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.

Little Conductor

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that Luke LOVES music.  It was the only thing to calm him when he was little and the songs that ALWAYS worked were written by Randy Travis.  Everyone laughs at that…but it is so true.  We've had vacations where we forgot the Randy Travis CD and had to go to the nearest Wal-mart and hunt the music section for Randy Travis. 

This past Friday there was a concert at Illinois State University for kids with Special Needs.  It was wonderful.  It was well thought out, from assigning each child a “concert buddy” to providing special shakers that attach to the fingers. 

Before the concert started they had various students with their instruments for the kids to come to and “explore”.  Luke really liked the trumpet and helped make a note or two.  He wasn't really sure about the guitar, but sister sure liked it.  She got to strum it with a pick.

Then the concert started, at first Luke just sat and stared at the band and lifted his eyebrows at each high note or when the band got especially loud.  When we tried the shaker with him that attaches to the fingers, he found a way to take it off and throw it….of course.  It was wonderful though seeing the music through his eyes that night.By the last few songs Luke was refusing to sit and standing while holding on to the chair in front he would point and move a hand towards the band.  Then I grabbed his hips and he started swinging around both hands, like he was conducting the band. If you'd like to see him "conduct" check out the video below the pics.

Follow the leader?

I’m not sure what most siblings do when they play together.  I know some chase each other around and that most siblings fight over toys.  Well Luke and our daughter definitely fight over toys and sometimes they chase each other.  Although the “chasing” is more like our daughter running in circles with Luke crawling in one direction…like he is trying to catch up….then when he is “lapped” he decides to just sit still and laugh at his sister when she continues running in circles. 

The other day I saw a unique “game” they were playing.  I’m not even sure it was a “game”….but was funny to watch.  I was in the kitchen and our daughter was saying “come on brober” and they were both laughing.  So I look and what do I see?  Our daughter has a hold of Luke’s shirt and Luke is crawling beside her.  Our daughter was pull/dragging Luke around…reminded me of someone walking a great big dog or something. 

I’m not sure if she was trying to play some kind of “follow the leader” or what.  The kids have sure been creative in their playing lately.  (7-27-12)

Even more miracles

God continues to amaze me through Luke.  As I’ve mentioned in the past, every “small” milestone for “average” kids….is a HUGE milestone for a child like Luke.  Each time he meets one of those milestone markers I am reminded how blessed we are to have a special child like Luke, who continues to get stronger and meet those milestones.  It may take him longer…but he is meeting them!

Some may think this the things I’m about to mention are not miracles…but anyone who has gone through the process of a special needs child or even someone who has had something happen like a stroke and had to re-learn all these “skills”…those of you out there…you know how BIG a miracle this is…especially when you work at it for so long and finally one day..it just “clicks”.

Two weeks ago, I got the kids downstairs and started our morning routine…getting medicines together first.  Well when I was ready to feed the kids breakfast I called for the kids and our two year old daughter says “oh no…mommy…brober..upstairs!!” 

I thought…surely not.  I was proved wrong!  I went to the staircase and sure enough…there was Luke waving at me from the top of the stairs!  When did he start doing that on his own?!  He has been able to crawl up stairs for a couple years…but usually only when coaxed and NEVER alone!!

I thought that was a miracle…then today happened and I was reminded again how God is working in our little guy.  I picked him up from school and his aide apologized for his messy shirt…which had some Blueberry Yogart on it.  Then she told me that he ate the yogart ALL on his OWN!!  I was so happy to hear this.  We’ve been trying to get him to this point for SOOO long!  Luke typically throws his spoon or fork…or plate with food…he has NEVER held onto a utensil long enough to eat an entire food item…like yogart or applesauce. 

To test out this new “skill”, I got out some pear applesauce for supper and gave Luke a spoon.  I had to hold the applesauce cup…but everything else was all Luke!  It brought tears to my eyes!!  Luke has made another step towards independence.  It may have taken him 4 ½ years instead of 1 ½ like our daughter….but he has done it!  I pray this skill will continue to develop and in the near future Luke will be able to feed himself an entire meal!!

Sun?

You think you know your kids, but they are always changing.  With Luke, its hard to even know about those changes since he can’t tell me…”mom, I don’t like green beans”…instead we get them thrown at us..or on the floor (even better).  This idea carries over into every aspect of Luke.  I’m learning his “preferences” because of his responses, i.e. when getting home from school he screams at me and hits his shoes…until they are finally off (including socks) and then he is “off” down the hall and perfectly happy.

Well, Luke started to do something at the old house a couple weeks before we moved.  I’m not sure if he was trying to tell me something or if he was just being a silly little guy…like usual.  In Luke’s old room there wasn’t a lot of space, which meant that the options for where to place his bed were only 1.  So his bed was against the far wall , the bad part was that he could reach the window curtains.  So he would often look outside and see what was going on or stay up and play with them.

A few weeks before selling the house, I found a new site for several mornings in a row.  I would walk in to Luke’s room to get him up in the morning and I would find the window curtains pulled all the way back and Luke would be in his bed with a blanket over his head.  It was so funny! 

I’m guessing that Luke would play with the curtains for a while at night causing them to be pulled back…but when morning came and the sun decided to peek in…Luke would cover his head so he could keep sleeping.  Silly guy wanted to see outside at night…but not in the morning I guess!

Weeeeeee!

Luke’s sense of humor continues to amaze me, especially since it has been rubbing off on his little sister.  Yesterday we were on our way to grandma and grandpa’s house, which is in the country.  As I was driving a long our daughter would tell me everything she saw, but Luke was quiet.  Then I hit some hills, and it started a cycle with the kids.

Every time I went over a hill, our baby girl said “wweeee!!”  Which then led Luke to laugh and then of course our daughter had to laugh too.  It was a cycle that seemed never ending (they did this at least 10 times).  Soon I found myself laughing with them.  Who can resist such easy fun?

Later on the way home from the grandparents house, by which we went a different way, they began to laugh and our daughter would say “wweeee” when I turned corners, i.e. getting on the interstate.  I’m not sure I understand that one, but as long as they were happy…I was happy.

The latest NASCAR Track!

If anyone wants to buy tickets, I can get you great seats at a new NASCAR track.  It’s a unique location….our new house!!  What I love about the new house is all the space we have so that Luke and our baby girl can have plenty of space to walk and play.  We are finally getting rid of most of our boxes which allows Luke to use his walker in the house!!

We let him have his walker in the old house…but only for a short period of time since he needed someone to follow after him and help him when he got cornered or aggravated because he ran out of space.  Now, at the new house Luke can walk in most places on the first floor…which is so great! 

What has really made me laugh lately though is our daughter.  I think she likes the space even more than Luke!  One day I heard pounding feet and looked to find our daughter running in a large circle around the staircase and wall to the living room.  She also likes to play “peek-a-boo” with Luke.  So she runs  in circles and passes Luke saying “found you brother…found you”…..all while Luke laughs at his silly sister who is running by.

She does it so often now that I’ve decided it must be the latest NASCAR track!  So if anyone wants to cheer themselves up they can come on over and watch our daughter race in circles.  (video 7-27-12)

Can't Believe it!!!

He all!!  You have probably given up on me doing a blog ever again.  It has been so long..and we’ve been so busy!!  We sold our house and moved into the new one in late June…and we are finally to the point that we are “mostly” moved in.  There are still projects to be done…but we can take a breather once and a while.  So I will endeavor to begin writing my blog again.

Just to prove how crazy busy we have been, I have to share what happened just this weekend.  The kids have been to the grandparents on and off, along with all the doc appointments and doing things on the new house.  Anyway…Sunday morning as my husband was feeding Luke, he said “I think Luke lost a tooth”.  I couldn’t believe it….I said “no way”. 

But sure enough, when I looked close Luke lost a tooth on the front middle…and not only lost one…but one is growing back already!!!  Luke’s first permanent tooth and we have no idea where the baby tooth went.  I’m hoping he didn’t swallow it!! 

No matter how busy we are, I’m going to have to start paying closer attention!!

Doors!!??

So most of you know that Luke loves his doors.  Doesn’t matter the size or shape…no door is too small or big for him to “obsess” over.  Luke has to have the doors shut all the way….and can only be open when he’s playing with them…which consists of his constant open and shutting of them.

Well we are in the process of selling our house and buying a new one…which means we’ve had to take our a LOT of our toys to de-clutter the house.  Of course most of the toys with doors had to go.  Poor Luke has been so deprived of doors lately. I feel like he is constantly looking around, trying to find some doors he can play with.

I caught him in his sister’s room the other day and he was playing with the doors to her nursery for her babies!  He was so deprived of doors that he had to go to his sister’s room to find one!

Then, just this morning I was getting breakfast ready and kept calling for him to come and eat.  Of course, he didn’t come…so I went in search of him and found Luke in his room with the door shut.  What did I find him doing?  He was playing with the only “door” he could find in his room….the wipes container.  When I walked in, there was Luke laying on his back and holding the wipes container and opening and shutting the lid!! 

Poor…silly little guy!!  He got mad at me when I made him stop so we could go eat breakfast.  That wipes container really meant a lot to him!  

Little Pitcher

You all may remember how much our Luke loves to throw things.  Doesn’t matter if it is a ball or a car, if it gets in his hands…at some point in his play it will more than likely wind up getting thrown against the wall or over a chair somewhere.  Well my husband likes to play “ball” with Luke and our little girl.  We’ve trained our daughter to “fetch” so that when Luke throws she goes after the ball.  It works out pretty good that way.

The other night we went through the usual routine: bath time with mommy washing and daddy drying, followed by daddy getting Luke ready for bed while mommy gets our little girl ready.  I was blow drying our girls hair and I heard laugher, when I looked daddy and Luke was throwing a ball back and forth.  Luke was in his bed ready and waiting for mommy and sister so we could pray before bedtime.  While waiting my husband decided to get a ball and “play” with his son.

So when I finished drying our girl’s hair, she ran into brother’s room to join the fun.  By the time I got everything put away and joined the “fun” I couldn’t help but laugh.  There was Luke throwing the ball right on target to daddy and then daddy gave the ball to our girl and she climbed up the steps and gave the ball to Luke with the instructions to “throw brober throw”.  Like Luke really needs help knowing he should throw a ball.

I grabbed the camera and was able to catch part of the fun!

What do you think you're doing?

I tell ya….I’m so glad that Luke is getting stronger each day.  But, there’s always a “mixed blessing” when it comes to Luke and his “new tricks”.  Most kids learn to walk, talk, get into things all in the first few years.  I’m learning that with Luke all those things are drawn out, so each time he learns or is able to do something new…there he is getting into something else and we have to find a way to “block” his efforts.  Like with the whole bed thing, finding a perfect solution for him so he could use this new bed took a while.  Then, when he learned to cruise furniture we had a whole new range of things we needed to put “up”.

Well, Luke has learned something “new”.  I was getting ready the other day in the bathroom.  I got to the point where I was trying to do my makeup and here comes Luke.  I figured he would just come in the bathroom and play with the door while I stood at the sink.  No…Luke has something else on his mind. 

Instead Luke came in the bathroom and shut the door.  There I was putting on my makeup and all of a sudden I felt something on my elbow.  I look over and there is Luke standing up at the sink!  Well before I could really process this, the lights went out!  No….the power didn’t go off…Luke got the light switches!  I was so proud of him, but I told him to “knock it off, mommy needs to see”.  Did that stop him?  No…of course not…he continued to turn the lights on and off….it was a good thing that this particular day I wasn’t in a hurry.  It took a long time to get my make-up on with the lights going on and off the whole time!

This was a couple weeks back, but Luke continues to do this.  I’ve had to “kick him out” of the bathroom a few times because I didn’t have time to let him turn the lights on and off while I was trying to get ready.  After all….its really dark when the door is shut and there are no lights….or windows for that matter!

Music?

Ok, so we’ve been super busy around here lately.  We were planning to put our house up for sale in May and then my husband got the brilliant idea to have it ready by the time of the community garage sale!  When meant that we had three weeks to finish everything!  It’s been a long exhausting “sprint”, but we are finally done and our house is up!  I actually have one more thing to tackle…but have to wait until the weather cooperates.

Anyway…during our “sprint” towards the “finish” I’ve been painting two bedrooms and the living room and hallway.  Well the story I have to share today about Luke happened while I was doing all this painting.  No…Luke didn’t get into any paint…thankfully!!  But he did show me he was capable of some good OT skills!

While doing all this painting I used a radio with a CD player to keep me company.  I would leave this in the room I was working in, so I didn’t have to haul it all over the place all the time.  I thought this was brilliant, unitl one day I was down the hall (not sure what I was doing) and it was quiet and then all of a sudden music started playing!  I couldn’t figure it out.  Then I remembered the Radio/CD player in our bedroom and went to “investigate”.  Low and behold, there was Luke sitting right next to the radio/CD player smiling really big at me.  It was like he said “look what I can do mommy?!”  I just laughed and asked how in the world he did that.  It was then that I remembered that I had my “CD” on pause while I did some other things in the other room. 

Luke obviously didn’t like the quiet and wanted some music!  Not only that, but I soon realized that not only did Luke start the music, but he must not have liked the song because he skipped a couple to get to the current one!  Silly little man!

After this day, I caught him a couple more times trying to do this little “trick”.  One day he even paused the music and changed the volume for me!

My little helper

Our little man is turning into a true blue “helper”.  Luke’s been slowly making progress with his understanding of things.  But the other day he totally surprised me.  I was putting both kids down for a nap, usually I put Luke down first but this day I put down our baby girl first instead.  I was busy changing our daughter’s diaper and saw that we didn’t have all our “nap buddies”.  (Our daughter has to have her babies, all three, blanket, small pillow, and blue stuffed monkey).  The baby that is her absolute favorite was missing.  So I put our daughter in her crib and Luke followed me as I looked in the living room.  When I found the baby, I looked at Luke and thought “why not try it”….so I held out the baby and asked Luke to take it to his sister.  Sure enough, he grabbed the baby and crawled down the hallway while holding on to the baby.  I followed him as he continued down the hallway and into our daughter’s room.  Then he said “baba…baba…baba” and got on his knees and handed the baby to his sister.  Then she (as only a 2 year old could say), “thannnkk you brobber”.  It was a sight to behold!

Then, later in the afternoon after their naps I went to change out the diaper pail trash.  I got two bags out of Luke’s closet that are supposed to be “deodorizers”.  I put one on the floor in Luke’s room and then took the other to our daughter’s room to change out the bags.  By the time I came back to Luke’s room, I looked for the bag and it wasn’t where I left it!!  I looked all over his room, and then I looked at the diaper pail….and there was the bag, pushed down on the top part where you put diapers.  Luke was trying to help me out and put the bag in the only area he knew of to get it inside.  What a helper!

Late on that same day I lost Luke’s Sippy cup.  When he got up from his nap I looked and looked and it was nowhere to be found.  Well, I gave up and figured I’d find it sometime and got him a new cup.  It wasn’t until the following day around lunch when I emptied out the dishwasher and I found his cup.  Luke had put it in the bottom section between a plate and a pot, I guess he was trying to make sure it got clean…only problem was the juice cup was still full of juice/water when he put the cup in the wash!

He sure is a silly little guy, but he’s turning out to be a pretty good helper too!

The Potty Stool

Potty training and Luke…hhmmmm…where to start.  So we started trying to potty train Luke about a year ago, but in order to potty train Luke had to be able to reach the toilet.  After all he is WAY too big for a “potty chair”.  So I thought, surely I could find a stool that went with the toilet that would be good for Luke.

All the ones I saw were just regular stools or were built more like ladders.  There was no way that Luke could ever do any of those without lots of help.  So then I looked into “special needs” potty seats, and found that all of those offered Luke way TOO much support.  Luke has “needs” but not like many kids who may be wheelchair bound.

So…what was I to do?  Well I put it off for a while, then one day I was searching on Amazon and low and behold I found something wonderful!  The Potty Stool.  It has handles so Luke can hold on and step up, and the base is big enough there is actually room to safely turn around.  So I just bought a potty seat to go with it..and we were all set!!

Only problem is, Luke wasn’t ready.  I’ve been told over and over that “when their ready..their ready”.  So after trying a month, we stopped.  Then we waited about 6 months and tried again for a month.  Then stopped.  I plan to try again soon, so we’ll see. 

I understand waiting till their “ready”….but when your son is 4 years old and not trained…you begin to wonder.  If you’re interested in the “stool” below is the link to the product on Amazon. 

http://www.amazon.com/The-Potty-Stool-Toddler-Training/dp/B000MZKTU4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332807959&sr=8-1