sleeping baby

I settled down tonight. I got nothing on the checklist done that I needed to do after I put you down. In efforts to accomplish at least ONE thing, I picked up a pile of toys and quietly carried them down the hall to your room. Daddy was studying in the room across from yours. As I opened your door it caught his attention. We both drew our eyes to your sweet face pressed gently up against your crib railing. Time stopped as we both stared, expressionless. I could tell that at that moment we shared the same thoughts:

• That your sweet face is OURS. It's literally a mixture of US.
  
• You are growing WAY too fast.
• Your laughter, smile, scowl and the way you wait for us at the window each time we come home are the very things that keep us going.
  
• We want another, but could we possibly come up with something as perfect?
• You're so darn cute.
  
• Though you seem to be turning into this BOY, you will always be our baby.

We love being parents. We love you. We love everything about you.

Goodnight, Sweet Groobs.

hugs & kisses,
"mommy"

The Latest on Lucas

You say:
Cow says, Fish says, Dog says, Cat says, Lion says, Elephant says, (my fave) Monkey says, Sheep says, Duck says... and last but not least, Mommy says - in which you shake your finger at me and say "no no no". You also say Thank you - "Do Doooo", Papa - "bah-bah", Dadda, Grandma -"ummmaah", Momma and all done - "aduhhh".

You sign:
airplane, please, thank you, milk, all done and your wave is perfected. When you're ready to leave somewhere, you just start waving which always embarrasses me. It usually happens at someone's house when you're done visiting.

You sing: (mostly hand motions)
Itsy bitsy spider, The wheels on the bus and the rock-a-bye song you made up. :)

You still nap 2 times a day. Sometimes you get by with 1 - but you are MUCH happier with 2.

You continue to Jump, dance, and best of all... Summer-salts!

You are starting to be a bit clingy, which is good and bad. Today, I was doing hair and you came in, pulled on my apron until I was eye level with you, looked me in my eyes, grabbing the top of my apron and tried to take it off. You clearly wanted me to be done doing hair and spend time with you.

I love your independence. You strut your stuff right into the kitchen, open the fridge and tell me exactly what you want. It's usually an egg, shredded cheese or milk. You also can open EVERY door at your convenience. I just know you're going to run away!

I love you, punkin-ator.

hugs & kisses,
"mommy"

One of those days

We just changed the time of church from 9am to 11am. I thought it would be better for you. I think 3 hours of anything is hard on little guys your age. Sunday was hard today. We're working on getting you warmed up in nursery so you transition well next month. I think you'll do great. I just worry that there's no kids your age. You have natural attendancies to do things like climb, throw, or steal your neighbor's snacks. These things are only magnified by tiredness. (which you were today) The other children in nursery are a bit older and understand consequences more, so they tend to listen better. I'm sure you'll get there. Nursery has 2 rooms that are separated by a curtain divider. One room (which kids are not allowed in) stores all the toys that are not being used. The other is where nursery takes place. Somehow, you figured out how to open the curtain and insisted that you have the toys on the other side. (which included a bright, shiny slide and a rocking horse) Who wouldn't want those? After unsuccessfully trying to explain that you couldn't have them, you threw a fit. We ended up leaving the nursery for a little walk. Which you also didn't want. You ended up hitting me in the face. The sad part is, you have a fantastic memory, so I'm sure next time we go to nursery, we'll face the same battle. When you start to communicate a little better, things should get easier. I'm sure there will always be something for me to worry about though. :/ I know you don't mean it when you hit, you're just trying to get your point across. As a Mother, I'm learning patience more and more each day.

Lucas, I want you to know I love you. I love the sweet humming that you do while I sing to you. I love your soft and chubby cheeks. I love your cheesy smile. I love your giggle. I love your glare. I love your excited *gasp* that you do at anything and everything that is the slightest bit interesting. I love the way you pray. I love the way you watch the sacrament being passed with such curiosity. Today, you even said "Dada" when Daddy helped bless the sacrament on the stand. You did your absolute best in trying to get his attention. You are learning reverence, but I'm afraid tiredness took over today. I'm sure we'll have more days like this, and I'll continue walking you through the church when we do. I just hope next week you let me tune into at least one hour of church.

Thanks for putting a smile on my face at the end of a tiresome day for the both of us.

hugs & kisses,
(tired) "mommy"

Dear Lucas,

Please stop crawling out of your crib.

hugs & kisses,
"mommy"

Take THAT.

Last time I bathed you, two little brown floaties joined you in your bath. NICE. This is one of those motherly responsibilities where if I don't clean up, no one will. It was up to me to go fishing. bleck! In order to do so, I needed to get you out of that nasty water. I took you out, still naked and wet, I set you on the bathroom floor. What happened after this, you ask? PEE. You pee'd all over the bathroom floor.

It was almost as if you were saying, "take that, Mom, and THAT."

Well Lucas,

Take that.
...a nice little picture for your future girlfriends to feast their eyes on. I guess you could call it revenge. :) I love you!

hugs & kisses,
"mommy"

Stay Close

Your Daddy and I come from wonderful families. We are all very close knit. I look at our parents and wonder what they did to keep us coming back. Our gatherings are the best, and even though we don't all live close, we still all get along and talk often.

I want to know what it's going to take to keep you coming back?

Please don't ever go astray. I don't say this for selfish reasons. I want you to have the most wonderful life possible, and to do that, I know that our family needs to stay close. Please come back to visit when you're grown up. Please do your best to call me and tell me all the wonderful things that go on in your grown up life. It will mean so much to me.

I see families that don't have this closeness and I wonder how sad it must be. I am very lucky to be close to my siblings and have great love for them. I don't ever want to be that family that doesn't get along. I can't imagine how it must feel to not like your family.

We're in it for the long haul. I want you to know we'll always be here. No matter what path you take, where you decide to live, or what you do with your life. We'll be here for you. Our love is different than some. It's eternal. I know it is. Please stay close... and if at all possible, don't grow up. That would save a lot of stress.

hugs & kisses,
"mommy"

My handsome man - 15 months

You continue to change. I'm not sure I like it. They're all good changes, I guess I'm just scared. I don't want to you turn into a boy. I want you to stay my sweet little angel baby forever. I have to face it though, it's part of life. Here are some new things you've been doing:

• kissing like crazy
• snuggling - you never really have been a snuggler, but now you want me to hold you a lot. I don't mind at all. :)
• jumping - Your Aunt Tammy keeps saying that this is a motor skill that most babies and new walkers can't do and that sometimes preschoolers even have a hard time learning to jump! You jump all the time. You even stand at the last step on the stairs and without touching any walls, jump to the ground without falling. You climb on the ottoman and jump to the chair. You just keep working at it and you'll be dunking in no time. Hopefully this isn't a warning sign for the broken bones we'll face in the future!
• opening doors - I don't like this one.
  
• say UH OH, Oh no, all your animal sounds and sing your own little numbers quite often.
• play catch with Daddy - we're working on the catch part, but you've got a great arm!
• greeting guests at the door - You are always watching out the window when people come and leave the house. Sometimes, crying because you can't go with them.
• praying - You bow your head in such a reverent way.
  

We love you Lucas! You just keep learning and growing, even though I want you to stay like this forever!

hugs & kisses,
"mommy"