As usual, I am playing catch up!  

 

Last weekend didn’t go as planned once again.    We have learned just to roll with it!   I had originally scheduled our Family Movie Night for last Saturday night, but decided to postpone due to the h1n1 business.   It will actually be more fun and relaxing  having it in the winter time anyway once the holidays are over.   Anyway, we did decide to have our Polar Express night with Matt’s brother Chris’ family so the kids could see the movie and we were going to decorate cookies and have a fun night together.  Well, KC got sick earlier in the week with a flu virus with fever and once she started to get over it, Faith got it so we just decided in case Chris or Ephriam were in the process of getting it and to let the other 2 get the rest they needed , we’d just postpone for now.  We ended up having our pizza party and watched the Polar Express just the 3 of us.  Luke watched more of it than I thought but didn’t have the attention span to sit thru the whole thing.  He’d watch and cuddle for a bit and then get up and play a bit.     

 

He loves the instruments that Uncle Mark got him for his birthday and has recently taken up playing the harmonica.  He has gotten the hang of it and sounds pretty good.  The funny part is to watch him, he moves up and down and side to side when he is doing it, I need to take a video of that!    But, he decided to play this right at the end of the movie, so was a little distracting, but cute!    He definitely is a music kid, so will be interesting as he gets older what type of music he will be into and if he will be a singer, or musician or just a music lover. 

 

Anyway, since we didn’t have company, I started on Saturday taking down all fall items and got the house cleaned real well and got a good handle on the laundry.  

 

Sunday, Matt took got all of our Christmas stuff down and I started getting that out and went to the store for a few items.  I made a big pot of tortilla soup and we enjoyed that on Sunday and Monday for dinner-at least Matt and I did.  Mr. Luke turns up his nose at most dinners that we serve.  I usually try to offer at least one thing on his plate that he likes and that seems to work.  Some nights, all he eats is mashed potatoes, bread, peas or fruit but he usually eats something.  If he eats good or tries something new, then he gets yogurt or pudding or something like that.   I just bought some of the gogurt yogurt and he loves it!  I even froze some for a nice, cold treat!  Also, helps extend them if they are getting ready to expire! 

 

Sunday afternoon, after nap we took Luke to the river to throw rocks in the water.  He had a ball and for about an hour straight, threw rocks into the water.  At first he said, Pool and then we told him it was the river and he was so excited to just pick up rocks and throw them in as many times as he wanted.  It was a beautiful afternoon and it was nice to get out for a bit—pictures to come!

 

Monday, I had the day off and it was wonderful to just spend the whole day puttering around the house, putting up decorations and I also ran to Hobby Lobby and picked up some gift wrap, boxes, tissue and a few decorations.   Last year, with Luke getting sick the day after Christmas and me getting sick around New Year’s Eve, I hadn’t really gotten out to get much in the line of after Christmas sale stuff.   I got a good handle on the decorations.      I also rearranged Luke’s room and put up his tree.  He is so excited and just loves looking at the ornaments!    His tree is decorated with ornaments that have been given to him and the Barker ornaments I have started him out with.   I plan to add to the collection each year and add ones that he has made in school and we will also make chains and popcorn garlands when he gets older. 

 

Tuesday night we put up the tree (pain in the butt!) and Wednesday night I got it decorated.   We are seriously considering getting rid of this one and getting one after Christmas on sale!    Thursday night, mom came over for about an hour and I was able to get a few odds and ends completed and laundry put away.    

 

For about a week, we have been getting notes on Luke’s daily sheets about him hitting and shoving the other kids.  This took us somewhat off guard since we have never seen him hit or push another child before.  He has swatted at us lately when we tell him no or he doesn’t get his way.  We’ve been trying time out but this doesn’t seem to be sinking in.    This all started happening around the time he was getting bitten at school.   While I’m glad he isn’t “the biter”, it is still disturbing that he is hitting other kids.  We scheduled a conference with his teacher to find out a little more about the situations that this is happening, like is it over a toy-not sharing, he just hits for no reason, is fighting back, etc.   Matt and I went over around lunch when the kids were napping.   We found out that all of the kids are doing this.  They are copying each other and when one child does it, they all do.  She can just report on Luke.  So, we were relieved to see that it isn’t just him, but also want to make sure that they are on top of this and need to implement something so this isn’t happening all day.  It is hard on the teacher and the kids.    So, I am going to talk to the director and she what she plans to do. 

 

We also asked about his eating at school and she said he is her best eater.  He will eat meatloaf and spaghetti and lots of things he won’t eat at home.  So, I don’t worry anymore about dinner because I know he has gotten 2 good meals that day!  Little stinker!      She also said he wants more and more!  He has really been going thru a big growth spurt over the past few months so I’m not surprised!   

 

We also warned her that after Thanksgiving, there will be no froggy!   We plan to get rid of the pacifier part of his animals the wed before Thanksgiving.  We figure that we will have 4 days to get thru it!  So, unless he is sick, he will be froggy free!    No turning back!

 

Luke is doing well with his speech.  There are still times I can’t understand him and he talks really fast sometimes too, but he is just so fun to talk to.  He can sing many songs and we are very proud of all he has accomplished.    On the Wiggles, there is a character named Jeff who is always falling asleep.  So, they always say “Wake up Jeff!”   So, in the morning,  when I tell Luke to wake up daddy, he’ll say, “Wake up Jeff daddy! “  It just cracks us up!      Last night, Nanny came over and she said Luke I haven’t seen you since Halloween.  Then, he said “trick or treat” and “candy”.  He doesn’t miss a thing or forget anything! 

 

We have a fun weekend coming up so more later!!

 

 

 

 

Christmas Lists have been uploaded to the site under files/music for anyone who has asked me for ideas.

 

I can’t believe it is  Friday (started this on wed) already and no blog yet!   This week is going fast, thank goodness, but that’s the way this time of year goes! 

 

Matt had a poker game/going away party last Friday night 11/6 for a co-worker who is moving to Seattle.   It was good for him to get out and spend time with work friends for a change. 

Mom came over for a little while and ate dinner with us and played with Luke.   He is really into playing with Lincoln Logs.  I bought a set at a yard sale this summer that was brand new for $3.  He doesn’t really build with them, but he likes to sort and count them and play with the little Indian, teepee and canoe that came with the set and of course knock down what we build.  I think mommy and daddy enjoy them more since it reminds us of our childhood.    He is also into his Little People too so we are having fun with the things that I had bought him last Christmas.   I found a bunch of old sets at Big Lots last year. It seems like all the stores have the same stuff and it is hard to find anything different. 

 

Saturday a.m. we had donut day!  Matt went to the donut shop and we each had a donut.  It is a nice treat!   Then, Matt went to our Leadership conference for our church and was home about 3.  While he was gone Dad stopped by and sprayed our house for bugs.  We have been seeing some big, scary spiders so we needed this done.   He stayed til about 12 to play with Luke.  Luke had fun with his grandpa.  We did have to give him breathing treatments all weekend due to him having a lot of drainage and stuff but by Tuesday we were finished.  We finally are able to figure out how to get this stuff under control.  He still has a cough but is much better     I was able to get quite a few loads of laundry finished and things straightened up. 

 

By the time Matt got home, I was stir crazy in the house with the weather being so nice.   I was able to have all the windows open all day so it felt nice to air the house out.   I took a walk around the neighborhood and it felt so good just to walk and breathe deeply and clear my head.   It felt good to feel the sun on my face and walk thru the leaves and just take my time to just be. 

 

When I got back, I got ready and we picked up grandma and took her to Frisch’s for dinner.  I know she doesn’t get out much and it is nice for her to see Luke and since I wasn’t sure whether he was getting a cold or not and we had to get home, do breathing and bath, we decided just to take her home. 

 

Sunday, was another day of great accomplishments.  I was able to clean out the front landscaping and cut down all the plants for the winter.  We had 3 bags of mulch left so we put that down.    Our holly bush looks so neat with the red berries and now you can actually see it.    I was also able to get the bathroom really clean and bleached and also got some cut-out cookies made and frozen.  I made the dough Saturday and put in the fridge.   By the time I went to bed Sunday, I felt good like I had the right balance of work, fun, time with Luke and family.

 

Friday, we had a note on Luke’s daily sheet that he was pushing and hitting his friends.  I was concerned but this is the first time we’ve ever heard of him doing this so not sure what to make of it. We’ve been doing time-outs at home for this.  He gets mad when things don’t go his way or if you tell him to do something and he doesn’t like it, he swats at you.   It seems like the more you ask him not to, the more he does it and he looks at you like “I know this is bad, but I’m going to do it and see what you do about it”.   So, Tuesday, we get a note from his teacher telling us that he is doing it more unprovoked  and do we have any suggestions because time-out isn’t working…well, we aren’t sure what is causing it and not sure what else to do with him at this point.  Time out seems to work short term but long term he doesn’t get it.  Some experts say that before 3, time out really doesn’t sink in.  I think more than anything, it gives them time to think about it and cool off and forget about what they were doing to get there.   He doesn’t understand deals or bribery yet, you can’t hit a child for hitting at this age in my opinion—what does that teach?  I’m not opposed to spanking but at an age where they understand what is going on.   I am of the mind that this is for attention more than anything at this point.  I’m not sure what goes on at school, so I’m not sure what the motivation is there.  I do know that he has gotten bit 3 times (arm, finger, shoulder) and scratched and pinched the past few weeks and maybe he is just fighting back.  Not sure there…we’ll see how it goes.  Hoping this is a very short-lived stage he is going thru. 

 

Tuesday night, Matt’s mom and I (and friend Jody met us there)  went to a Self Protection seminar given by a police officer that attends our church.   He gave us lots of great tips on staying aware, ways to defend ourselves and things to watch out for.   

 

Other than that, it has been a typical week  We’ve been trying to both really pay attention to Luke and play with him right after dinner and it seems like the hitting is better.  I know he is being 2 and testing his boundries but I don’t want him to hurt anyone, so we are really trying.

This morning, I was singing Good Morning to you in the tune of Happy Birthday.  I used to do it every morning but I haven't for awhile.  Luke said Happy Birthday! and started singing the Happy Birthday song to Daddy, to mommy and to his froggy.  I thought that was really smart that he recognized the song.    He started talking about cupcakes, candles and hot dogs and mac and cheese and KC.  So, he was insisting that KC's birthday was coming up.  I told him that it was his cousing Ephriam's birthday, Keller's birthday and Jesus' birthday coming up and he kept saying KC (his cousin)!    He also can sing Jingle Bells-didn't know he knew that one, I think it is from watching the Wiggly Christmas so much.  He is amazing me with all the songs he can sing and the sentences he is putting together!  

 

Tonight is a ladies shopping night at Sacred Heart.  Should be fun.  Holly is home for the day tomorrow and we will be watching the Polar Express and decorating cookies Saturday night.  Not sure if Matt’s brother and family will be joining us, they have had the flu this week.  Better to get it before the holidays, but not fun! 

 

 

 

Luke is growing, growing, growing!  We measured him again after many people said he looked like he has grown and he has-another inch in the past 3 months.  I’m not sure how much he has grown but since his turned 2 it has to be a couple of inches.  He’ll be 2-1/2 this weekend!

 

Last week, we had a couple of biting incidences.  Thank goodness he wasn’t the biter but it isn’t great being the bit-ee either!   It happened a couple of months ago one time out of the blue.  They don’t say who bites but they tell the parents of the child who did it.  I didn’t make a big deal out of it the first time, but when Luke came home with a huge bite mark on his forearm one day and 2 days later a bite on the shoulder I wanted to find out what the deal was!   I wanted to make sure the director knew what was going on, to make sure they were on top of it, and to let her know that I wasn’t really happy about it.  I was told by one of the other teachers that Luke’s teacher was very upset and yelled at the sub who was supposed to be watching this child.  I guess they have been told to watch and try to head off any possible issues before they can happen. 

 

I got an email back from the director and she assured me that the center and the parent of the child is trying very hard to rectify the situation.  It seems that this little girl is a foster child with developmental delays.  Her foster mom works at the Disabilities board so she knows how to handle this.  She is in therapy and she was going to buy her a special chew necklace in case it is a sensory issue.  They aren’t sure whether this sudden biting spree was a result of teething, not feeling well, or something to do with her delays.  We actually know who the child is.  Matt was best friends with a guy all thru school.  He ran into this foster mom one day who is the aunt of his friend.  She is adopting this child who is the child of a coworker or someone she knows who is too young to raise the child.  So, it made us feel better that we knew who it was and that the parent was aware and making an effort to help the child.  I feel for this mom and on the other hand I have to protect my child and I don’t want Luke to think this is acceptable or feel threatened and not want to go because he is afraid of being bit.  Not to mention, that I don’t want him being bit and if it breaks the skin, he could develop an infection.  The first bite was huge and bruised the day it happened, you could see the imprint of each tooth on his arm!  UGH!

 

So far so good this week, no bites!

 

Luke has really gotten into his Little People.  I had them put away for the summer and now he’ll come up to me, grap my hand and say “play people mommy!”  His talking is getting better and better.  He is putting more and more words together into sentences and he can even sing a song or sing along to a song now.  He is also starting to sing and dance and mock what the Wiggles or Barney or whoever is doing. 

 

His teacher told me today that she didn’t know that he knew all of his shapes.  She said he was playing with a puzzle and was saying all of the shapes.  She said, he is a really smart boy!  Proud mommy moment! 

 

Today I got a scare.  Lisa from CCC called and said that Luke threw up 3 times and I should come get him.  I asked her if it was from coughing because he started with a little cough last night and coughed some in the middle of the night.  She said she didn’t know.  I got to the daycare thinking the worst and she met me at the door.  She said I don’t really think he is sick.   He didn’t have a high temp, acted like he felt fine.  She said she had him in the office and he didn’t want to lay down and instead was playing with some magnets and telling her what all the letters and numbers and colors were.  His teacher came out and said that she wasn’t there when he did it and I told them that he gags really easily.   Today was their pajama pizza party so I hated to see him miss it.    It was so cute to see them all in their jammies!   Anyway, they said they would keep him and keep an eye on him.  They felt bad calling me but I told them I’d rather be cautious and I don’t blame them for getting freaked when a child throws up especially with all of this H1N1 stuff going around.  I told her he got the first shot and were waiting until the end of Nov. to hopefully get the 2^nd round. 

 

More later!

We had a really great weekend.  Halloween on a Saturday rocks!  I think we need to vote and have trick or treat on Saturdays every year!  I have decided that I will from now on take ½ day of work on Trick or Treat when it is during the week. 

 

I tried a new recipe Friday night.  Using Grands biscuits and taco meat.  They are very tasty and kid-friendly.  A different verson of tacos.  We put lettuce, salsa and sour cream on top and they were good!   Added under recipes.   Luke would not try them though.  But, he didn’t get another meal.  He needs to learn to eat what we eat or he will not get anything else.  I do let him have a banana or some type of fruit or veggie but no yogurt which is a treat for him or dessert.  Anyway, I went to Kroger Friday night.  I was tired but I knew I needed to go!  I did so well on the coupons!   I had a bunch of Silk coupons that I got from a bunch of people that expired on 10/31 so I bought 7 ½ gallons of soy milk at 1.00 off and was already on sale, so got them for 1.99 each instead of the normal $3.99.  They don’t expire until Christmas, thank goodness soy milk doesn’t expire like milk does!   I also had a luvs coupon that expired the next day and also buy one get one magic erasers that expired so I knew I’d better get there!  With their mega sale, I got Cheez-its for $.25, boxed potatoes for $.25, cookies for $.25, 2-liters of pop for .79.  I saved 50% of my bill with things being on sale, double coupons and mega deal.  I was so excited! 

 

Saturday morning I made special cinnamon twists with orange icing for us for breakfast.  I got these at Aldi-they were too cute!   Of course we used orange IKEA plates and Luke thought they were finger-licking good followed up by peach (as close to orange we could get) yogurt (had to have something healthy!).   

We also made special pumpkins with Luke’s handprint and photo and got some Halloween pj photos holding his little pumpkin. 

Matt worked and Luke and I had a relaxing day playing and while he napped, I got some cleaning done.   He is loving the Wiggly Safari with the Crocodile Hunter.    It is growing on me.  After it was over he’d say “fasari” mommy again! 

 

After nap, we got ready for trick or treat.  We go over to the Walker’s every year and this year, Luke got to trick-or treat with his cousins!

 

Luke did really good.  He didn’t get the whole concept, but he did go up with the other kids and got candy. Sometimes he said trick or treat and usually kept standing there waiting for another piece of candy!  He liked to put in his bag himself. 

 In hindsight, I should have gotten him one of those big plastic pumpkins but it worked out ok.  He rode in the wagon part of the way too.  There were a lot of houses not participating so that helped.  He was very pooped by the end-we stayed out about an hour.  He blew lots of kisses and ended up with a pretty good haul.  And, we escaped with only having to give him 2 lollipops and a small bag of pretzels.  He had lots of good food at the Walker’s and got to play with his cousins KC and Ephriam so he was a happy camper!  We were at Grandpa and Grandpa Walkers, and Mark and his girlfriend Kerstin were there, Matt’s brother Chris and wife Faith (she had to go to work at 7) and  Mom was there too and Grandpa Buhi stopped by to see him too!   We had a really fun evening!  Plus, with the time change falling back an hour we got to stay up a little later!

 

Sunday, Luke and I went outside to play in the leaves.  We ran around and played tag and threw leaves and enjoyed a perfect fall day.   Luke also took an opportunity to blow some last bubbles and play in the sandbox before it gets to cold to do it anymore!  Daddy came home from church and joined us. 

Afterwards, Luke ate lunch and napped and Daddy worked in the yard and I worked inside to get things back to “normal”.   

 Sunday evening I got to meet my friends Beth and Linda for dinner to catch up!  So, I really had a fun weekend! 

 

Lots more photos under October 2009 gallery!