"YAY"

Luke is 15 and half months old, and we THINK he has finally said his first word... it's still a little muffled, and unclear, but he seems to be trying to say 'YAY'!

Usually, when Luke does something clever, or he listens when we give him an instruction, we clap for him and say, "Yay", or "Yay Luke"... recently, he started clapping at himself when he did something clever. It's very cute.

He likes to clap at himself when he closes the dishwasher door, or when he puts his stacking cups inside of each other when we play. (He can put them into each other if you give them to him in the correct order... he doesn't quite have the 'bigger and smaller' concept yet)

Then just the other day, he was getting into my nightstand drawer, which he knows he isn't allowed to do... I told him to close the drawer... so he closed it and clapped to himself and said what definitely sounded like an attempt at. "YAY"... it was more like, "AYE", but it was a definite try!

Since then we have heard a few more, "AYE's"

I am so excited to hear what he learns to say next... I think because it's taken him so long to say a single word, in my mind I had stopped imagining what it would be like when he spoke...I got so used to the constant grunting noises he made instead. Now I am excited to hear his little voice making proper sounds as he learns more words!

We are so proud of our growing little boy. He makes us so happy! :)

CHINA WEEK ADVENTURES AND A CUTE BOY!

I am long overdue for a blog update, but the past few weeks have been CRAZY! Week before last, Jake was in China for work (I have told him to do a blog post with some pics for you...) It was a tiring, long week for Luke and I being here without 'daddy', BUT, we made sure we stayed busy so that the 6 days Jake was gone would go by quickly, and so that Luke and I wouldn't drive each other loony with boredom. LOL.

On the Monday, we went swimming at a friends house. Luke used a big floating thingy, and was happy as can be floating around by himself!

Tuesday, was our friend Jo-Jo's birthday party, though I don't have any pictures from that!
Wednesday, we went with my friend Rachel, and her two boys Landon and Carson to the mall. The boys had fun playing with the train set in the bookstore, and then we took them to the pet store to look at the animals. Of course a trip to the mall wouldn't be complete without a cinnamon sugar soft pretzel and a cup of fresh lemonade. (It's become my mall tradition. LOL)

Thursday, I decided to host a 'Crayola Moms' tea party at our house. We had a nice group of moms and kiddies come over with treats to share and all the mommies enjoyed some lemonade and yummy food, while the little rascals all ran wild in the play room! It was great fun, and sooo convenient, because when Luke was tired and didn't want to play anymore, it was a 3 second walk down the passage and he was in his crib for a nap. I am definitely all for hosting things at our house rather than only going out!

Friday, a big group of us went the the Childrens Marble Museum in Raleigh. What a great museum. Kids can play there for HOURS. They have a little of everything. Such fun! It's a bit of a drive... about 50 minutes or so, but soooo worth it for a family outing with kids. Luke was really enjoying being able to run wild and actually be allowed to touch EVERYTHING. lol... something he doesn't usually have the freedom to do.
Unfortunately he had an accident about 30 minutes after we got there. My friends daughter, was running without looking, and ran Luke right over. Poor thing was just standing there, and then literally just got bulldozed over from the front. We happen to be in the corridor area at the time, not the play area... and the floors are hard granite. He ended up with 2 bumps on the side of his head, and some burst blood vessels in his ear lobe. I put an ice pack on it, and gave him some Tylenol because I am sure that caused a sizely headache. After that, he wasn't much in the mood for playing anymore.

These pics are too great... Jake had the good camera in China, and my flash wasn't working so well!



Since China, things have been JUST as crazy... Luke and I got sick pretty much within hours of Jake arriving home, and now 8 days later, I am still fighting the same old stubborn cold. Luke has been in really good spirits despite his cough and congestion. What a champ! Hopefully we will both be better in the next few days!

The next pictures are just random ones of things Luke has been up to lately. He is changing and learning so quickly. My baby is not such a baby anymore (hmmm...time for another baby maybe??? lol)

We don't feed Luke very often, so he finds alternate ways to survive... like 'stolen' ketchup! LOL



The result after a REAL dinner. LOL (Dinner time and bath time go hand in hand these days. LOL)

Lukes new 'trick' though it makes me VERY nervous! Jake taught him how to turn the lights on and off, and now he likes to climb up there and do it himself... just goes to show, you really need to be careful what you teach your kids. LOL

Such a cutie

He has also learned that he can ride his cars on the floor (or furniture), and it's really cute to watch him playing on the floor like a big boy. He is yet to do any sound effects while riding his cars around, but I guess that'll come after he learns to speak (which he still isn't doing)

Luke NEVER wears shoes.. it's just one of those things we gave up on. In fact, right now he doesn't even own any summer shoes that fit. He out grew his sandals, and we never bothered to replace them because he hated wearing them... we never forced the issue. I think babies/young kids have far healthier feet if they can grow naturally without the constriction of hard shoes. Anyway, with fall on the way shortly, he will need some shoes for the colder days. I spotted a genuine leather pair on clearance the other day, so I grabbed them. I thought they'd be cute for church or if he wears slightly smarter clothes. We tried them out today, with his very cute hand-me-down outfit. His feet looked so ginormous. LOL.. partly because the shoes are a little big (though there is only about 3/4 inch space by his toes, so any smaller and they wouldn't fit for very long), and partly because we are so used to seeing him barefoot. He looked so cute though. He looks like such a big boy these days.

And then ofcourse they came right off again as soon as we left church. Luke really would spend every minute totally naked and barefoot if he could. LOL


And that I believe is about everything that has happened since my last blog entry.

BAD PARENTING? ... LOL

Today Luke got hold of some clothes that were lying around. It was a few items I had lent a friend for the 80's party we went to on Friday night that she returned to me at church today. LOL
He was dragging the clothing through the kitchen and living room, having a great time, so we decided to play dress up with him. LOL.
He was such a good sport, though I'm not sure if our choice in attire would be considered the most fitting for our little boy. LOL.
I guess this is what happens when you have 2 worn out parents left to entertain a toddler on a boring Sunday afternoon. I was the dressing co-coordinator, Jake was the photographer and of course Luke was the model...and such a cute one at that!

So, presenting our little Sunday afternoon drama queen! LOL

FUN FUN FUN!

This is just a quick post to show off some photo's!
Tonight we went to a friends surprise birthday party. It was an 80's themed party, and we tried our best to look the part! Jake went for 80's preppy, and I went for 80's neon! LOL! I used more hairspray than I think is healthy to get my 'BIG' hair, and Jake is 2 pairs of socks short now, because I cut up 2 pairs to make my leg warmers. lol

Luke, found some fun glasses at the party, and he looked so silly, and soooo stinking adorable with them on.. Isn't this just the cutest little dork you've ever seen! LOL.

We had a good time, and I can't stop laughing at Lukes glasses!

TROUBLE COMES QUICKLY

Ok, so this post is a late one... I had first decided not to even write about it, but then I thought, my blog is sorta my family 'journal' and I like to record all 'events', so I changed my mind!

Last week we had a little 'accident' and a scare.
I have been fairly good at locking away all dangerous chemicals etc... we have a lock on the kitchen cupboard where our cleaning detergents etc are. The rest of our cleaning supplies are on a shelf in the laundry, that is almost too high for even me to reach, and then our medicine 'tub' is in an equally high cupboard in the kitchen. So for the most part, everything dangerous is locked away or high out of reach. I have some vitamins and supplements in my nightstand but nothing that should cause serious concern if Luke swallowed any.

Well, anyway, last Tuesday, I got into the shower in the en-suite/master bathroom. To keep Luke out of trouble, I closed my bedroom door, so that he would have to be in the room or bathroom with me while I showered. Who knows what trouble he will find if I left him to wander around the house unsupervised!

Anyway, when I got out of the shower, I realised that he had managed to find trouble right under my nose... he was sucking on an empty bottle of Visine red eye relief eye drops, while there was a puddle on the floor. He had found them in the cupboard under the basin... I guess I missed those when I was 'baby proofing'... the interesting part about this, is that he had to open the cupboard, then get them out of the little drawer in the cupboard that they were in, then get them out of the little ziploc bag that they were in (along with some travel supplies), then he got the skrew cap off, and managed to pull out the dropper... leaving the bottle entirely open! At first I wasn't too concerned... the bottle I don't think was more than half, maybe 2/3 full, and there was a decent sized puddle on the floor... so I wasn't even sure he had ingested any. But, I read the back of the bottle, and it said that you should call poison control, and seek medical attention right away...

It had some less than ideal ingredients in for ingesting.

Dextran 700.1% , Polyethylene Glycol 4001% , Povidone1% , Tetrahydrozoline HCl0.05%

So I called poison control, and told them what happened, and that I was unsure if or how much he had actually drank. She said to watch him closely for the next hour and then call her back, and to call her immediately if Luke starts to get drowsy... more so than usual!
Supposedly the Tetrahydrolozine stuff is what everyone was really concerned about. It can lower blood pressure, slow down your heart rate, and induce a coma... which is why I was having to watch for signs of drowsiness or lethargy!
So I sat and watched him... he seemed fine, I wasn't very concerned, but then he started getting sleepy. Now it was around nap time, but he had also had a great night, so I had thought he would be awake longer before napping, and then he started seeming more eager to sleep than usual. Luke LOVES his crib... he rarely sleeps anywhere else, and has always struggled to fall asleep on your shoulder etc. He likes to be put in his crib when he is tired, and left to go to sleep on his own... so when he lay on my shoulder, went dead weight and started to doze off, I got a little concerned! Linda, the lady from poison control told me to take him to my pediatrician and have him looked over just to be on the safe side. So we loaded up into the car and I took him over (he woke up again in the car on the way there)... I thought that they would just check his heart beat, breathing etc and make sure everything still seemed fine and then tell me to take him home and keep watching him for the rest of the day.

Instead, my pediatrician rushed in almost in a panic, and told me without even looking at him that if there is any chance he had ingested any, he needs to go straight to the ER... so she rushed me back out the door, called ahead to the ER, and we went on our way. At this point I started to feel really anxious... I started to think that maybe I had been to relaxed about the whole thing and that it was much more serious than I had thought. When I got to the ER, they were waiting for us.. I hadn't even signed in at the front desk, when a nurse came from the back asking if Luke was the 14 month old who had drank eye drops...they took us straight through to triage, where they checked his heart rate, listened to his breathing etc and then sent us to a room in the ER to wait for the doctor.  Luke hadn't eaten yet, so I took out some snacks, and he ate a banana, and a cereal bar while we watched cartoons, waiting for the doctor. An hour later, the doctor comes in, again listens to his heart with a stethoscope, and says that it's been 3 hours since the 'possible ingestion', and he is showing no further signs of trouble, so take him home and watch him...come back if anything changes.
By this point, I was feeling frustrated because my pediatrician and caused me to panic over nothing, and I spent the entire duration of the ER visit watching cartoons, with a tired, hungry toddler, who otherwise now seemed fine. We were happy to leave, and ready to go home. Luke was fast asleep in the car right after we pulled out of the parking lot. After a good nap, and some more 'lunch' when he woke up, he was back to his usual demanding, whiny, but oh so cute self!

Although it ended up being nothing more than a scare, the whole incident did give me a little fright.. I really realised just how quickly these potentially fatal accidents can happen. I am just grateful that this incident was nothing serious, and we were able to all come home happy and healthy!

BIG BOYS BUZZ CUT

Ok, so Lukes hair has been getting a bit long for my liking lately... and I have been dying to cut it... but, he won't sit still long enough for me to trim it lightly with a pair of scissors, so I decided to do the quick way, and use the buzzer. I do Jakes hair all the time, and he looks alright... doesn't he? LOL
Now, standard buzzers come with 6 trim lengths... #1 being the shortest, and #6 being the longest... I thought I would just go over his hair quickly with a #6...just to take off that extra bit of length he has. Then, yesterday while chatting to my mom on the webcam, her and my brother told me that a #6 is much too long, that I should do a #4, or even as short as a #2... LOL... remind me never to take their advice again!

Lukes hair is still REALLY thin so if it's short, it almost disappears entirely... so I decided to try a #5... shorter than my originally planned #6, but not as short as my family suggested... well, now my kid is just about bald on top in comparison to what he looked like when he woke up this morning, LOL... and he looks like he just enlisted in the army! I have a 14 month old with a buzz cut. LOL... not EXACTLY what I was going for.

To make matters worse, after quickly (and not very evenly) going over the top, while Jake tried to keep Luke still on his lap.... I needed to still tackle the back... Luke had already had enough, and was starting to fuss and squirm terribly, even though he had only been enduring my torture for about 3 minutes. LOL. So, the back didn't exactly go as planned. It looks like I tried to give him layers. LOL... very jagged layers... But, when Luke has had enough, then that's all you're going to get done... So now I have a sweet little boy, with a naughty boy buzz cut, and a choppy, jagged trim at the back! Hopefully it grows out quickly. Poor kid! LOL
If only he would sit still, so I could take my time trimming it neatly with scissors... instead, my choices are 'long and messy' or 'brave the buzz cut...'
I'm thinking next time we might just leave it 'long and messy'. LOL

This is Luke before his cut!

And this is our poor kid after his terrible cut!
I feel like a terrible mom for 'butchering' my childs soft, sweet hair! :(

I haven't even taken a picture of the back, because I feel like I need to try going over it again to redeem myself. I stopped when Luke had had enough... not when his hair was done. LOL

Funny how even in these pictures, both taken today... he goes from sweet looking little boy with a mop of hair, to looking like a little mischief maker with his buzz cut!