ABCs

Luke can sing the alphabet pretty well now. I hear him doing it nonchalantly all the time as he plays. However, if I ASK him to sing it (or any other song, for that matter), it turns into quite the show. I would love to capture how well he can talk and sing these days, but as soon as he sees the camera, he turns into a complete maniac. Oh well ... I'll keep trying!

Luke's house

Luke now refers to his swing set/fort as his house. He was telling me the other day what a nice house he has, and I assumed that he was talking about our house, so I went into all the things that we love about our house. He interrupted me about halfway through to correct me, "No, Mommy, that's your house right there (pointing to the house). Luke's house is here (pointing to the fort)."

OH, of COURSE!

More backyard excitement

My new playset is up and running! Paw and Daddy spent all weekend putting it together and leveling the ground to make it perfect ... and I couldn't be happier.

I played on it from the minute it was finished yesterday until it was time for bed and dark outside.

And, it was the first thing I ran to when I woke up this morning.

Thank you Day and Paw for my playset, and thank you Daddy for helping to put it together. Mommy is very thankful too ... she says it's going to keep me out of her hair!!!

First slumber party

Jack stayed overnight this week and hung out with us one day while his mommy went to work. We had so much fun! If only our mommies would have let us sleep in the same room ... then we could have stayed up ALL NIGHT LONG!

As you can see, we were being a bit silly after our bath:

We wore ourselves out and slept in late. Then, enjoyed breakfast together before I headed off to school:

After school, we went to the park and had a picnic:

I love hanging with my buddy, Jack!

A big boy room...

...is coming!

The first signs of it showed up this week when the twin-sized firetruck sheets arrived in the mail.

As you can see, Luke is ready to put them on his new bed ... only a few more weeks now until the new furniture arrives!

So much to love at 26 months

Oops ... I somehow missed last month, but not to worry because it isn't hard for me to make this month's just a little longer to compensate.

When I filled out Luke's forms to start preschool a few weeks back, one of the questions on the personal history/inventory was something to the effect of, "What has been the most enjoyable stage thus far with your child?" I thought and thought about it, and then realized that my initial reaction was truly the answer: "Right now!"

1) I love to hear you talk. We still don't catch all that you say, but we get most of it. And, if we don't get it, you seem to know this (even if I say, "Oh, really?") and you will repeat it over and over (sometimes 10 times!) in the hopes that I will get a clue as to what you mean.

2) I love to hear all of the new words that you learn every day. Yesterday after school you told me that you went on the playground ... and you were so obviously proud that you knew that new word and had said it correctly "playground."

3) I love that you are now a full-time parent to Monkey. He goes EVERYWHERE with you. You even put him in the bathtub the other night after I had mentioned that he was dirty. I later showed you where Monkey takes his baths (in the washing machine). He also eats every meal with you, goes to school, the store, the park, etc.

4) I love how you tell Brooklyn what she should be doing - this is the one case where you are definitely bossy.

5) I love that you love to give all kinds of kisses now: butterfly, eskimo, blowing kisses, and kisses on the cheeks and lips. Too sweet!

6) I love how you come and snuggle in bed with us when you wake up in the morning.

7) I love that you still actually like your naptime and lately you suggest that it is "night night time." Now, whether you actually want to sleep once we get up there is another story!

8) I love that you are starting to really comprehend that you are going to have a little sister. You will say hi to her, apologize to her when you kick my belly, and give her kisses. I just know that you are going to be a great big brother.

9) I love that even though you absolutely detest what we are giving you for dinner (you either refuse to touch it, or gag on it), you then say, "Mmm, Daddy, I like!" as though it was the best thing you've ever tasted. I guess you think that this is what you're supposed to say :)!

10) I love how you remember so much. You still tell me all about your ride on the train, and the trip we took to the firehouse.

11) I love that you want to help all the time. You want to help change the laundry, water the flowers, mop the floors, and cook dinner. You also know how to help put your toys away, and you are so good at it, making sure that each thing is in its place.

12) I love that you remind me every morning that you need a vitamin (sometimes I DO need reminding!).

13) I love to watch you play and figure things out. In the past month you have become really good at playing independently. It is amazing to see your mind and imagination at work. Puzzles, books, blocks, and your train sets are some of your favorites right now.

14) I love that you need us to love you when you wake up from your nap. You always say, "Hi, Mommy (or Daddy). Hi." and then you want to sit in one of our laps and snuggle for a few minutes while you wake up and tell us, "I sleep good."

15) I love how well you are doing at school. You are turning into such a little boy and you couldn't be more fun right now.

"Monk-mey"

Luke is beyond in love with "Monk-mey." "Auntie" Sarah sent this monkey to Luke after he was first born, and it is now Luke's regular companion. Monkey goes everywhere with Luke (although, he finally agreed to let Monkey stay home from school this week!).

Here are a few shots of Luke and "Monk-mey" enjoying the park together:

And, a few more after Monk-mey took a seat on the bench to rest:

Rain dance!

The first rain this season came in mid-September, and only lasted one night, but Luke took full advantage. He loved squealing, running, and dancing in the rain ... and he's still talking about it now and wants to know when we can do it again - hopefully the rain will come again soon!!!

The next American Idol?

Luke loves to sing. In the car, when he is playing, in the bathtub ... anywhere really.

His repertoire includes:
"The Wheels on the Bus"
"The Itsy Bitsy Spider"
"Row, Row, Row Your Boat"
"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"
"ABCs"
"If You're Happy and You Know It"
and just about anything else that he can pick up some words to and sing along with!

Here's a sampling...

Pure joy

First day of preschool

Luke started Early Preschool today at Mandala Children's House. The mandala is a universal symbol representing wholeness and harmony, and it was chosen as the name for this school because it symbolizes the commitment to the development of the whole child.

He will be going Tuesday and Thursday mornings this year. We are so excited for him and this opportunity, and were so happy to find such a wonderful, nurturing place right in our own neighborhood. He is in a class of about 15 two-year olds, and 4 teachers.

Luke's daily schedule will look like this:
9:00 - Story time
9:10 - Work time (children do individual, self-selected "jobs" with assistance from teachers)
10:05 - Clean up, wash hands, potty
10:15 - Snack time
10:30 - Small group time (children are in groups of 3-4 by age, working with a teacher on a common task)
10:50 - Music and movement
11:05 - Playground time
11:30 - Dismissal

Today Luke took this picture to school as his first "homework assignment," which was to bring in a picture of your family (we decided capturing Linus and Brooklyn would be a BIT too difficult, so the three of us is what they got!).


Today went pretty well. Luke cried when Mommy left, as we sort of anticipated. However, the staff was back and forth every few minutes to check on the children and give the parents updates, and Luke was just fine after about 5 minutes. He seemed to enjoy the rest of the day and even drew this fabulous picture, which he later described to me as being "For Mommy," "Orange circles," and "A blue dog saying 'woof, woof'" (as if it wasn't entirely clear already!).

Hangin' with Uncle Todd

Headed to the beach

Over Labor Day weekend we took a day trip down to visit Uncle Todd and Michelle in Monterey. First stop ... the beach, of course!

Next stop, Uncle Todd's new house where we hung out, BBQed, and Luke got his first lesson in aquarium piping and construction.

Thanks for the fun time, Todd and Michelle ... can't wait to do it again soon!

Pictures of baby girl

As promised, now that we have our printer/scanner back up and running in the office/guest room, here are some ultrasound pictures of our baby girl from our August 12th appointment

Summer of change

There have been a quite a few changes around here over the past few weeks. Have a look...

The backyard BEFORE:

The backyard AFTER:

Our new guest room/office:

The ever-growing belly at 22 weeks:

More changes to come as baby girl's room starts to be put together, Luke transitions to a big boy bed(room), Luke's playset goes up in the backyard, and the belly continues to grow. We'll keep you all posted!