It's a New Record!

Today Luke set a new record. Sadly this isn't a record he should be proud of. Mom had to put Luke in the naughty corner 5 times in a single day.

The five offenses were: thrown toys twice, didn't apologize to Alyce for it, and pulling Mom's hair. There is one more offense but I can't seem to recall it.

We aren't really sure what is up with him. He's been having a raging ear infection going on two weeks and a 3rd course of antibiotics. With that he hasn't been eating much so his blood sugar is way off. Needless to say he hasn't been pleasant to be around. We've given him a wide berth because of all that but when he started being physical we couldn't let that stand.

Here's to hoping that the injected antibiotics will do the trick. If this carries on tubes might be called for.

Yellow!

Up until recently Luke only knew one color, yellow. In fact he really didn't even know that color as every color was yellow. What is so funny about this is how strongly he believes something is the color yellow. He will hold up on high what is in his hand, look at you in the eyes, and proclaim "yellow!".

Of course Mom and I will correct his yes and as of late he is somewhat learning his reds, blues, and purples. It will be sad to see "yellow" go when it finally does but at least we'll have the memories... and video.

New Toy

One toy Luke got for his birthday was a Little Tikes basketball hoop.  It was a gift from Onermark Grams.  Luke had played with this sort of thing before at the Early Childhood Center but Mom thought it would be good for him to have one of his own.  Judging by the video below I'd say that he is enjoying himself.

Please and Thank You

Luke is quite the polite little boy. Already he'll say thank you or "tank yew" when you give him something. Also he says please or "peas" a lot of the time when he wants something. With please Mom and I have to remind him most of the time. Still it is pretty awesome he's using manners at all.

In relation to please and thank you Luke had his first two word sentence. I heard for the first time yesterday Luke say "thank you mommy". Yes thank you is two words in itself but Luke uses them as one because he never uses them apart. Talking to Mom about his first two word sentence and apparently he was copying Alyce when she said thank you mommy earlier in the week. "Tank yew" Alyce you helped Luke reach a milestone.

Birthday Party

Last weekend we held a birthday for Luke.  It was the first party at our new house and because of that we wanted to put on a good showing.  During the week leading up to the party Mom used every free minute to get ready for the party.  By the time the guests were showing up our house was ready; the boxes had been emptied and their contents put away (shoved into the basement).

All of the guests showed up while Luke was asleep.  The people coming in probably woke him up, but when Mom brought him down he must have still been groggy because he gave everyone a curious look and clung to me for a while.  A few minutes later he had finally let go and started playing with the other kids.

I spent a good portion of the party cooking dinner and as far as my kids were concerned my effort was for naught.  Both Alyce and Luke couldn't be bothered to sit down and eat any food.  There was just too much going on.

One of the things going on was pin the tail on the donkey.  To keep the kids entertained during the party Mom picked up copy of pin the tail on the donkey.  What made this set neat was that each kid got to decorate their own tail.  Alyce and another older boy Jack were very much into it.  Gideon and Jack's brother Mason were not so much.  Luke even managed to play however, he didn't have a blindfold on so he was able to locate his tail well.

Following the meal we opened presents.  Luke was very much into opening the presents.  With each present opened Luke lost interest in all others.  One present being a set of books which upon opening he comes over, sits in my lap, and wants me to start reading them.  This was the only point in the party where Alyce wasn't happy.  She wanted to open up Luke's presents and when we told her no some unhappiness and tears were coming up.  We did let her help Luke on some packages and that was enough to keep her from a tantrum.

Quickly after presents we moved onto cupcakes and ice cream.  This is another area where Mom went above the call of duty.  She made 48 cupcakes for the party.  Luke seemed to really enjoy getting Happy Birthday sung to him. He had a big grin on his face and looked around at everyone in attendance.  He didn't know what to do when it came time for him to blow out the candle.

After desert most people with kids had to go.  And a short bit later most of the other guests took their leave.  I'd say that our party was a success.  Everyone had fun, there were lots of cool presents, and nothing was spilled on our carpet.  The neatest present we got but haven't yet opened is a moon themed night light.  You mount this thing on the wall and it will show all of the phases of the moon.  Given Luke's current infatuation with the moon I'd say this gift is spot on.


Thank you to everyone that joined us that day.  Also thank you for the wonderful gifts. Both Luke and Alyce have enjoyed them.

24 Month Checkup

With Luke now officially being a 2 year old he gets another wellness checkup visit with the doctor.  Talking to Mom this checkup didn't go as easily as the past ones.  Luke wanted to have no interaction with the doctor.  When she would reach out to touch him he would cry and reach for Mom.  The doctor couldn't even look at his toes without a negative reaction.  He had a different doctor than the normal one and that probably had something to do with it.

Luke appeared to be fine developmentally.  The doc found was that Luke had a double ear infection.  Mom and I didn't know he had one as he wasn't showing any outward signs.  I'm guessing it was just getting started and we would have seen it in a few days.  Or the doctor just needed to make a payment on her boat.  Also she was a little concerned about one of his eyes.  I'm not sure if it is an alignment issue like with Alyce or some near sightedness but we are to go to a specialist and have it check out.

Mom asked about Luke's screaming.  At times when he is really excited or wanting some attention he will pardon the term "scream like a girl".  His screams are silence destroying missiles that will pierce through any conversation and cause headaches if you get too close.  The doctor said that it is a boy thing and that it will go away when he learns more words.

Luke's scores in height and weight are:

• Height:  36 inches
• Weight: 32 lbs.

Both of those values are in the 90th percentile.  Comparing those to his 18 Month values he grew 2 1/2 inches and gained 2 lbs.  To compare against Alyce she was 35 3/4 inches and 25 lbs at 2 years.

The best part about Luke being 2 years old is that we can stop saying he is X months old.  After 18 months it is just kind of weird.  To go any further past 24 and gets even worse.  Luke is 33 months old, I think not.  Also, Luke now gets to eat peanut butter.  We didn't have any fears about peanut allergies and I even thing he might have had some peanuts, but doctors recommend staying away from them until 2 years of age.

To close Luke got a Hepatitis A vaccination.

Mardi Gras

Back in March we attended the Mardi Gras festivities at our new town.  Instead of Mardi Gras we should call it Mardi Growl as it was a family dog parade instead of the bacchanalian images that would normally come into mind.

It was the first time they put on this event and I would say it was a great success.  They had adequate facilities on site like port-a-potties and food vendors.  Where they came up short with was organization.  When the dogs finally went on parade it was mob rather than a parade.  In the future I think they should release the dogs in groups to lengthen the parade and allow us to see more dogs.

The kids really enjoyed this.  The weather was ok and seeing all types of dogs was fun.  Alyce got to make a Mardi Gras mask and Luke listened to some music.

It was a short, didn't cost us anything, and we had fun.  All the makings of good time.

Happy Birthday!

Today Luke turned two. Nobody in the neighborhood would know it as we didn't throw a massive party, yet. The big birthday party is coming on Sunday. Today we took him and Alyce out to dinner, got ice cream, and played at the park.


Seeing him run around at the park really puts his age into perspective. Two years ago he could just breath, eat, cry, and mess his diapers. Now well he still breathes, eats, cries, and messes his diapers but he does so much more! He can walk, run, climb, slide, sort of talk, feed himself, knows the color yellow, and the number 3.


No other time in his life will he learn so much so fast. He's had a crash course in living and even though it can be frustrating at times he's doing a great job.

Forts

Today Mom made a fort for Alyce and Luke to play in. Judging by this picture I'd say they enjoyed themselves.


The fort was a blanket over Luke's crib.

Equating People to Things

A while ago Grams and Papa were over for dinner. While here Papa drank a beer from a bottle and the empty stuck around for a few days. Mom told me that Luke had seen the bottle and then said "Papa". While it probably doesn't make Papa happy to know that when Luke sees a bottle of beer he thinks of him but it does show some new development for Luke. Luke is associating something with someone.

In Papa's defense he usually isn't drinking beer around Luke. Margaritas maybe, but not beer.