Well Groomed?

All kids love to dress up, whether they are little girls dressing up as princesses or boys as super heroes.  I am still waiting for the day when Luke will want to “dress up” or play pretend.  Sometimes I think he does and I just don’t know it.  Once and a while he will build up some blocks, usually he just likes to knock them down though.  Other times he plays with the Little People in his Little People barn set.  Though, many times he just likes to stuff all the animals and people inside the Silo.  So I’m not sure if that is really “pretend” playing.

Just a couple weeks ago we “inherited” some tools and a “work bench” from some cousins.  The first few days, both kids just wanted to play with the tools.  Luke kept trying to hammer some nails….only he kept using the wrong side of the hammer.  But I was so thrilled that he was trying and knew what the hammer was for!  I actually had a function and wasn’t just another toy he liked to throw!!

What I really want to share with you is what happened a few weeks back, Luke really cracked me up and at the same time I was so proud of him.  We have a brush that we use to “wake up” Luke’s muscles, we brush it across his hands and fingers to help improve the agility of his fingers right before we work on a task or certain toy.  I had this brush sitting on the side table, and I was sitting there minding my own business when he crawls over, picks up the brush and starts trying to comb his hair!! 

I was funny because the look on his face was just so serious and the brush itself was upside down!  None the less, I was so proud of him.  There are so few times where I see him get an object and use it as it was intended.  Once and a while he’ll get a towel and swipe it across the floor or the outside of a cabinet like he is cleaning it.  But, for the most part all objects are thrown, put in (like they are hiding) or just get rearranged.

So in this case Luke was pretending and yet also trying to complete a true task, which was so great!  I caught some of this on video, although it is so hard to get him to “re-enact” just for the camera.  

Luke the Tumbler!

So like a lot of parents, I’ve tried taking our three year old girl to tumbling class.  I figure its good for her to be exposed to more kids her age and to do something special.  Anyway, we have been “practicing” our summersaults at home often.  Luke decided the other night that he wanted to do this summersault thing too!

I was working with our girl and trying to get her to put her hands on the ground and kick her feet out and up at the same time.  I was doing this because she hasn’t figured out yet how to “push” herself over.  While I was showing her this, Luke started laughing and when I looked at him he had his hands on the floor and was “kicking” himself up off the floor (this was from his sitting knee position)!!  He was getting so “air time” too!!!  So cool!!!

Then another night I was helping our girl with the summersaults and was going through the list her instructor says, “arms up, arms down, touch the ground, head to the ground, look at your bellybutton, and push!”  Once again I hear a laugh and I look at Luke, and what is he doing?  Yep…you guessed it, he was trying to follow the same directions.  He can’t stand on his own to get the whole effect, but from his sitting position he did the arm movements and tucked his head in as far as he could.  So I decided to help him the rest of the way over, and he loved it!! 

Grandma and grandpa helped me capture this on video, check it out!

Shoes....where art thou shoes?

I’ve had to make some adjustments in the last couple months, as our little girl is now going to preschool as well as Luke.  One of the main differences is that Luke is limited to the sidewalk when he is playing outside, where our little girl gets to run all over the playground.  That may not seem like a huge thing, but it has definitely made me change our routine on what we do right when we get home and right before we leave.

In the past I would feed the kids lunch, get them dressed, and put on shoes and socks in the living room area.  Then we would all troop out the door.  When we got home we would all troop towards the living room and take off shoes there and then head to beds for naps.

Now that our little girl gets nice and dirty at school, I’ve had to find ways to get them both to stop right inside the door to clean up before going to the rest of the house.  At first I did this by making them both sit on the ground and take off shoes.  I soon found that wasn’t the greatest because we were often sitting in dirt.

Next step, I used a couple chairs that grandpa made and placed them near the back door.  This worked well, although the chairs couldn’t be used for the table that they were made for.  So I asked grandpa to make a bench.  This is our new dropping off and putting on of shoes location. 

Why am I boring you with all these details?  All of this led up to a pretty funny moment last week.  You see, for the sake of easiness I have been keeping all the kids shoes under the bench that they sit on to put them on and take them off.  One day last week, I looked all over the place for the shoes!  They just disappeared!  I couldn’t figure it out.  I know I put them there!  But maybe I put them in the hall closet…but no….they weren’t there either.  I looked upstairs, thinking maybe they got put there for some reason.  Maybe I was just losing my mind!

The good part about this was that it happened on a day without school.  Otherwise I would have been frantic.  Because of that, I gave up my search and focused on feeding the kids and cleaning up the house…in hopes of finding them somewhere. Finally that afternoon, I went to the small closet in the laundry room to get a broom out to clean up the floor from lunch, and what did I find?

You got it!  Shoes!!  Now who would put them there along with the cleaning supplies?  Hhmmmmm…I wonder.  Oh it was so funny!  Luke was up to his old tricks.  The worst part was that he did it and I had no idea.  He was being a little sneaky guy!

Juice...Oh Juice...

First, I apologize to anyone who tries to read this blog often.  The last couple months have been really busy, including Luke being sick the majority of that time.  But I have a collection of stories to tell.  So I plan to be writing more in the coming weeks.  My little man has definitely been at it with his crazy “stunts”.

So one day I was minding my own mommy business, working in the kitchen getting lunch ready and cleaning away, when my bare foot stepped in some juice.  This is a fairly normal occurrence since Luke is always so thirsty, so I just fill up his juice cup and let him have it.  Once and a great while he’ll try to keep his juice on a table, but the majority of the time he sits and drinks his juice and then puts it down on the floor when he’s done.  Sometimes he throws it, and other times he hides it.  Of course he has to take the juice with him from room to room, after all you wouldn't want to watch some entertainment without a beverage of some kind, right?  For Luke the entertainment is simple, opening and closing a door, watching sister run in circles or watching mommy wash dishes. 

So this was just another typical day where Luke kept coming into the kitchen to check on his mamma.  From what I remembered Luke had his juice with him, so I just assumed it was juice.  Then as I continued to walk around the kitchen cleaning up, I walked in a huge puddle of juice.  It was so big my whole foot was soaked and my guardian angel was watching over me, making sure I didn't slip.

That time I not only cleaned up the puddle but I went to Luke and checked his juice cup.  If the lid isn't on tight enough it leaks a lot, not just a little when he throws it.  But, the juice cup passed inspection.  I just chalked it up to it being a mommy moment, I must of dropped something or tightened his cup earlier and forgot.

This crazy mystery was solved when I went to get Luke to put him in his chair for lunch.  The whole back side and one pant leg were soaked!!  Even then I didn't fully realize what happened.  I thought maybe he just sat in the juice or whatever it was.  Then when I did an emergency pant and diaper change I found the source of the mystery “juice”.  One side of his diaper wasn't even connected!!  Somehow it came undone and Luke obviously was watching his mamma work and just peed like normal….only it didn't go in the diaper…but in a puddle on the floor!!

So once Luke was safely back together again, with dry pants, I put him in his chair gave him some crackers and set to work.  First I got a big towel and followed the path of the “juice” and made sure it was all dry…then I got out the Clorox wipes and wiped up all the areas.  Cleaning up juice is one thing, but cleaning up this “juice” was another.  I also Clorox wiped my feet…..yuck!  Do all moms go through this or is it just me?!  

Drama King?

Having a three year old girl I know the meaning of “drama queen”.  She often takes things way out of proportion.  For example, right now she is throwing a HUGE fit…I’m not sure “fit” is the appropriate term.  It is more like a sporadic crying.  She is crying loud and laying on the floor…then she’s quiet…then she’s at it again!  I keep asking her what’s wrong.  Does anything hurt?  Are you making a dirty diaper (sometimes that’s the issue)?  Then more specific…does your hand hurt?  Your nose?  Your feet?  Still all I get is a dramatic cry! 

I say that…and now she’s quiet again…..take that back…now she’s crying! 

Anyway..the point I’m trying to make is that I’m used to a little drama from my little girl.  Although I’m not used to it from my little man.  Luke is usually upset when there’s a reason, like he fell down…or he wants more juice or food.  It’s pretty basic.  With our little girl…who knows!

Back to Luke…he decided to show his “drama king” status on our trip out to Baltimore to Johns Hopkins to see a new doctor.  It was a 14 hour trip, so we split it up into two days.  Even then we are usually “hard pressed” to get to our destination in a 7 hour trip and still have “decent” kids.  If you’ve been reading this blog a while, you know that Luke is not the best traveler.  He won’t sleep in the car and because he can’t feed himself…it makes it a challenge to try and feed him on the road.

All that said, Luke did really good on this trip…until the very last day.  He made it the two days out East, the day in Baltimore and the first day back.  But by the second and last day of travel home Luke had reached is “quota” of “nice guy”.  He was ready to be home!  (Much like his daddy)

We actually did ok, a little grumpy, but not too bad…until we were about 2 hours out.  He started a dramatic melt down…by an hour out it was a true “drama”.  My husband and I couldn’t help but laugh even though his cries were almost constant.

There was a cooler between the kids car seats, and throughout the trip the kids would push the handle back and forth and play with it.  When Luke started his “drama” he was playing with this cooler handle all on his own. 

Luke would reach over, grab the handle, and push the handle as far away as possible.  Then he would pull the handle back toward him…followed soon by him inserting his arm through the handle and pull back.  The result was Luke’s wrist stuck between he cooler and the underside part of the handle.  He would cry out at this point…and continue to cry until I “rescued” him from the “evil” cooler.  Once he was freed he stopped crying…then proceeded to do it all over again.  It was a constant “drama” the rest of the way home! 

I caught a great video on the iPad…only it is upside down and I can’t figure out how to change that!  So I’m going to share a great pic I also took of this “drama”.  The picture tells it all.

"Scoot Scoot Boogie"

Luke continues to show a little more independence.  Seems like every time I get used to the way Luke does things…he decides to switch it up on me.  “No mom…let’s do it this way this time!”

Luke’s latest “escapade” has left me singing “Scoot Scoot boogie”…I’m not even sure that’s the name of the country song. But, it’s the only part of it that sticks out in my mind…I can’t remember any more of the lyrics…I can even hear the “Scoot Scoot BOOOGGGIIIEEE”  all drawn out in the finest “country draw”.  Feel free to give me a hard time about this.  Anyone who knows me, knows that it is just like me not to know the whole thing or even who sings it!

Anyway…back to what Luke was up to….I’ve shared how Luke has taken off on the stairs and gotten all the way to the top by himself, seems he wants to be even more independent!  About a month ago our daughter decided she didn’t want to walk down the stairs…but scoot down them instead.  Not one to be “outdone” …Luke immediately let go one hand from the stair railing (up to this point we had been descending the stairs sideways using both hands on the rail), and squatted till he sat.  Mom took the “hint” and started to help him scoot down the stairs.  He continued getting better at this “skill”.

Then just the other day, I decided to go to the bottom of the stairs and just encourage him down.  Sure enough, he went the whole way!  Sometimes it’s hard not to do “too much” for our little man….but I stepped back …and look what happened!  Luke can do one more thing on his own!  Way to “Scoot Scoot Boogie” my man!

Where Oh Where?

Ok, so we have these easy shoes for our daughter to put on…pink Crocks.  They've been so great because she can simply put them on and take them off on her own.  So while I wrestle with Luke and his shoes, as he is throwing them across the room…while I am trying to put them on his feet, our daughter can simply sit by us and put on her shoes!

Yesterday, even though it was a little chilly out, I told our daughter to go find her “pink shoes”…they aren't the only shoes she has that have pink…but that’s what we call them.  Anyway…I tell her to go get them on and she keeps saying “where mommy where…where pink shoes mommy?”  I kept telling her places to look…all while wrestling with Luke to put his shoes, braces and shoes on.  When we were done, I joined the search…and the pink shoes were nowhere to be seen.  Although I knew I saw them very recently…I just couldn't remember where.

Out of time, I finally grabbed our daughter’s tennis shoes and made her put those on instead…even though they aren't her favorite “pink shoes”.

We went through our day with the usual routine…and never found the “pink shoes”. 

Then, last night I got home real late (around 11pm) and was putting away some groceries.  I pulled out the shelf in the pantry to put canned goods on…and low and behold there were the “pink shoes”!!!  “Someone” decided to put them away on the shelf with the food….very nicely I might add.

Oh…it was so funny to see them just sitting there..lined up and so “innocent”.  That silly Luke has been playing with the pantry a lot lately…I should of known...he would hide something in there.  After all that’s his favorite thing to do…next to opening and shutting doors.