From Luke:
I will only wear clothes that that choo-choos on them. In fact, if my outfit in the morning does not contain a some sort of choo-choo, I reject it and require a change of outfit or the addition of a choo-choo item before I will be satisfied. Sometimes monster trucks and other heavy machinery are acceptable, but only with prior approval. One morning Mom tried to get away with dressing me in a red plaid button down. I was a bit distracts, so I didn’t notice the lack of choo-choo until she was finished. I started to move on to other activities, but first I looked down at my shirt. I marched right back to Mom with a very mad pout and demanded a CHOO-CHOO. She added my red choo-choo vest, and all was well with the world. From Preston: “Mommy, when can I go back to Dyken Pond again? I miss going to Dyken Pond.” “Well, it gets too cold to go there, so it’s going to be a long time until we can go again – after your birthday, the baby, and Lukey’s birthday” “Well, do you know my FAVORITE thing to do at Dyken Pond?” “No, what is it?” “FISHING, that’s my favorite. I love to go fishing.” When John is not home things are a little more challenging around the house. Bedtime is typically manageable, although I’m always exhausted by the end of it: Baths, pajamas, books, milk, rocking, tucking in, more books, negotiating of you-tube time, etc. When there are two adults we can divide and conquer. Mornings are just as challenging if not more so, because there is more of a time constraint. Preston is pretty good in the morning, but he’s been really pushing back on getting himself dressed. I finally scolded him this morning and told him that when Daddy isn’t home he needs to be even more of a good listener and helper, and that I get angry when I have to ask him to get dressed 800 million times. And STILL, he says stuff like “I’m just going to get a drink of water and THEN get dressed. I’m thirsty.” At that point I just give up and focus on me and Luke figuring I’ll have to deal with Preston again, but I’m wasting too much time and energy on arguing with him. When Preston returned from getting his drink of water, I helped him get his clothes on (he actually cooperated), and then we all head downstairs for breakfast. But when we get down there he says “Look at all the stuff I did to help you, Mom!” He had: fed the cats and the fish, put out drinks for everyone for breakfast, packed his and Lukey’s lunches (minus the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, those are still a bit challenging), put the folding chair away that we got out for dinner last night, pushed in all the chairs around the table, and gotten his and Luke’s coats out of the closet. All I really needed him to do was get dressed, but I was proud of him for being thoughtful. Geez! It's been a long time since I blogged. I feel a little guilty, and like I'm going to forget some cute things because I haven't been writing them down. I can only imagine that it is going to get worse when the baby gets here, so I need to get back into the habit of more frequent posts. John and I took a much needed relaxation trip to Mexico last week. It's a little crazy logistically, but it all worked out. I planned to leave work a little early on Friday so we could pack the car and head to Gigi and Grandpa's house to drop off the kids for the weekend, but when I got out to my car it had a flat tire. Of course. That set us back an hour until road-side assistance could come out and put the donut on for me. The time I was hoping to spend helping John got wasted on the wait, but he's pretty much amazing and had everything ready to go the second that I got home. Isn't it always the case, that when you have a well thought out plan, something unexpected will happen? Thankfully that was the worst of it for us. We took the kids to Gigi and Grandpa's house a little later than we planned, but the drop off was fine and from there we headed to an airport hotel only to have to wake up at 3:30am to catch our early international flight. Mexico was gorgeous. We had perfect weather the whole time. My only 2 requests while I was there were to sleep (as much as I wanted) and float (in the ocean, hot tub, pool, whatever, but baby bumps love to be weightless). I happy to report that I did plenty of both. John was always up early in the morning, and I was willing to oblige him as long as an afternoon nap was negotiable. The afternoons where almost unbearably hot, so nap we did. It was amazing. Sure, we missed the kids a little bit, but being worry and responsibility free felt pretty great for those few days. One of our favorite memories from the drip was an excursion on a catamaran out to a coral reef to snorkel. The boat was huge and comfortable with close to 40 passengers on the excursion. We had about 45 minutes to snorkel on the reef, which I loved. I had been snorkeling as a kid when I went to St. John with Mema and Poppop. I loved it back then, and I still love it now. John had never been snorkeling, so we practiced for a bit in the ocean at the resort. He figured it out pretty quickly. We are excited to be able to take the kids snorkeling one day. We were trying to calculate the best ages to do it now that we are going to have a 5 year spread in kids. We figure another 7 or 8 years. Will we even remember!? It was a great little trip and "babymoon" for me and John. I think it was good for both of us to step out of reality a bit and spend some quality time with each other. When we got back we still had 3 full days to spend with the boys before we had to go back to work yesterday. We went from lounging on a beach in the hot sun, to racking leaves in the backyard on a blustery day. But that's the beautiful life we are able to live. Here are some pictures from our trip! John didn't bring the camera - mostly because he didn't want to lose or wreck it. So just cell phone pics from this trip! From Preston:
I had a very fun time while Mom and Dad were away. I even told Grandpa that I didn't miss them. But I admitted to Mommy later that I actually did miss them. Luke and I did a lot of fun stuff with the Grandparents. We went swimming with Gigi and Grandpa; I went to the movies with Uncle Joe; we visited Mema and Poppop with Grandma; I chased some trains with grandpa; and we go the flat tire fixed. There was a bunch of other stuff, too, but we were too busy to notice that Mom and Dad were gone. Plus, we got to talk to them on the phone everyday, so it was no big deal. From Luke: I got to sleep in a big boy bed at Gigi's house, so now I am READY to move to the big boy bed at home. Mom is not quite ready. She says she needs to get a bed rail (and some more sleep) before she is ready to move me out of the crib. It's getting to be time, though. The baby will be here before we know it! My vocabulary is starting to explode lately! Mom and Dad are really encouraging me to use my words instead of crying and whining, so I've been trying to do better. On Sunday night I kept waking up with a belly ache through the night. Mom was exhausted and not wanting to go to work in the morning. And Dad was taking forever trying to figure out how to root his phone - so guess who I got to hang out with while I tooted and burped and finally got rid of my belly ache. You guessed it - DADDY! Mom says if he's not going to ever go to bed, then why should she ALSO be awake with a fussy baby. It's newborn-care payback if you ask me! I mostly just snuggled with Daddy, because it was the middle of the night. But when I started to wake up a bit more I found a fun toy. Preston has a build-able car with ball and joint pieces. I know how to "couple" the pieces into a long line and when I finished I declared that it was a "CHOO-CHOO TRAIN" and drove it around the house a few times. I do love choo-choo trains. I also have a fun story from before Mom and Dad went to Mexico. One morning, when everyone else was still upstairs getting ready, I followed a cat downstairs like I often do. I found a cup within my reach and decided I was thirsty, so I called up for "JUICE" from the bottom of the stairs. Mom appeared at the top and asked me to wait a few minutes. She said she would be right down, but, really, she so slow. So I took the matter upon myself. Daddy will tell you that about a minute later, when he heard me crying, he came downstairs to find a half a gallon of milk dumped on the kitchen floor next to an empty cup. Mom thinks that's a little dramatic and that a half a gallon to milk would have taken much longer to clean up. But the fact is that I opened the fridge all by myself, retrieved the milk, tried to pour it into a cup on the floor and missed.... because I'm only 1 and a half. I got upset about it, because there was a mess, and I didn't have anything to drink! Dad was only a little annoyed that he had to clean up the mess, and mostly Mom and Dad we proud that I took some initiative! They don't let me wander around downstairs much anymore - even if it was only a minute or two when the milk incident happened. From Mommy (again): I really love this age - right before two. I get excited daily about the new things he is learning to say, and about his little blossoming personality. We are definitely experiencing some 2 year old type tantrums. They mostly involve getting dressed, or not getting his way, or Preston pestering or taking toys away from him. In all, though, I'm very proud of Preston for how helpful he is with his brother. Of course they have their brotherly moments of fighting or bugging each other, but Luke has come to trust his brother to help him out when he needs it, and Preston is almost always willing. Preston knows how to get Luke out of his crib in the morning, in and out of his high chair, they use team work to feed the cats together, and they even play nicely with toys in the basement. In fact, I've found that if there is no parent present to work out their playtime issues for them... they actually work it out themselves. Imagine that!! Luke now says "Yes" as much as he says "No" and typically knows the difference. It has helped SO much in communicating with him. And he's still a dreamboat when it comes to bedtime. I took Preston to get his flu shot last Friday. Of course he didn't want to go, but I have a magic trick. We let him watch the Daniel Tiger episode about getting a shot, and it works EVERY time. Preston wanted to wear his batman belt and cape so that he could be a super hero just like "super Daniel." The nurses at the doctors office played along the whole time, and when he got his shot he barely flinched. He told me he was fine because he held his breath. Then, on Monday, John took him to the Dentist for a check-up, and, again, he did great! He sat on John's lap for the whole thing, and the hygienist said that he was the best patient she had all day. John ended up taking a half day for the appointments, to they had a great afternoon of bonding. They went to the toystore at the mall, got a hot chocolate at starbucks, and then ordered a pizza to-go for dinner. I think we both enjoy time with each of the boys alone. We both agree that having one child is SOOOO easy. But sometimes I wonder what Preston would be like if he didn't have a sibling, and if he would be so easy and agreeable. We'll never know, and that's just fine. The Gala is done! It took me a few days to feel human again and to get my energy and focus back, but I feel good about the Gala, it was a huge success! I feel really good about having my life back again. If you can imagine, it feels like I have a creative void to fill. I was so focused on the minute details of a 360 person guest list that it left no time or space for creativity. I feel like the last few nights I have spent planning my next projects: a knit dress for baby girl, finishing some projects for friends, and, of course, what lies ahead for Cherry Lane. Anyway, here are a few pictures from Zoellner Gala2015 starring Patti LaBelle (and me of course!) While I was working late nights and coming home exhausted, John gets full credit for keeping things together at home! He and the boys went to the orchard with Gigi and Grandpa and Uncle Joe while I was at the Gala for 12 hours last Saturday. We also got some SUPER cute fall school photos – the proofs arrived today, and I am applauding my decision to put the boys in their Halloween play t-shirts. Who needs formalwear for school photos anyway!!? From Luke:
Last Friday Daddy took me to the pedi for my 18 month check up. Mom was a little bummed that she couldn’t go, but Dad did just fine without her. They let me do the stand-up scale with all of my cloths on, so I was 30 pounds – 98% percentile. Mom thinks that’s a little on the big side, and that it’s probably more accurately 27-28 pounds. They are only concerned that I am growing well and learning new things! And I got my flu shot. I’m learning new things and words everyday, but Mom thinks that I’m kind of lazy about using my words. I’ve learned that whining and screaming get me more expedient results, so why would I bother with words? That being said, I’m doing alright. At my parent teacher conference my teacher said that language was my challenge area, too, so we are all on top of it. I am OBSESSED with choo-choos – maybe even more than my brother who was obsessed with Mickey Mouse at this age. I made daddy read me every choo-choo book I could find, and I insist on watching real train videos on YouTube in the morning. I even ask for “more choo-choos” if they aren’t moving fast enough for me, and stomp my feet impatiently when I have to wait for them. I’m pretty good a playing with Brio trains, too. I can build the track in long lines, and keep my trains on the tracks while I play with them. From Preston: I’m very excited for Halloween. I ask Mommy everyday if it’s going to be my Halloween Party. I’m impatiently waiting for my parties next week. I have two, one at choir on Thursday, and one at school on Friday. Then we have Trick-or-Treat at night! Mom and I are going to make cupcakes next week for school, and Grandma is in charge of cookies for choir. My shiny new batman costume is ready to go! At my parent teacher conference on Tuesday my teacher said I’m doing great, but that I need to work on my numbers. I have a lot of prep to do for kindergarten, but I’ll get there. I practice writing my name and my letters every day. I do pages in my workbook, and now Daddy and I are doing 10 minutes of number practice everyday. I’m great a counting and even doing some adding and subtracting, but I don’t know what numbers look like. Flash-cards will do the trick! Every night when I go to bed I think about things to put on my Christmas list. It’s getting pretty full of golden, batman themed items, so now I’m starting to think about things that Mommy and Daddy and Lukey should put on their Christmas lists. I pretty much love Christmas. And my favorite movie lately is Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas. It’s never too early I suppose. Conversations with Mommy: Mommy: Good night, Pres. You have a busy day tomorrow, Grandma is going to pick you up for choir. Preston: Oh! Good! Thanks for telling me, Mommy! A while ago I asked Preston what he wanted to name his baby sister. He didn’t answer right away, he said he didn’t know yet. I was hoping for something silly or creative! A few days later he said “Mommy, I fought about it. We can name the baby sister Olivia.” Spoiler alert: The new baby’s name is NOT going to be Olivia, but it’s actually one of the names that made the top of the list. I was surprised he came up with it! GIRL! Luke and I are getting a baby sister in February! We are all very excited, and not quite sure what to do with a baby girl. Mom and Dad found out about a week ago at the ultrasound. Mom has been TOO busy this week to do much of anything, so we are finally able to make the announcement. Mom has her gala next Saturday, so her life is being consumed by seating arrangements, and more seating arrangements. She seriously cannot wait for it to be over. In other news, we have had yet another fun filled weekend! Yesterday I had soccer practice. We did some new drills and kicked the ball around a little more week. We ran a few more errands, and then in the evening Tia Deb came over to help with bedtime while Mommy was at work. Then today I sang with the choir for the first time in church! After church we all went to the WK&S to ride the Pumpkin Train! It was so fun, and we got to ride in the caboose BOTH ways!
From Luke: This was my first time visiting the WK&S and I LOVED it! I'm really starting to love trains, just Grandpa and Preston. I insisted on riding in the crows nest, and when the engine was switching ends of the train I was WAY more interested in that than picking out a pumpkin. Mom says that I'm starting in on my terrible twos. At breakfast at church this morning I refused to sit in a high-chair, and I'm throw mini tantrums all day long and say "no" all the time even if I mean "yes.' Mom and Dad, however, both agree that terrible twos are more cute than they are terrible. I'm still little enough that they can man-handle me, and my irrational tantrums are mostly silly and adorable. Five year old tantrums from my big brother and far less adorable. I'm 19 months tomorrow! My vocabulary is expanding more rapidly these days. New words are things like "noodle" and "Debbie." Noodle and turtle sound a lot the same, and I'm saying "Mommy" and "Daddy" now instead of mama and dada. I've also quickly learned that Mommy's phone can magically show me videos of trains, so now every time I see her phone I ask for "choo-choos." Mommy recalls that when Preston was this age he knew to ask for Mickey Mouse. She can't decide which is worse. Here are some photos from the weekend - and you can see the full album - HERE Preston playing soccer and building a lego plane: From Preston: Our weekends are FULL lately. The highlight of last weekend was a trip to Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve. This was a "Mommy-adventure" day, which doesn't always pan out the way we hope, but this one actually worked out ok! We took a picnic lunch with us, and had a good time once we got there! We found a little picnic table to eat, there were some fun activities for kids inside the visitors center, and we went on a short walk with a naturalist who told us all about the native forests of Pennsylvania. I took some awesome pictures while we were on the walk. We were there because Mommy wanted to check out the native plant nursery and buy a few things for our garden. I picked out a beautiful tree, and I check on it almost everyday to make sure that it is doing ok in our yard! From Luke: I had a good time at the picnic in the woods. I mostly got to sit in the stoller, but I also did some of the fun activities. My favorite part of the day was my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I started my sandwich during the picnic, and took tiny little bites. Mom and Dad and Preston were done with all of their lunches before I even made a small dent in my half-sandwich, so I got to take it with me in the stroller. I savored that sandwich. I took tiny bites and enjoyed every moment. Nearly an hour later I finally finished my sandwich, but boy was it good. From Preston:
This weekend has been busy, too. Yesterday I had my first soccer practice. It was so fun! I was the fastest kid on the orange team, and I made sure that I always got to use the yellow ball. We did some fun drills and switched around to different soccer practice stations before it was time to head home. I really loved it, and I’m excited to go back next week! From Luke: While Preston and Daddy stayed at soccer, Mom and I went to Target to exchange some things. I asked for Daddy the whole time, and when we got back to soccer practice Mom realized that she had lost my shoe somewhere along the way. I got to stay with Daddy while she went back to Target to find my shoe (she did!), and then we headed off to Gavin’s Birthday Party. Preston and I both had an awesome time at Gavin’s Party. Mom and Dad LOVE how independent I am, and I don’t mind doing things all by myself. I even managed to insert myself into the big-kid activities at the party. They were all doing an obstacle course to find some buried treasure, and I figured out the pattern of activities and did them all myself. Nothing slows me down. Preston’s favorite part of the party was digging for pirate treasure in the sandbox. He got a ton of gold coins and jewels. I just liked digging. I didn’t know what I was looking for. From Mommy: Luke has been adding more words everyday lately. We knew this time would finally come! Some of the new additions include: choo-choo train, drink, juice, kitty, baby, and mine. It’s very cute. I LOVE how independent he is. He still obviously needs help with some things, but he finds toys to play with and figures them out all by himself. He’s persistent and analytical. We recently discovered that he loves babies, too. That’s a bonus. He loves to visit the baby room at school and make them all laugh. And at the party on Saturday there was a little baby. She got sad when her Mommy put her in her car seat, but the second Luke heard her cry he ran over to see what the problem was. She cheered up when she saw a little person paying attention to her. It was a cute moment. Today I finally finished the 4 curtains in the living room, a project that has been looming for months. They were SO difficult, mostly because of my poor fabric choice, and broke my machine, numerous needles, and were all around a huge pain. John finally incentivized me with the promise of Louboutins if I finished them before October. I hunkered down this morning and got it done. Louboutins are coming my way. From Preston:
We went to Dorney Park yesterday for Grandparent’s day with Gigi and Grandpa. It was our first trip ALL season! And we probably won’t be going back again until next year. We have season passes for next summer, though, so we can go more often. My FAVORITE ride of the day was the wild mouse. I rode it will all the adults, except Mommy, because she is too pregnant. Gigi didn’t like it because it whips you around too much. We had a fun day, and I didn’t stop moving once. I also started Junior Choir at church last week. Grandma picked me up early from school so that I could go to choir. I was nervous about going at first, but when I got there I realized it was a KIDS choir, with other kids. That made it more fun, and I got to be the line leader in the Marching parade, because I go there first! I picked the triangle instrument to play. I think I’ll try it again this week. We get to sing in church a few times, too. Last night as I was helping Daddy blow the leaves off of the driveway I noticed a lot of worms on the driveway because of the rain!! Since it’s really tough to find worms at Dyken Pond, I decided that I would collect as many worms as I could from the driveway and keep them safe until we could go to Dyken Pond again to go fishing. Mommy gave me a container for them, and Daddy dug up some compost. Later we decided that they probably wouldn’t live long enough in the container to make it to Dyken Pond again, so we are going to let them live in our compost heap until the spring. Then we can dig them up again and take them with us to the lake. Preston Quotes: (Talking about red Gatorade) “Mommy, guess what this juice is made out of…. Strawberries and LIGHTENING” From Luke: I had a fun time at Dorney Park this year! My favorite ride was the race car ride, because Preston could do it with me, but I loved some of the other rides, too. I sometimes get a little scared when I am up high in a ride, but Mommy or Daddy are with me, so it's ok. When I was reading an alphabet book with Daddy last night I was sitting nicely and listening to the words until Daddy got to Y for Yak. And I said "Yak!" and laughed. It's a silly word. After that I excited to read the book again and try a lot more of the words! But "Yak" is still pretty silly. I love to help out around the house and do what Mommy does. I'm really good at throwing things in the garbage, getting snacks out of the pantry and fridge, picking up toys, and wiping up messes with a towel. I'm a good helper! I love to dance and do silly walks like marching, penguin walking, and kicking my legs out in front of me. One night when all the lights were out in my room and Mommy was trying to put me to bed, I climbed out of her lap, walked over to the baby bouncy seat in the corner of the room, turned on the music switch, and I a sweet dance party in the dark with Mom. Who says the music on a baby seat is supposed to be sweet and soothing? I can really get down to the tinny metallic nursery tunes. On Tuesday night Mom was still out grocery shopping when it was my bedtime, so Dad had to do everything by himself. He's pretty good at bedtime, but sometimes he forgets a step or two. This time he did everything right up until he put me in my bed. Mom usually puts the blanket on top of me and tucks it in around my tummy and puts the musical sea horse right next to me. When Daddy did this step he only put the blanket on top of me. I got offended and motioned with my arms to tuck the blanket in, and I told Daddy "Stuck!" He eventually figured out that he needed to tuck me in, and all was well with bedtime again. 30 minutes later when Mom came in to check on me I was sound asleep, turned around, and the blanket was on the other side of the crib. It's going through the motions that counts, Daddy. From Lukey:
Last night, when we got home from the lake, Mom put me in my hand-me-down Thomas the Tank Engine pajamas. They are SUPER fun, and I like to point to all the Thomases and say things like "Duh" and "dee" and "Uh?." I really like the choo-choos. I like them so much that I got REALLY upset with Mom when she took them off of me to change me into clothes for school. Mom couldn't figure out what my tantrum was about at first. I don't usually get upset about putting clothes on. But when I threw myself on the floor crying and then stood up and ran over to the hamper where she threw my beloved Thomas jammies, she put two and two together that I wanted to wear my Thomas jammies forever. Preston even explained to me that I can't wear jammies to school everyday, but that I can wear my Thomas jammies when it is pajama day. I eventually got over it when Dad took me downstairs to eat breakfast, but I hope Mom starts to realize that I am a big boy with developing preferences. These things are important! I had a good time at the lake this weekend. My word of the weekend was "stuck" and I use it quite a bit now. It's a very useful word when I need help with a toy, or getting down. I also use the word "Grammuh" for Grandma (and most other people. Some of my favorite activities where climbing up and down any stairs I could find, clicking the belt on my booster seat, swimming with Tia Deb, MANY wheelbarrow rides - including the elongated naked ride when I was being grouchy about putting clothes on, multiple naps a day, waking up before 6am for the day, unloading ALL of the lawn toys out of the shed, climbing in and out of adirondak chairs, "fishing" for fishies in the bucket (pulling them out of the water with my bare hands), following the big kids around, and snoozing in the hammock. This was my second croquet tournament. I enjoyed the first 15 minutes being sure to march all over the course, move a few balls around, terrorize the players with my sweet dinosaur, and then be handed over to Grandma for naptime. It was memorable. I wore a Santa hat for the silly hat picture, and then took it off. This was also my first time participating in a Treasure hunt to Treasure Island. I cooperated enough to wear a life jacket in the canoe so I was allowed to go along for the fun. Preston didn't want to share any of the treasure with me, though. From Preston: I REALLY improved two lake powers this weekend: fishing and swimming. I caught 3 fish in one morning! I'm going to ask Santa to bring me a Golden Batman Fishing pole so I can be even better at fishing. By the end of the weekend (and ironically the season) we discovered my swimming confidence with the yellow life jacket. I had been using my floaty for most of the summer, but the life jacket REALLY makes me float in the water. I swam with Debbie and Grandpa all the way across the lake to Blueberry Island, first stopping at pickerel Island. And then we swam to Treasure Island just to say we made it to all 3, and then finally back to the beach. Grandpa says that it was the longest swim ever made by a 4 and a half year old, and he would know! It really made tired, though. The pirates left us one treasure this time: candy bars. They came while I was supposed to be snoozing. I tried to look out the window to see them (because Daddy told me they wouldn't come if I was looking out the window), but I didn't see anything. Behold, though, those sneaky, but not-so-savvy pirates left their treasure map in plain sight! Lukey came along on the treasure hunt, but he didn't find the treasure, I did. I had a fun time playing with Stella all weekend. I gave her a tour of my house and the barn. She really liked the loft; it's fun to climb the ladder to get there. My other favorite things at the lake this summer were: hide-and-seek on blueberry island, picking blueberries, shoveling rocks onto the road from the rock pile (I also plan to ask Santa to bring me my OWN rock pile), eating lunch by myself al-fresco, finding worms under rocks and logs, finding frogs and salamanders, building things with Daddy like a bird house and a tool box, toasting marshmallows, and reading "the three little pigs." It was a fun season at the lake. Maybe Grandpa will take me up one more time this fall, but we don't have any plans for that, yet. Last week I started Pre-K at School!! Jace and I made a dinosaur scene using some figurines and some sticks, grass and rocks that we found outside. So far I like Pre-K. This week I also start Junior Choir rehearsals. This is a new activity for me, so I'm a little nervous about going. When Mom told me that I could go I said "no thank-you," but then I changed my mind and agreed to just watch. Grandma has to pick me up early from school so that I can get there on-time, so that's an added bonus. And Grandma can stay with me at choir if I want her to the first time, so that will be ok. I'll let you know how it goes. Next week we add in Gymnastics, and the following week I start soccer, so this is going to be a VERY busy fall. Quotes: Me reading: "This plane has lowered its landing gear" Preston pointing to the words: It's like magic that all these words say - This plane already has it's landing gear down. Me: Well, no, it's READING not magic, and it reads "This plane has lowered its landing gear" Preston, too, will one day do the magic of reading. From Mommy: I'm craving gummy bears. Or they just taste good. Either way I eat way too many. I'm 17 weeks pregnant on Thursday. I'm looking round and wearing my belly band with my regular clothes. I'm feeling 2nd trimester good, although the first trimester with this baby was my easiest of the 3. If the old wives tales about girls "stealing your beauty" are true, then it's likely this one is a girl. I felt beautiful and glowy with both boys. I feel gross and dull and not beautiful with this one. This was a weekend of making stuff. I started and finished knitting the sleeve to a sweater, and John made a tool box (with the help of Preston) AND a miniature Adirondak chair (from scratch!). John also helped with some demolition which made my Mom super excited, and I made homemade bread. It definitely helps to have extra grown-ups to play with/supervise the kids. Luke is getting much more independent and we all noticed how much he has improved with overall safety awareness. He didn't try to hurt himself/fall into the lake every 5 minutes. We are starting to getting some of our own independence back.... just in time to have another baby. Mini Adironak Chairs for sale! Inquire within. Link to full photo album Luke may not have a lot of words, but he can communicate. After dinner he pointed at the counter and said "apple." So I handed him an apple. But then he said "nuh" and put the apple in my face. So I took a bite and handed it back to him. He put it back in my mouth 3 or 4 times until he deemed my services no longer necessary and could bite into the apple by himself. Then he wouldn't release the apple core until he was in the bath and distracted enough to use both hands play with a toy. That's when I took my opportunity and grabbed the floating fruit. This time went better than last night when I just took the core out of his hand without asking. He's protective, like a 1 and a half year old. Luke is also pretty good at focusing on a task, he tried to put the tape dispenser back together for a good 10 minutes the other night. I got a good video: Luke is also pretty cooperative. He even lets Preston put his shoes on for him in the morning. My favorite is bedtime. Luke is the exact opposite of Preston at bedtime. He says 'night night' to Daddy without being asked. Then we snuggle in the rocker for a few minutes while he drinks his milk. When he's done he hands me his cup and says 'nuh.' Then I ask him if he wants to go in his bed. He points and nods so I put him down on his back. Then I ask him if he wants his music and he nods. So I turn on the seahorse. I ask for a kiss and he leans in. And the I say "night night, no crying, I love you, see you in the morning." And that's it. He's such a sweet boy. Working on Geography: Preston: I know where the biggest worms are in the WHOLE Africa. Me: Oh yeah, where is that? Preston: It's at DYKEN Pond. Over the weekend we celebrated John's birthday with a night out at Hibachi and a homemade cheesecake. I owe him a date to the Melting Pot because the night we wanted to go was totally booked up. That never happens... expect on move-in day at Lehigh U. Preston went with Grandpa to see the the Nickle Plate Berkshire come through the Lehigh Valley. I have to admit that I am a bit more interested in steam engines now than when I was 4. My 4 year old knows WAY more about the machines than I do, so I decided that I need to at least try to keep up. I knew that he was going to do something train related this weekend, but I didn't really know what. On Thursday night he said "Mommy! Only 2 more nights until Grandpa takes me to see the Nickle Plate Berkshire!" He knows better than I do. I'm also having a lot of early childhood flashbacks. I've heard of the Nickle Plate Berkshire before, and the Big Boy, and a few others, but they were merely fleeting words to a the 4 year old version of me. I remember thinking that I should be REALLY impressed by these things, but I wasn't. Not even a little bit. So now that I know that my 4 year old thinks they are impressive I'm able to appreciate them a little more. Yesterday I asked him if the Nickle Plate Berkshire was his favorite steam engine. He said it was big, but not as big at the T1 OR the Big Boy, and that the Blue Steam Engine was one of his favorites. The other neat thing is that on Sunday morning, as we were loading up the car to take a family trip to the Zoo, we HEARD the deep whistle of the NPB from our front porch. The trip to the Zoo was fun. It was a little impromptu adventure. We packed a lunch and headed over there. We discovered that you can complete the zoo in about an hour, and that's with a pretty long stop in the play-ground. But we decided to try to stretch the time by sticking around for some animal feedings and eating lunch at one of the numerous picnic tables. By 1:00 - 3 hours in - Luke fell asleep in the stroller, Preston was getting whiney, and we decided to call it a day. Luke luckily did his magic sleeping thing and transferred pretty well into an afternoon nap in his crib, and Preston played quietly. A success! Our family has BIG News! Preston caught a fish!! Really, Preston thinks the big news is that he caught a fish. That's what he told Grandpa! But the REALLY big news is that there is a NEW BABY scheduled to arrive in February! I'm 12weeks pregnant, feeling pretty good if not a little stressed about my job and the idea of 2 under 2. I think this is the 3rd time I've announced a pregnancy on or around our anniversary, too. Tomorrow is our 6th Anniversary, and we get to celebrate with a trip to a winery... not exactly the best timing for that on my part, but we'll bring some wine home with us for me to enjoy post-pregnancy. Here's an ultrasound picture from yesterday: And a super cute picture of Luke, so he can make an appearance in this post. This little trooper cut 5 teeth in the last week: The 4th tooth on the bottom right, and all 4 first-time molars!!
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