Live~Laugh~Love

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Luke at 3

Luke's 3 year old well visit with Dr. Dugoni went great. He surpassed all of her three year old milestones. In fact, she was impressed with his ability to count (to 20), name all of the colors, and identify shapes, but I think what she was most surprised to see is how well he recognizes letters (he knows all of them - upper and lower case ... and can tell you how to spell his name and his sister's).

The only concern she voiced was that of his speech, which is not something new to us. His teachers at school have also expressed some concern, not with his comprehension or vocabulary, but with articulation of sounds. Back in February I asked one of our neighbors who is a speech pathologist to screen him. She thought that based on his age, he was normal, but suggested that we re-evaluate after his third birthday. She also suggested that we have his hearing re-tested, which had not been done since before he had the tubes put in last April (at which time, his hearing was likely pretty impacted by all the fluid). I took him back to the ENT and they tested his hearing and the results showed that it was normal. So, we have an appointment for later this month to have him screened by the local school district (they start screening and early intervention speech services at 3 years old). We'll see what they think... I don't have too much trouble understanding what he is saying most of the time, but he does stump me now and then. In fact, just the other day I was listening to him and was blown away by his phrasing and the complexity of his sentences. All of a sudden, I felt like I was talking with an adult ... and I love to hear the little quotes that come out of his mouth that sound exactly like something Michael or I would say. Cracks me up!

Luke is attending summer school at Mandala this summer. It has been a bit difficult for him to transition from his old, regular school year class, to this one with new kids. I am anticipating that the switch from the classroom he was in all year last year and this summer to the new "big kids" preschool room in the fall is also going to take some getting used to, but I know that eventually he will feel comfortable there and make new friends. Luke is still very sensitive and pretty shy, so all of this takes a little longer for him than it might for other kids.

Luke sleeps about 11-12 hours a night on average. He still takes a nap most afternoons for about 2 hours. There have been days in the past month where he has skipped a nap, or has "just rested" in his bed. On these days, he typically goes to bed at least an hour earlier, and generally then sleeps for 13 hours! He's our little sleeper! He is SO much better at staying in bed, both during nap and night time. We rarely have any problems with him coming out of his room anymore. He does still wear a pull-up to nap, and a diaper to bed (he's in underwear the rest of the day).

Luke continues to be a loving and sweet little boy. He is generally very well behaved, but of course, we are starting to experience those "three year old moments" that challenge us. He is sensitive and never hesitates to show us affection or tell us that he loves us. He is especially kind to his sister, who is starting to really get into his stuff! That all being said, he can also be completely wild and out of control :) ... he is, after all, a 3 year old boy!

A quick interview with our three year old:
Favorite colors? Blue, green ... and sometimes pink
Favorite food? (ha!) Grilled cheese, banana milk (banana, milk, and yogurt), most fruit, ice cream, chocolate milk, string cheese, chicken fingers, crackers, cheerios, french toast, bagels.
Favorite TV show: Chuggington (after a LONG few months of only Dora and Diego!)
Favorite toys: Trains, blocks, ride-on/driving toys, tricycle, the swing. He loves to be outside watering plants or just playing in the yard. He's become very good at self-entertaining, which is wonderful!
Favorite place to visit: Happy Hollow and the swimming pool
What do you want to do tomorrow? "Stay home and play all day"

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Silly boy

Monday, August 2, 2010

Grandma and Grandpa visit

Grandma and Grandpa visited from New Jersey last week. We had such fun playing with them! While they were here we had really nice weather, so we spent quite a lot of time outside. We also visited the pool, Luke took Grandma and Grandpa to Happy Hollow, and we all made a trip up to Roseville to visit Uncle Patrick and Aunt Louisa's new home.

It was fun and relaxing ... and we are looking forward to making a trip out to see them this fall. Luke tells us now, "We need to go to them's house."

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Tahoe firsts

Sometimes it seems like everything happens at once - things change overnight. I guess this is especially true in the world of parenting.

While we were in Tahoe this past weekend, Mia got her first tooth - the lower front left one. I can practically see the one right next to it through the gumline, so I'm sure that it will be in any day now also. Funny thing is, I still remember Luke's first tooth; it came through when we were in Tahoe over MLK weekend in 2008. Once Mia's tooth is really visible, I'll post another picture. Until then, rest assured that she is letting me know that she isn't all that happy about these teething pains. We've been up every several hours at night for the past 5 nights or so. Fun times!

Mia also took her first ride on a swing over the weekend. She loved it. LOVED it! She squealed and kicked her legs and smiled the entire time ... just like her brother did when he first tried out the swing. Looks like we're going to need to get another swing in the backyard!

And crawling - she'll be doing it pretty soon. Over the weekend I noticed her trying to push herself forward using her feet. She was also starting to get the idea of getting her knees underneath her. Now this I was NOT ready for :(. A preschooler and a crawler is a whole new ballgame.

Summer in Tahoe

Mommy, Day, Mia and I spent last weekend in Tahoe. Daddy is away on a business trip, and Paw is away visiting his family, so we decided it was the perfect opportunity to head north.

Here's a quick recap of our weekend:

The Northstar Recreation Center has super fun pool facilities for kids. I especially enjoy the shallow pool with the fire hydrant fountain, so we hung out there several days:

They also have a playground. How can you beat that ... a pool and a playground in the same place - it doesn't get better than that! I love to climb, but swinging is still my favorite. Mia seems to like it too!

We spent some time just hanging around the house, taking walks, cooking, playing in the yard, and swinging in one of the hammocks out back:

The Village at Northstar has all sorts of fun things to do also. One night we ate dinner there, and another evening we went to watch the bungee cord jumping. I thought that I wanted to do it at the time, but decided that maybe I would wait until I "grow a little bigger."