Wednesday, December 31, 2008

20 Months Old!

We've been so busy lately! I'm looking forward to things slowing down slightly after the holidays.

Lukas at 20 months:

- is about 23 lbs
- is talking up a storm! His conversation skills have simply exploded in the past month. I've been trying to keep a list of all the new words he's started to say, but this past month he's started saying everything so I lost track. He repeats almost everything we say (uh-oh!!), and has even started using 2-word sentences. He has one 3-word sentence, "Where'd [he/she/it] go?" We are now having complete conversations, and I love it! It's such fun to actually talk to him instead of simply trying everything we can to communicate to each other.
- can count to 3...although I'm still trying to figure out if he knows what they stand for. Every now and then I'll catch him "counting" while moving his toys around, so I really think he's starting to get the concept.
- visually knows A and B
- can say and sign the alphabet with some prompting from Mommy
- helps load laundry in the dryer, unload parts of the dishwasher, sweep, and vacuum
- will hear even the quietest music and jam to it
- loves to read books by himself and with the nearest handy adult
- will ask for help when he needs it, but always wants to try himself first
- loves to ride his rocking horse
- is incredibly active...he only stops for his naps (and yes, he's still taking 2 naps). By time Eric gets home from work I've answered few dozen questions, read many books, watched and discussed Sesame Street, drawn a picture (or several since he now has an easel), played, and discussed many things.
- eats very well with a fork or spoon
- will eat next to nothing for several days and then eat everything put in front of him
- has started to pretend play. He will feed or give Elmo (most recently anyway) a drink. He also has many items that he uses for something else...he has a blue block that's a microphone, a foam circle that's a pitch pipe, the table will become a piano, and anything can be a phone.
- knows who all of his close relatives are and has names for all of them....although Aunt Ashley seems to be the current favorite. Everything we do he asks if she's going to be there.
- loves his Mommy and Daddy more and more every day!

Things we've been doing lately:

Decorating the Christmas tree.



Helping Mommy make Banana Bread.





Helping Daddy put out the outdoor lights.



Just to remind everyone how utterly handsome he is! :)



Bath time with Daddy (this is one of his favorite times of day).



Playing with Grandad on Christmas morning.



Exploring how chalk works.



Modeling the new paint smock.



Playing Wii with Daddy.




Lukas health updates:

He has been sick with pretty much every virus (mostly the upper respiratory ones) that he comes in contact with since about mid-October. We went to a pediatric pulmonologist back in November, and he reworked Lukas' asthma medications. While he's still on quite a lot of medicenes they are helping. His asthma has been under control since we made these changes about a month ago. Praise God that even with all the upper respiratory crud that he's been dealing with his asthma has finally remained under control!

Small Side note:

I hardly ever post about them, but our cats are just as much a part of our family as Lukas. I got some great pictures recently and thought I'd share.

Ember majestically guarding the gifts.



Melody playing with the tree.



Lukas and Mel having a moment.





-

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Christmas 2008

We had a fantastic Christmas this year! Lukas was even old enough to get into the action. With him at 20 months old, the packages didn't stand a chance. We kept him out of the front room (where Santa had left all the goodies, as well as the other packages) until Aunt Ashley and Uncle Ryan arrived (Mema and Grandad stayed over). Believe me this plan only worked because he didn't understand what was happening, and it only worked for a while. As soon as he went into the front room and found an Elmo doll peeking out of his stocking he wanted to open everything....and he did!

Here are just a few of the many pictures from the Swayne Christmas.

Mommy supervising Daddy put Lukas' easel together...not that he really needed it.



Futilely trying to keep Lukas away from the stockings.



ELMO!!!



"What else is in here?!"



Mema and Grandad (my parents) bought each other the same thing. 30 years of marriage starts to mess with your brain! :)



Lukas ripping into his presents.



Uncle Ryan and Aunt Ashley posing with a gift.



Daddy gets a Wii!



One of Lukas' favorite presents...a racetrack.



Cute!!

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Monday, December 22, 2008

Kristi

My best friend, Kristi, got married this past weekend. I am so excited that after years of praying she has found, and married, the man God set aside for her. The wedding was beautiful! I was privileged to be her matron of honor. This title always makes me feel like I should be old with many children, but it was such an honor to stand up next to her as she exchanged her vows. Lukas also, almost anyway, played a very special role. He was one of her ring bearers. He did fantastically during rehearsal, and ran down the aisle with the other boys despite how completely exhausted he was. However, when it came time for the big event he fell asleep. Kristi, as I know you'll read this when you get back, you're an amazing friend, and I praise God that you found the man he made for you. Congratulations Mrs. Belt!!!

Lukas, Kristi, and I



Lukas is holding his box to carry down the aisle.



The Swaynes....we clean up pretty good!



Mommy trying to keep Lukas calm during pictures.



This picture was too good not to put in, just don't look too close since it's blurry.



Mr. and Mrs. Taylor Belt!!



Eric, the love of my life!



Most of the bridesmaides, there were 10, being silly with Kristi at the reception.



Thank you Kerry, Kristi's father, for our beautiful toes!



So handsome in his fancy clothes!



Taylor and Kristi being showered with snow as they leave the church.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Santa 2008

We visited Santa Claus tonight (12-11-08). Lukas had some idea of what we were doing. I asked him if we were going to see Santa and he replied "yes". He also said "Santa" a few times. We waited in line for a while, and when we got to the front Lukas wanted no more waiting. He wanted to see Santa NOW! It was all we could do to keep him from running up and joining the picture ahead of us. However, when it was actually our turn he started to get shy. He walked up with Daddy and stood in front of Santa, but when it came time to sit on his lap he wasn't a huge fan. So Eric stood off to the side (right out of the picture) and Lukas reached and cried and then looked at me and the camera (that's when they took the picture). This cycle was repeated several times. I wanted very badly to capture this interesting display of emotions on film, however my camera batteries chose that moment to die. :( Oh well, what do you do.

Here's this years photo with Santa. Keep in mind, while this photo looks like he's having a fairly ok time, he was screaming all around it....and Santa still has a huge smile on his face!

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Destruction of Bethlehem....Revisited

It was, again, a peaceful day in Bethlehem.



But then the Toddler came to play, and the devastation that followed was appalling.

Be warned, this video contains violence against Little People. Please watch with care.





The lesson, oh Bethlehem, is you may run but you cannot hide from the Toddler.

To visit the previous carnage click here.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

He's Brilliant!

This morning Eric and I were in our room slowly getting ready and generally being lazy. Since Lukas so sweetly woke us up at 5:30am we had time to do it. All of the sudden Lukas came running in with the tv remote, and making the "I need something" noises. None of it made sense until we looked at the clock and discovered it was almost 8:00am. For mom's in the Dallas area that means Sesame Street time. Now don't get too excited he didn't read the clock, the tv was already on. He had been watching Elliot Moose on Qubo, but he has learned that Sesame Street comes after Elliot Moose. Even though they're not on the same channel and he doesn't always watch it! We were proud of him. :) Of course this also shows how much he LOVES Sesame Street.