Preschool graduation

Luke had his end of the year ceremony at school this week. We were not only so proud of all of the progress, academically and socially, he's made this year, but also of how well he did during the performance for the end of the year. It was the first time that he willingly stood up on the stage, did the hand movements, and even sang a little bit. BIG progress in the world of Luke!

Performing (I will add a video in the next couple of days, so check back!)

Walking of the bridge to receive his certificate from Miss Tabatha

I just adore this series of pictures ... Luke was so proud of his certificate, he's showing it to all of his friends standing around him on stage.

After the ceremony we snapped a few pictures with Luke's favorite Mandala people.

First, his best friend, Christopher (who is apparently not interested in looking or smiling for the camera, no matter how nicely I asked!)

Next with 3 of the 4 teachers in his classroom - Miss Veronica, Miss Aparna, and Miss Tabatha

This one melts my heart - Luke handing Christopher an invitation to his birthday party

Mia says, "Congratulations, big brother!"

Inside playtime .... again

Ugh! We have had the gloomiest, coldest, longest winter ever this year! Just when we think that it can't possibly rain again, it does. Very unusual for late Spring in California. By this time of the year I was sure that we'd be splashing at the pool, or running around the backyard in the sprinklers, but no such luck. So, again I am challenged to find yet another form of indoor entertainment late in the afternoon. Today it was blocks. Luke is VERY into building, and unfortunately for all of us, Mia is VERY into knocking things down and taking things apart. On this particular afternoon we managed to keep the peace and even, sort of, play together.

Mia is very into "babies" right now. She loves to carry her dolls around and feed them bottles. So, in typical Mia-fashion, she finds the one doll-like figure (a firefighter!) in all of the block bin and .... well, the picture speaks for itself.

Thank goodness sometimes Daddy works from home - he pops in to make everyone laugh from time to time!

A Mia update

Again, it's been far too long and I have way too much to say about Mia at 16 (nearly 17 - where does the time go? - months).

Wow - she has SUCH a personality ... and by that I mean that she's a little Miss Sassy Pants. Yikes! I'm sort of starting to really worry about what she'll be like as a pre-teen. Crazy! She just knows what she wants and is not happy to settle. Perhaps this trait will serve her well one day - I hope so. For now, however, it makes life a lot more difficult for the rest of us! A few examples of things that Mia does NOT like:

• changing her diaper (um, sort of a necessity). This typically elicits a full out screaming, sometimes pulling my hair and scratching my face, kicking and rolling all over the floor fit


• putting on or changing clothes (similar reaction to aforementioned diaper change)


• getting in car when she doesn't feel like going "bye bye" (again, usually accompanied by a full out, blood curdling scream, arching of the back, flailing of the arms, fit)


• being picked up or having her hand held in a parking lot or other dangerous place for a one year old to be roaming alone (similar reaction as above, often including throwing self on the ground/pavement)


• having Luke take back a toy of his that she has previously "stolen"


• sitting in her highchair too long ...and by "too long" I mean more than 30 seconds after she has determined that she is finished (this results in throwing of food and yelling)


• going upstairs when she knows it is bed or naptime

And the list could go on and on. Needless to say, we have our work cut out for us. It seems that her tantrums have ramped up in recent weeks, so I am trying to be sure that she sees and begins to understand that that type of behavior will not alter what is about to happen.

All that aside, there are certainly times (most of the time) when Mia is a happy little girl. She loves to climb, play with Luke's toys (tools are a current favorite all around), feed her baby dolls, dance, splash in the tubby, be outside, and be read to. She is so happy to bring one book after another to us right now, plop down in our lap, and have us read ...and read....and read, which I LOVE. She also loves to "read" her books to herself (super cute!). Her favorite people: Daddy, Luke, and Paw.



Despite her little tantrums leading up to nap and bedtime, once she resigns herself to what is happening she is a complete snuggler. She loves to lay her head on my shoulder, twist my hair with one of her hands, and fall asleep while I rock. I don't think that there is anything better than having a sleeping baby on your chest.

According to our bathroom scale, Mia is between 20 and 21 pounds. She fits well into 12-18 month clothes now, is still wearing her medium size cloth diapers (or size 3 when in disposables), and her feet are now comfortably fitting into size 4s. Her 1 year molars are nearly all in now - the last one on the bottom left has been working its way up for the past few days, bringing the total count for teeth to 12.

Mia continues to be a pretty good eater, but she definitely goes through spurts when she doesn't eat much ... but I know that she'll make up for it later. In terms of sleeping she is ready for bed between 7:00 and 7:30 each night and typically sleeps for about 12 hours. She also takes a good afternoon nap for between 2.5 and 3 hours.



Vocabulary has not made any huge changes since I last posted. I think she's added a few more words, and she is certainly communicating better overall. She is using more hand gestures and putting them together with words to convey her wants/needs. One word that she has most definitely added to her repertoire in recent weeks: "no, no, no, no, no" (it is never just one "no"). What I do know is that her comprehension of what we talk about or ask her to do has increased significantly in recent weeks. She is now completely able to follow directions (when she feels like it, of course!).



Oh, Mia, we just adore you. There are no words for all of the ways that you light up our lives. What a sparkly little girl you are ... and how lucky we are to have you as part of us.

A Luke update

Wow, I feel so behind on updating the blog. I haven't been taking the same volume of pictures that I usually do, and I often gauge the necessity of updating the blog on the number of old photos I have sitting on the camera. So, this post and the subsequent one about Mia will be short on pictures, but full of descriptions of who they are and what they are like right now.

It is so hard for me to believe that in a few short months Luke will be 4. FOUR? Really? That sounds so old for me to have a 4 year old child. Unreal how quickly the time has passed. The reality is that the next year will be full of decisions in terms of where he will go to elementary school. Kindergarten ... it just doesn't seem possible, yet it is. In the meantime, Luke is finishing up his 2nd year at Mandala. He did so well this year in their morning preschool class. He has made some new friends (Christopher, Heather, and Noah are his "favorites"). His teacher, Miss Tabatha, has told us on several occasions that Luke has really started to develop his social skills, is coming out of his shell, and is initiating play with other children. This is all so good and I am so happy to hear that not only is he progressing academically, but also socially.

Academically Luke is very bright. He loves to count (he can count to 100, and also by 100s to 1,000, and by 2s), understands the difference between upper and lowercase letters, is able to match letter sounds to all of the letters, is beginning recognize sight words, his drawings are getting more detailed all the time (he now always adds a body, nose, eyes, ears, hair, arms, legs when he draws a person), he is constantly asking us what time it is (and really, questions are coming at us constantly pretty much all day), shapes, colors, seasons, and days of the week he seems to have mastered .... it's all pretty incredible really. I mean, when I think about how much and how quickly he is learning I am blown away. His vocabulary surprises me daily ... it's like I'm all of a sudden speaking with an adult. One of my favorites from just today was when I asked him if he would like to take off his jacket and he replied (full of expression), "I would love to, thanks." His articulation still lags slightly (I think), but his teachers are no longer concerned as they can usually understand what he is saying. I may still initiate another screening in the fall, just to be sure that he's on track.

He continues to be a very sweet boy. He is full of snuggles, hugs, and "I love yous." He told me as I was tucking him in bed the other night, "Mommy, thank you for being my best girl." I just about melted. Of course, along with his sweetness comes some brutal honesty ... he doesn't hold back from telling us when we smell :). He also has proclaimed that he will one day marry Mia and live here in our house forever (ha!).

Luke still doesn't eat much variety. He is very much a creature of habit and is not a huge fan of changing things up. He's happy to have the same meal each and every day for breakfast (banana milk and waffles). He has incorporated some new fruits and veggie (yes, that's singular ... as in carrots) into his diet. Despite all this, the kid has grown like a weed in recent months! I could not believe that the jeans he was swimming in in the fall I had to put away because they were too short. When it got warm here (for about a week), we had to go out and get some new summer outfits for him - size 4/4T. He can still wear his 3T shorts from last summer and a few pairs of 3T pants that happen to be long enough (they actually fit him better at the waist than the 4s, but the length just isn't enough in most cases). Shirts are most definitely now 4T. His feet are still size 10, but I know how that goes (they seem to grow a ton in a short amount of time, then his height catches up ... so I'm sure that they will be growing again very soon!). He seems HUGE to me lately ... such a boy, no longer a baby :(

Favorites right now include: Handy Manny (all of a sudden he loves to "fix" everything .... it's driving us a bit nuts to be honest), Cars, Toy Story (Buzz Lightyear), and Chuggington. He really enjoys playing soccer and going to swimming lessons (where he recently moved up a level, graduating from being a Sea Horse and moving up to the Octopus level!), and he often asks us to play baseball with him in the backyard. Oh, and he could still swing for hours and hours. Favorite books lately have been anything Dr. Seuss. He loves to read before bed at night and good behavior can often be encouraged just by threatening to take a book away at bedtime (that sounds horrible to discipline by taking away reading time, but I promise, he still gets read to a LOT).

Speaking of behavior, this year has brought several rough patches, but I think that is normal for 3 year olds. For the most part, he has been just testing the boundaries, and in recent weeks he seems to really want to be be good and make us happy, which is a good thing and has made life with Luke very easy (for the time being!). Sharing with his sister has also been a source of difficulty, but we continue to work on it. I can understand and relate to his frustrations with her since she is not yet capable of playing in the same way that he does. I know it will come in time.

Naps are officially gone with the rare exception on a day when he "accidently" falls asleep (usually in the car). He rests in his room most days, but also tends to do quite well through the afternoon with no rest. Bedtime has been moved up to, pretty strictly, between 7:00 and 7:30. He's ready by then, and so are we! He sleeps for about 12 hours every night. We still diaper at night, but never any other time.

He's doing great wearing his glasses. The transition really couldn't have been any smoother. He must feel pretty comfortable in them because he pretty much doesn't touch them all day. For this we are so grateful!

I could go on and on describing our sweet boy. He's such a joy and a delight, and we are incredibly lucky to have been given the gift of raising him. Loving, sweet, smart, cute, energetic, and full of personalitgy ... how could we ask for more? He makes loving him so very easy.

Faux camping

So, we went "faux" camping last weekend to help celebrate my sweet friend Jessica's birthday. It was her idea to get our famlies together, let the kids run, and have fun "camping" (but not REAL camping because we all had cabins ... although that was camping enough for me).

Actually, the weekend itself is quite the comical story (not so comical when you're living it), but there simply isn't enough time or room here to tell all. I am posting a few of the very limited number of photos I took (I was much too busy chasing after insane, sleep deprived children with injuries - that camping is rough business) to take pictures.

Let's just say that after a bloody, swollen lip (Luke), an upset and throwing-up belly (Mia), very little sleep (Mommy & Daddy), no naps (all), and some rain, these non-campers threw in the towel and headed home early. I guess camping just doesn't run in my blood ... in my opinion its just too much work to be fun ... and far too dirty!

Mia &Charlie keeping warm in the cabin (oh, did I mention it was FREEZING!?)

Luke with his s'mores stick, although he, true to form, determined that he prefers his s'mores as three separate, uncooked pieces - chocolate, marshmallow, graham cracker ... figures! In fact, he didn't like the campfire at all. Funny since s'mores and campfires seem to me to be the only two redeeming factors of camping.

Luke loved the scooter ... probably his favorite part of the trip

Both kids seemed to enjoy the grazing on junk food all day part of camping

Daddy and Mia trying keep warm

So, all in all, Luke said that he likes camping, and the rest of us, well .... let's just say that I am glad we tried it and that I would do just about anything for Jess except go camping again anytime soon!

He loves me...

he loves me not...

I'm pretty sure this is what Mia wonders on a daily basis about her brother ... and actually vice versa as well. They definitely have a love-hate relationship sometimes. Luke's infamous line right now is, "I don't feel like Mia today." Hmmm...not so nice.

However, there are those times (and they seem to be getting more and more often as Mia becomes more able to "play") when they genuinely enjoy one another's company.

Love that!

Luke's newest accessory

I've been waiting to update the blog on this topic until I was able to snap a picture of our cute boy in his new glasses. I'm excited to share how darling he looks sporting his new green accessory.

For several months the teachers at Luke's school had expressed some concern about his ability to focus on objects at a particular distance. They described behaviors that indicated he was having difficulty focusing (blinking and one eye turning in). In response to their concerns (none of which we had noticed at home), I took Luke in to see his pediatrician. She did a simple eye tracking test and found everything to be normal, but suggested that we see a specialist given my family history of strabismus.

The most wonderful pediatric opthamologist ever, Dr. Norman Fisher, is no longer with us, so I jumped into high gear contacting everyone that I knew, reading and researching online, to find the next best person to take Luke to. We ended up going to see Dr. William Good in February. He came very highly recommended and regarded as a pediatric strabismus specialist. In fact, I made appointments for both kids, just be safe. He examined both Luke and Mias' eyes and happily reported to me that all was normal and looked great. I felt relieved, but somehow still uneasy. I had had enough appointments with eye doctors in my time to know that his exam was far from comprehensive, but I tried to brush this off knowing that I wasn't the expert and that I am highly sensitive to all of this given my history.

It wasn't long later, perhaps a month, when I started to see some of the same eye behavior in Luke that his teachers had described. It seemed to occur most often when he was attempting to focus on the TV, or even on the camera when I wanted to take a picture of him. I knew then that we needed another opinion. After speaking with Luke's pediatrician, she agreed that our initial eye exam was not comprehensive and that we needed to see another Dr. She recommended Dr. Deborah Alcorn who is head of pediatric opthamology at Stanford.

Dr. Alcorn did a full eye exam (vision test, lots of tracking tests, observation of his eyes, and then dialating them) and diagnosed Luke with accommodative esotropia. This is different than what I had as a child, yet is similar in that it is a form of strabismus. The good news for Luke is that at his vision test at Stanford his eyesight was still stereoscopic, meaning that most of the time his eyes continue to work together. This is important and something we want to be sure to preserve. In most children with accommodative esotropia, their farsightedness begins between the ages of 2 and 3, and tends to get worse until around age 8 when it tends to begin to improve.

So, for now Luke is in glasses full time to correct the farsightedness and preserve his stereoscopic vision. The best guess now would be that Luke will wear glasses until he begins to outgrow his farsightedness (after age 8). In about 75% of children with accommodative esotropia that has been treated with glasses, the child's vision will improve until is it no longer necessary to have glasses and the eye will remain straight. We will revisit the Dr. at the end of May for an update.

So, as you can see, Luke is sporting a pair of very cute, very green glasses. We decided to go with a pair of Miraflex glasses because they are so stylish (ha!) and practical for preschool aged children. They are virtually indestructible, are all one piece (no screws for Mia to swallow), and are made of a material that allows kids to play in them without worry about the glasses causing any harm if they fall down with them on, or are hit in the face with a ball, etc. After we had to break the sad news to Luke that his size/shape of glasses did not come in the powder blue color (thank goodness!), Daddy and Mommy suggested a dark blue or navy pair, which Luke quickly dismissed. He wanted green ... and so green it was. After all, he has to wear them. And so far he has been great about keeping them on with no complaints, and I even think he is liking the new found attention that they bring.

I don't think he could look any cuter ... and the green is growing on me :)!

Easter 2011

We celebrated a beautiful Easter Sunday this year in Santa Barbara.

The bunny came!

Family shot before church

My beautiful girl and one of my handsome guys

Paw and sweet (although sick) Mia - love this one!


Following church the Egg Hunt begins! Luke and Satya did well to find nearly 40 eggs

Mia had an egg hunt of her own in a seperate part of the yard, but she was more interested in snacking on chips and guacamole!

Mia fully enjoyed her 1st piece of See's candy after dinner

Many, many thanks to our Santa Barbara family for having and hosting us - it was a lovely weekend!