.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Future Frontman
Luke may have a future as being the frontman of a band. He found our Rockband microphone the other day and has been walking around "singing" into it (or more like on it :) ) ever since.
A Healthy Boy
Today Luke and I headed to visit Dr. Panzica for Luke's 15-month well baby check-up. Luke weighed in at 24lbs. 6 oz. and was 31 inches long. If you haven't been following along, here is Luke's growth over the past 15 months just for fun!
Birth - 7 lbs. 9 oz. / 20.5 inches
5 Days- 7 lbs. 4 oz. / 20.5 inches
1 month - 9 lbs. 4 oz. / 21.5 inches
2 months - 12 lbs. 3 oz. / 24 inches
4 months - 16 lbs. 8 oz. / 25 inches
6 months - 19 lbs. 1 oz. / 27 inches
9 months - 23 lbs. 1 oz. / 29.25 inches
1 year - 23 lbs. 4 oz. / 30 inches
He is as healthy as can be and doctor was impressed with Luke's almost 15 word vocabulary! Hopefully we won't have to go back until his 18-month appt. in June!
Monday, March 15, 2010
One Year Ago....
Just about one year ago today, I posted this. It is hard to believe that Luke has now been going to Punky's for a full-year. I am still just as happy - if not even happier - with the place (and ALL of the teachers) as I was the day we chose it in November 2008. Each of the teacher's love Luke so much and it is evident that he loves them too by the way he interacts with each of them.
He smiles and giggles as I pull into Punky's driveway. He throws his blankie and paci off to the side of his carseat ready to go play for the day! There haven't been tears in the morning in quite a long time. He willingly goes into Jamie's arms in the morning and leans in to give me a kiss (did I mention he is giving kisses A LOT now???? It is the best and cutest thing EVER! Gotta love those baby kisses!). We wave bye-bye and off he goes to eat some breakfast.
He smiles and giggles (and sometimes a whiny "momma") when I pick him up too. He is so excited to see me- that is a wonderful feeling! He "runs" into my arms for a big hug. Sometimes he will grab his coat when he sees my car pull up (well, not my new car, he doesn't quite recognize it yet as being my car). Another mom has a car that is a similar color to my old car so last week Luke ran for his coat when he saw the car pull up. Punky told him it was Amaya's momma and not his and she said he let out a big sigh, but just went back to playing, patiently waiting for me to come! While I love him running right to me when I walk into the room, I also love when he doesn't notice me right away, and I can watch him play and interact with the other kids. The other day he was playing with a car (surprise, surprise) and was trying to give it to a little boy named Brayden. Brayden wasn't really feeling it, but Luke kept offering and just had a huge smile on his face...I could just watch him play all day!
He is still napping and eating really well there too! He is fully rested when we get home so it is just playtime, dinnertime, bathtime, and some more playing before bed. Other than his short fits of "feed me now", Luke is a really happy guy in the evenings, which is great. I couldn't imagine being away from him all day long and him being a crabby mess every night.
I am so thankful to have found such a great place for Luke to spend his days and for Punky being so flexible with my Fridays off/working from home and our summer schedule.
Oh and by the way, I don't think I ever said that the name of the daycare is "With Loving Care" (I always just say Punky's house, but there is an actual name associated with it). It is the perfect name for such a wonderful place!
He smiles and giggles as I pull into Punky's driveway. He throws his blankie and paci off to the side of his carseat ready to go play for the day! There haven't been tears in the morning in quite a long time. He willingly goes into Jamie's arms in the morning and leans in to give me a kiss (did I mention he is giving kisses A LOT now???? It is the best and cutest thing EVER! Gotta love those baby kisses!). We wave bye-bye and off he goes to eat some breakfast.
He smiles and giggles (and sometimes a whiny "momma") when I pick him up too. He is so excited to see me- that is a wonderful feeling! He "runs" into my arms for a big hug. Sometimes he will grab his coat when he sees my car pull up (well, not my new car, he doesn't quite recognize it yet as being my car). Another mom has a car that is a similar color to my old car so last week Luke ran for his coat when he saw the car pull up. Punky told him it was Amaya's momma and not his and she said he let out a big sigh, but just went back to playing, patiently waiting for me to come! While I love him running right to me when I walk into the room, I also love when he doesn't notice me right away, and I can watch him play and interact with the other kids. The other day he was playing with a car (surprise, surprise) and was trying to give it to a little boy named Brayden. Brayden wasn't really feeling it, but Luke kept offering and just had a huge smile on his face...I could just watch him play all day!
He is still napping and eating really well there too! He is fully rested when we get home so it is just playtime, dinnertime, bathtime, and some more playing before bed. Other than his short fits of "feed me now", Luke is a really happy guy in the evenings, which is great. I couldn't imagine being away from him all day long and him being a crabby mess every night.
I am so thankful to have found such a great place for Luke to spend his days and for Punky being so flexible with my Fridays off/working from home and our summer schedule.
Oh and by the way, I don't think I ever said that the name of the daycare is "With Loving Care" (I always just say Punky's house, but there is an actual name associated with it). It is the perfect name for such a wonderful place!
Dance Update
Well, Shannon was perfectly fine with me being in the show even though I missed the first rehearsal. Unfortunately, super-organized, crazy planner, me wasn't super-organized the day that I had the revelation that I MUST participate in the recital. I think I was so swept up in the thought of dancing that I thought the recital was Memorial Day weekend, but it is the weekend before, which is the same weekend as my best friend's bachelorette party. :( It dawned on me just as I was falling asleep last Wednesday night...needless to say I didn't sleep well that night. I guess it is better that I realized this now rather than after I attended the next rehearsal, but I was so embarrassed that I had tell Shannon - again - that I can't do it. And honestly, I am really, really bummed to be missing it. BUT, I would NOT miss Jes' bachelorette party for anything. So...the show must go on...
But, I did want to say thank you for all the kind words I received on here and other about my "Dance" post. I feel very lucky to have had so many people that were willing to come support me in May...maybe Luke and I can do a show for you some other time. I can't promise anything too fancy, but Luke is really digging the slow-dance sway lately so that will definitely be featured :)
But, I did want to say thank you for all the kind words I received on here and other about my "Dance" post. I feel very lucky to have had so many people that were willing to come support me in May...maybe Luke and I can do a show for you some other time. I can't promise anything too fancy, but Luke is really digging the slow-dance sway lately so that will definitely be featured :)
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Friday Fun
Friday started off as an Elmo kind of day...
We are still searching for Elmo's missing eyes :(
and it ended with a Fish Fry hosted by the tennis team at Andrew.
Here are some pics from Daddy's classroom.
Little Lukey Howser, MD
He was such a ham all day long!
Helping Daddy put some grades in.
We are still searching for Elmo's missing eyes :(
and it ended with a Fish Fry hosted by the tennis team at Andrew.
Here are some pics from Daddy's classroom.
Little Lukey Howser, MD
He was such a ham all day long!
Helping Daddy put some grades in.
Friday, March 12, 2010
15 Months
Another month has gone by too quickly...Luke is now 15 months! He is still a ball of energy, but has been especially cuddly with his momma lately :)
Lately:
Luke is really into tearing up pages of a magazine so that he can throw the pieces away. He looks at us, says "ga", and walks over to the garbage. We open it up, he throws the piece away, and then claps for himself and then we repeat!
He also is super busy stacking anything lately. I mean anything! He really gets in the zone sometimes.
He pulled these out of the fridge himself.
On top of his pile!
Luke really enjoys taking a piece of dog food out of Nala's bowl and bringing it to her. She could really care less, but at least he is trying to feed her and not himself!
He is super easy for me in the mornings when we are trying to get out the door. Some days he sleeps until 6:30, while other days he is up just before 6. Either way, he is pretty self-entertaining. I put up the gate at the top of the stairs and he just roams, spending most of the time in his closet with all of his books. Once we are both ready to go, we head downstairs, Luke grabs his coat and heads to the door.
He is not so super easy for me when we get home. Supper is still a struggle to get together with a toddler whining like crazy. The second he seems me open the refrigerator, he believes he should eat NOW! I am trying to be proactive and prepare most of dinner the night before so I can just pop it in the oven, etc. Otherwise, Luke just gets started on leftovers from the night before if I can't distract him with other things. Usually asking him to bake me a cake will buy me about 5 minutes. He gets out the big bowl and spoon and stirs away!
This is usually how he ends up after getting "mad" at me for not moving fast enough for his liking!
He is super fun...so entertaining. He always gives us a good laugh!
Love you to the moon bubba boy...Happy 15 months (yesterday)!
Lately:
Luke is really into tearing up pages of a magazine so that he can throw the pieces away. He looks at us, says "ga", and walks over to the garbage. We open it up, he throws the piece away, and then claps for himself and then we repeat!
He also is super busy stacking anything lately. I mean anything! He really gets in the zone sometimes.
He pulled these out of the fridge himself.
On top of his pile!
Luke really enjoys taking a piece of dog food out of Nala's bowl and bringing it to her. She could really care less, but at least he is trying to feed her and not himself!
He is super easy for me in the mornings when we are trying to get out the door. Some days he sleeps until 6:30, while other days he is up just before 6. Either way, he is pretty self-entertaining. I put up the gate at the top of the stairs and he just roams, spending most of the time in his closet with all of his books. Once we are both ready to go, we head downstairs, Luke grabs his coat and heads to the door.
He is not so super easy for me when we get home. Supper is still a struggle to get together with a toddler whining like crazy. The second he seems me open the refrigerator, he believes he should eat NOW! I am trying to be proactive and prepare most of dinner the night before so I can just pop it in the oven, etc. Otherwise, Luke just gets started on leftovers from the night before if I can't distract him with other things. Usually asking him to bake me a cake will buy me about 5 minutes. He gets out the big bowl and spoon and stirs away!
This is usually how he ends up after getting "mad" at me for not moving fast enough for his liking!
He is super fun...so entertaining. He always gives us a good laugh!
Love you to the moon bubba boy...Happy 15 months (yesterday)!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Dance
(Note: this post has very little, if nothing, to do with Luke and is quite lengthy, but I needed to reflect and get my thoughts out - feel free to stop here if you'd like!)
As you can see from many posts on here, Lucas like to dance. I like to dance too. And for 18 years, dance was a HUGE part of my life. I loved it!
I am so thankful to my parents for sending me to The Dance Center when I was 4 years old. I don't really remember way back then, but I can only assume that I didn't kick and scream when they dropped me off. I have a feeling I loved it from the beginning. Dancing was fun!
I was lucky enough to compete in a group for awhile. Many of parents' (and sisters') weekends were spent traveling to these competitions. There are a few trips in particular that I can recall. There was one where it was just my dad and me. I believe the competition was in the Oak Brook area. That is really all I recall, but even then I knew how lucky I was to have my DAD bringing me and hanging out with me at a dance competition all day long. Another was a trip down to Springfield - that is a trip my whole family will never forget (someone was very stubborn and starving, ha!). There was St. Louis and good ole Pigeon Forge, TN. I remember there was a fire in Gaitlinburg, TN not long after we left - I think it was at the Ripley's Believe It or Not there. I remember eating ice cream at a little parlor downtown Gaitlinburg. There were a lot of competitions and while I can't remember most of them, I do remember one that was maybe in Peoria and all the dancers went on stage before the awards were given out and we rocked out to "Two Legit to Quit" by MC Hammer...those were the days!!!
Then at the young age of I think 13, I started teaching at the Dance Center as well. I was officially Miss Amy :) This was the time where the juggling began. I was a junior high cheerleader and played volleyball and softball. Luckily we lived close enough to the Dance Center then that I could walk to work after school. I continued teaching dance all through high school - again juggling cheerleading, softball, and of course school. My dad and I laugh about those years because we can't remember how it all just seemed to work. After cheerleading practice (before I had my license), I would call home to have someone come and get me and they would bring me straight down to the Dance Center. They would bring me dinner to eat during the 5 minute car ride down to work and then they would come back to get me usually around 9 when all the classes were over. I guess I did my homework when I got home, I can't even remember. I usually taught from 4PM-9PM Monday through Thursday night and then Saturday mornings too. I think during my junior and senior years of high school I started doing some private lessons on Saturday afternoons. It sounds like my life was crazy, but I don't remember me thinking it was crazy. I am sure I complained at times, but I loved dance and I loved teaching it. I even started taking tap class again so that I could teach (Miss Vicky said I had to!) and I really did not like tap! (I am not sure why I didn't like it - now I am always doing flap heel heel brush heel toe heel when I am standing around :) )
Anyways...I continued dancing in college. I was considering going out for softball, but that was before I found out that Augustana had a dance company. And once I found out that it wasn't poms (nothing against a pom squad, but that just wasn't my thing), I was definitely interested. I tried out in the fall of my freshman year and made the Company. We put on two shows a year with all of the dances choreographed by the members. I choreographed 4 or 5 dances over the 4 years I was at Augie. It was so great to continue dancing as long as I could.
Then college ended and so did my dancing :( I didn't think much about it at the time, I guess after 18 years, I was ready for a break. But now that nearly 6 years have passed, I miss it - terribly!
So what brings me to writing this post??? This year is The Dance Center's 40th anniversary. Wow! Miss Vicky has been delivering the wonderful gift of dance education for 40 years. Even my mom had the pleasure of learning dance from Miss Vicky! Her daughter, Miss Shannon, runs most everything these days. (She was basically my idol growing up. After she finished high school she went on to dance professionally.) Shannon sent out a Facebook message to all Dance Center alumni to participate in the recital this May. She was hoping to put together an alumni dance. I was very excited, yet hesitant, at first. I agreed to do it, but then after seeing the rehearsal dates, I was having a hard time committing. They are a couple of Sundays a month, and our Spring is already busy with baseball starting and other travels back to LP for other things. I just didn't want to spend my time driving back so much so I opted out. Well, the first rehearsal was this past Sunday and I got a recap of the rehearsal via Facebook and saw the video...I was so sad. In the first part of the recap, Shannon thanked everyone for the great turnout and how it was so great to honor Miss Vicky this way - I seriously lost it. The tears started coming! Why am I not doing this??? Miss Vicky was such a big part of my life. She helped to give me the wonderful gift of dance. I owe this to her and I owe it to myself to not be afraid to go back to this point in my life. It seems so far away now, but will I always have that dancing girl inside of me (Luke loves when I do pirouette's for him :) ). So...I emailed Shannon and begged her to still let me be a part of this reunion. I am waiting to hear back and will completely understand if she says no considering they have already had one rehearsal, but I am hoping, praying that I can be a part of the 40th Anniversary Dance Center recital in May. So I am brushing off my dancing shoes and crossing my fingers for a positive response :)
To Mom and Dad - I just want to say thank you again for introducing me to this art. I truly loved it and I still do (as seen by my love of reality dance shows)! I know that it cost a lot of money and took up a lot of your time shuttling me back and forth, but I really, really appreciate it! And while I love my little Lukey more than anything in this world, I think I would be completely lying to myself if I said there wasn't a tiny part of me that so hopes to be blessed with a little girl down the road so that we can introduce her to the world of dance as you guys did for me. Love you!
As you can see from many posts on here, Lucas like to dance. I like to dance too. And for 18 years, dance was a HUGE part of my life. I loved it!
I am so thankful to my parents for sending me to The Dance Center when I was 4 years old. I don't really remember way back then, but I can only assume that I didn't kick and scream when they dropped me off. I have a feeling I loved it from the beginning. Dancing was fun!
I was lucky enough to compete in a group for awhile. Many of parents' (and sisters') weekends were spent traveling to these competitions. There are a few trips in particular that I can recall. There was one where it was just my dad and me. I believe the competition was in the Oak Brook area. That is really all I recall, but even then I knew how lucky I was to have my DAD bringing me and hanging out with me at a dance competition all day long. Another was a trip down to Springfield - that is a trip my whole family will never forget (someone was very stubborn and starving, ha!). There was St. Louis and good ole Pigeon Forge, TN. I remember there was a fire in Gaitlinburg, TN not long after we left - I think it was at the Ripley's Believe It or Not there. I remember eating ice cream at a little parlor downtown Gaitlinburg. There were a lot of competitions and while I can't remember most of them, I do remember one that was maybe in Peoria and all the dancers went on stage before the awards were given out and we rocked out to "Two Legit to Quit" by MC Hammer...those were the days!!!
Then at the young age of I think 13, I started teaching at the Dance Center as well. I was officially Miss Amy :) This was the time where the juggling began. I was a junior high cheerleader and played volleyball and softball. Luckily we lived close enough to the Dance Center then that I could walk to work after school. I continued teaching dance all through high school - again juggling cheerleading, softball, and of course school. My dad and I laugh about those years because we can't remember how it all just seemed to work. After cheerleading practice (before I had my license), I would call home to have someone come and get me and they would bring me straight down to the Dance Center. They would bring me dinner to eat during the 5 minute car ride down to work and then they would come back to get me usually around 9 when all the classes were over. I guess I did my homework when I got home, I can't even remember. I usually taught from 4PM-9PM Monday through Thursday night and then Saturday mornings too. I think during my junior and senior years of high school I started doing some private lessons on Saturday afternoons. It sounds like my life was crazy, but I don't remember me thinking it was crazy. I am sure I complained at times, but I loved dance and I loved teaching it. I even started taking tap class again so that I could teach (Miss Vicky said I had to!) and I really did not like tap! (I am not sure why I didn't like it - now I am always doing flap heel heel brush heel toe heel when I am standing around :) )
Anyways...I continued dancing in college. I was considering going out for softball, but that was before I found out that Augustana had a dance company. And once I found out that it wasn't poms (nothing against a pom squad, but that just wasn't my thing), I was definitely interested. I tried out in the fall of my freshman year and made the Company. We put on two shows a year with all of the dances choreographed by the members. I choreographed 4 or 5 dances over the 4 years I was at Augie. It was so great to continue dancing as long as I could.
Then college ended and so did my dancing :( I didn't think much about it at the time, I guess after 18 years, I was ready for a break. But now that nearly 6 years have passed, I miss it - terribly!
So what brings me to writing this post??? This year is The Dance Center's 40th anniversary. Wow! Miss Vicky has been delivering the wonderful gift of dance education for 40 years. Even my mom had the pleasure of learning dance from Miss Vicky! Her daughter, Miss Shannon, runs most everything these days. (She was basically my idol growing up. After she finished high school she went on to dance professionally.) Shannon sent out a Facebook message to all Dance Center alumni to participate in the recital this May. She was hoping to put together an alumni dance. I was very excited, yet hesitant, at first. I agreed to do it, but then after seeing the rehearsal dates, I was having a hard time committing. They are a couple of Sundays a month, and our Spring is already busy with baseball starting and other travels back to LP for other things. I just didn't want to spend my time driving back so much so I opted out. Well, the first rehearsal was this past Sunday and I got a recap of the rehearsal via Facebook and saw the video...I was so sad. In the first part of the recap, Shannon thanked everyone for the great turnout and how it was so great to honor Miss Vicky this way - I seriously lost it. The tears started coming! Why am I not doing this??? Miss Vicky was such a big part of my life. She helped to give me the wonderful gift of dance. I owe this to her and I owe it to myself to not be afraid to go back to this point in my life. It seems so far away now, but will I always have that dancing girl inside of me (Luke loves when I do pirouette's for him :) ). So...I emailed Shannon and begged her to still let me be a part of this reunion. I am waiting to hear back and will completely understand if she says no considering they have already had one rehearsal, but I am hoping, praying that I can be a part of the 40th Anniversary Dance Center recital in May. So I am brushing off my dancing shoes and crossing my fingers for a positive response :)
To Mom and Dad - I just want to say thank you again for introducing me to this art. I truly loved it and I still do (as seen by my love of reality dance shows)! I know that it cost a lot of money and took up a lot of your time shuttling me back and forth, but I really, really appreciate it! And while I love my little Lukey more than anything in this world, I think I would be completely lying to myself if I said there wasn't a tiny part of me that so hopes to be blessed with a little girl down the road so that we can introduce her to the world of dance as you guys did for me. Love you!
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