Morning Pick-Me-Up

Lukas will be all decked out in Elmo today with an Elmo shirt and shoes.  He also put on his own shirt this morning (okay, I put it on his head, but he put his arms in all by himself)!  He was very proud.

22 Months!

Health update:  Lukas has had a huge sinus infection since about Christmas.  He is currently on his third round of antibiotics for a total medicated time of about 7 weeks (or it will be when this current round is over in a week).  We saw the ENT last Thursday, and have scheduled to remove his adenoids.  Apparently the bacteria is trapped back behind his adenoids and can't clear out.  We've scheduled his adenoidectomy for March 6.

Lukas at 22 months:

- weighs about 24.6 lbs

- is taller (had to buy new pants) but I don't have an exact measurement

- will read all books willingly and gently 

- listens most of the time (he is a toddler)

- loves animals, cars, balls, books, puzzles, letters, little people, Sesame Street (especially Elmo) and music

- commuicates very effectively in one and two word sentences

- knows all his letters by sight, although he may or may not tell you when you ask

- can count to 6 (although he only does it when he thinks no one is listening)

- thinks wearing a belt to keep his pants up has made him a "big boy"

- is very polite

- loves to help

- prefers to be non-confrontational, only declaring his exclusive rights to something when no one else would take it anyway

- loves to play

- thinks school is the best place on earth

- loves his Mommy and Daddy more and more every day!

Enjoy these videos!

Happy Valentines Day!

Being silly in pajamas is always fun!

Daddy and Lukas with Lukas' valentine to Mommy.  

I only thought Lukas got the balloon for me. ;)  I give it a couple days until he pops it.

Lukas would like to say, "Happy Valentines Day!" to all his favorite people.  

Vacation!!

Eric and I just spent a relaxing 4 days of vacation in the Hill Country.  On Thursday, Feb 5, we met Mema in Fairfield to conduct the "Lukas hand-off".  From there we traveled to Marble Falls, TX where we had a lakeside room booked at the Hampton Inn.  It was beautiful and quiet!  On Friday we decided that being the native Texans that we were it would be a good idea if we saw the capitol.  So we took ourselves off to Austin.  While there we ate some fabulous German food at Scholz Garten just a few blocks from the capital building.  The capital building itself is beautiful!  So for all you Texans out there that haven't seen it (or it's been a while since you have) get on over there and take a look, the renovations are amazing.  Saturday we visited a couple wineries, and for all of you who don't know the Hill Country is also "wine country" in TX.  Our first stop was Spicewood Vineyards.  There we tasted 6 or 7 wines, and ended up buying 2 bottles.  Our next stop was Stonehouse Vineyard.  There we tasted 5 or 6 wines and bought 1 bottle.  Later that evening we went to the movie Push.  Sunday, on our way out of town, we stopped off at Pillar Bluff Vineyards.  There we tasted 7 or 8 wines and bought 2 bottles.  It was at this stop that we decided for the sake of our budget it was a good thing our vacation was at an end.  Of course from there we went back to Fairfield to meet Mema and Grandad and conduct the final "Lukas hand-off" of the weekend. 

We didn't take many pictures, but here are some of what we did take.

Capital dome from the underground courtyard.

Eric and the capital building.

Riss and the cannon.

We tried to get the capital building in the background, but aiming is hard when you're taking it yourself.

The view out our hotel window.

Lukas' vacation was at Mema and Grandad's house.  Aunt Ashley and Uncle Ryan also went to visit, so needless to say he had a busy and fun-filled weekend.

Their expressions are exactly the same...

Working hard in the yard...with a squeegee.

Water is awesome.  :)

A fountain is even better!!  In later pictures it appeared that his shoe and sock were wet, so I'm thinking he might have tried to climb in the fountain.

This is at a water fountain that comes up from the ground for kids to play in, and this picture was taken shortly after he had just been squirted in the face.

"Oh happy fish!!"

"Where should I go next?"  

The pet store in The Woodlands Mall.

He rode the carousel 2 times!

Lukas' vacation also included trips to several parks and eating some really good food, but I had to limit the pictures somewhere.

Thank you Mom for always documenting Lukas' trip so well!!  :)

This Morning...

Lukas has watched Sesame Street,

played the xylophone,

and generally been cute.

21 Months Old!

I apologize for the lack of posts recently.  I really thought we'd be less busy after the holidays, but that has not been the case.  

Lukas at 21 months:

- is about 24 lbs (he's finally gained some weight!)

- not much has changed in the conversation department in the last month.  He's still repeating most of what you say, saying 2 word sentences more often, and using his one 3 word question (Where'd he/she/it go?) 

- can tell you the letters A,B,C,D,E,F,I,L,O,P,R,S,T,Z by sight.

- is learning how to hop (it's currently a gallop looking thing)

- likes Winnie the Pooh, Sesame Street (most importantly Elmo), Veggie Tales, Cars

- LOVES school!

- reads several books every day both with you and to himself

- loves to dance, sing, and prentend to play an instrument along with all the music he hears (and sometimes it's just music he hears in his head)

- makes pictures out of chalk, crayons, stickers, and paint.

- thinks that Daddy's new tv and entertainment center was put in just for him!

- loves to learn, but on his time.  When he's ready to listen he'll stay put and focused for a long time until he's learned it, but if he's not ready there's no point in trying because he won't hardly give you the time of day.

- loves to help.  Anything that he's asked to do, if he is told that he's helping he's even more willing to do it!

- is amazingly polite!  He says please and thank you most of the time.  At the play ground he almost always waits his turn, although since most kids don't this also means he's sometimes gets pushed out of the line.  

- has decided that "Toddler Laws of Property" are beginning to apply to him.  Sometimes he's very sweet about it and just holds out his hand hoping to get the toy, and sometimes he takes and loudly declares "MINE!"  I'm glad he's in school because it's hard to work on sharing when he's currently an only child.

- thinks he's much older than he actually is.  This is good and bad.  Good because he is usually very well behaved.  Bad because he trys to do things that he simply can't yet.  Oh well, I'd rather him think himself older than younger.  :)

- loves his Mommy and Daddy more and more every day!!

Painting with Daddy!

I think he was just resting, not really asleep.

Big smile for Mommy!

Making sure the new tv box is level.