From Luke:

Today we went to a the playground!  It wasn't my first time at a playground, but it was the first time I could really participate.  I loved climbing on all the equipment, and I got super awesome at going down the slide!  I see a lot of playground time in my future.
Speaking of going down the slide, Mom and Dad have been teaching me how to turn around and go feet first when I am getting down from things like the sofa and the bed.   Mom also showed me how to turn around feet first to climb down the stairs.  So tonight, when we were all hanging out upstairs at bedtime, I noticed that the gate was open. Clearly that was an open invitation for me to test out my new skills.  Mom found me on the second to top step and spoiled my practice.  She's glad she taught me how to turn around now, and that I actually used some of my skills to do it the right way.  Otherwise I could have gone headfirst down the flight of stairs.  Mom says it's ok to practice going down the stairs, but I should wait for a grown-up to go with me. 

From Preston:
Today we took a trip to Mema and Poppop's house to celebrate Mema's birthday.  We brought her a pot of yellow flowers for her porch!  On the way down, Mom and Dad weren't sure where to go to find the restaurant.  They kept looking it up on their phones, but I told them that they just needed a map.  Lucky for everyone, Mom had a map in her purse (From Mom: I actually had a business card and a pen, and I drew a pretty amazing map on the back of the card - it had our route, a river, train tracks, a bridge, a grade crossing, and two mountains - didn't know you could fit that much on a business card, did you?).  I followed the map the whole way to the restaurant.  We were on the lookout for tall mountains  and train tracks.  There were train tracks right next to the restaurant!  But no trains.

On Thursday Mom took me to the dentist.  I did not want to go.  Here's the thing, though, whenever I have to do something new, like going to the dentist, Mom and Dad let me watch videos about it, and read books about it, and even try to bribe me with treats if I remain tantrum free.  Going to the dentist was scary, but once we were there isn't wasn't too bad.  I asked Mommy to come into the room with me, and then the big scary chair was too big and scary for me, so I got to sit in Mommy's lap.  After that the whole thing was a breeze.  I sat there most of the time with my mouth open, they didn't even have to ask me or remind me!  The lady counted my teeth (I have 20!), and then she buzzed them with a buzzy tooth brush.  I didn't have any holes in my teeth, and the dentist re-counted and said they looked great.  I got to rinse with cold water a few times, and the moved the fancy chair up and down a bunch.  Then they painted some goop called floride onto my teeth with a paintbrush. Finally, the dentist himself came to count my teeth, and then I got to pick a toy and a toothbrush.  That was it!  No big deal.



From Mom:
My conversation with Preston about going to the dentist:
Me: Preston, do you want to take dot doggie with you to the dentist tomorrow?
Preston: NO!  I'm not going to the dentist.  
Me: Well, do you want to take Lion Blanket?  
Preston: NO!
Me:  You can pick any toy to take with you to the dentist: your planes, your aircraft carrier, quasi, anything!
Preston: NO!  I don't want to take anything with me to the dentist tomorrow... nothing, especially not ME, because I am not going.

You can throw in a few "You can't make me"s and "I just want a treat withOUT going to the dentist"

We had Luke's parent teacher conference in Thursday, too.  He's doing great a school and graduates to the big boy room in a week.  He's above average in all of the test areas.  Apparently he talks more at school than he does at home, but his communication has really come along way in the last few weeks.  He's starting to sign for "more" and he still nods for things.  We still get a lot of pointing and screeching, but hopefully that will turn into more words soon.  He's clearly picking up what we're putting down, as noted by his adventure on the stairs.  I'm certainly glad he remembered the correct way to go down; it was my fault the gate was left open.  
Both boys are loving outside time now!  We are working on cleaning up the yard and getting ready for summer, so they like to be outside with us.  I can tell it is going to be a busy summer!

Boy has a lot happened so far this April.  It's getting harder for me to keep up!  Everyone is healthy right now, which is wonderful!  Although, I did hurt my back on Easter weekend when I fell down some stairs (me and stairs do not go well together), and I've been very slowly healing ever since.  
Luke is 13 months, walking full time, about to graduate to the wobbler room at school, and is an all around charming, monster 1 year old.  He is very cute.  Since the weather has turned nice, he has discovered the joy of wagon walks.  Since we keep the wagon on the front porch he now knows how to ask for wagon walks by walking over to the wagon and saying "dis."  He gets upset if we try to move him inside or redirect his attention, so we have made a lot of trips around the neighborhood lately.  Preston is getting to be really good at his balance bike because of our excursions around the loop.  He loves our walks, too, and get going at a pretty good clip on the home stretch down the hill.  It makes me nervous, but so far he's been ok about stopping.  Luke likes to take it all in, but the first few times we went on walks he discovered a fun game.  Since the wagon ride can be bumpy he likes to sing "ah" on a low pitch and listen to bumps change his voice.  It's a pleasant little drone in the background.  
Luke has also learned to blow kisses in the last few days, and over the weekend he actually toddled over to me at bedtime and asked to go "na na" or night-night.  He's been sleeping through the night for a few days now, not waking up at 11:30 to nurse.  Blogging is apparently a curse, because he's been awake the whole time I've been trying to type this thing.  I think the poor guy is working on some new teeth.  He's really unhappy.  

Preston has  been really great, too!  We had a parent teacher conference for him this morning, and he is advanced in all of his kid skilz.  He's a great kid at school, who doesn't get in trouble much, only when the other boys want to rough house and he can't up but join in the fun.  He's a big helper to some of his younger friends who are just learning about scissors and crafts, and he can write his own name by copying it!  We are so proud of him!
Over the weekend he went to steamtown with Grandpa.  He immediately commented about the big steam engine with TWO pistons, and had a great time.  John and I had a quiet weekend with Luke.  We couldn't stop marveling at how easy it was to just have ONE kid.  It's funny how perspectives change.

I haven't had a chance to post pictures from Easter yet.  We had a fun, but busy weekend of travelling to see family.  Debbie was down, which was awesome for the boys, and we got to do not one but TWO Easter Egg hunts.  The timing was odd, but about a week and a half after Easter was over, Preston mentioned to me that he was pretty sure that the Easter Bunny didn't actually hide ALL of the eggs for him.  He was confused about having 2 egg hunts, and said that maybe it was "other people" who had hidden the eggs.  I reminded him that the Easter Bunny wanted him to have a special time at both houses, and he totally agreed.  
Luke didn't love looking for eggs, but he did love carrying around his basket and eating chocolate!  

It's late.  Here's a link to Easter photos.  Easter Photos
More Easter Photos

Love Car

Call me a sappy parent, but my baby is growing up.  It’s different this time.  I think with Preston my job was less consuming, I was a first time parent, and everything was new.  With Luke I feel like I miss out on a lot of his firsts and milestones; I get so excited when I notice something for the first time!

Last night I mentioned the he nodded at me when I asked him if he had a good day.  Then this morning when he was sitting in his car seat I asked him if he was chilly and he shook his head “no”. 

He’s also getting some separation anxiety.  I hold him a lot in the morning, and he watches me do my make-up.  This morning when I was done he reached for my brush and blush, and went through the motions of putting blush on his cheeks.

SO CUTE!