Christmas Traveling

I don’t know about all of you, but we’ve been on a road a lot this Christmas Season.  I think we are finally home for the rest of the holidays, and it feels good.  When you travel with small kids, it seems like there is so much stress instead of the joy that their should be this time of year. 

We packed up our Suburban with all the kids stuff; two pack and plays, two booster seats, 4 suitcases, an air-mattress, pillows, blankets, large cooler, heater, presents, and of course all the hunting gear my husband brought along.  Plus toys to keep the kids happy and many other small items.  So our Suburban was EXTREMELY packed and we’re driving down the road….and Luke gets bored.  I’m playing Robin Hood in their DVD player, but he is losing interest.  So what does Luke do? 

He decided to attack the DVD player.  You see the DVD player we have for the car has two screens that attach with Velcro straps to the headrests.  Luke starts kicking his feet against my seat, so of course I turn around and tell him to “stop” and hold his feet for a while.  Well that stopped him for a few minutes before he started kicking the seat again.  This time after a little bit in my peripheral vision I see the cord move that goes to the DVD player.  So I turn around and see that somehow Luke got a hold of the DVD cord.  So I tell him “no” and take the cord away.

Once again this worked for a little while, and then he started kicking again and I once again see the cord moving, so I turn around and low and behold Luke had somehow used the cord to get the entire DVD screen in his lap.  Of course he started laughing when I turned around…like he was saying “Hah…see what I did mommy?” 

So after taking back the screen and putting it back on the headrest, I finally got some “mommy smarts” and took off Luke’s shoes and braces (since they give him an additional inch or two in height).  That did stop Luke from kicking my seat and DVD player, so he was no longer able to get the DVD screen. 

Only now he was so bored he took off his socks and then started sucking on his toes…specifically his big toe!  I guess that is one advantage to his flexibility!!

The whole DVD, toe thing happened when we did two grandparent trips back to back.  After that we came home for a day and then left again for great-grandma’s house.  This time we didn’t need to take as much stuff, so I packed it all into our car.  We were also able to take our smaller cooler, which fits perfectly between the two car seats in the back seat.

On this trip, because they had a new prop…when Luke got bored he started playing with the handle of the cooler.  He pushed it towards his sister and then his sister would push it back.  Of course they both laughed and thought this was the funniest thing in the world!  At least they were entertained and happy.

Of course after a while, Luke got bored of that and started kicking his feet again and tried getting the DVD screen again.  This time mommy got smart early and took off Luke’s shoes and braces right away.  On this trip, for some reason Luke couldn’t get his socks off…so instead of chewing on his big toe he had to settle for chewing on his socks.

Santa!

Well in Luke’s 3 years he has never met Santa.  This year Santa came to Luke’s school for their “Family Fun Day”, which took place right before their Christmas Break.  I took Luke and his baby sister in and thankfully the staff helped me out with my baby girl so that I could focus on Luke.

We went to a trough and got some “Magic Reindeer Food”, which we put out on Christmas Eve for Santa’s reindeer. After all the reindeer have a lot of ground to cover on Christmas Eve, they need to keep their energy up. After that we decorated a sugar cookie together, and as much as Luke wanted to eat it…mommy had to do it instead.  It was such a hard task, eating such a sweet tasting treat.

 Then it was time to finally see Santa.  One of Luke’s new classmates saved us a spot in line, since it was so long.  I’ve learned that when I take Luke anywhere in his walker you can only get him to stay still for a few minutes at a time.  So while Luke’s friend kept his place in line and Luke and I did laps with his walker until it was his turn to see Santa.  When there were only two kids in front of Luke, we claimed our spot in the line.

Keeping Luke still for even two kids was pretty hard.  He kept nodding his head and rocking his body, like he was saying “come on….let’s go”.  We need to work on his patience.

I was afraid Luke might be scared of Santa, but sure enough he was happier than ever.  Santa even showed him pictures of his reindeer and Luke looked and smiled like he knew what Santa was saying.  At the end of that time Luke had met a new friend.

Now after taking a picture with just Luke and Santa, we had to take one with baby sister as well.  She wasn’t so sure about this white haired guy with the funny red suit.  She stuck her bottom lip out and looked at him, like she was afraid to turn her back because who knew what he would do to her.

Who's first?

Our baby girl has really been imitating her big brother.  She’ll start dropping food on the floor to see my reaction and she’ll even open and shut doors just like Luke.  When I say open and shut…it is more like a fast partial shutting and then an almost slam open…the result being a BIG BANG into the wall. 

In fact the other day she was in the bathroom while I was getting Luke out of the tub, and she was opening and shutting the door.  According to Luke she must have been doing it just like he would, since he found it really funny.  Luke was laughing so hard I had to fight him to keep him on his feet so I could dry him off from his bath.  Silly little girl!!  Of course when Luke started laughing so did our baby girl.  Who knew that opening and shutting doors could be so funny!

Anyway, our baby girl is also learning how to do some sign language from her big brother.  Just last week I was feeding Luke and our baby girl their lunch.  I asked if Luke wanted more and when he showed me he wanted more by clapping his hands, our baby girl decided that she wasn't about to be outdone and she clapped her hands at the same time!  So when you have two kids and they both want more at the same time…what do you do?  Who should I feed first, they are obviously both still hungry.  Well, I just continued to take turns feeding them…one bite for Luke…one bite for our baby girl…they didn’t really like that.  We’re going to have to work on that patience.

Out!....no....In!

I’ve shared before that our baby girl likes to climb into the Step 2 wagon we have and how much Luke loves to use that same wagon to load up all his toys to take various places throughout the house.  Well last week both kids wanted to do their “favorite” thing at the same time.  The result was pretty funny to watch.

Faith would start to take toys out of the wagon, so that there would be room for her to climb inside it.  Then Luke would start putting everything she took out back in the wagon…after all that is where they belong...right? 

After a little while our baby girl gave up trying to empty the wagon and just decided to climb in anyway.  Move over toy,s our baby girl is coming in!

Then once she was in the wagon she started picking up toys and dropping them out of the wagon….and of course Luke started putting them back in.  They didn’t scream at each other…or even talk to each other…they just proceeded to empty and fill up the wagon at the same time!!  Silly kids

Do the "Scoot...Scoot"

For some reason Luke has had this fascination with scooting across the floor in the kitchen.  Our kitchen floor is tile, so it can be slick when in your socks, or in Luke’s case…in any pants he is wearing.  He loves to sit in the “W” position, with his legs forming a “W” and his butt on the floor…then he scoots backwards.  Sometimes he just does this a little bit, other days he’ll do it for 10 minutes straight…scooting backwards and when he gets blocked by something, like a chair or refrigerator….he’ll crawl forward and then assumes the “scooting position” again…and off he goes scooting backwards!

It is one of the funniest things I’ve seen him do.  I’ve never mentioned it before because I thought it needed a video.  I finally got this “perfect” video yesterday.  So if you want to watch Luke do the “Scoot…Scoot” you can watch below.  Enjoy!

You're kidding, right?

Ok so today’s little story is more of a telling of an unbelievable moment.  This moment took place when I took Luke in for his 3 year checkup to his Pediatrician.  To completely understand my frustrations and unbelief I have to back up a little. 

The day I took Luke in was also his first day of Early Childhood at the school.  As any parent out there knows, the first days of school or preschool are exhausting for your kids.  Well, with Luke he gets tired just walking around for 30 minutes…so you can imagine how tired he was after his first day.  Our appointment was at 1:15pm, so not long after having lunch we headed off for our Doctor appointment.  Luke was fussy and tired all through lunch, and then while waiting at the doctor’s office he became even more fussy.

Not only did I have a fussy child on my hands, but also our baby girl…who became restless at the doctor’s office as well. We also had Luke’s new walker, which he is still trying to figure out how to maneuver well…especially if I have his brakes on…which I did since I was carrying my baby girl.   I definitely had my hands full.

When we were finally shown an exam room to wait for the doctor and after answering all the nurses questions….we waited only 5 minutes or so and heard a knock.  I thought, “thank the Lord, we’ll be out of here soon”.  When the door opened it was not our normal Pediatrician, but a resident.  So then I thought, “Lord help this go quickly”. 

I’ve met my share of residents and I’m a pretty patient person, so I understand the need for the resident to come in and ask all his questions about Luke and such.  I was more than happy to answer the questions….but I couldn’t believe how little this resident knew.  And I don’t mean about Luke, but in general.

One of the first questions he asked me was, “That’s a nice stroller, does Luke like it.”   Since I didn’t have a stroller with me, it took me a minute to realize he was talking about the walker.  When it downed on me that was what he was talking about… I couldn’t believe what he said ….he had do be kidding me...even my husband knows the difference…and that says a lot.

When I was quiet for a while he said, “that is what is it called right?  A stroller.”….I just tried not to laugh or cry….and said “actually it is a walker….and yes he likes it”. 

That was just the beginning of a long period of questions, and repeating things I said about Luke..more than once.  Needless to say my patience was wearing very thin.  I was very grateful when his regular Pediatrician finally came in…such a relief!!  But, by the time we got out of there it was 2:30pm….and then after all of that….when I finally got both kids in their car seats, I realized I forgot all the paperwork I needed signed for the school!!!  I wasn’t about to take both kids back inside.  So…I pulled the car around to where the Valet parking was and asked the attendant to watch the kids while I ran inside. 

I had just talked to this guy and he offered to go get my car, plus I could see the car from the doctor’s office, so I felt ok about leaving the kids.  But, when I got inside…the paperwork wasn’t done like it was supposed to be…so it was at least 10 minutes before I left the office again!!  EERRRR!!!  I was not a happy camper…and neither was Luke at this point…he was more than ready for his nap!! 

We did survive the day…but Luke was more than a little cranky the rest of the day…even after his nap.  Just another “fun filled day”.

Tree Barricade!

I finally got our Christmas tree up last weekend.  I like to do it right after Thanksgiving so I can enjoy it longer.  But, when I had family over the weekend before Thanksgiving to celebrate our baby girl’s birthday and then we had Thanksgiving the following weekend and then the weekend after that we had family over again to celebrate Luke’s birthday, I decided I better wait.  So it is finally up!  I think my husband could easily go the whole Christmas season without the tree up, but for me it just doesn’t’ seem like Christmas unless there is a Christmas tree!

I wanted to share the technique I have perfected in the last three years, in order to protect my “precious tree”.  I debated with myself whether to even try to put it up this year since our baby girls is climbing and into everything.  She is also stubborn; if she sees something she wants she doesn’t stop till she gets it!  You can see where a beautiful lit up Christmas tree might be a problem.

Well I decided I would try what I have done the last two years that worked with Luke, and so far….8 days and counting…the tree still stands and the kids have left it alone!

What do I do?  First I have never put the tree up with my kids around.  I figure when they are old enough to understand what is going on and are to a point where they actually do what I tell them, I will let them help me decorate the tree.  For now, I put it up and decorate it when the kids are down for naps.  Then when they get up it is just another part of the living room.  Nothing too special. 

But, the second thing I do to ensure the tree stays safe is to put up a “tree barricade”.  First I put the tree in a corner of our living room…that way two sides of the tree have a wall to protect it.  Then I have the couch on another side…which only leaves one side that needs “protection”.  So that side of the tree gets my “barricade”…barricade of toys that is.  I find the biggest toys we have and line them up in front of the tree….so when the kids go towards the tree they’ll see the toys and get distracted and forget about the tree.  So far it has worked. 

It has worked well with Luke for two years, but I wasn’t so sure about our sneaky baby girl.  But so far, so good.  Let’s hope it stays that way!

Wake Up Brother!!

Luke still needs his naps.  Some days he goes right down and will sleep for 3.5 hours and wake up all on his own.  Other days he plays for an hour and then sleeps for 2 hours and wakes up on his own.  Then there are other days where whether or not Luke falls asleep right away or he plays for a while first, he just doesn’t want to wake up.  I’ve learned in the last 3 years that if he doesn’t wake up “happy” he will stay in a bad mood the rest of the day.  But, I have a firm rule that at 5:30pm if he isn’t up…he needs to get up.

In order to make sure he wakes up “happy”, I always open his door, turn on the hall and closet light and then just keep making noise throughout the house.  Eventually Luke usually wakes himself up and starts kicking and laughing.  That is the sign it is ok to get him up.

Well the last couple weeks this routine has been interrupted by Luke’s little sister.  She has caught on quickly to the whole “wake up routine”, and she has decided to help.  I’m sure you can imagine what I am about to tell you. 

When I have to “wake up” Luke from his naps, I do what I normally do; open the door turn on the closet light….and then I leave.  Well, little sister has decided that isn’t enough.  Once I leave the room, she may not wait or she may wait about 5 minutes and then she crawls into her brother’s room, stands up at the crib rails, and proceeds to say “dada AAHH….dada…baba…lala..” and so on.  It almost sounds like a song sometimes.  She has done this at least four times now, and I think Luke is starting to get used to it.

When she first did this, I laughed so hard.  Then I heard Luke start screaming…he didn’t like his “serenade” by his little sister, he just wanted to be left alone.  The poor guy.  That little sister is just so mean!!

1st Day of Early Childhood

This past Monday was Luke’s first day of Early Childhood.  For those of you who have never heard of this, it is a lot like preschool…only it is 5 days a week for 2.5 hours a day.  He is able to learn from other kids, get used to a school setting, and also get all his therapy (PT, OT and Speech).

His first day was rough on Luke.  It started out with Luke having to wake up a little earlier than usual, which he did fine with.  Then when it came time to eat breakfast, his usual banana and two eggs, he didn’t want to eat anything.  It was almost like he was as nervous as his mommy!  I did get him to eat about 10 crackers, so at least he had something in his stomach. 

Then at school, all the kids wanted Luke to come over and play right away.  The teacher had to tell them more than once that he would come over after his mommy left.  It turned out that Luke didn’t eat his snack that day either.  Since I wasn’t there, I’m assuming Luke’s curiosity got the best of him and he was too interested in what all the other kids were doing at that time.

Luke did however get to try a new assistive device for speech.  It is a large button that you can program with whatever word you want, and you can also put a picture on it.  The first day it was already programmed with his name!!  So during the circle time when all the other kids said their names, Luke was able to push his button device to say his name!  So cool!! 

When I picked him up he was happy.  That soon ended.  Once I got home and brought him inside I put him down and he started crying.  I had to leave him and go back to the car to get his sister as well as all our stuff.  When I got back, Luke had his legs in a “W” position and was lying on his back screaming and rubbing his eyes.  I finally got him to stop screaming by giving him some juice. But Luke continued to be fussy and rubbed his eyes throughout lunch. I would have laid him down for an early nap, but the day wasn’t over.  We still had his 3 year check up with his Pediatrician at 1pm.

By the time we got home it was close to 3pm.  Needless to say Luke was extremely tired.  Even so he fought sleep.  Poor little guy. 

Now after three days of school, I can say this is getting better.  He isn’t as tired, but he is still upset at first when we get home.  Whether that is because he is tired, hungry, or just because he missed his mommy…I’m not sure.  I suppose in time we’ll figure that out.

Toy sharing?

Luke is learning to play with his sister.  Some days he does well, while other days he acts like a bully and won’t let his sister do anything.  One day I had both diaper bags by the door, all packed and ready to go and Luke goes over to his sister’s bag and pulls out her bottle.  Then he decides to be nice and hands it over to his sister.  He even let her play with it, and didn’t try to take it back (like he usually does).  I thought that was a very nice “big brother” thing to do.

Some days he isn’t so nice, another day our baby girl had a hold of one of those stacking rings.  Luke came over and took it right out of her hands.  Then later that day our baby girl was playing with the same ring, and when Luke came over to take it she held on for dear life.  She had an “iron grip” and did not let go. Luke just kept trying to get it, but in the end his sister had the better hold on the ring.  She wasn’t about to let her brother take that toy.

Since that day Luke has gotten more inventive with how he goes after the toys.  It is like he waits for the right opportunity, when his sister doesn’t have such a good hold on the toy. 

Just last night Luke got a hold of our cordless phone and was playing with it.  Our baby girl somehow got the phone from Luke, but then Luke took it right back.  Of course Luke’s sister wouldn’t stand for that, so she screamed as loud as possible…to bring in reinforcements, otherwise known as “mommy”.  When mommy gave her the phone, she stopped screaming but then Luke (who was not about to give up the phone) reached over and took the phone again.  Which then led to sister crying loud again for someone to help her…again. 

After laughing, I simply took the phone away.  After all if they can’t share, they shouldn’t have it to begin with.  Maybe one day they’ll learn….I can always hope.

Tag Team

The last couple months our baby girl has really started imitating our Luke.  They often try playing together.  Many times Luke plays the “bully” and pushes his sister around.  But, sometimes it seems like they plan it and team up against their momma.

One day I was cleaning up the kitchen and I heard the kids laughing, so I went to check on what they were doing.  There was Luke standing up at the Little Tykes kitchen and our baby girl standing on top of the fisher price singing chair, which was right next to the Little Tykes kitchen.  I was confused as to why they were doing that and why it was funny, and then our baby girl reached up and I looked on top of the Little Tykes kitchen.  Low and behold, there was our cordless phone!  They were working together to try and reach it, those silly munchkins!!

Their tag teaming didn’t stop there.  No, this week they are at it again.  You see, I keep my alarm clock on the floor under my side of the bed.  It is one of those that has one battery and is small enough to fit in the palm of my hand.  Luke has always been fascinated with it, trying to get it and take it places.  In the last few months our baby girl also seems to be drawn to it, like a magnet. 

Well, about a week ago I woke up at 7am to my alarm going off.  I know I didn’t set it, and couldn’t figure it out…then I remembered the kids were playing with it the day before.  The munchkins set my alarm!! 

Then last night I was cleaning the kitchen, again, and I hear “beepbeep…beepbeep”.  Yep, they did it again…the only reason I heard my alarm go off was because I had it laying on the hutch; which is where I put it when I took it away from the kids the day before.  Silly kids!!

Flying

I’ve mentioned before how his current PT is always trying to challenge Luke to the next level.  Well, a few weeks ago she got out a new swing to try with Luke.  They have various swings that are unlike what most people use.  You won’t see these hanging from any tress in the neighbor’s yard.  Many of them are a flat shape like a rectangle, square or triangle that are covered with carpet.  Then they hang suspended by one rope attached to a pulley that is attached to a chain or another rope that goes to the ceiling.  The larger swings have two ropes and two pulleys.

Anyway, this new swing was not like the others.  This one was shaped like a boat, it even had a “sail” attached to one strap to make it look like a sailboat.  The bottom wasn’t the usual firm board; instead it was a soft mesh material.  This swing also hung by only one rope.  The combination of the floor, shape and having only one rope, created quite a challenge for Luke.  He was leaning this way and that holding on for “dear life”.  They started out with Luke holding on to the side, and then he held the straps that were part of the boat.  He didn’t really like the experience at first.  After a while he warmed up to it, and then of course the PT had to challenge him more by having him try to stand up inside the boat.  He really didn’t like that idea.  When the time was up for that activity he was definitely ready to get out.  I’m not sure “sailing” will be his life’s ambition. 

Oooo I like this!

During Luke’s Speech Therapy and OT, there is usually a point where Luke sits in a chair with a tray.  They use this for their various activities, like playing with Mr. Potato Head or the play dough. 

Well, a few weeks ago when the Speech Therapist put this tray on Luke’s chair, Luke touched it and then started rubbing his hands across.  You could tell that this day there was some kind of static on the tray, when you put your hand on it you could feel the static and almost hear it.  Luke was so curious about this new feeling that he kept rubbing his hands across the tray, back and forth he went and after a while he would smile or laugh. 

Ever since the day with the static, once the Speech therapist puts the tray on his chair Luke puts his hands down flat and starts rubbing back and forth.  She tries to get Luke to play with the cards or Mr. Potato Head but all Luke wants to do is rub back and forth on this tray.  It is so funny to see.  I did catch this on video last week, which you can watch below if you’d like.

The real funny part is that he only does this with his Speech Therapist.  Even though the OT uses the same chair and tray, Luke only rubs his hands back and forth in his speech session.  He must associate the room or therapist with the action of the tray.  Silly little man!

The perfect "weight"

So for a long time now we have been working with Luke to strengthen his muscles.  Usually we try things like adding weights to things he pushes or lifts.  We’ve even filled some old Gatorade bottles with water, so that they are harder to throw (like he usually does with his toys) and harder to lift up onto the couch or chairs.  Luke actually likes to put those bottles in his wagon and push them around. 

Well last week our baby girl, who isn’t really a baby anymore now that she is one, decided to climb into the Step 2 wagon we have.  Usually the wagon is full of blocks and various other toys, but this day it was empty.  Therefore, it was the perfect place for our baby girl to climb into.  Once she got in she looked at me and smiled real big, like she had found the best place to play. 

Of course she did this while daddy was walking Luke around by one hand, up and down the hallway.  So when daddy and Luke got in range, Luke grabbed a hold of the wagon and started pushing it through the living room and down the hallway.  Daddy stayed close behind, in case Luke lost his balance.

On the return trip to the living room, our baby girl got bored and decided to be adventurous and try standing up inside the wagon while it was on the move!  Such a funny thing to watch!  Both Luke and our baby girl thought this “exercise” was the greatest thing ever!! 

I caught the return trip on video, so maybe that will help you visualize.

Wrestling daddy...really?

The other night my husband was in a “wrestling mood”.  Not just the “roll around on the floor with your son” kind of wrestling.  No, that was too boring that night.  Instead he decided a little hands on learning was needed.  This night my husband wanted to show off his muscles and show Luke how to do “curls”.  I’ll let the video show the rest.  It does such a better job than my trying to explain it.  Please also note, this was a onetime thing, we don’t make a habit of using Luke as our “weights” when we work out.

Advice

Ok, so today I just want to share with you something I learned this past weekend. My husband took a vacation day in order to go Bow Hunting, but his plans fell through. So instead of going hunting he stayed home with our baby girl and was planning to work around the house while I took Luke to town for therapy and ran errands. I knew what my husband was planning and wasn’t sure how it would work with our baby girl, but he said it would be fine.


To tell the rest I have to go back in time a little. This past summer we worked on our upstairs bathroom, one of the things we updated was the ceiling fan/light. Well in order to do that my husband had to climb around in the attic. One of the times he was up there, he slipped and his leg landed on the drywall that makes up the ceiling…instead of the support beam he was aiming for. The result? I nice foot and a half long crack in the ceiling of our hallway.

We left it, figuring it didn’t hurt anything. The plan was to fix it when it cooled off outside so that it wasn’t so hot in the attic. All that said, that is what my husband worked on last Friday. Although in order to do this he had to keep our baby girl out of the way. So he put her in her crib in her room. The only problem was, she kept falling asleep…even with the light on and some toys to play with. After all, she was in her normal bed right?

For the rest of this story I feel I need pictures, they tell so much more than I can explain. So the first is a visual of what the hall looked like (and imagine all sorts of white dust all over EVERYTHING).

So when I saw that, and saw that our baby girl kept going asleep. I got out the pack and play and set it up in the front room in front of the TV. I gave her more toys and by having the TV on she stayed awake, she loves some of the shows on Nick Jr. She looked like a little prisoner, so once again. I’ll let the picture do the talking…and I’ll end with what I learned last Friday. When you decide to make a mess doing something to your house, lock your kids up in a fun and safe environment OR just send them away…which is what we will do next time.

No Luke, stop!!

Ok, so this is embracing…prepare yourselves. And if you are one of those people who can’t handle TMI (too much information), like my husband…you might stop reading this post and just wait until Friday and read that one. Although I’m sure anyone reading this may have come across this scenario before …especially anyone dealing with children around age 2.


So last week we were really busy, we had doctor appointments and therapy every day. On Wednesday, we had two therapy sessions and an eye doctor appointment. Because of the busy schedule grandma watch our baby girl and it was just Luke and I on the town! Well, we had to have lunch right? So we stopped at a nearby Culver’s.

Of course my little man needed a diaper change, along with a pants change…because he was now at the leaking stage. So we went to the bathroom. At this culver’s the diaper station is in the handicapped stall. So I changed Luke and then after putting him back together and helping him back into his walker. I thought, I’ll go too why we are here. Might as well, right?

You can probably see where I’m going. While I’m trying to go real quick, Luke turns his walker around and heads for the stall door!! The handicapped stall is great for wheelchairs and has lots of space for that, but let’s just say that when a desperate mom needs to reach her son…the space is a little too spacious!!

I thank God for small miracles. By the time Luke managed to get the door unlocked and opened, I was putting myself back together. An older lady did come in at that point, when I was still telling Luke to “stop”…in between short bursts of laughter!! She looked at me strangely, probably wondering what kind of mom I was to attempt such a feat alone. Oh well.

I guess most parents don’t need the space of a handicapped stall when they take their 2 or 3 year olds along to the bathroom. It sure would be easier to control a munchkin if I was in a normal stall. If only his walker would fit in one. I guess it is just another “challenge” of a “special” mom.

The Kiss Monster

Luke has been working on his “kissing” technique” for quite a while now. For the longest time he simply kept his mouth wide open, leaned in, and all you got was a pool of drool all over your cheek. Sometimes Luke likes to bite, I haven’t figured out the trigger for that yet, but when he would lean in with his mouth open…I often withdrew, because I didn’t know if he was planning to bite or try to “kiss”.


Well last week Luke was working on perfecting these ”kissing skills”. At PT we were working on his standing by rolling a large exercise ball back and forth. Only two of those times Luke decided that simply pushing the ball back to me wasn’t enough, instead before pushing the ball he leaned over and placed a big old smacker on the ball. Including the sound “mmmmmma”. Very cute!

After PT we went out to eat lunch with grandma and baby sister. When the waitress came to take our order Luke started his “flirting” by patting the waitress’s apron, right where the tips go. Then he leans over and we hear “mmmmma”, as his lips smack together. Just doing this once, wasn’t enough….no…he did this several times, in fact I lost track of how many times. Of course all grandma, the waitress and I could do was laugh. Definitely a “silly little man”!!

Let's walk

We’ve been working with Luke on walking with his walker, at home since last January. As our baby girl started getting mobile she kept wanting to play with Luke’s walker. Then when he was walking, she would crawl in the way!


Now, she has taken the whole walker thing to a new level. For a couple weeks, I tried getting our baby girl to walk using our “toy walkers” and she wanted no part of it. But, she would go over to her brother’s walker and pull up to it. It was like she was telling me that if she was going to walk, she was going to walk just like brother.

Well the last week or so, we’ve finally be able to get her to walk with the toy walkers we have. So now, when we work on Luke’s walking in the house we don’t just have one of our children walking down the hallway. Now we have two.

Luke starts walking with his walker down the hall, and not far behind you’ll see his little sister walking with her own “walker”. Of course Luke is too nosey, so he tries to walk forward while looking behind himself. So, to solve that problem I put our baby girl in front of him. Only, the first time I did this Luke decided he wasn’t to be “out done” by his little sister. So he walked fast, and of course our baby girl was just getting the hang of the “walker” so she was going slow. You can probably see where I’m going.

Before I knew it Luke was running over his little sister. Of course, Luke being the impatient one, got upset when his sister was blocking his path! I think he was mad because, not only does he have to share his toys, but now he has walking space too!!

New Juice Holder

I’ve talked in the past about many of the unique places Luke likes to hide his toys and juice cup. In the past those places have included; under mommy and daddy’s bed, in the bathtub, behind the TV and couch, and even Luke’s diaper pail.


Well about a week ago, Luke found another unique “hiding” place for his juice and toys. I really think he likes to keep me “on my toes”. Maybe when I have looked for his “missing” juice in the past I found it too easily? I think that may be why Luke seems to think he needs to challenge my “juice finding skills”.

In this case, I looked all over the house….in all the usual places. When I was stumped, I stopped and thought back over the last couple hours. Then I remembered I had to take the garbage lid away from Luke (the kitchen garbage can has a lid that is easily removable).

I thought “it could be there, but surely not”. Well, it was!! I took off the lid and there was the juice along with a dozen toys!! Yuck!!

So “super mommy” dug all the toys out along with the juice and washed them all up. When my husband got home I informed him that we NEED to buy a garbage can. I’m still on the hunt for one with a good lid, a week later. Hopefully we find a one soon. In the meantime, Luke has yet another place to hide his juice! Which I’m sure makes him happy.

Professional Kickball?

The other day at PT the therapist worked with Luke on his balance and control. In order to do this she gave him a ball, which he in turn had to kick along the hallway. Luke really enjoyed this.


Using his walker Luke did a lap around the Easter Seals facility, while kicking the ball down the hallways. The funniest part was when after a while; Luke decided lifting one foot to kick a ball seemed silly. After all he has the walker, and it could do the job without lifting any of his own feet.

So there was Luke going down the hall, kicking a ball with his foot and all of a sudden he decided to “kick” the ball with the front end of his walker instead. Of course, he laughed thinking this was so funny.

All his fellow classmates better look out! Luke has a couple extra “legs” to help him out when the class goes to play kickball, soccer or any other sport including a ball on the ground! Luke will bring the game to a whole new level.

Of couse at therapy nothing can be easy, so once he seemed to master kicking the ball with the walker...we went to a whole new "level".  Luke's therapist had Luke try kicking the ball without his walker, and she held on to his shoulder blades.  He did really good.  He is getting so strong!  Go Luke Go!

Go Little Sister!!

Luke is teaching his sister well. I have to share two very funny things that happened this week with our baby girl, Luke’s little sister. The first happened on Tuesday. I was trying to straighten out some information for Luke concerning his new walker, so I was on the phone with the insurance company, doctor’s office, and the company we are ordering the walker from. I was sitting in the recliner in our living room and our baby girl was playing quietly on the floor. The “quiet” only lasted for so long.


When I called our insurance company, an automated voice goes through the menu and when it gets to the point where if asks “what would you like to speak to our representatives about today?” It then says “please say one of the following; dental, flexible spending account or if you need help with something else. Say ‘help me with something else’” Well the voice couldn’t get past “say one of the following”, because our baby girl was saying “ba da da…mm..ma” and so the “voice” on the phone says “sorry, I do not understand, please say again”. Then it started the normal menu again, but once again it didn’t get past the first portion before our baby girl started gabbing again and I hear “sorry, I do not understand, please say that again.”

After that I finally figured out what was happening and I covered up the phone so that the “voice” couldn’t hear our baby girl. I finally was able to say “help me with something else”, while cupping a hand over my mouth and the phone so that our baby girl couldn’t put her “two cents” in. So funny!!

But that wasn’t the end of Luke’s sister’s craziness this week. On Wednesday during our Speech Therapy, our baby girl was crawling all over the place while I was talking to the therapist. Before I know it the therapist and I look over at her and she is standing on a chair trying to climb onto the table that the therapist’s laptop was on. We laughed and I got her down.

Then about 10 minutes later I was helping the therapist get Luke into his walker and put his coat on, when we both look and see my baby girl actually ON the table and getting her hands on that laptop!! This time since I had my hands on Luke, the therapist went over laughing and got her off the table.

Out baby girl definitely has a one track mind!! She gets that from her brother!

What's this?

Last week at PT, Luke got a chance to walk with yet another walker. This one was the same brand and basic style as the one we have ordered (Nermi Neo Walker), but this one had a new piece of “hardware”.


The walker we have been working with at PT was pretty much exactly the same as what we ordered for Luke, including a Pelvis support. Which for Luke, he doesn’t always need but it is a great tool to have to remind him to stay in the middle of the walker.

The only thing wrong with this walker is that we think it had been in some kind of “accident”….the strangest thing would happen. When you just look at the walker it looks absolutely perfect, all four wheels on the ground and no apparent problems. Only when Luke starts walking with it, he gets about as far as two rotations of the rear wheel and all of a sudden the walker pulls to the left and the left rear wheel comes up off the ground. So strange! No matter what we tried we couldn’t seem to fix this issue. Although, Luke adjusted quickly and two weeks ago the whole “pulling to the left” thing didn’t seem to bother him…it was like he “knew” and adjusted accordingly.

Anyhoo…last week we finally got another walker to work with…but this one (as I said above) had a new piece of “hardware”…instead of a “pelvis support” it has an attached seat!! It is attached in such a way that it folds up when you aren’t using it.

Well Luke was so perplexed by this that when he first got into this walker to try it out, he didn’t do his usual “get in and turn around” routine. Instead he stood up, got in, turned around and then decided to do another 360 inside the walker…like he was just double checking what was back there or something! So funny!

Then of course eveyr other time we stopped on our “walk” around the therapy building, he would start to turn around to do another 360 inside the walker again! It was like he couldn’t get enough or he was still unsure about what was behind him and he had to check it out again…and again…and again. Silly little man!

Follow the Leader

Luke and our baby girl have started following each other around. One day we just got home from therapy and I took Luke out of the car first and put him inside the house, then I went back out to the car and got our baby girl. Well when we got inside Luke was just sitting in the middle of the kitchen waiting for us. Once I put our baby girl down on the floor, Luke took off crawling and his sister was right behind him. I started laughing and they both stopped, looked over their shoulders at me, smiled, and then turned back around and took off down the hall “turbo crawling”. So cute and so funny!


The latest form of “follow the leader” happened a few nights ago. My husband was on the floor with the kids and they were all over the place. Then our baby girl got the brilliant idea of crawling all over daddy, but that wasn’t enough fun. Once she saw that daddy had one leg flat on the ground and the other bent at the knee providing a nice little “tunnel”, she took off. Before we knew it she was crawling under daddy’s leg and laughing, like it was the best thing in the world. Then Luke, not to be out done, decided he should try it too. So after his sister got out of the way, Luke went under daddy’s leg too…only Luke is was too tall on his hands and knees, so daddy had to help out a little by lifting his leg.

Well, as you can imagine, once was not enough. They circled back around to daddy’s other side and did it all over again. They did this so many times that I lost count. The best part was when our baby girl decided that going in circles was losing its appeal. So in order to change it up, she went under daddy’s leg and then did a “U-turn” in order to go back under his leg without having to crawl back around to the other side. The only problem with that brilliant idea was that her brother was right behind her, so when she turned around and went under daddy’s leg again she came face to face with her brother. So funny! Eventually they figured out who had the “right of way”, which surprisingly wasn’t the BIG brother.

Catch me if you can!

Yesterday we had a busy day. Luke had to see his GI doctor before we headed to PT. Because I needed to also take care of our baby girl during this busy schedule, a friend and her children helped us out yesterday.


Well, the GI doctor appointment didn’t last as long as I thought which left about an extra half hour between that and our PT time. So we went to Easter Seals early and gave all the kids a snack. After that, Luke was getting restless and didn’t want to sit still. So I put him in his walker, thinking he could walk all over the lobby and practice his “steering” techniques.

My friend and I got to talking and I could see Luke in my peripheral vision, but before I knew it I heard my friend gasp and say “oh no”. I turned around and there was Luke, walking out those doors he loves so much!

Thank the Lord that he is so captivated by the doors that he wasn’t going too fast, and that he was just past the first automatic sliding door and hadn’t “breeched” the second one yet. Luke was just going to go check out those doors again…after all no one was watching and he could do whatever he wanted!

Why Bother?

About once a week I wash towels; bath towels, kitchen towels, old towels…whatever needs washed. Well, after washing…of course I fold them and put them away. Well lately, thanks to Luke and his “partner in crime” (his baby sister), I’m wondering what is the point? Why bother?


You see, our baby girl is learning wonderful things from her big brother. When we are in the kitchen, next to the dishwasher, her favorite thing to do is take all the towels out of the towel drawer. Then Luke comes along and helps and before I know it there is a big pile of towels on the floor.

This isn’t the only use for towels around the house. Last week I went to an eye doctor appointment, and when I got home my husband was working at his lap top, the kids were in bed and I walk in the living room to find a mountain of towels. Luke had taken all the towels out of the kitchen towel drawer, taken them all in the other room and piled them on top of his shopping cart, that was laying down on its side! I’m not sure what he was thinking.

Then yesterday, our baby girl took all the towels out of the drawer again in the kitchen and Luke comes in with his wagon of toys. Before I know it, his toys are in the drawer and the towels are on the floor. Then I ask Luke to put the towels back IN, and he did. Only at the time I didn’t realize all the toys were in there…only later when I went to put a couple towels in that he missed did I notice the toys. So then, mommy had to take the towels out in order to find all the toys.

After that I considered folding the towels back up before putting them back in the drawer, but then I thought “why bother?” After all, I’m sure all the towels will find their way to the floor, if not today…I’m sure tomorrow.

The Umbrella

We’ve been on the road a lot lately and we had to take our SUV down to my parent’s house, which is about a 2 hour drive. Anyway, on the way down Luke kept kicking the seat in front of him. Making a “swish, swish” noise, which turned out to be papers in the pocket in the back of the seat. So, I took off his shoes so he couldn’t quite reach anymore. Then the “noise” stopped.


I thought that was all he did, until we were on our way home the next day. Then not only did I hear “swish, swish”, but I heard a click and a “woosh, woosh” sound. I kept looking back trying to figure out where the noise was coming from. Well, I finally figured out there was an umbrella also sticking out of the pocket on the back of the seat. So Luke not only was hitting the papers with his feet, but had also somehow managed to pop open an umbrella that was sticking up out of the pocket as well.

When I saw that I laughed and pushed the end of the umbrella back down till it clicked in place. I didn’t remove it because I thought it was just a fluke that Luke opened it at all. Well, I was wrong. A few minutes later I heard a “click” and then heard the “woosh, woosh” sound again, and I knew without looking he had opened the umbrella again.

After that I took his shoes off again, this time for the drive home. I forgot about the umbrella until the next day. I had to take the kids into the doctor and on the way I heard a “click” and then “woosh, woosh”. At first I thought, “what in the world?” Then I just laughed and realized I forgot about the umbrella…I meant to take it out of the pocket completely…but I was driving so I just lived with the noise. What was a girl to do?

Help!

Luke has always been a hand full, a fun and cute handful…but a handful all the same. Now with our baby girl, “handful” has taken on a new meaning. One night I was washing dishes and bottles while my husband took over “bath duty”. This was good for me, because the kids were focused on daddy and the bath water and it allowed me to do dishes without needing to worry about anyone “messing” with my dishwasher in the process.


There I was happily washing dishes when I hear a muffled “I can’t…condish…” and I am thinking what did my husband say? So I turn off the water and ask, “what?” and he says “I can’t work under these conditions!” So I laugh, dry my hands and walk down the hall to see what he is complaining about. When I looked in Luke’s room there was my husband trying to undress Luke, getting his shoes off at the time, and our baby girl is trying to crawl all over my husband’s legs trying to “help”.

Since that night, that has become the basic routine, whether it is my husband or myself…one of us is always trying to elbow back our baby girl while wrestling Luke to get dressed or undressed, whatever the case may be. When my husband is found in this circumstance he’ll simply say “I can’t work under these conditions” and I’ll come to the rescue and put our baby girl in the other room with me.

During the daytime this often happens to me, therefore I usually don’t get any “help” and have to deal with my “work conditions”. But, at night my husband is usually around when I do the “bath time”…so I call out “help!” when I am under “attack” and my husband knows and will come in and “rescue” me, whether it be Luke attacking or our baby girl. I’m thankful to have “backup”, even if it is just at night!!

My Rock Band

Luke and our baby girl are always getting in my way anymore; especially when I’m doing dishes. When I’m unloading Luke keeps trying to take the dishes out or push the dishwasher closed and when I am trying to load dirty dishes our baby girl wants to climb up into the dishwasher. (Which she has done, more than once, by the way).


Well the other day I decided to try and distract them while I was doing the dishes. So when I was unloading some cooking utensils I saw I had two wooden spoons…so I thought “why not” and gave Luke and baby girl a spoon each. Before I knew it they were leaving me and my dishes in peace because they were too busy beating their spoons on the floor and the dishwasher.

When I was done with dishes I moved into the living room where Luke followed along with his spoon. Before I knew it Luke was beating on just about everything, including the large exercise ball. While Luke was doing that our baby girl went over to her small Little Tykes piano and started “playing”. It was like a little rock concert with Luke beating his impromptu drum and our baby girl “playing” (more like beating) her piano. Maybe one day they’ll use real instruments and become famous.

 

He's after me!

Yesterday and today we went to visit grandma and grandpa who live a couple hours away. While we were hanging out last night I decided to get out Luke’s walker and let him walk around. It worked well since they have a very open floor plan, which allowed Luke to walk around the couch, around the kitchen table and between both of them as well. The result was Luke making a big figure eight.


After a few “figure eights” grandpa decided to get in on the walking fun and decided to “motivate” Luke to walk a little faster. You see, he kept getting distracted by all the talking, people and “new” stuff to look at. So grandpa, being “grandpa” decided to become a “monster” and made loud “aarrgghh” noises while slumping over and making his hands into “claws”. Of course Luke responded as usual and laughed…but it did what it was purposed to do and got Luke to walk faster. Only Luke kept looking behind him to see what grandpa was doing which meant we wasn’t watching where he was going. Therefore, he started running into things…good thing mommy was there to help steer so that Luke could get away from the “monster”.

The Independent Dresser

Luke is at a point with his development that trying to teach him to dress himself seems pointless. But over the last month or so, Luke has shown some great signs of understanding and wanting to help dress or in his case undress himself. The last few weeks Luke has given me his foot to put his socks, braces and shoes on.


But he is much better at trying to help undress. When I ask him for his shoe he gives it to me and even bends over and touches his laces. When I get his shoes off, many times if I go to his other foot to get that shoe before getting off the brace on his current foot, he’ll reach over and touch it like he is trying to tell me I forgot something. When we get to the socks he tries to take them off on his own. He used to be able to do this before he started wearing braces. Now, it proves to be a pretty funny sight. The socks are almost molded to his foot after being in the braces for so long. So Luke will grab and pull and pull and pull and nothing seems to happen. So I, being the most wonderful mommy, help by pulling his socks about half-way off so he can then do the rest….sometimes even then, the socks still stick pretty good. So you can envision Luke pulling with all his might (with only one hand..because why would he need two?)…and falling backwards and rolling sideways and trying all these different angles to get his socks off.

Anyway, that was just the beginning. Lately he has been obsessed with his long sleeves. When we are eating and I push or roll them up, Luke will reach over with his dirty, food covered hands and try to pull them back down. When he does get it back down he keeps pulling like he is trying to get his arm out of his sleeve completely. So when he starts doing this I have to distract him with more food, which usually works.

The really funny example of Luke helping to undress happened yesterday. To understand you have to know that Luke has been wearing flannel PJ’s lately that are two piece, shirt and pants with no feet. When I went to get him up Luke had one arm completely out of his shirt already…like he was ready to start the day. Then later that morning, he was still in his PJ’s, Luke was crawling all over and I noticed his pants were slipping a little but I wasn’t too concerned. Well the next thing I knew I looked in on him and his sister and all of a sudden he had no pants, just his sweater like shirt and his diaper. I told him he can’t do that in public and then found his pants that were about 4 feet away down the hall and put them back on Luke. Silly man!! If he can’t pull off his PJ’s in order to dress for the day, I guess he can just crawl around until they fall off!!

"Ring around the..."

Lately Luke has gotten so good at walking, that when we walk outside I think he gets bored. He wants to go around things or obstacles. He wants to take off to the neighbors house or anywhere really. So instead of walking he likes to go a few steps and then stop and look around. When we ask him to keep walking, many times Luke will simply look at us and smile and do a little laugh…like he is saying “ya right…where am I supposed to go?”


Well the other day I think he got really bored and so he and his daddy did something new. Instead of walking in circles or trying to go around small obstacles, like plastic tubs, Luke decided to take a stroll around the Suburban, which we have been parking outside the last few weeks.

Our new neighbors across the street have two dogs that are outside. They have been getting used to the area and therefore have been known to bark at strange cars and things. Well the night Luke was playing “ring around the SUV” the dogs must of decided they wanted to play too. Every time Luke reappeared where they could see him, they would start barking…but the moment Luke disappeared behind the SUV he stopped. Silly dogs…maybe after they get used to us they’ll stop barking.

No more please!

Do you ever having mommy moments like, I can’t remember if I shampooed my hair? I have been having more and more of those moments lately. It got worse when we added more medicine to Luke’s daily dosages.


Luke has been on medicine to help reduce the acid in his stomach which he gets twice a day, to help his reflux, for about a year now. After a year, I finally remember that everyday I need to give it to him twice. About a month or so ago, Luke was pretty congested and was having trouble breathing when he was sleeping. When we took him to the doc, they thought it could be allergies (especially since he had a lot of trouble last fall and we never did figure out why). So Luke had two more medicines to add, these for his allergies.

So at that point I had 4 medicines to keep track of, the 4th was Luke’s regular vitamin that I gave him every morning. Good old Flintstones!!

Anyway, I did pretty good up to that point, I wound up using a single pill box to remember one of the allergy medicines. But then after talking to Luke’s doctors in Baltimore a few weeks back, we decided to put him on a “vitamin cocktail” to see if could help Luke or not. This meant I needed to add three more medicines/vitamins to Luke’s daily intake…and one of these I have to give him twice in a day.

When I realized I could barely keep track of what I was giving him already, I knew I needed to do something. At first I thought about one of those “special” pill boxes, you know…the ones with two a.m. or two p.m. slots. The problem at Luke’s age is that out of the 7 “medicines”, 2 are liquid and 1 is powder form. So the “pill box” would still take a lot of “mommy memory power”, which I’m not sure I had. Then I also thought about when we have the grandparents baby sit, how in the world will they keep it all straight too?

I knew I needed to make something on my own…something that could be changed easily day to day and not waste lots of paper or anything. So I went to “wally-world” and got a dry erase board, magnets and full/label post-its. The result? The ultimate medicine “keeper-tracker”.

I definitely recommend this for any other mom who feels she can’t remember even the small things like, did I feed the cat as well as the baby? Check out my “beautiful board” below, my new invention!!

I didn't do it!!

In Luke’s 2 years and 10 months of life he has learned what “no” means. Sometimes when I tell Luke “no” he looks at me, like he is trying to gauge whether or not I’m serious, then he’ll go back to whatever he was trying to do. Like trying to push the “eject” button on the DVD player. After all it is too much fun, and mommy would never tell him not to have fun, right? Wrong.


After the first “no”, I use my “teacher/mommy voice” and say “NO!” Then he’ll stop, put his hands to his face and start crying…like it is the end of the world because mommy said “no”. Once we get to this stage it can be hard to get Luke back to his “normal/happy” self. He’ll stretch it out into a good “fit”. After about 15 minutes Luke starts acting happy again..although sometimes he remains upset until his nap time.

I think I have mentioned before how Luke will also cry when he knows he did something wrong…especially when it is to his baby sister. I know he has been up to no good when I hear him cry and it is immediately followed by his baby sister’s cry.

Well now we are entering a “new” realm of “no upsets”. Since our baby girl has become mobile she is getting herself in trouble. So when I tell her “NO”, Luke hears and starts crying like he is the one in trouble.

So after I tell baby girl “NO” and spank her and then give her a new toy as a distraction…I have to go over to Luke and say “hey bud, it isn’t YOU it’s your SISTER…she did something she shouldn’t”…of course Luke pauses and then starts crying again…so I know he didn’t understand me. The poor guy thinks he’s in trouble and he looks at me like “I didn’t do it mommy…I promise!” Silly man, we’ll have to work on this some more.

Out of my way!

When we first started walking Luke with a walker, about a year ago, an adult would have to pick him up and place him in front of it. Over time he got better at putting his feet down and grabbing hold of the handles. After he learned to walk straight, he learned to turn using straight wheels (no easy task) and then he went on to the “swivel wheels”. Well the last couple weeks Luke has been able to pull himself up to his walker, as long as a person is holding it still. He then has been able to turn himself around all by himself. This is such a great development, it opens a whole new world for Luke.


What I mean by that, is that now I am able to give him more freedom in the house. This also allows me freedom in that I don’t need to constantly touch his walker or even need to be within a few feet all the time. Along with this new freedom Luke has been proceeding to put dents in our appliances and scrapes along our walls and door frames.

Yesterday Luke stood up in the kitchen and got situated in his walker and started to take off. Well he decided to investigate a few new things..like the stove top…which I had to run to and clear off. Then he turned into the corner by the sink and tried to reach the dishes. Of course when he was done, he started screaming because he got himself in the corner and couldn’t figure out how to go backwards and get out. Then when I helped him out of the corner he turned and went through the kitchen and down the hallway, of course every time he hit the wall he cried out..like he was saying “out of my way, coming through!” He did maneuver his way down the hall and through his sister’s door, which is shaped like and “L”. Then he got over to the changing table and got himself stuck again…so once again he needed “super mommy” to rescue him. Silly man!! He wants that “freedom” so badly, but he still needs a little help. He’s so determined!

Mirror Mirror

When Luke was a baby he never really seemed interested in mirrors, he would just look into it and not seem to really understand what he was seeing. Over the last two years Luke has learned his own way of looking into a mirror. Instead of just looking at his reflection, he has decided that if he is within close enough “range” he’ll try biting his image. After a few months of this he decided to “bite” the image and then he would make kissing noises “MMaaa”. So that shed some light on what he was doing. I think he was always trying to kiss the image and not “bite” it…although sometimes, even now, I just can’t tell.


Well the other day during Speech Therapy, Luke and his therapist were reading a book together. It was a board book with the letters of the alphabet, so A was for apple and so on. Well when they got to “Y”, it was “Y is for You” and it had a reflection in the shape of a star on the page. So what does Luke do? Yep...he leans over and gives it a big old “smacker”!! So funny.

Have it Made

During Luke’s Speech Therapy they have been working a lot on identifying objects in flash cards. So the therapists might ask Luke, “Where is the DOG” and then show Luke a picture of a dog and a car. Luke has been doing well with this lately, getting them right about 60% of the time.


This last week when they were working on this activity, Luke kept putting his foot up on top of the therapist’s leg. After trying that he decided to put both feet up, like he was relaxing and had all day. So here was Luke’s therapist holding two cards up for Luke to choose from and Luke was putting both feet up like he was almost bored by the whole thing…like it was all too easy or something. Silly little guy!! Just because he gets most of them right, doesn’t mean he has it down yet!!

Case and point, in the picture below she gave Luke a dog and boat to choose from asking where the dog was, and as you can see he kept going for the boat.  I think he just liked the colors.  Even then, he had his feet up relaxing!

Chair Aerobics

When we go to Speech Therapy Luke often sits in a “cube chair” and he and his therapist work on several activities. They work on identifying pictures, singing songs, sign language and other games to work on Luke’s understanding of things like “up” and “down”.


Well the other day during therapy Luke decided he was tired of all the games the therapist was trying to do, so he decided to start his own game. Usually what happens during therapy is that his chair starts out by the wall, where there is a phone cord within reach…so when he start to reach for it the chair gets moved away from the wall. Well, this day he started to go for the phone cord, but then he changed his mind. Instead he decided to try some “chair aerobics”.

Luke would twist and hit the wall with one hand and then twist the other way and hit the wall with the other hand. It looked something like an aerobics move, I could just see an instructor saying…”twist and twist…and hit… and twist…and hit”. So funny to see. I think he was getting ready for a career as an aerobics instructor.

A home for my toys!

I have shared how Luke seemed to be looking for a new toy box, when he placed all his toys from his wagon into the warmer drawer under our oven. Well, it seems he continues to find just the right place for his toys. He still loads them all up in his wagon and pushes it sideways…which I think is because when it goes forward or backward to goes too fast for him to keep up, while crawling along anyway. So he continues pushing it sideways down the hall or into the kitchen.


Well among his “hunting” for the right place he has taken to putting his toys in some strange places. He has taken his whole wagon into the bathroom and proceeded to put all the toys into the bathtub. He has taken his wagon into his room where he started to place all his toys into the “Diaper Champ”, which was pretty funny because there is only so much space and he couldn’t fit all his toys in. If you don’t know what this is, it is like a diaper Genie, except you place a regular trash bag in and there is a place to put the diaper in the top, and then flip it over so the diaper drops inside without opening it up all the time. So Luke was putting these toys in where we usually put our dirty or wet diapers to flip them over into the trash bag. Luckily I caught him before flipping it over to put his toys inside with his dirty diapers!! Yes…he has learned how to do this. Which…is really great OT…so I can’t be too mad about that!!

Anyway, the other day I was unloading the dishwasher…and I’m sure you know where I am going with this. I was unloading in the usual order; utensils, bottom rack and then came the top rack. I picked up a couple glasses to put away and underneath were a Lego and a plastic triangle piece. I just laughed….the little guy snuck those in. He has tried putting some toys in the dishwasher while I’ve been loading it up…but I thought I caught them all. Obviously I need to watch a little more carefully. Sneaky little guy!!