Meeting Thomas

As part of Luke's birthday, we wanted to take him to ride on a train. It just so happened that Thomas, the most famous of ALL trains (if you're 2), was visiting town this past weekend. So, obviously, we booked our tickets.

I think that it might have been the highlight of Luke's life :)! He LOVED riding on the train. Roaring Camp has a regular train schedule, so we will be going back soon for some more train rides!

All Aboard!


The Train Ride (they played Thomas music the whole way!):



At the end of the ride, as we were getting off and the music was still playing, Luke decided to dance a bit. The conductor thought this was so cute that he joined in:


And then, the conductor punched Luke's ticket:

Checking out the trains with Grandpa (AKA "Buck-pa"):

There were tons of other Thomas-related things to do (face painting, tattoos, models, Sir Topham Hatt, etc.), here Luke is at the sing-along (dancing, naturally):

Riding Thomas in the gift shop:


Posing with Thomas:

The train ride back to the parking lot:

Sequoia National Forest

While Grandma and Grandpa visited this week, we took a short trip to Sequoia National Forest. It was fun for everyone, especially Luke. He LOVED being outside and hiking along the trails. He seemed most fascinated with trees that had fallen down (?). On the first day, we hiked to General Sherman. This was not the easiest of hikes for a 2 year old, but he did the whole hike almost entirely by himself (riding only on Daddy's shoulders for a few minutes!). The people on the trail with us were amazed that he was able to do this.

The next day we did some driving around the park and then also hiked to the General Grant. Again, Luke loved being outside and checking out all the plant and animal life along the way.

Swimming lessons

Grandma was able to come to swimming lessons with us this week, which was great, not only to have her there, but also so that we could get a few pictures of Luke in the water.

Swimming this summer has been a WONDERFUL experience - much different than last summer. Luke loves the water and has become really good at holding his breath and going under. He's starting to kick pretty regularly also.

Here he is playing the ball game that each lesson begins with. The kids grab a ball and then "swim" with it to the edge and put it in the basket.


This week we worked a lot on the kids coming into the pool from the edge, going under, and then practicing turning around, reaching for the wall and hanging on. They are emphasizing safety techniques, which I think is great. Learning to find and get to the wall, and then to hold on is probably one of the most important skills a 2-3 year old can have in the water.

Luke's first bike

Grandma and Grandpa visited us from NJ this past week. They surprised Luke with his very first bike ... a super cute Radio Flyer tricycle. This is a great bike because it changes as the needs and abilities of the child change. Right now, Luke is riding on it while someone pushes him, and is learning to use the pedals. He was thrilled to get such a great birthday present!

Tons to love at 2 years old

There is so, so much to love about Luke right now. This might be my favorite age so far...

1) I love that you tell us that you love us! Daddy and I talked about looking forward to the time when you could verbalize this several months ago, and it's finally here. It is the absolute best and you are too cute when you tell us about all the people who you love. It was worth the wait!

2) I love your ability to remember things. You will recall something we did hours, days, or weeks ago and chatter about it to me.

3) I love your sense of humor. You absolutely know what is funny and you make us laugh all the time. Oh, and your deep, down laugh from your belly. This is how we know something is REALLY funny!

4) I love your smirk. You put this on when you are having fun but you don't want to let on that you actually love what you're doing. I see this a lot at swimming class ... mostly when the instructor looks at you. You immediately stop laughing and smiling and put on your smirk.

5) I love your FULL sentences. Gone are the days of a word here and there. You are speaking in 4+ word sentences all the time. Sometimes the small words (and, the, a) get lost, but the rest is all there.

6) I love that you are able to communicate with us. You understand us and we understand you, probably 95% of the time. I have noticed how much you love this also. You are much less frustrated now that we know what you are saying.

7) I love your imagination. You are such a good parent to your stuffed animals. Yesterday, Monkey had to have his diaper changed :).

8) I love that you love certain things: trains, Elmo, Yo Gabba Gabba, books, balls, monkey, the park, taking Brooklyn for walks, swimming, climbing, guitars and pianos ... you are such a well-rounded little boy!

9) I love your dancing. You are still at it! Whenever you hear the music, you are getting down like you're in the middle of a dance floor. You could care less who is watching or where we are!

10) I love to hear all the things you know. You can count to 20 by yourself (almost ... sometimes fourteen happens several times!), you chime in on singing ABCs, you can sing Twinkle Twinkle by yourself, you know colors, and you have hand motions to half a dozen songs. Simply amazing ....

Most of all, I love YOU for everything YOU are!

The Big Birthday Party!

Okay, well, compared to last year, it was quite small, but no less fun!

Luke had his 2nd birthday party at the local park that we visit just about every day on our walk. Given his love of trains (however, if I had known how much he would become obsessed with fire trucks, I may have opted for that route), the party had a train theme.

We invited primarily our friends with kids, and everyone had a great time. The weather was nice, and we all picnicked outside in the shade. We had Togo's sandwiches, fruit salad, chips, and potato salad. The kids had PB&J, string cheese, and Go-gurts. And, of course, cake and ice cream! The kids ran around, played on the playground, kicked balls, played with pinwheels, blew bubbles, fed the ducks, and had fun with the pinata. All in all, a great time.

After we got home, Luke had a quick shower because he was filthy. I quickly put his diaper on after the shower, and before I could even get him dressed he was gone. I went looking for him and found him, in just his diaper, in bed. He said, "Mommy, night night." It was the first time he has ever suggested that he should sleep - I guess he was tired. He ended up napping for 4 hours!

Luke's 2nd Birthday

It is hard to believe that our little baby is already two years old. It seems that the days have passed slowly, but the months and years have gone by (too) fast.

On Luke's actual birthday, he came to see Mommy in bed just like usual, and I surprised him with a bouquet of balloons and "Happy Birthday to You." He asked me to sing it "more" about 5 times ... so, of course, I did!

After a favorite breakfast of yogurt, fruit, and french toast, we met up with Grammy (aka "Day") and headed to the Children's Discovery Museum. I think that we might have explored the entire place, but there is so much to see. The highlight for Luke was certainly the fire engine (which we visited twice - on the way in and the way out). He also really loved the water exploration area and the Curious George exhibit.

On the way home, we picked up McDonald's for Luke: chicken nuggets and a vanilla milkshake - YUM! He took a nap at my mom's while we enjoyed massages (that was my mom's gift to me on Luke's birthday - pretty nice!).

Daddy arrived home early from work to play with Luke, and we enjoyed a dinner of Luke's favorites: fruit salad, smoothies, and yet again, french toast (the rest of us also had eggs and bacon to complete our meal!). Then it was time for presents ... a fire truck and a trampoline from Mommy and Daddy, and a tool bench set, books, and an outdoor swing set (to come later) from Grammy and Poppy.

To top off the evening - cupcakes! Luke looked at us as though we were crazy while we sang, but was happy to blow out his candles and dig into his banana cupcake with cream cheese frosting!

Lucky Luke! Lucky us! What a fun day!