Well that didn't take long. If you recall, the kiddos got goldfish for Christmas, 3 distinct fish that they each got to name: Dorothy (Connor), Whitey (Isabel), Brownish (Lucas).
This evening Connor told Brian that Whitey was "taking a nap." Brian checked on the fish and told Connor Whitey looked good and was swimming just fine. And then Brian noticed that Dorothy... well, she had gone bottoms up. Connor had gotten his fins crossed.
With the actual events explained, Connor shed a few tears and then learned that all good fish get flushed and then wind up in that great fish heaven in the sky. His first close encounter with death - never easy!
Maybe 20 minutes or so after saying goodbye to his little pet, Connor says to Brian and I, "that's so sad about Lucas's fish, huh?" Brian was like, "Connor, remember, Dorothy was your fish." Connor replied, "No it wasn't. I changed my mind."
Kids.
And goldfish.
It's a good thing they cost 12 cents. Although at this rate, that might add up real quick.
RIP Dorothy.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Dashing through the snow
Two years ago during Christmas, on a year we stayed here in Colorado and didn't go to Minnesota, we took the kids on a sleigh ride in the mountains to get our "woods fix." We had such a great time that we decided to do it again this year. The first time we went to Winter Park, and this year we tried a lodge/resort near Estes Park. They were equally fabulous!
We went on Friday - the day after Christmas - and it was perfect sleigh ride weather, lightly snowing and cold enough that we had to dress quite warmly and snuggle under the blankets provided for us. Truly it was a winter wonderland as the horses pulled the sleigh through aspen and evergreen forests at the base of the rugged Rockies. Lovely.
Before the ride started, the kids had to get to know the horses.
Hard to find a prettier background than this!
The views along the way were fabulous.
Here we are, front and center in the front row of the sleigh.
We had a great time, the kids did great and completely loved it. We spent some time warming up in the lodge by the fire, and drinking hot chocolate, after the ride. Then we went for lunch at a local grill on main street of Estes Park. What a fun tradition this has become!
We went on Friday - the day after Christmas - and it was perfect sleigh ride weather, lightly snowing and cold enough that we had to dress quite warmly and snuggle under the blankets provided for us. Truly it was a winter wonderland as the horses pulled the sleigh through aspen and evergreen forests at the base of the rugged Rockies. Lovely.
Before the ride started, the kids had to get to know the horses.
Hard to find a prettier background than this!
The views along the way were fabulous.
Here we are, front and center in the front row of the sleigh.
We had a great time, the kids did great and completely loved it. We spent some time warming up in the lodge by the fire, and drinking hot chocolate, after the ride. Then we went for lunch at a local grill on main street of Estes Park. What a fun tradition this has become!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Christmas re-cap
Christmas with children is simply magical. Especially as they get older and carry the magic themselves, instead of us having to do it all. I love it.
We had a terrific Christmas. On Christmas Eve Brian's parents came over for an appetizer dinner (a tradition I grew up with). Connor and I did some last-minute baking that afternoon, and I loved his Shrek and candy cane cookies that he fashioned out of left-over dough.
As we were preparing for the festivities, Isabel was quite the multi-holiday sight, carrying a pumpkin, wearing a princess crown and dancing to her heart's delight to the Nutcracker Suite. She has proclaimed this her favorite Christmas music, and I am fairly convinced it's because she thinks it's the Nutcracker SWEET. For real.
I didn't do a ton of baking this year, but did manage to make Mexican wedding cakes, date balls and spritz (all my mom's recipes), in addition to dipped pretzels and homemade toffee (my favorite!).
The serene scene after Santa arrived, while the children slumbered in their beds.
Christmas morning was so relaxing, just the 5 of us. Opening gifts was so much fun, we got some fantastic reactions.
The after-opening scene was chaotic, and took 2 days to get fully cleaned up.
Connor's favorites: scooter, Marble Run, legos, Alphabet Magnetic Maze, lever-operated helicopter, wooden town building blocks, Madagascar DVD
Isabel's favorites: scooter, new Play-Doh set, art easel, keyboard, Horton Hears a Who DVD, Frosty Gumball lotion and chapstick, Color Magnetic Maze.
Lucas's favorites: lacing cards, wooden stacking shapes, bristle blocks, Elmo Pets DVD.
They were so excited to also get the trampoline, they started jumping on the box. It has yet to be assembled, but with warm temps this week, hopefully soon.
They also got some goldfish; one for each kid, although they reside in the boys' room and Connor has most of the responsibility. They each have a distinct look as to identify them. Connor's is solid gold, which he named Dorothy (surprise, surprise). Isabel's is white and gold, and she named it Whitish, then Cara, and now she has settled on Whitey. Lucas's is grey and orange, and the other two named it Brownish. Clever, I know.
On Christmas Day we also went for a big family walk in the snow and pulled the kids in the sled, which was so fun. Later in the day we went to Brian's Nanna's house for dinner. All in all a wonderful Christmas! And now it's over for another year. Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas.
We had a terrific Christmas. On Christmas Eve Brian's parents came over for an appetizer dinner (a tradition I grew up with). Connor and I did some last-minute baking that afternoon, and I loved his Shrek and candy cane cookies that he fashioned out of left-over dough.
As we were preparing for the festivities, Isabel was quite the multi-holiday sight, carrying a pumpkin, wearing a princess crown and dancing to her heart's delight to the Nutcracker Suite. She has proclaimed this her favorite Christmas music, and I am fairly convinced it's because she thinks it's the Nutcracker SWEET. For real.
I didn't do a ton of baking this year, but did manage to make Mexican wedding cakes, date balls and spritz (all my mom's recipes), in addition to dipped pretzels and homemade toffee (my favorite!).
The serene scene after Santa arrived, while the children slumbered in their beds.
Christmas morning was so relaxing, just the 5 of us. Opening gifts was so much fun, we got some fantastic reactions.
The after-opening scene was chaotic, and took 2 days to get fully cleaned up.
Connor's favorites: scooter, Marble Run, legos, Alphabet Magnetic Maze, lever-operated helicopter, wooden town building blocks, Madagascar DVDIsabel's favorites: scooter, new Play-Doh set, art easel, keyboard, Horton Hears a Who DVD, Frosty Gumball lotion and chapstick, Color Magnetic Maze.
Lucas's favorites: lacing cards, wooden stacking shapes, bristle blocks, Elmo Pets DVD.
They were so excited to also get the trampoline, they started jumping on the box. It has yet to be assembled, but with warm temps this week, hopefully soon.They also got some goldfish; one for each kid, although they reside in the boys' room and Connor has most of the responsibility. They each have a distinct look as to identify them. Connor's is solid gold, which he named Dorothy (surprise, surprise). Isabel's is white and gold, and she named it Whitish, then Cara, and now she has settled on Whitey. Lucas's is grey and orange, and the other two named it Brownish. Clever, I know.
On Christmas Day we also went for a big family walk in the snow and pulled the kids in the sled, which was so fun. Later in the day we went to Brian's Nanna's house for dinner. All in all a wonderful Christmas! And now it's over for another year. Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Leading up to Christmas...
To catch up on a few more December moments from our house:
Isabel and Lucas have a new favorite past-time - sitting under the crib together and reading...
I re-discovered the importance of washable, non-toxic markers...
Went to an adults-only black tie party, the idea is to get as creative with the black tie theme as possible. Ours was not creative, but worked. Bad picture, great party! Thanks Sandovals for a great evening!
We all put on pajamas and wrapped up in blankets to drive around and look at lights one evening. This was a HUGE hit...
Put together this pretty centerpiece. You can't really see it in the picture, but the greenery is really sparkly, so pretty...
Made 24 of these beaded snowflake ornaments for Primary children (everyone in presidency did a batch). OK, in honestly, I have been so swamped that Brian made most of them. They were a time-consuming, pain in the you-know-what. Thanks, B!
Made 30 of these gifts for Primary teachers:
Am most grateful for the 3 best gifts I have received...
I love those kids more than words can say, and I can't wait to see their reaction when they get this...
Merriest of Christmases to you from our family!
Isabel and Lucas have a new favorite past-time - sitting under the crib together and reading...
I re-discovered the importance of washable, non-toxic markers...
Went to an adults-only black tie party, the idea is to get as creative with the black tie theme as possible. Ours was not creative, but worked. Bad picture, great party! Thanks Sandovals for a great evening!
We all put on pajamas and wrapped up in blankets to drive around and look at lights one evening. This was a HUGE hit...
Put together this pretty centerpiece. You can't really see it in the picture, but the greenery is really sparkly, so pretty...
Made 24 of these beaded snowflake ornaments for Primary children (everyone in presidency did a batch). OK, in honestly, I have been so swamped that Brian made most of them. They were a time-consuming, pain in the you-know-what. Thanks, B!
Made 30 of these gifts for Primary teachers:
Am most grateful for the 3 best gifts I have received...
I love those kids more than words can say, and I can't wait to see their reaction when they get this...
Merriest of Christmases to you from our family!
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Christmas letter 2008
Welcome to our e-Christmas letter! How very green of us to save the trees by not using paper for this year's letter...
2008 has gone by in a blur. We've had some good things, some not so good things, and lots of everyday things in between. The biggest news is our move to a smaller town just north of Denver, about 40 miles from where we used to live. We are loving life here. We also spent 2 weeks in Minnesota in July, for the 4th of July and Melissa's brother Nate's wedding, in which Connor was a ringbearer and Isabel was a flower girl. We had a fantastic time, with so many fun memories. Here's an overview of what's happened with each of us:
Brian is still the sports editor at the Longmont Times-Call. His newspaper thus far seems to be escaping the poor fate of many a larger newspaper, thank heavens. He did a bit of traveling this year, including to Arizona to cover the Colorado Rockies spring training, which he loved. He also covers the Denver Broncos, and some college and high school sports, as well as managing the sports staff. He serves as the employment specialist at church, a new calling that he is still figuring out. He was able to do more fishing over the summer, as it's a much quicker jaunt into the mountains now, and increased his bike riding, another favorite pasttime. He also loves spending time with his beautiful and talented wife, and his perfect and amazing children (can you tell who's writing this letter? ;)
Melissa is busy as ever. After serving as Primary President for the past 2 years in our previous ward (church congregation), she was called back into Primary shortly after our move, this time as 1st counselor. She works with a great presidency, and is still working on learning the names and faces of the 100+ children. She has been doing a lot of crafts, including her first quilt (for Isabel). She reads when she can, and just joined a 2nd book club. It's a great excuse to get together with girlfriends (and yes, we do talk about the book too!). She has had her busiest year ever of freelance work, with clients including: The Children's Hospital, The Medical Center of Aurora, The University of Colorado Cancer Center, a national IT healthcare consulting firm, and the Girl Scouts of Colorado. And she runs the affairs of our home and 3 children (laundry alone for a family of 5 is never-ending!).
Connor is 5 and a kindergartener! After a rough first couple of months, he has adjusted beauifully to kindergarten, thanks to a great support team at school. He is fully reading, and on his first report card was graded to be reading above grade level! This is so fun and exciting for all of us. Connor is an inquisitive, funny, determined, loud (at home), quiet (at school), sensitive, busy, energetic, loving boy. He loves legos, playing outside, hiking in the mountains, all forms of transportation (from hot air balloons to trains to helicopters and beyond), the Shrek movies, playing games, riding his bike, and being with his family. His favorites classes/activities at school are art, writing, and his 5th-grade reading buddy.
Isabel is 3 going on 13. She started dance lessons this year, and completely adores it. She recently had her first recital, which was a smashing success. She does her dance routines all the time, and has been known to break out in song and dance wherever we are. In addition to dance, her favorites are music, singing, art projects, writing half of her name, princesses, Sesame Street, The Little Mermaid, playing outside, reading books, using her imagination, wearing lip gloss, going to the mountains, and anything that has sugar in it. Sugar-coated sugar is even better (think Nerds here.) She is wildly imaginative, creative, loud, spunky, talkative, extremely strong-willed, and wacky. She is excited to be a Sunbeam in January at church.
Lucas is the adored baby of our family. He is energetic, engaged, fiesty, strong-willed, snuggly, playful, and has a severe case of I-have-to-keep-up-with-everyone-else syndrome. Not one to be left out of anything, he makes sure he gets/does the same as everyone else. He loves Elmo, Sesame Street, going outside, transportation of all sorts, stacking things, opening things, removing things, ripping things, exploring things, music, singing, dancing, balls, balloons, animals and animal sounds, and books. He loves books more than I can say. All day long he brings us books to read, and will sit still for rather long periods of time if he's being read to. He just started going to Nursery at Church and seems to be adjusting fairly well.
We are grateful for the many blessings in our life, for all the basic needs of life and then some. We are blessed to have so many wonderful family and friends who celebrate our triumphs with us and support us through our trials. And we are grateful for a loving Savior, him whose birth we joyously celebrate.
Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year~
Brian, Melissa, Connor, Isabel and Lucas
2008 has gone by in a blur. We've had some good things, some not so good things, and lots of everyday things in between. The biggest news is our move to a smaller town just north of Denver, about 40 miles from where we used to live. We are loving life here. We also spent 2 weeks in Minnesota in July, for the 4th of July and Melissa's brother Nate's wedding, in which Connor was a ringbearer and Isabel was a flower girl. We had a fantastic time, with so many fun memories. Here's an overview of what's happened with each of us:
Brian is still the sports editor at the Longmont Times-Call. His newspaper thus far seems to be escaping the poor fate of many a larger newspaper, thank heavens. He did a bit of traveling this year, including to Arizona to cover the Colorado Rockies spring training, which he loved. He also covers the Denver Broncos, and some college and high school sports, as well as managing the sports staff. He serves as the employment specialist at church, a new calling that he is still figuring out. He was able to do more fishing over the summer, as it's a much quicker jaunt into the mountains now, and increased his bike riding, another favorite pasttime. He also loves spending time with his beautiful and talented wife, and his perfect and amazing children (can you tell who's writing this letter? ;)
Melissa is busy as ever. After serving as Primary President for the past 2 years in our previous ward (church congregation), she was called back into Primary shortly after our move, this time as 1st counselor. She works with a great presidency, and is still working on learning the names and faces of the 100+ children. She has been doing a lot of crafts, including her first quilt (for Isabel). She reads when she can, and just joined a 2nd book club. It's a great excuse to get together with girlfriends (and yes, we do talk about the book too!). She has had her busiest year ever of freelance work, with clients including: The Children's Hospital, The Medical Center of Aurora, The University of Colorado Cancer Center, a national IT healthcare consulting firm, and the Girl Scouts of Colorado. And she runs the affairs of our home and 3 children (laundry alone for a family of 5 is never-ending!).
Connor is 5 and a kindergartener! After a rough first couple of months, he has adjusted beauifully to kindergarten, thanks to a great support team at school. He is fully reading, and on his first report card was graded to be reading above grade level! This is so fun and exciting for all of us. Connor is an inquisitive, funny, determined, loud (at home), quiet (at school), sensitive, busy, energetic, loving boy. He loves legos, playing outside, hiking in the mountains, all forms of transportation (from hot air balloons to trains to helicopters and beyond), the Shrek movies, playing games, riding his bike, and being with his family. His favorites classes/activities at school are art, writing, and his 5th-grade reading buddy.
Isabel is 3 going on 13. She started dance lessons this year, and completely adores it. She recently had her first recital, which was a smashing success. She does her dance routines all the time, and has been known to break out in song and dance wherever we are. In addition to dance, her favorites are music, singing, art projects, writing half of her name, princesses, Sesame Street, The Little Mermaid, playing outside, reading books, using her imagination, wearing lip gloss, going to the mountains, and anything that has sugar in it. Sugar-coated sugar is even better (think Nerds here.) She is wildly imaginative, creative, loud, spunky, talkative, extremely strong-willed, and wacky. She is excited to be a Sunbeam in January at church.
Lucas is the adored baby of our family. He is energetic, engaged, fiesty, strong-willed, snuggly, playful, and has a severe case of I-have-to-keep-up-with-everyone-else syndrome. Not one to be left out of anything, he makes sure he gets/does the same as everyone else. He loves Elmo, Sesame Street, going outside, transportation of all sorts, stacking things, opening things, removing things, ripping things, exploring things, music, singing, dancing, balls, balloons, animals and animal sounds, and books. He loves books more than I can say. All day long he brings us books to read, and will sit still for rather long periods of time if he's being read to. He just started going to Nursery at Church and seems to be adjusting fairly well.
We are grateful for the many blessings in our life, for all the basic needs of life and then some. We are blessed to have so many wonderful family and friends who celebrate our triumphs with us and support us through our trials. And we are grateful for a loving Savior, him whose birth we joyously celebrate.
Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year~
Brian, Melissa, Connor, Isabel and Lucas
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Catching up on December
Do you feel like December is running away from you? 11 days 'til Christmas is crazy. Here's a few things December has brought us thus far...
I recently posted about this activity advent calendar I made, where I covered 25 small matchboxes with Christmas scrapbook paper and put slips of paper in each one with a different Christmas-y activity to do each day:
This has been a great success, the kids love opening the boxes each day. I also copied this page from The Friend magazine and put a scripture reference in each box, so each day this month we read a scripture about Christ's life:
One of our activities this past week was making cards for kids' teachers.
Connor's card for his kindergarten teacher (thank you for being my teacher. I love you, Connor Howell, smiley face)
Isabel's card for Miss Belinda, her dance teacher:
I did not know Isabel has started writing part of her name. She has been practicing lots, and has now mastered "I", "E" and "L".
I wouldn't be at all surprised if she just teachers herself to read and write soon. She is so determined to do so.
We also have a counting advent that Brian's sister Kelley made for us several years ago. The kids love putting a light up each day, and totally have it down to a system (2 days on, 2 days off, etc)
I've done a bit of decorating this year with a few crafy things. My friend Elizabeth and I did a project where we covered a metal star with scrapbook paper, a delightfully fun project and I love the end result:
I also love this sparkly Joy sign I found - sparkle is SO everywhere, and I love it:
My mantel. This is a work in progress, have some ideas still needing to come to fruition. And the background color is probably going to become brown soon. And our homemade stockings still need to be made, so I hang our cheapy basic Target ones right before Christmas for now:
Here' a cute idea via cute Elizabeth via Southern Living. Take a white tray, fill with dried split peas, sprinkle some faux berries, add candles wrapped with ribbon/string/embroidery floss, etc. I am still needing to get 2 more candles, but you get the idea:
Love the balls hanging from the lights:
We've had a bunch of snow recently, happy day! Since I've lived in Colorado, we've had more brown Christmases than white. I prefer white! Of course, we can always go to the mountains for a winter fix if we are feeling desperate. My manly men taking care of snow business:
And last, we had our Ward Christmas party last night - it was a Night in Bethlehem. It was fantastic, super well done. We had a great time. We were all supposed to come dressed in Bethlehem-ish attire. So Brian and I went as shepherds, and the children all wore white shirts, khakis, and little fluffy tales I fashioned out of cotton balls and an empty paper towel roll - they were our little flock of sheep. No, I am offering no pictures of this event. Use your imagination. As we were noisily piling into the van at the end of the evening, Brian turned to me and said, "I'm really hoping for a Silence of the Lambs." Sometimes he's really funny.
Hope you are having a good December!
I recently posted about this activity advent calendar I made, where I covered 25 small matchboxes with Christmas scrapbook paper and put slips of paper in each one with a different Christmas-y activity to do each day:
This has been a great success, the kids love opening the boxes each day. I also copied this page from The Friend magazine and put a scripture reference in each box, so each day this month we read a scripture about Christ's life:
One of our activities this past week was making cards for kids' teachers.
Connor's card for his kindergarten teacher (thank you for being my teacher. I love you, Connor Howell, smiley face)
Isabel's card for Miss Belinda, her dance teacher:
I did not know Isabel has started writing part of her name. She has been practicing lots, and has now mastered "I", "E" and "L".
I wouldn't be at all surprised if she just teachers herself to read and write soon. She is so determined to do so.We also have a counting advent that Brian's sister Kelley made for us several years ago. The kids love putting a light up each day, and totally have it down to a system (2 days on, 2 days off, etc)
I've done a bit of decorating this year with a few crafy things. My friend Elizabeth and I did a project where we covered a metal star with scrapbook paper, a delightfully fun project and I love the end result:
I also love this sparkly Joy sign I found - sparkle is SO everywhere, and I love it:
My mantel. This is a work in progress, have some ideas still needing to come to fruition. And the background color is probably going to become brown soon. And our homemade stockings still need to be made, so I hang our cheapy basic Target ones right before Christmas for now:
Here' a cute idea via cute Elizabeth via Southern Living. Take a white tray, fill with dried split peas, sprinkle some faux berries, add candles wrapped with ribbon/string/embroidery floss, etc. I am still needing to get 2 more candles, but you get the idea:
Love the balls hanging from the lights:
We've had a bunch of snow recently, happy day! Since I've lived in Colorado, we've had more brown Christmases than white. I prefer white! Of course, we can always go to the mountains for a winter fix if we are feeling desperate. My manly men taking care of snow business:
And last, we had our Ward Christmas party last night - it was a Night in Bethlehem. It was fantastic, super well done. We had a great time. We were all supposed to come dressed in Bethlehem-ish attire. So Brian and I went as shepherds, and the children all wore white shirts, khakis, and little fluffy tales I fashioned out of cotton balls and an empty paper towel roll - they were our little flock of sheep. No, I am offering no pictures of this event. Use your imagination. As we were noisily piling into the van at the end of the evening, Brian turned to me and said, "I'm really hoping for a Silence of the Lambs." Sometimes he's really funny.
Hope you are having a good December!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Lucas is 18 months!
Somebody stop the clock! Lucas is 18 months old today, and I cannot fathom - or accept! - that he is this old already.
Up until an hour ago, I was all ready to write this post about how much I simply adore this age. And then he had a super scary choking incident involving some noodles at lunch. The kind where his lips turned blue for a second and I had him upside down doing whatever I had to do get it out, followed by a big vomit. The kind where your heart literally stops with fear and you almost dial 9-1-1. Have you ever experienced that? I do not recommend it. I still have not recovered. And to top it off, after I got his breathing all cleared, and his little self all cleaned, calmed, and comforted, and re-fed with practically pureed food, he was back to his happy self. And then 10 minutes later fell off a dining room chair and split open his gums. I thought he had knocked out a tooth for a moment, thank heavens that wasn't the case. Now he's all cleaned up (again) and down safely in his bed for a long nap. This mothering thing is not for the faint-hearted, I tell you.
Aside from that, I really do love this age. He sleeps well and plays independently, yet still loves to snuggle and interact lots with us. And, he doesn't talk back yet! And I love the imaginations at this age, and the development of more advanced thinking/reasoning/problem solving skills.
Lucas is love, pure and simple. He brings immense joy to all of us. He is bright, funny, curious, independent, adorable, determined, wacky, and has a strong desire to keep up with everyone around him. He is always busy. He says a bunch of words, mostly first syllables of stuff. And he just started going to Nursery! That is joyous.
Currently, his favorite things are:
- All forms of transportation (cars, trucks, airplanes, helicopters, etc)
- Music and dancing
- Balls
- Balloons
- Elmo in any form (stuffed, electronic, in a book, on TV)
- Animals
- Books
- Books
- Books
- And did I mention books?
Holy cow, I know most little ones love books, and he truly is crazy about books. He will sit forever if he's being read to, especially if I play the where is ___? game (where's the lion, where's the frog, where's the ball, where's the moon, etc). He will sit still for the entire Sacrament meeting at Church if he's being read to with the finding things game. I had to capture a few pictures detailing this book thing:
Getting angry b/c I wasn't meeting his book demands:
Clearing the bookcase looking for a book. He empties the bookcases in both kid rooms numerous times a day. It actually almost drives me mad b/c it is nearly impossible to keep them organized. I'm glad he loves books so much, but will be so happy when his pull-every-book-of-the-bookcase phase passes. Caught in action:
I love his cute point:
And here's a video the full sequence in action. Him asking for a book (we are working words rather than his sound to ask for things), and then when a lap is offered, he backs in just like a truck and plops down. He'll search for any unsuspecting lap and just drop himself in anytime, book in hand, so we've always got to be on guard.
If I could freeze him at this age for a few years, I think I would. Then again, after the lunch incident, maybe not.
Up until an hour ago, I was all ready to write this post about how much I simply adore this age. And then he had a super scary choking incident involving some noodles at lunch. The kind where his lips turned blue for a second and I had him upside down doing whatever I had to do get it out, followed by a big vomit. The kind where your heart literally stops with fear and you almost dial 9-1-1. Have you ever experienced that? I do not recommend it. I still have not recovered. And to top it off, after I got his breathing all cleared, and his little self all cleaned, calmed, and comforted, and re-fed with practically pureed food, he was back to his happy self. And then 10 minutes later fell off a dining room chair and split open his gums. I thought he had knocked out a tooth for a moment, thank heavens that wasn't the case. Now he's all cleaned up (again) and down safely in his bed for a long nap. This mothering thing is not for the faint-hearted, I tell you.
Aside from that, I really do love this age. He sleeps well and plays independently, yet still loves to snuggle and interact lots with us. And, he doesn't talk back yet! And I love the imaginations at this age, and the development of more advanced thinking/reasoning/problem solving skills.
Lucas is love, pure and simple. He brings immense joy to all of us. He is bright, funny, curious, independent, adorable, determined, wacky, and has a strong desire to keep up with everyone around him. He is always busy. He says a bunch of words, mostly first syllables of stuff. And he just started going to Nursery! That is joyous.
Currently, his favorite things are:
- All forms of transportation (cars, trucks, airplanes, helicopters, etc)
- Music and dancing
- Balls
- Balloons
- Elmo in any form (stuffed, electronic, in a book, on TV)
- Animals
- Books
- Books
- Books
- And did I mention books?
Holy cow, I know most little ones love books, and he truly is crazy about books. He will sit forever if he's being read to, especially if I play the where is ___? game (where's the lion, where's the frog, where's the ball, where's the moon, etc). He will sit still for the entire Sacrament meeting at Church if he's being read to with the finding things game. I had to capture a few pictures detailing this book thing:
Getting angry b/c I wasn't meeting his book demands:
Clearing the bookcase looking for a book. He empties the bookcases in both kid rooms numerous times a day. It actually almost drives me mad b/c it is nearly impossible to keep them organized. I'm glad he loves books so much, but will be so happy when his pull-every-book-of-the-bookcase phase passes. Caught in action:
I love his cute point:
And here's a video the full sequence in action. Him asking for a book (we are working words rather than his sound to ask for things), and then when a lap is offered, he backs in just like a truck and plops down. He'll search for any unsuspecting lap and just drop himself in anytime, book in hand, so we've always got to be on guard.
If I could freeze him at this age for a few years, I think I would. Then again, after the lunch incident, maybe not.
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