You Know You Are Old When...

You take your son out to McDonald's for a guys night out and get a salad for dinner.

My Little Computer User

I don't think he had a clue on what to do but her certainly looked the part.


He was learning to move the mouse around the screen though.

Circus

Last week we took the kids to Ringling Bros. Barnum Bailey Circus. Our friends Josh and Tammy invited us to go with their kids Gideon and Sylvie.


At first I wasn't too excited to go. But with tickets at $12 a seat I relented. The seats were pretty good and the circus was entertaining. Luke spent most of the time in my lap with his hands over his ears. It was kind of loud and he's sensitive. Luckily he didn't freak out and burst into tears like he had done earlier this year at a baseball game.

Potty Training

Luke is being just as difficult to potty train as his sister. He gets the concept and can go on command. But I think he thinks "why go to the trouble when I has a diaper on". We have both short term and long term incentives but that doesn't seem to be working. At school they are taking trips to the bathroom together and I'm thinking the peer pressure will be what pushes him. Just like his sister.

In the meantime our diaper supply is lasting longer which is nice. I'd like to be done with them permanently. There's nothing like freedom from the baby bag.

Fall Festival

Yesterday was the fall festival at Alyce's school. It was a fund raising event and by the looks of it pretty successful. It was also the first time the kids got to wear their Halloween costumes.

This year Luke is Captain America and Alyce is a purple mermaid.




At the event there was a Trunk or Treat. People decorated their vans and the kids hit everyone for candy like they were houses. It was neat and fast.

Learning The Hard Way

That post I wrote last week about Luke's first day of school. The final sentence about how he's going to have a lot of skinned knees and chins in his future. Well to be honest I just got done writing that. I didn't get the chance to write about Luke's first day until now. What prompted me to get done with that post is to get writing on this one. After Mom picked Luke up from school today she sent me the picture below. Luke had his first skinned chin.

By the picture it looks kind of gruesome and talking to Mom tonight it is. Whenever it happened at school the trauma must have passed because he was all smiles by the time Mom picked him up. You would figure he'd learn his lesson and not try and run faster than his feet would allow. You would be wrong. While waiting for the bus today Luke wouldn't sit still or slow down. Between running outside and in the house I've come to the conclusion that Luke has two speeds, run and stop. With stop only occurring when he's asleep. All that energy he is releasing is tiring us out.

When I arrived home from work tonight Mom handed me Luke's log book and opened it to today. The log book is a pretty neat idea. The teacher writes notes in it every day explaining what happened that day in class, what books they read, and any other pertinent information. I think it's a pretty neat idea. Stapled to the log for today is the incident report for Luke's injury. It reads as follows. "Your child, Luke, received First Aid today for a cut / bruise on this chin & lip. It happened on our walk / run on the track. Two friends bumped into each other and fell." The Nurse's comments are what really sells the report. "We checked inside Luke's mouth as best we could. He didn't cry or fuss - just got up and kept running."

No time for crying when it's play time. Half of me is proud of the little guy. The other half wishes he'd learn a little self preservation. Mom and I are wondering how many of these injury reports we are going to have stapled by to his log book by the end of the year. I don't think it's going to stop at one.

First Day of Preschool

Today was Luke's first day of preschool. It couldn't have come soon enough. Both he and his sister have been bouncing off the walls for days. Luke is in afternoon preschool. Luckily we chose the right session of school. We had the option to choose either morning or afternoon. We wanted his times to coincide with Alyce's so that Mom could get some time off. With Alyce and kindergarten you are are the mercy of the district for which session you are assigned. With Alyce getting afternoons too everything works out and Mom gets almost three hours to herself!

I stayed home from work today because I couldn't miss such a big event in my children's lives. Mom got the kids up and ready for school. They were fed lunch early because they'll be in school during their normal eating times. Before we left we had to get those traditional first day of school pictures! There is one hitch with the kids going to school. Due to close start times Alyce can't ride the bus to school except for Fridays. I don't think she minds much as she gets to say goodbye to Luke.

We dropped off Luke before Alyce. For the first day of school we were to drop him off in his class. On subsequent days the teacher or teacher's assistant will pull the kids out of the car letting Mom drop off in without having to park, how convenient. Luke's class is pretty neat looking. It is near the front of school which is nice as Alyce's class last year was in the basement. Everything was going just fine, I was thinking we were going to have an easy separation. I was wrong. As we were saying goodbye and walking out the door Luke grabbed hold of my leg for dear life and wouldn't let go. Couple that will cries for "Daddy" and it would make just about anyone cry. I eventually had to peel him off my leg and walk away. It was the right thing to do but it doesn't make it any easier.

After school was over Mom and I went and picked Luke up. If the trauma from earlier left any scars they weren't showing. Luke was happy as a clam. When we asked him if he had fun at school he said "yes"!

Luke made a new friend today too. Not at school though. While at the bus stop waiting for Alyce to get home Luke was playing with a neighbor girl called Sophie. She is the little sister of one of Alyce's new friends Ellie. Luke and Sophie laughed, played, and ran all around the yard. We keep telling Luke to walk or if he is to run to do it on the grass. But he won't listen. I have a feeling he's going to have to learn the hard way. With lots of skinned knees and chins in his future.

Six Flags

What spring and summer would be complete without season passes to Six Flags? One of the nicest perks we have living where we do is making quick trips to Six Flags. 5 minutes down the road and you are parking your car. A few minutes after that you are in the park.

We ride the same rides every time we go. The kids don't mind. I think they prefer the routine. One bonus on going late in the evening is that all the other children have gone home. Leaving our kids with the run of the place. So much that the Bugs Bunny Airplane ride didn't have anyone in line providing Alyce and Luke the opportunity to fly their own planes.  Upon taking off Alyce went straight up to the top. Luke well it took him most of the right to figure out that he had to pull back hard on the stick to go up. He managed to get off "the ground" but never got all the way up.  No worries though he enjoyed himself.

Luke's Art

Just before Luke's Kid's Day Out class ended for the year he came home with a really great art project. It was a dot painting of a sail boat. It's easier to explain when looking at the picture. The kids get these paint blotters where everywhere they touch on the paper it leaves a blot of paint. A messier form of an ink stamp perhaps. Luke has been using these for a while now. Until now most of his output has been very random. With this particular work he made a conscious effort to stay in the lines. His colors were still random with a hint of advancement with that too. He had the sun painted with all orange paint.

I was very pleased with what he's done. I can't wait to see what he'll do next.

Strawberry Picking

Two weekends ago we with some neighbors went to go pick strawberries. It was supposed to be a neighborhood event but at the last minute most people cancelled. While their cancellation was regrettable the other family (Cris and Cory) that joined us is our favorite family in the neighborhood.

The Eckert's farm is a fully working farm. I'm sure they make a lot of money out of growing food the conventional large farm way. However, they've also perfected the small farm experience. During the year they have all manner of crops available for people to come and pick their own; strawberries, peaches, apples, and pumpkins to name a few. To get to the fields you take a tractor ride which pretty much made Alyce's day. On top of picking as much as you want you can also eat as many berries as you want while out in the field. A first I was a bit skeptical but looking at the vastness of the fields there are more berries going bad on the vine in a day than they'd lose from people eating their fill.

Picking the strawberries wasn't easy work. It was really hot and dry out in the fields. Alyce withered first. After 10 minutes she said she was ready to go. I don't think she was too hot, I think she wanted to get back to the farm house where a bounce house was setup. Mom and I picked over a flat of strawberries. However we made it back to the farm house with a single flat. The reason for that is another story.

I really enjoyed picking strawberries with my family. I think it is one of those unique family events that can turn into a tradition. I'm not sure the kids got as much out of it as I did but stuff like this has a way coming back around when you least expect it.

Encouraging Potty Training

Last week something very encouraging happened. Luke used the potty! Mom, Alyce, and I have been trying for weeks to get Luke interested in potty training with limited success. Short of tying him to the toilet we've probably tried it. One night last week while getting Luke ready for bed I noticed his diaper was a little light for how much he drank during dinner. I let him run around bottomless during teeth brushing hoping to catch him in the act and direct him where he needed to be. Well nothing happened so I asked him if he wanted to use the potty. Yes was his answer but this wasn't anything special. He uses potty time a way to forestall going to bed; not a bad move really. I got him all set up on the potty and then left to go find him a book. After 30 seconds or so I hear crying from the bathroom.

I went into the bathroom the check on him and he had relieved himself. He wasn't pointing in the right direction when he did. So he made a bit of mess and was upset about it. I immediately praised him as much as I could. Alyce bless her heart did the same. She was telling him that he was a big boy now and other encouraging words. Luke didn't seem to be buying it. I got him and the bathroom all cleaned up and told him we should go tell Mommy. Upon going downstairs Mom also praised him and we gave him some candy! Somewhere during the candy he figured out that we were proud of him and not mad. From behind his tears you could see the smallest grin shine through.  He was very proud of himself. We were very proud of him.

Since then he's had one other successful use of the potty with better results in the aim department. I'm ready for Luke to give up diapers. He just turned 3 so it is still early for that sort of stuff. But I'm so tired of diapers. Tired of the time it takes to change, the smell, and the cost. Most importantly I'll be looking forward to ditching the diaper bag. The 5 lb boat anchor you have to drag everywhere. No thanks.

Not Staying in Bed

For just over a week Luke has been acting strange. He hasn't been going to bed. It started off with wanting his ceiling light on in the room. We didn't let that happen but we did give him an extra night light. Next he wasn't and still isn't staying in bed. After being in his room a while he'd get up and come down stairs. We'd walk him back up stairs and 10 minutes later he'd come back down. This cycle can go on past 10:00. His bedtime is 8:30. Now Mom and I have put up a baby gate at the top of the steps to stop him from coming down. That seems to be keeping him upstairs but on two occasions Mom and I have found him asleep in the hallway.

I'm not really sure what is going on with Luke. I'm guessing it is something developmental or he needs to stop taking naps in the afternoon. Perhaps now that he understands the world better he is thinking about all that scary stuff he didn't know to be scared of in the past.

Or better yet it is awesome at night and he wants to be a part of it. I remember as a kid my brother and I sneaking out of our room and hiding in the hallway while our parents were watching the Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson.

End of the Year Party

At the end of Alyce's school year the district put on a little carnival for the kids. It was a fairly simple affair in that there were just games and artsy things to do but no rides.  Alyce and Luke went to all the different stations and played all the games. They also took a few turns in a bounce house. Balloon animals being made were also a big hit; Alyce with a unicorn and Luke a horse.

After the games we took a trip down the hall to the art area and each kid made a picture. The crafts provided were plates full of paint and circle stamps. By dipping the stamps into the paint and then onto the page you could make pictures out of circles. Luke's picture was pretty random. Alyce's was a very happy caterpillar.

Funny Luke

Last weekend Luke was walking around the house in my shoes. At first he was in the kitchen walking around. After we took note and started laughing he hammed it up and started walking all over. Luke has a great sense of humor. A single action or a look is enough to generate laughter.

3 Year Checkup

This morning Mom took Luke for his 3 year checkup. Other than a double ear infection he is doing fine. At his 2 year checkup the doctor made note of one of his eyes. It was something along the lines of one reacting slower to light than the other. We couldn't see any issue and the doctor didn't seemed overly concerned. She checked it again this time around and everything was fine so there's a trip to a specialist we won't have to make.

Luke's values in height and weight were:

• Height: 38 inches
• Weight 35.8 lbs

The height is the 70th percentile and weight is 90th percentile. Luke's height increased 2 inches over last year and weight increased just under 4 lbs. To compare against Alyce she was 37 inches and 30 lbs at 3 years. Luke is going to be quite the bruiser when he gets older.

What I don't get is how Luke's weight can be increasing. The kid isn't eating anything. His breakfast is usually pretty thin, eats crackers and cheese for lunch, and about half time time refuses to eat dinner. Maybe he's sneaking some candy in bed at night.  That or he's losing fat and gaining bone.

Finally he had one vaccination.

Aww

Tonight as I'm walking out of Luke's after putting him to bed he says "goodnight daddy I love you".

Heart melting.

In Awe

Today was Opening Day at Six Flags. Luke is going to be three years old shortly and needed a season pass like Mom, Alyce, and myself. The downside of that besides the cost was that he needed his picture taken, just like everyone else in the park. The line for Season Pass Processing stretched all the way to Terre Haute. I stood in line most of the time. Towards the end of the line the rest of the family joined me. While standing and waiting Luke was in awe of the Excaliber ride going through its cycle. It kept his attention long enough to snap a set of pictures.





I think Luke is going to be the Amusement Park Rider of the family. He is enamored with roller coasters and is pretty much fearless.

Where's Luke?

Last week Mom went to check on Luke before she went to bed. Upon opening the door she couldn't find him. He wasn't in his bed nor on the floor. Right as she started to freak out she looked under the bed to see Luke sleeping soundly. He must have fallen out of bed (not his first time) and then rolled undeneath. Mom picked him up and placed him back in bed. He was still there in the morning!

Turtle

Today Luke drew Mom a picture of a turtle. I thought he did a halfway decent job for a soon to be 3 year old. Most of the art I see of his is from his kid's day out class. The crafts he brings home are usually lots of things glued together. To see him draw something from scratch is pretty neat.

Parents As Teachers Balloons

A few weeks ago we had a visit from our Parents As Teachers person. I've discussed them in length in other posts. Alyce has graduated from that program now that she is in preschool and and soon to be kindergarten. That doesn't mean she doesn't have anything to offer our big girl.

The visit with her about Luke went just fine. Luke seems to be progressing just about right for his age. We don't have any concerns about him. She gave Mom some ideas on how to help with some motor control skills. Skills such as hitting something with a racket or bat or throwing and catching a ball.

For the former she set us up with two balloons on strings. The kids are supposed to use either their hands or a racket to keep the balloons aloft. They've been a huge hit. So big a hit that they were taking up room in our living room for a few weeks. After a while the tape holding them gave way and we disposed of them while the kids weren't watching. For the later she gave Mom instructions to create yarn balls for the kids. They are pretty simple affairs. The balls are easy to catch and easy to throw. Since they are made out of yarn they don't do any damage if thrown in the house.

St. Patrick's Day

Last Saturday we took to the kids to the St. Patrick's Day Parade. This is our third year attending and probably the best weather we've ever had. The kids are big enough now that they could walk from the parking lot to the parade route; a trek of about 6 or 7 city blocks.

Our friends Ted and Molly carve out a little section of the parade route to create our own little party zone. Even though attendance was greater than expected we had plenty of room to move, cook, and converse. The kids took up location on the curb to get the occasional bit of candy or string of beads that would come our way.

About halfway through the parade a group of bigger boys joined our group. They were welcome guests of Ted and Molly's but still they succeeded in pushing our kids out of the way a bit. Alyce seemed a bit disappointed in the additional competition for the goodies but she had enough and didn't need anymore junk cluttering up our house.

Luke seemed to be enjoying himself. He spent some time sitting in our laps and on the curb. He got a few pieces of candy but didn't compete for much of anything else. Rather than fighting for the scraps Luke attacked the main course the snack table. On multiple occasions he pulled me over to the table and pointed at crackers, pretzels, or cookies for consumption.

As the parade was winding down some weather was moving in. We decided to pack it in to avoid walking in the rain. The kids again traveled to the car without any fuss. Their maturity was awesome.

The Aftemath

A few days have passed and it's time for a post big boy bed recap. Luke's transition to a big boy bed has gone better than we had expected. The first night was tough but every night since Luke has gone down as easy as when he was in his crib.


Luke hasn't quite mastered sleeping in a bed. When he lays down his head is at the foot of the bed and his feet are on his pillow. I think he likes to look at the door and that position makes it easier. Just tonight I was able to get him turned around. When Mom checks on him tonight it will be interesting to see if he is still situated right.


Nap time is the one sticking point. Instead of taking naps Luke is having a ball. Instead of quiet time it's party time. Also he keeps asking for Mom's attention. He has plenty of toys. I think he needs to learn to entertain himself. In time.

Big Boy Bed

For the last few weeks we've. Been working on getting Luke's new room ready. His new room is bigger than his old. It was always the plan to put him in there but needed the time to get it ready. And ready it is. The hard part was yet to come. Getting him out of his crib.

All this week Mom, Alyce, and I have been building up the big boy bed. Friday night we disassembled his crib and turned it into a toddler bed. Better to rip off the bandaid than to keep the crib as an option.

When it was time for bed Luke wanted his old room but after seeing his crib was gone he accepted his new room. Mom had to put in some time to get him settled and to stay. But after a little more than a half an hour he was out. He was laying kind of weird but he was asleep none the less. When Mom checked on him later his head was half hanging off the bed. She nudged it back on and he slept through the night.

The next morning we heard him awake however he didn't come out of his room. Mom checked on him and he was playing with some trucks on the floor.

Tonight is my turn. I'm hoping there is some improvement so I can spend maybe 15 minutes and not 30.

Well Behaved Kids

Today we took Alyce and Luke to the movies. We saw The Gruffalo. A short movie based on a book of the same name.


We also went with a lot of neighbors from the neighborhood with their kids. All the kids behaved fairly well. About as good as you would expect 5 year olds to behave. But Alyce and Luke both are perfect. They didn't get up, make noise, Or need to be disciplined. In almost any situation in public our kids are the best behaved.

I have no idea why they are so good. We don't raise them very strictly or let them get away with everything. Maybe being in the middle plus them being predisposed to be good is all we need. In any case I was real proud of them.

Luke's First Movie

Today we took Luke to his first movie. It was The Guruffalo. It's a short movie based on a book of the same name.


Luke did very well during the movie. He got fidgety towards the end but he didn't talk, cry, or get out of his seat. I'm not sure he's ready for a full movie yet. Maybe it needs to be something super entertaining. We tried the movie Cars a few weeks ago and after 40 minutes he left to go play with trains.


Luke was a fan of the popcorn. It was kind of odd eating it at 10:00 am. Popcorn is an afternoon and evening food.

No More Baby Gates

Last week took down our last baby gate. We haven't needed it for a long time. Luke has been traversing the stairs for months without incident. We kept it up as a means of keeping Luke upstairs when we needed him there. Also we used it to keep the dog from going upstairs while we are out of the house.

Anyway we took down the baby gate. It had outlived its usefulness. We ended up selling it to some neighbors who have a baby that is starting to roll around. This isn't really something that even needs to be written about.  I guess I am just lamenting the fact that we don't need a baby gate anymore. Ever. We aren't going to have any more kids (knock on wood) and it's sad to see the door closing on that part of our life.

Left Handed or Right

Luke is taking his time figuring out which hand is going to be his dominant. Just today our Parents as Teachers lady asked Mom which hand Luke favored and we thought it was his left. He eats with his left and throws a ball with his left, and yet he can still use his right hand pretty good too. Tonight he was eating applesauce with his right hand with great precision.

I guess when he hits preschool and starts writing his letters we will figure out which one he'll gravitate towards. I kind of hope that he's going to be a lefty. He would have a rough time living in a right handed world but maybe just maybe he could have a future has a Major League pitcher.

You never know.

Birthday Bowling

For my birthday, way back in December, we went bowling. I thought it would be a fun way to spend the day before New Year's. We picked up a good deal at the local Brunswick where for $60 6 people got two hours of bowling, shoe rental, a pizza, and unlimited soda. We thought we'd invite Gideon and his dad to join us to make 6. We also invited them so Gideon's Mom would have the house to herself and Sylvie so she could clean for the New Year's Eve party they were hosting later that night.

To make the bowling experience as fun as we could we had bumpers setup in the lane. The bumpers keep all of the balls in the lane and out of the gutter where balls usually go when kids are bowling. Josh being an old pro at this also brought over a bowling ball ramp. This ramp will allow the kids to put the balls up high enough that the ball has some decent speed when it hits the pins. The increased speed keeps the action up and the kids interested.

Even with all of that Luke's interest waned about 3/4s the way through the first game. Both he and Gideon thought the circular ball racks would be more fun than bowling. We made Luke finish his game and after that one of us bowled in his place. He didn't seem to mind. Luke was also a big fan of the ball return. So much so that he wanted to stick his hands down the hole. We had to explain to him a few times that it would be really bad if he left his hand where it was. Luckily he did figure it out without having any pain inflicted. Normally he has to learn the hard way.

Alyce did well. We thought it was going to be just normal bowling but instead it was Cosmic Bowling. Cosmic Bowling is when they turn off all the lights except for black lights and other special effects. Add in some music and you have a party; if you're a teenager. We thought Alyce with her delicate sensibilities would freak out with the instant darkness and noise but she handled it like a champ. Even last year while on vacation she was very fragile when her environment changed. Since then she has been able to handle that stuff a lot better. It's amazing how things change and so quickly.

I Love You Too

Today Mom was hanging out with Luke while Alyce was at school. While watching a show, Luke went over to Mom, and gave her a few kisses. Mom said to Luke "I love you". Luke replied "I love you too Mommy".

Heart melted.

Not Ready For The Movies

Tonight Luke made it obvious he isn't ready to go to the movies with us. After dinner we put on Alyce's favorite Cars. It has Luke's favorite character too, Lightning McQueen. We thought Luke was old enough to sit through the whole movie. We thought wrong. About 15 minutes in Luke got up, went into the dining room, and started playing with his trains.

At least he didn't need us to play with him. I will say this. Luke is much more independent than Alyce. He is content to play all by himself without a lot of parental involvement. The only time he really needs us is when he's disconnected a section of track.

Finally Healthy

It's taken a while but for the moment Luke is infection free. His attitude has improved immensely, he no longer clings to Mom's leg, and is running around the house with Alyce. His appetite is has also returned as much as it can be.

Luke doesn't really eat a whole lot anymore. He isn't cranky either. We are trying to use desert as the carrot to get him to eat but it doesn't have much effect. We can be eating ice cream right in front of him and he could care less. Also we can't use ice cream to keep him in his seat either. You'd figure as little as he eats he would be skinny as a rail but in fact he is perfect.  Quite the change from the past.

Influenza

Our families health this winter has been less than optimal. Even before winter we were all sick for Thanksgiving. Leading up the Christmas Alyce had her bout of pneumonia. Now that we've crossed into 2012 the trend hasn't changed.

Alyce had a checkup for her pneumonia a little over a week after her diagnosis. We were happy to find out that it had cleared up however she had picked up an ear infection in the mean time. So Alyce was prescribed yet another set of antibiotics for her ears. About a week into those antibiotics Alyce got sick again and we thought it was her ear infection flaring up a bit. It turns out it was some form of viral infection. Knock on wood but she seems to have cleared out of most of that.

Luke on the other hand picked up a bug from school. This was a lot like Alyce's flu that led to her pneumonia a month prior. There was a low grade fever and he was in a nasty mood. His appetite was gone except for liquids and yogurt. We are guessing that he had a sore throat too. He came down on a Thursday night and for the next 4 days there wasn't much improvement. The worst part about Luke being sick is that he is extremely clingy. From the moment he'd wake and for the next few hours the only words out of his mouth were mommy and juice. Hearing someone say mommy 100+ times gets annoying. On the 5th day right about when we were going to call the doctor his fever broke. That was this last Tuesday and we were left wondering what to do. His mood has improved some and his eating is slowly returning to normal. We've decided to let him recuperate on his own and avoid yet another trip to the doctors office.

Right as Luke was showing signs of improvement Mom came down with the same thing. Most like obtained from Luke and his countless coughs without covering his mouth. She's still working past her symptoms but is on the mend.

I've picked up their cold and it seems to show as a sore throat. Isn't too terrible but it seems to be sticking around for a while without moving to other parts of my body. I'd say I have had the easiest run of them all. I'm sure my turn is coming soon.

I'm hoping there isn't much left out there in the way of influenza this year. I'm getting tired of paying for school only to have our kids stay home sick. Even if the rest of the winter is healthy I'm sure we have the exact same thing to look forward to next year. It's becoming an annual tradition to miss a month of school.

Lining Up His Toys

Luke over the past few months has taken to lining up his toys. I remember reading that kids go through phases were they do that sort of thing.  He does it rarely but when he does he is very accurate with placement. He grabs all the cars he has near him, puts them in line, and always facing the same way.

On Christmas I had my camera handy and was able to grab a few pics of Luke in action.