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.