Potty Training

So potty training is starting up with Luke.  He's 3 1/2 and well lots of kids younger than him are already going down that path.  He's got about half of it down.  He can control himself and can wake up from most naps and such dry.  The half he doesn't have is the desire to use something other than a diaper.  Months ago it was a fight to get him on the potty.  Now if we bring it up he'll go along with it, begrudgingly.

We do that candy stuff and have dangled some larger prizes for doing his other "business" on the potty but he'll have none of it. The problem is that we don't have a lot of times to practice when he only goes once per day.

Just today we did have one milestone.  Well for a guy anyway.  Luke did his business standing up. I think he was pretty proud of himself. I hope that translates into something more. But I'm not holding my breath.

Foot Bees

A while ago we were having dinner with Grams and Papa like we have done lots of other times. This night Luke said something rather funny during dinner.  He started taking his socks off saying that he had bees in his socks.  After a few seconds we finally put together what he meant.  Luke's foot had fallen asleep.  The best he could do to describe it was to say that he had bees in his socks.  I gotta give the guy some credit.  That's a pretty good description.

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!