Nana and Papa (Can Fam Part Four)

I know I mentioned how sweet Luke was when he said "Papa!" He had such a good time with Nana and Papa. It is always sweet to see him interact with the great grandparents.


Papa and Nana bought him a book about Noah's Ark and here he is reading it with Papa.


But he couldn't decide who he wanted to sit with, so he kept switching back and forth!

Until Papa wrote Luke's name in the book... then Luke knew that Papa had "colours" and decided that he was the one to hang out with.

It was just precious, precious time spent with our loved ones. Come back soon!

Ketchup Chips (Can Fam Part Three)

When people come from Canada, they usually write/call and see if there is anything we want from that side of the border. So, Aunt Deb and Uncle Stephen e-mailed us to ask what we would like them to bring. We requested Aero chocolate bars (Oh my goodness, the dark chocolate ones are like a truffle! Delicious), malta, and ketchup chips. When I made the request for ketchup chips on behalf of my husband, I had no idea what I was getting into. :) When they arrived they had a laundry basket full of ketchup chips. It was ridiculous! I think Uncle Stephen bought every brand in Ontario. But, it did result in a very fun taste test of each kind to see which was preferred.


A shot of the different types.


The paperwork that Aunt Deb prepared for us all.

And here they all are, lined up for the test. Most of them were quite delicious, but there were a few that were just odd. :) Imagine, ten or eleven kinds of ketchup flavoured chips. Who knew?

Uncle Stephen is quite the shopper (I think he spent some quality time with several stores along the way...) and it made for a fun little event. :)

Thanks for all the goodies, guys!

Center of Attention (Can Fam Part Two)

This was basically how it went the whole weekend. Luke entertained everyone and expected to be entertained in return!

Canadian Family Visit... Finally. Part One

Almost exactly one month ago, Andrew's mom, grandparents, and an aunt and uncle came to visit for a weekend. It was so lovely to have everyone here. It was a joy to get some special days with our family and to see Luke interact with them. He fell in love with Papa and pronounced his name SO clearly. (He has since started calling any older man with white hair Papa... it's really cute in Walmart!) It was quite sweet.


GrammaMack is sharing some cheese with Luke. Okay, I suppose it isn't likely she was sharing so much as holding the plate for our little piglet.


Nana and Papa just hanging out. Luke enjoyed the company so much. It was sweet to see him wake up every morning looking for 'Mack. We made some good memories and can't wait to do it again!

Who Stole The Cookie?

I went to the kitchen to make myself a cup of tea yesterday. Luke comes running in from the family room, spanking himself. (This is a new thing that he does either after he's been spanked or just before I spank him.) I immediately assume he has turned the DVD player or TV off or on or whatever, cause that is our current battle. Yeah, not so much. I couldn't figure out what he'd done until I saw the cookies sitting on the couch. I could see a cookie peeking out with a perfect little bite taken out of it. Hmmm... I wonder who did that? I had such a hard time not busting out laughing that I don't know if he even got a scolding. He can be so stinkin' cute sometimes.



I kinda hate it that I wasn't even able to see his expression when he enjoyed his first ever bite of a chocolate chip cookie.

So that's what is making us laugh today. :)

Cousins

Here are just a few photos of our day with a cousin. My brother and his wife and oldest son went to a WVU game last month and we kept their daughter, who is seven weeks younger than Luke, all day. It was a fun day and made me have a new appreciation for people who have twins. :) I had hurt my back, so Andrew got a lot of responsibility, but the day went rather well in spite of that fact. They played well together and it was fun to see Luke interact with another toddler.


They both thought that they bowl on the head game was hilarious.


Magnets (Andrew's old work buttons!) on the side of the dishwasher are also a winner. I need to buy Luke some of those magnetic letters...

All in all, we had a great day. Our niece was quite agreeable and easy to care for. We were glad to hang out with her for a Saturday!

At Alpine

Last month our small group met outside near a pond. It is totally ridiculous trying to keep up with a toddler near water. But, he had a good time running around. It got super cold in the evening, though. Here are a few pictures of us with our kiddo.


I was trying to make him laugh even though he couldn't play where he wanted to play. It's tough being a toddler!


My two boys. I love the zoned look on Lukey's face. Notice, this was the same day as our Walmart trip... :)

Such a funny expression! He makes me laugh. A lot.

Walmart?

So I took the kid to Walmart and the nice cashier gave him a few stickers... yeah, this is how he looked when I got him out of the car seat. There was another one on his back and yet another is still (who knows how long it's been there) on our dashboard. He had a really good time with them, though. :)

Haircut

This was Luke's last haircut which was, admittedly, quite a while ago. :) He's due for another. But this last time he just couldn't help but giggle when Andrew got the clippers anywhere near his neck and it was just funny. He's always (I say that like he's had more than two or three haircuts in his little life) been well behaved for haircuts, but never been giggly like that.


Here Daddy is showing him the clippers and telling him what he's going to do.


Gotta love that grin! I love to hear him laugh!

Potty Time!

Here's a shot of our happy camper on his potty. He gets a kick out of sitting there and also out of making Mommy "run run run" to the potty with him fifty times a day. (Although, when he says it, it sounds a lot more like "wuh wuh wuh.") :) He's been sitting on the big potty occasionally just to get him used to it but then last week he was super interested, so I just went out and bought him a little potty. Monday of last week, he started peeing in the potty. It's been interesting, to say the least. He's gone at least once a day since then. He's 18 months and I totally wasn't prepared for him to do this well this early, and think it will still be a while until we're super serious about it. But he's doing so well. And today was a big accomplishment. He pooped in the potty! We're so proud. When he was done he looked at it for a while trying to decide what had happened. He then ran to tell Daddy. I don't know what he thought about it, and at some point it hit me that I had to clean it up! Gross! ("gwoh Mumma!") He has picked up "gross" from the time he stuck his hand in the bowl after he peed... Who knew how much you can talk about poop and pee? We called GrammaMack and nGogo (and mKhulu too) in celebration. I'm sure that's just what Andrew wanted for Canadian Thanksgiving! I love the fact that right now he is so happy to be able to use the phone, that it has become his reward for using the potty. He loves to call nGogo or 'Mack and hear them be excited for him. Who needs M&M's anyway? :)



You can't potty without a good snack and a drink. Don't forget that. :)

And now, after that appetizing read, I'm off to work on a meal for our Thanksgiving! I think everyone should get two Thanksgivings, don't you?

Faces of Lukey

Here are some more of his lovely expressions. A few weeks ago I had tried to give him a mohawk with what little hair the poor kid has. If you look closely, you might be able to see it. :)


This one is a "cry face."


This is a "sad face." It doesn't look very sad, but it did right before I snapped the picture. This is him sniffing. He is hilarious.


Love this! Who knows what "face" this is!


Here is the quintessential (that's for you, Mom) "happy face."


I don't know what we were in between on this one, but he makes me laugh. Funny kid.

He is showing his personality more and more each day now. It is too much fun to see what he comes up with each and every day. He is much more communicative in both sign and speech. He's doing a really good job.

Lukey Jumps

This is the best video we have of Luke's crazy mad jumping skills. It's not the best, but it's something. :) He was running around with an old picture of himself, hence the "Give Mommy the baby" comment. Short, sweet, and it has a point. Bend the knees, jump! Enjoy.

Family Dinner

This was our first meal after we moved our dining room table from our family room to our living room. We did a lot of rearranging in our house over the last months. So, since Andrew posted today at Writer's Block about cleaning and paring down furniture and belongings, I thought I would post this picture that makes me smile. :) You can't really see anything, but it is incredibly freeing to have our living room so much more open. Luke's got the greatest expression. I hope you can tell!

Come on over!

Colour? Or is it color? So hard to tell...

Mommy and Lukey

Here is a quick picture of Luke and I. He was quite giddy on this particular day, if I recall correctly. :)

Luke and the Horse

Here is just a quick clip of the kid "riding" a horse. I love the look on his face!