Amazing Memory

I'm telling you, Luke does not forget a thing. I love seeing what events spark certain memories for him. It absolutely blows my mind what he will talk about.

On Tuesday we stopped by Ken-Man to visit Nate on our way home from running errands. The last time we went to the shop, it was a rainy Friday and we took Nate some leftover pizza for lunch. Nate was the only one in the supervisor office so he and Luke sat at the table in there and ate lunch together. When we were there yesterday, Luke looked into the supervisor office and said "Pizza pizza!" and then proceeded to tell everyone how he ate pizza with Daddy at the table.

Our pediatrician has a brand new office that just opened this month. Wednesday was our first time to visit the new office and oh my gosh, it is incredible. It is huge and soooo nice. At the old office, each exam room was painted a different theme. There was Charlotte's Web, Classic Winnie the Pooh, fairies, butterflies, ladybugs & flowers, and baseball. (I know there were a couple more but I can't remember what they were.) The new office hasn't been decorated like that yet (hopefully it will be soon!) When we got into the exam room, Luke looked around at the walls and was very confused. He looked at me and said, "Mama? Baseball game go?" He then proceeded to ask where Pooh was, where the spider was, and where the bugs were. I couldn't believe that he remembered all of those themes! The last two times we were there (Feb & March) we were in the baseball room. When we were there in December, we were in the Charlotte's Web room. I can't remember the last time we were in with Pooh or the bugs. But obviously Luke can.

Poor Luke

So LT is sick...again. Ugh.

The poor little guy has another ear infection (that makes the 4th since November '08). Luckily, we caught it in the very early stages. He started running fever late last night and after dealing with a major crank pot this morning, I decided to go ahead and have him checked out by the pediatrician.

We saw the PA and she told us that because of everything going on with the swine flu, anyone who comes in with a fever, runny nose, and cough (basically flu-type symptoms) needs to be tested for the flu. I agreed and they did the test. Poor Luke did NOT like having his nose swabbed. That was no fun. We waited for the results and they came back negative. So we went on our way to Target to get the prescription for Omnicef (antibiotic for the ear infection) filled. While we were walking around Target, waiting for the prescription to be filled, the PA called my cell to inform me that Luke's flu test ended up turning positive. Thankfully, he does not have the swine flu, but he does have the regular flu.

Soooo they called in Tamiflu and we got to wait another 30 minutes at Target for that one to be filled. We are under house arrest until he stops running fever. Fun stuff. What is so strange is I would have never guessed that he had the flu. He is not acting sick, just really cranky. Although I guess that should have been my first clue considering how happy he normally is.

It will be interesting to see how he sleeps tonight and how he acts tomorrow.

Oh and please pray that Nate and I do not get sick - neither one of us had flu shots this year!!

Vet School Open House

The Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine Open House was yesterday, April 25th. We drove down Friday night so that we could take Luke to Teddy Bear Surgery, one of the highlights of the Open House.

Teddy Bear Surgery is basically where kids of all ages bring a stuffed animal in and the vet students "operate" to fix what is wrong with the animal. Kids make up all kinds of elaborate stories and get to dress up in the surgery cap, mask, gown and booties to "help" with the surgery.

This was the last year that Beth and Justin would be surgeons so we wanted to take Luke while one of them could "operate".

After the surgery, the three of us explored the open house. We saw some dog events - agility dogs and the flyball demonstration, went to the petting zoo, saw a dairy cow, ate some ice cream (free at the dairy cow exhibit! score!) Beth and Justin met up with us after their surgery shifts and we saw some trick horses and went back to the petting zoo (this was Luke's favorite thing) and the dairy cow so they could get some ice cream.

It was a fun but exhausting day. We drove home last night so we could teach our two-year-old Sunday School class at church today. I think all of us will be napping at some point today to catch up from our whirlwind trip to College Station!

Here are the pics...

Walking to the Open House:


Luke loves his "Bee" and "Dudin"


Waiting in line for Teddy Bear Surgery:


Dr. Justin:


Luke was not sure about Bee in the surgery get up (and you'll notice he refused to get dressed up in it himself):


Helping put the splint on his dog (it had a broken leg):


All warmed up now and having a good time:


Now helping put on the dog's cast:


Clapping for himself:


All finished!


I wish I was looking at the camera!


Petting zoo time:
Wow, this is a big turtle!


Where did this camel come from and why is it so close to me?!!!


Wow a PEACOCK!! (excuse the cheetos all over his face!)




Posing next to the dairy cow while eating his first ever Blue Bell Ice Cream Sandwich:


Which he of course got all. over. himself.


But it sure was good!


Luke liked riding on Justin's and Daddy's shoulders:




Out of everything at the Open House, Luke was the most intrigued by this storm drain:


Petting zoo again, this time with Bee:


Looking at something from the inside of a cow in the microscope:


We stopped in Hillsboro on the way down on Friday to buy a portable DVD player for the car. We were debating buying one, but decided to go for it. Turns out it was the BEST money we have EVER spent. Luke was so good for the six hour round-trip drive. He watched Madagascar and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and we did not hear a peep from him. It definitely made our lives easier and that is what counts! Although we did joke on numerous occasions about how spoiled he is!! :)



And finally, eating a snow cone on the way out of College Station:

Sleeping Pictures

One thing that shows on my blog is that I am obsessed with taking pictures of Luke when he is eating and sleeping. I adore sleeping baby (toddler) pictures as much as I do pictures of him stuffing his face. The thing about the sleeping pictures is he is never in the same position. I love checking on him at night because it is always good for a laugh at the crazy way he sleeps.

Last night was no different. I guess he is starting to like the pillow more considering it made it with him to the other side of the crib. I wonder what he'll sleep like when we put him in a real bed. (Which I am okay with never happening! The boy loves his crib!)


(When we lay him down, his head is at the left side of the crib. It never stays that way.)

He almost always has some limb hanging out of his crib. Last night was the feet. I just love his little feet.

Predicting the Future?

Maybe one day Luke will be wearing one of these batting helmets for real. Then the Tom Grieve's and Josh Lewin's of the future can comment on how Luke grew up in Texas as a Rangers fan...and maybe even show this picture on the air! I'm making plans, y'all, I am making plans... :)

Ducks!

Whenever we go to Dallas, Luke always asks to go feed the ducks. There is a pond near my parent's house that we take him to. The best part about it, in my opinion, is that there is a fence in between the ducks and geese and us! I have a phobia of all birdie things so it makes me feel better that the ambitious geese and ducks won't be attacking my child for some bread.

Mammie helps Luke dig the bread out of the sack.


Luke throws the bread.


Look, Mom! Ducks!


Boppa helps Luke throw bread over the fence and into the pond for the fishes.


When it was all said and done, I think Luke ended up wearing most of the bread.


Bye Bye, Ducks!

The Bank

Luke and I visited my dad at work yesterday. Luke's piggy bank was full of coins so we took them to the bank to deposit his money in his savings account. Beth and I used to do the same thing when we were little and we LOVED it, so I was excited to do the same with Luke. And my dad was pretty excited to get to show off his grandson to all of his co-workers.

I counted out and rolled most of the money, but I kept a few dollars in dimes, nickels, and pennies out so Luke could carry some money into the bank and count it out with my dad.


Here they are mid-"two".


And finally, making the deposit!

Eyes like Mommy

Luke is right in the middle of a major copycat phase. He wants to say and do anything that we say or do. He is also very, very observant and it's funny to see what he will come up with on his own.

Last week he came out of my bedroom with "Mama's eyes". He calls sunglasses "eyes" and he was very proud to have found my sunglasses. Not exactly blogworthy, though. Except he was mimicking me by wearing my sunglasses the way I wear them most of the time - on the top of my head.



What makes the picture, in my opinion, is his hair sticking straight up.

A Sign He's Growing Up?

Or maybe that he's getting sick? I don't know.

Around noon, I asked Luke if he was ready for lunch. His response? "No." That in itself shocked me. But what happened next really threw me for a loop.

He asked me to hold him, and he layed his head down on my shoulder. I asked if he was ready for a nap. He said, "Bed." His new thing is to lay in my bed and watch tv, so I thought that was what he was asking for. I told him that he couldn't lay in my bed, but he could lay in his bed. He said, "Mama, uke bed. Pease." I couldn't believe it. But we went and got his buddies from my bed (see previous post) and took them back to his bed. I put him in his crib and told him night night and I think the child was asleep before I got out the door. I always look back at him when I'm closing the door and his eyes were already closed.

We had a really busy weekend and he had a super short nap on Saturday followed by no nap on Sunday, so I'm sure he was SO exhausted. But I couldn't believe he asked for "uke bed"!

Traumatic Morning

When we were planting the sunflower seeds, I noticed a puss-filled bump on the palm of Luke's hand. It looked like a splinter was getting infected. I didn't even know he had a splinter in his hand, and he wasn't acting bothered by it at all, but I knew I needed to take care of the issue. And I knew it wouldn't be pretty.

I bribed him with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and sat down on my bed with him in my lap. I poked the bump with a needle and started squeezing the puss out. (Sorry, I know that is gross.) I'm not sure that I have EVER heard that child cry so loud and so hard, and yet still not take his eyes off the tv. He was so squirmy - and so STRONG - that I couldn't tell what was down in his hand, just that I got all the puss out. When Nate gets home tonight he'll have to hold Luke down so I can mess with his hand more. In the meantime, I doctored it up with Melaleuca Oil and MelaGel and put a Band-Aid on it. But Luke, the ultimate drama king, was so upset from this ordeal, and getting the Band-Aid made it even worse. He cried every time he looked at it!

Afterwards, all he wanted to do was lay in my bed and watch MMC. He asked for all his friends - Blankie, Snuggles, Orey, Hot Dog Dance, Dog, and his paci. At first I wouldn't give in and let him have his paci out of his crib, but I decided to make an exception after his traumatic event.
He stayed there and watched an episode of MMC. When it was over he sat up, handed me the paci, and got off the bed to go play. I guess that did the trick!

Sunflowers

Luke got a Sunflower Grow Kit from Buzzy Seeds in his Easter basket. It is such a fun idea for little ones - the Grow Kits are in the $1 section at Target and include a soil pellet, the seeds, and a little clay pot. We decided to put the kit together this morning.

First, you add some water to the soil pellet. Or, you just swirl the water around with complete fascination and wait for Mom to pour out the water.


Then, you let it sit for about five minutes while the soil absorbs the water and starts to fluff up.


Add the soil to the pot.


Drop the seeds on top. Push them down into the dirt.


Cover the seeds with a thin layer of dirt.


Then you put the pot in the sunlight and wait for the sunflowers to grow! Our pot is currently on the kitchen table since our ideal spot (the window sill) isn't really kid or dog friendly at the moment.

Afternoon in the Country

Even though Easter Sunday started with a downpour, by the afternoon the sun was shining and it was gorgeous. Nate, Luke and I took of on the mule and had so much fun driving around the country.

The first stop was our land, the 42 acres across the dirt road from Nate's parent's. We have two cows and a calf and Nate's dad has three cows and three calves on the land and Luke loves to go check the cows.

This is our Momma and baby...we have not named them yet.


This poor girl is so close to having her first calf. She just looks uncomfortable!


Luke likes to help feed range cubes.


Our nameless calf.


These two were so funny peeking around the mule at me.


Luke was ready to go!


The barn house on our land.


The cows.


The flowers. I just love Texas in the springtime!