Go...Go...Go Luke...Go!!

Today I just have to share what great thing happened just this morning.  As I’ve mentioned in the past when Luke does something new it feels so wonderful.  As a parent when you child finally feeds themselves, crawls, walks, or talks….you feel such a relief in that they are becoming more independent.  Well…when Luke reaches these kinds of goals the relief and thrill seems so great…it reminds me that God is listening to my prayers for healing in Luke…that He continues to work in Luke even when we don’t always see it.

I felt this when Luke started crawling, when he started using his walker on his own and when he pulled up for the first time last summer.  Today I felt this again.

I was sitting on the couch and Luke comes over and pulls himself up.  At first I thought he was just reaching for a toy that was up there with me, but then I noticed he was trying to put a leg up on the couch.  Now, he has tried this in the past…but not like today.  Today it was like he wasn’t going to give up…no matter what he was going to get that leg up on the couch.

Luke was getting frustrated, crying to me…so I decided to help him crawl up on the couch.  It didn’t take much to help him, just give his leg some support.  Then after a while he wanted down off the couch.  So I helped him do this.  It became a cycle that I helped him with a few times, then all of a sudden he stands up to the couch, puts his knee into the place between cushions and pulls himself up onto the couch!!  All by himself!!  I was so happy for him.

Luke continued to do this throughout the morning and early afternoon.  Six times in total!!  It is just another step towards his walking and talking goals.  But, each step like this is so BIG….and I am so thankful.

Is that really funny?

Alright, any of you who follow my blog already know that Luke has a unique sense of humor.  I’m not sure if all kids are like this, if it is just Luke.  I know our baby girl doesn’t find everything so funny, she usually laughs when she makes Luke laugh.

Anyway, on our vacation a few weeks back there was a time where Luke started laughing and I couldn’t help laughing myself.   We were driving in to the nearest town one day, and it started raining.  All of a sudden Luke started laughing.  He would laugh and stop….laugh and stop….I couldn’t figure out what was so funny.  I asked my husband, “what is so funny?” and he noticed that Luke was laughing when the windshield wipers were going across the front of our vehicle!  I couldn’t believe it, so I watched and sure enough when the wipers would go across the windshield, Luke laughed!  I tried to get this on video, but of course Luke wasn’t laughing as hard for me then…but you can get the idea.

Will we ever get it right?

We have been once again forced to “re-evaluate” how to protect Luke from his wall next to his bed.  The pad still works, but the bungee cord idea is now out the window.  Last week, I noticed that Luke had some blisters and some broken skin on the underside of his fingers, right where they bend.  At first it was only on one finger, then a few days later it was on three different fingers.  The only way I could think of, that he could of done this, was in his “bungee cord game” he likes to play in his crib.

So we once again had to think about how to keep the mat up high enough on the wall without it falling over.  At first we were thinking to try something my dad mentioned, one of those tarp straps that adjusts and locks in place.  Then when I saw that, I realized how big the metal piece is that controls the length of it.  I figured we better try something else, since Luke would probably find a way to get a hold of the metal piece and really hurt himself.

The next step?  Well, my husband, the genius that he is…said “why not rope?”  My husband then comes in the house with this rope that is camouflage in color, since he keeps it to use when he goes hunting.  Why not?  I’m thinking that it isn’t elastic, there is no metal…so maybe it would work, even if this rope is designed to blend in with a forest.  So far…the rope has been up for 3 days…and we are doing well.  I just hope that Luke doesn’t figure out how to chew on it.  Right now I think it is a little too high, but you never know with Luke. 

This whole mat experience has been like any other of parenting.  You encounter a challenge, try to find a solution, and when that doesn’t work….you try again and again….and again.  Hopefully one day you get it right, after all as humans we aren’t perfect….all we can do is keep trying our best. 

A great new hiding place

Luke is always looking for new places to hide things.  Just a couple weeks ago, I spent an entire day looking for one his juice cups.  When my husband came home I told him about this and he asked me I looked in all the usual places; behind the couch, in the trash, in the bathroom, in Luke’s diaper drawer, in the Little Tykes Kitchen, behind the TV, and in his sister’s laundry basket.  “No” I told him…”it disappeared…I looked EVERYWHERE”. 

Well, that didn’t stop my husband from looking.  He made some comment about Luke was outsmarting his momma, but daddy was here now….so look out.  Sure enough after 10 minutes of looking he found it!!  I was so frustrated and looked all day and it only took him 10 minutes!  Of course he found in the one spot I told myself it couldn’t be in, inside the “diaper champ”.  If you are not familiar with these, they are set up to collect diapers without being too stinky.  You place the diaper in the top and then flip over compartment using a handle, then the diaper falls below in the trash bag and is ready for another diaper to be placed in the compartment on top.

Anyway…somehow Luke put his juice where the diaper goes and used the handle to flip it over so that the juice was INSIDE the trash bag underneath that held all the dirty diapers!  I spent a lot of time disinfecting this juice cup.

Now that I know his new spot, I wonder if he'll find even another spot to "stump" his mamma next time.

Peek-a-boo!

One of our kids favorite pastimes, in Peek-a-boo!  When they get upset it is one of the first things I try to cheer them up.  Of course Luke has also had a fetish lately with just covering his head with a blanket.  Sometimes he does this in his sleep...like he doesn't want to be disturbed or something.  Well on our way home from vacation last week, he decided to do this in the car.  I'm not sure if he was telling me he wanted to go to sleep, which he never does in the car, or if he was tired of seeing me...since I was sitting between him and our baby girl in the back seat.

Of course our baby girl isn't about to be "out-done" by her big brother.  She loves to hide her head behind anything she can...whether it is a blanket or her hands over her eyes.  The funniest thing I've seen her hide in happened only this morning.  She decided to use Luke’s cardboard box to hide in.  Both kids thought this was very funny.  

I don't know why my kids love to hide their faces so much....maybe they are playing "peek-a-boo" or maybe they just want to hide for a while, thinking that by covering their faces they can hide their whole body or something.

Stand-Up's

In PE growing up we always had to do sit-up’s, well for Luke we do a little sit-up and a lot of stand-up’s.  Over the fourth of July all the family was gathered and Luke was standing with his Uncle when he decided to drop to the floor.  Before we knew it he was doing his “stand-up’s” with his uncle, and I was able to catch a little of the fun on video.

Uphill Battle

Luke continues to work on so many different skills with his PT.  I remember when we first started therapy with Luke at age 15 months, the goal was for him to crawl.  Then once he could crawl we worked on his ability to crawl up a mat that was shaped like a large triangle, kind of like a ramp.  Now that Luke can walk well with his walker they keep working on his balance and one of the way to do this is to work on his walking skills up and down a ramp. 

The other day his PT worked on this with Luke and she used a large exercise ball as well.  The goal was for Luke to walk up the ramp and push the ball up the ramp at the same time.  Then once he gets to the top he gets to push the ball and let it roll down the ramp and hit any toys at the end.  This wasn’t the first day they did this exercise and Luke always finds the part with the ball rolling down funny.