!!!
Don't mind the tv. It still needs to find a new home or be put in our storage room.
I will do a separate post on how Luke is doing in his big boy bed, but I will say right now that thus far, the transition has been flawless!!!
Here he is his very first night in his big boy bed! (2/20/11)
Thursday, March 10, 2011
A Day at the Shedd
This past Sunday we spent the day at the Shedd. We had recently watched "Finding Nemo" so Luke was really into all things that live in the sea! We did lots of searching for Nemo and Dory! It was a really great day!
We found Nemo!
The aquatic show was really neat. We saw beluga whales, dolphins...
and penguins walked in front of us!
Luke enjoyed the show!
Then it was Luke's turn to play in some water...
kiss a penguin...
and dress like a penguin!
We couldn't avoid the play area of course!
That tongue is ALWAYS out these days!
Check out this eel - gross!!!
Check out these two adorable boys - I love this picture!
Checking out 2 disgusting, humongous spiders!
This wasn't Luke's first time at the Shedd....here is a picture of Luke at 2 months old....
and now!
We ended our trip with Luke's first face painting. I wasn't sure how he would do, but he was perfectly still and could NOT believe there was a shark on his face!!!
We found Nemo!
The aquatic show was really neat. We saw beluga whales, dolphins...
and penguins walked in front of us!
Luke enjoyed the show!
Then it was Luke's turn to play in some water...
kiss a penguin...
and dress like a penguin!
We couldn't avoid the play area of course!
That tongue is ALWAYS out these days!
Check out this eel - gross!!!
Check out these two adorable boys - I love this picture!
Checking out 2 disgusting, humongous spiders!
This wasn't Luke's first time at the Shedd....here is a picture of Luke at 2 months old....
and now!
We ended our trip with Luke's first face painting. I wasn't sure how he would do, but he was perfectly still and could NOT believe there was a shark on his face!!!
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