Shout-Outs

Lucas wanted to give a few shout-outs tonight while he was in the bath.
Here's to you, Lisa, Carrie, Maddie, Brian, Nala, Oscar, and Petey! (or as Lucas would say, Lali, Cawdie, Mannie, Bonnie, Na-na, Oscau, and Petey).



There's another video for the grandparents.... but I will email it b/c it shows a bit too much of the bath tub.

ABQ in Review

Here are a few pictures from our trip to Albuquerque:

Lucas pushing Madison on the wiggle car.

Lucas and Grandma cleaning up after the ketchup mishap.

A few weeks ago my mom and sister slept outside on the deck with my nephews. The air matress was still out so we took advantage of it. I never got to sleep outside because I was afraid that Lucas would wake up and wander around in the night, but Maddie, my mom, and Lisa slept out one night (and Lucas did wake up and wander that night).

Lucas always loves to spend time outside. The grass is soft, it's not too hot, not too humid. It's just right! Plus the backyard is much more beautiful and interesting than the grass box we have at home.

Here are Lucas and Maddie admiring the flowers.

For pictures of the yummy cakes we made check out my other blog.

Dog Treats

Here's an old video I got off my dad's computer. Lucas really wanted one of Oscar's dog treats, but quickly changed his mind once he tasted it.

I'm still alive, really.

Aloha,

I have officially been away from home for three weeks, one day, and 7 hours. I will go back on Wednesday so Ben can remember who we are and hopefully he will get to eat something besides microwave burritos (aside from what he eats at our friends' houses - thanks!)

Tonight I found out that I have been making a grammatical error (and you know I hate grammatical errors) for the past 16 months. My sister, Lisa, told me that when I write about Lucas and his posessions, I am supposed to use an apostrophe-s, not just an apostrophe. So, I've been saying Lucas' ball, etc. for over a year. Oops. The only case you use just the apostrophe in a first name is in the case of Jesus. Interesting, huh?

She did say that there are probably exceptions in rule books somewhere, so I shouldn't feel too dumb...

That said, if you wish to see some of Lucas's updated pictures, go here.

Lucas has grown and learned so much in the past three weeks. Last year, Lucas got two front teeth for Christmas. This year, he got four teeth for Christmas (his canines)! Now we only have a couple more sets molars to go and we're done with teeth!

Lucas has also really started to love animals. In Arizona he got to meet Riley, Ben's aunt's dog. He also got to see the duck pond. He was quite scared at first, but then tried to climb into the pond feet first like he goes down the stairs. He even started saying a new word that sounds a lot like "dog" or "duck".... we think it might be a German word. But, I think it is the word for all things not human.

In Albuquerque, Lucas was excited to see Nala and Oscar again. They weren't quite so excited to see him. We have made it two weeks without any bites - just a couple growls. Lucas has learned to be careful with the dogs and not poke them in the face. Last week Lisa was giving Lucas a bath and they heard Oscar walk down the hall and Lucas said, "Oska." I didn't believe her at first, but now he says it quite often when he sees the dog. (Ben isn't a fan of Oscar, so he wasn't happy when I told him this...). I now hear "Oska" and the German dog word much more than Mama.

Oh, and Lucas finally did his first sign! I've been trying to get this kid to sign for ten months. Now he'll do the sign for "all done" when he wants down from his high chair. Next we'll work on "milk" and "more."

Lucas has some fun toys to play with here (toys way older than me). There's a pretty cool Tonka dump truck, a doll crib, and a little set of wooden beads and a big string. He enjoys playing with the beads and has started to string them onto the string with some help. And of course, Lucas's favorite activity is the sorting, stacking, and organizing. Lucas has emptied every single drawer in my parent's house, and several drawers in Ben's parent's house. He loves it.

I was supposed to go home last Thursday, but stayed longer because Ben had work to do in Austin and I didn't want to go home and be alone while Ben worked. The first week home after being with my family is always really hard - the empty house, doing all the work by myself, etc. Here I have about 6 assistants to help with watching Lucas and it makes for a nice break. And the great thing is that they really enjoy playing with Lucas... and instead of being a chore, bath time is a really FUN time.

The good news is that my sister showed Lucas some pictures on the computer tonight. He got really excited when he saw Ben, so he still remembers him! Ben and I have wondered before how long it would take him to forget one of us. I said he'd be over me in a week, but now I know that's not true. He misses and loves his daddy very much. We'll see you soon, Baby!

Mom of the Year Award

The past couple of days have been stressful and bizarre. We had car problems, a stranger stay at our house (one point for charity!), and I stupidly burned a bunch of chocolate while making candy.

Last night I went to pick up a rental car because the Honda dealership forgot to fix our car yesterday. I decided to hit the HEB on the way home so I could get more chocolate and some diapers. The store was packed because it was 6:30, so my shopping cart options were limited. I managed to grab a shopping cart with no belt to strap around Lucas. I was talking on the phone to Ben and made note that I needed to be careful because now Lucas could fall out.

All was fine and dandy until I got to the kid aisle. I was looking at Crayons on one side and Lucas was looking at (and really wanting) the balls on the other side. I had just decided on the twisty Crayons when CRASH - I turned around and there was Lucas on the floor between the balls and the shopping cart. My poor little man tumbled out head first onto the HEB floor. He was screaming bloody murder and this lady came up to make sure he was okay. I assured her that everything was fine, but she went and got the manager anyways. He came over with an ice pack and got my name and number so their corporate office could contact me if need be.

I felt really guilty for not watching Lucas better so, like all good parents, I bought him a toy to make up for it. I was deciding between the sweet dachshund and a lion (Lucas likes to make lion noises these days). Of course, I had to get the dog because it looked just like Oscar (but doesn't bite), plus it was half the price of the lion.

Here's to Lucas and his Oscar doll. If you ask Lucas what a lion says, he says "Uuuuhhhh", if you ask what a dog says, he says "Uhh-Uhh."