Life with a 2.5 Year Old

Can it really be true, we actually have a 2.5 year old!? Lately we hit a few milestones with Luke that really highlight how much of a big boy he is! In all honesty, I have gotten just a little bit sad to watch him become so independent but I know it's all part of raising kids. They are going to grow up and all we can do is be in each moment as best as we can.



Poo-Poo In the Potty*

Not fully potty trained, but getting good at staying dry almost all day at school and letting us know when he needs to go, even at houses other than our own. With this kid, candy as a bribery method doesn't really work so we have been using stickers and happy faces on his hands. He still has a little more to go before big boy underwear, but we've taken down the changing table and diaper set up in his room. I am so relieved to not change as many diapers, but I know I had better enjoy it while I can if we want more kiddos! ;0)

*We actually sing that on the way to the potty. It helps, I swear.

Big Boy Bed Time

Luckily, Luke has not once tried to climb out of his crib. He has been a great sleeper and really enjoyed his time alone in his crib. I know many parents who transition to a big bed far earlier than 2.5, but we really had no reason to. Nonni and Nonno got us a crib that could convert into a toddler/twin bed, but we failed to buy the converter kit along with it at the time (Kellie, I know you reminded me about that a long time again and I didn't listen!) and now it is discontinued. We figured the crib will still get other use, now going to our niece Emilie, so we got Luke a toddler bed from Ikea last weekend. At first, Luke picked out this "interesting" owl bedspread from Ikea and you should have seen my manipulation skills in action!





I just couldn't imagine that bedspread clashing in his blue primary colored room! Who's with me?! I had to do something and fast - so, I sneakily talked him into this cute white and bright colored car bedspread instead. Gino was laughing at my efforts to persuade him into the other bedspread and someday you may feel slighted Luke, but until then, I call the shots! =)





Say What!?

We've had a bit of a jabber mouth on our hands for some time now but things are really starting to get interesting and make us laugh. He's talking so well now and putting a lot of thoughts together, which is really fun. Here are a few of our favorites.

"No sun, go away. Mommy, the sun bit me." - Said in the car in the morning when the sun was bright and shining right in our eyes.

"I love Michael and Sully. Michael and Sully are my cousins." - Good to know he loves his cousins and Monsters Inc. of course.

"I a tiger. Mommy, you not a tiger." Me - "Oh, I am not? What am I?". Luke - "You a princess. You are Sofia." - Ok, I am officially wrapped around his finger. 

"There are monkeys at the zoo. The monkey has a boo-boo. He has a owie on his bottom. He needs a band aid." - Said when we were talking about what animals we would see at the Zoo.

Dear Jesus…

I almost always say a good night prayer in my mind when I lay down to go to bed. I don't really know when it started, but I can remember very far back saying prayers at night and feeling very comfortable with my own internal dialogue with Jesus and God. My household grew up Christian and we went to a handful of First Baptist Churches as kids. Luke will grow up with a Catholic foundation but no matter what formal religious affiliation we have, I want Luke to feel as comfortable with praying as I do so we have started to say our good night prayers together. He lies down, tries to close his eyes, and repeats a made up prayer after me but he always peeks through his squinted eyes and says the words with a big smile in a really soft voice…it melts my heart.

Luke 8 Months

Luke turned 8 months old on January 16th. He is getting so big that I had to switch the onesie in the photo to a bigger long sleeve onesie! Here are a few updates.
Eating
We have been trying all kinds of different foods along with rice cereal consistently since 6 months. In the beginning he like the rice cereal but gagged a lot on all the baby food I made for him. I tried sweet potatoes, butternut squash, avocados, bananas, bananas and blackberries, apples, peas, carrots, and probably some more but he would gag so much the first few months of trying food. Now that he is 8 months old, these foods are going down a lot better and I keep trying to introduce different and new fruits and vegetables. We have done a little chicken but for the most part make fruits and veggies. He's getting there.
Crawling/Standing
Luke had his army crawl down to a science and can go really fast! He doesn't actually crawl on his hands and knees but will rock back and forth on his knees while propped up on his hands. He has literally just started standing and pulling up on things within the past week. Yesterday during his nap, I had the door cracked opened and looking into his room. To my surprise I see our baby standing all the way up holding on to the side of the crib! Not to worry, that crib was lowered to it's lowest setting last night but it's crazy how things change within just a few days.
Sounds
Luke makes all kinds of cute sounds. He still is a little stingy with his laughs and giggles but makes the "ma ma" and "da da" sound a lot. When he is crying or crawling around looking for me he often says "ma ma" but we aren't 100% convinced it is intentional.
Luke is a very sweet and smiley baby. He smiles at strangers behind my back and has a lot of friends at daycare. It's so nice having a smiley baby because no matter what we do, we can easily make him light up and that makes me light up!

Memorable Moments

Dear Luke,

                These are just 2 pictures of some of our most favorite moments so far in your nearly 6 months of life. We cherish each and every hug, snuggle, and relaxing nap with you. These sleeping snuggle moments moved quickly to the top of my list of favorite times with you from the very beginning. When you were a newborn I would feed you 2 times a night and after the last feeding around 5:00 a.m. I would bring you into the bed and let you sleep the next hour or so on my chest. I will always cherish the cozy feeling of these times. You sleep in your big boy room now and we wake you up when we are ready to get you up for the day, but we still get some sleeping snuggles in on the weekends. I wonder how long you will be so comfortable sleeping in our arms? I hope we have a few more years =)

Love, Mom & Dad

Letters to Baby - Almost There Little Man!

Letters to Baby

Letters to Baby

Letters to Baby

Letters to Baby

Written at 12 weeks!
Photo courtesy of Shutter Sketch Photography and Design.

Letters to Baby

This is the letter from our first Dr. appointment.

Letters to Baby

When I first found out I was pregnant with our first child I was overwhelmed with so many thoughts. Happy thoughts, nervous thoughts, excited thoughts, thoughts of planning for the Baby, etc. I often wrote in my journals growing up and it is pretty fun to read what I was thinking back then. Sometimes writing things down helps me sort through all my ideas and it just so happened that I wanted to write a note to our new little bundle of life.  So, this is the first of a few letters I have written to the Baby since we first found out on August 30th.