Little Lucas Updates

Lucas is doing so many new and fun things that if I miss a day of posting I am behind! Kids at his age are amazing. They are like little sponges. Lucas is no exception - he pays very close attention to what we do so that he can do it too. He wants to do everything that we do - peel veggies, wash hands, water flowers, unload dishwasher, read books, etc. Here is just a medley of updates on our little Lucas...

Books

In the past couple of weeks Lucas has become really interested in books. He'll select one from his shelf and bring it to us to read to him. He doesn't have enough patience to let us actually read to him, so we usually flip through and make sounds and signs of things on the page. He will turn the page and then look at us to see what sign our sound we are going to show him. His favorite books right now are: The Wheels on the Bus, Baby Animals; Brown Bear, Brown Bear; and A Children's Art Book. The other night we were in his room and asked him to go get a book to read. He toddled over to his bookcase, looked seriously at the books, swiped a few onto the floor, toddled over to his closet and looked in it, and then looked at us with a discouraged look and kind of cried out. I knew that he was looking for the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, so Jeff and I started looking for it. As we were looking Lucas started really crying and getting upset. We found it a minute or two later and showed it to him and he quit crying, smiled, and sat down to read the book. It was so awesome that he was able to tell us what he wanted and we were able to understand and bring peace to the situation.

Sleep

For the first time in Lucas's life he is on somewhat of a schedule. I am not a schedule person and am not really enforcing this one... he fell into it on his own. Oh, and he's now sleeping in his crib all night. I loved co-sleeping, but it got to the point where Lucas would sleep right on top of me and neither one of was sleeping well. When we moved into to the new house we decided that we'd just get up with him and rock him back to sleep instead of bringing him to bed with us. To our surprise, Lucas liked this and adapted quickly. He still wakes up twice a night, but it's predictable and he is easy to get back to sleep.

Our daily sleep routine is that Lucas wakes up around 7am, takes a nap from 1-4pm, and goes night-night around 9pm. Luckily I work from home and am able to rock him to sleep during my lunch break (although Kristen can get him to sleep if I am unavailable). At night we eat dinner and then give Lucas a bath. After the bath we go to Lucas's room to put on PJs, play, read books, etc. After about 20-30 min Lucas gets frustrated with something and we can tell that he's tired. We ask him if he wants to go night-night and he'll usually put his hand by his ear to tell us that he is ready. Then he gives Jeff and Tyson a kiss and waves bye-bye to them. We turn out the lights and sit in his rocker as I hum or sing to him. The past few days he will rock for a while and then squirm out of my arms, walk to his crib and reach up as he says, "uh-uh-uh". I was shocked the first time he did this! I will put him in his crib and he'll turn on his aquarium and then ask to get out of the crib. I know he's going to do this so now I just get in the crib with him. We lay there for about 20 min before he falls asleep. I'm a pro and getting out of the crib without waking him up. When he wakes up at 1am and 5am I just get straight into the crib with him - it's much easier than getting him out and rocking him. When he wakes up in the morning he turns on his aquarium music toy and yells out for us. When we go into his room he's standing up and looking at the door with a little grin on his face.

Music

Lucas still really enjoys his CDs. We just ordered a CD from Kindermusik that inserts Lucas's name into all of the songs. Lucas's favorite is "My Friend Lucas had a Farm, E-I-E-I-O". When the song is on he says, at the correct time, "A-E-A-E-O" (his version). We took a break from Kindermusik, but plan to start going again in September. Lucas will move up to the 18month to 3yr old class, so it should be fun for him since big kids are so cool.

Attachment

Lucas is still very attached to me and cries when I go upstairs in the morning for work. He is easily distracted, however, by a fun activity. This morning I asked him if he wanted to wash his hands with Miss Kristen. He stopped crying, sucked in his breath, reached for Kristen and waved bye-bye to me.

I know that he associates fun things with Kristen because when she leaves in the afternoon he reaches for her and waves bye-bye to me. I KNOW this is because he thinks she's going to the park and NOT because he loves her more than me :-)

Sign Language

Signing is working really well for us. I know some of my friends don't do it and don't think it's necessary, but Lucas's personality is so intense that he gets frustrated quickly if he can't communicate his needs to us. For example, if Lucas gets bored with something he does the sign for "all done", waves bye-bye to the area, and blows a kiss. We know without hesitation that it's time to move on to something else.

The signs that he uses the most are "all done", "eat", "more", and "hot". He just learned how to sign "water" this week and I already love it because I know when he's thirsty.

He'll do "all done" anytime that he wants a change: in his high chair, in the grocery cart, in his car seat, in his crib, at the park, etc. Even though we can't always do something else, we know what Lucas wants and can talk to him about it.

I need to learn more signs because it seems that Lucas is really soaking them up right now. He can't do every sign we show him, but he looks for us to do signs when we're reading to him. I can see the little connections being made inside his head.

Afternoon Play Dates

Lucas's buddies Charles and Christopher live only a few miles away now, so we get to see them nearly every day for an hour after work. We go to the park, to someone's house, to the grocery store, to a museum, or to the pool. Over the past week Charles and Lucas have really started to play together. It is the CUTEST thing ever. They have invented a little game where they chase each other and then Lucas plops down on his belly laughing (he's crazy) and looks back to see if Charles was watching. Charles usually is watching and cracks up at this. Charles tries to copy him, but isn't as crazy as Lucas, and plops down knees first and then belly. Then sometimes they crawl on the floor and chase each other. They are getting better at minding their own business with the toys, but Wendy and I have had to remove a couple of toys from the room to distract them.

Food

Lucas eats what we eat now and is enjoying eating with a fork. We are going to the Farmer's Market every week, so he's getting to taste all the locally grown fruits and veggies. He'll eat just about anything, just not very much of it. He likes to eat a banana like a big boy now, holding the banana with the peel still on (like he sees daddy do). He still nurses a lot (bedtime, twice during night, morning, and a few times throughout the day, so he is more of a grazer with real food than a meal eater. He's been introduced to cow's milk, but I think it's kind of a waste because he only takes sips from a sippy cup, and never drinks the whole thing.

Vacations

We're going to Florida to see my parents in a couple of weeks. During our stay Jeff and I are going to go to Orlando for two nights, sans Lucas Bryant. We're going to go in the middle of our trip so that Lucas will realize how fun Grandma and Grandpa are and not mind being away from us. The longest we've been away from him his 15 hours, so it should be interesting. I think he'll do great during the day... just not sure how the nights will go when he wakes up.

Time Outs

Lucas clearly knows what is right or wrong, most of the time, so we feel that it's okay to dicipline with time outs. We've only done it a few times, but I think he's already caught on. An example of when we use it is if he's playing in the dog bowl. He looks at us and grins when he's doing it, so we know that he's testing us. We say, "Lucas, playing in the dog food will get you a time out". If he doesn't move away then we count 1-2-3. If he doesn't move then we say, "Okay, we need to have a time out for not obeying mama and dada". Our designated area is the bottom of the stairs. There is NO WAY that Lucas would stay there alone, so I sit beside him. We set a timer for 1 min. He sits politely with a little grin for 10 seconds, and then he gets up to leave. I don't say much, but just hold him in place. He gets so ticked and screams for the remaining 50 seconds. (Dr. Sears said it was okay to hold them in place!).

Yesterday when he went to Tyson's food we counted to 1 and he threw the food down and ran away. He totally gets it.

Pre-Renovation

Here is a picture of our house before it was renovated by the builder. It was originally built in the 1940's. When we found it the builder had already torn it down to the frame and it was in the sheetrock stage. You can see that he kept the basic look of the front of the house. The window on the right is where he added that little room in Lucas's big boy room, so he extended that room and added a porch. I never went in the old house, but I think our family room used to be two rooms. Our kitchen, master bedroom and some of the upstairs was added on. Anyway, I like the before and after pics.

Pictures of New House

I finally got around to taking pictures of our house! I'll try to navigate you through by putting a caption under each picture. (All robbers, please log off now).

View of front of house. I love the trees.

Side view of front porch.

Another view of porch. I love the trees!

View as you walk in front door. Family room to right, stairs in front of you.

View of Family Room from area near front door. Looking into hallway that leads to kitchen.

View of hallway that leads to kitchen from a different angle. Lucas's room is the door that is closed to the left of the bathroom.

Downstairs guest bathroom

View walking into kitchen. Our bedroom is right beside the kitchen.

View from back door.

View from Lucas's high chair.

Master bedroom. Looks out into backyard.

Master bathroom.

View standing on back porch looking to the left.

Looking straight back.

Looking to the right.

Okay, I've taken you back to the front door and you're now looking up the stairs.

When you come up the stairs there is a bedroom to the gold bedroom to the left and a grey/blue bedroom to the right. The two steps in front of you lead to the little office cubby hole. The room in the far back is the bonus room (full of stuff right now).

Office at top of the two stairs.

Grey/blue bedroom. This is Lucas's "big boy bedroom". Notice the little "fort" in the back of the room. This was going to be a storage closet, but the builder decided to make it this cool little room instead.

Since Lucas is still downstairs in his nursery, this is where I work.

Guest bedroom and the room where Lucas watches Baby Einstein DVDs.

Lucas enjoying his new bathtub.

Playing peek-a-boo with shower curtain.



Pics of Lucas's room coming soon!

Bye-Bye Binky

Lucas has weaned himself from his binky. We didn't do anything special - he just got sick of it. At 12 months our pediatrician told us that we should focus on what was causing distress and soothe him without the binky, so we tried to keep it out of site except for naps and nighttime. That was fine with Lucas and then over the past few weeks if I tried to give it to him in the middle of the night he would throw it on the floor. I realized yesterday that we hadn't even seen one in the past few days, so I guess we're done with them.

Butter Ball

Our nightly routine is for Lucas to sit on the counter and help me cook dinner. He gets a little task like putting cut up veggies into a bowl. I looked away for one second yesterday and Lucas got into the butter and rubbed it on his belly like he does with the soap in the bathtub. I think it was a ploy to take a sink bath, his second of the day, because I had no other choice but to wash him down. Smart little guy.

Mama

Lucas's favorite word now is "ma-ma". He clearly says it and it's great!

A Common Thread

We saw Lucas's intense personality for the first time when he was about 20 hours old. I remember it clearly because we had walked down the hall of the hospital to visit with Sara and Ross, who had just delivered little Naomi a few hours earlier. Until that time, which was about 10pm on April 4th, Lucas had been sleeping and nursing peacefully. All of a sudden he started crying and cried for about 2 hours. We thought it was because he was swaddled too tightly or because he was hungry. He repeated this the next night about the same time.

For the next five weeks he was a pretty easy baby. Jeff and I wondered what all of the fuss was about. Right at five weeks, however, Lucas developed a witching hour every evening... then two hours, then three, etc. That's when that dumb doctor we used to go to told us that he had reflux and put him on medicine for a few weeks. Looking back, I'm pretty sure all of this was just Lucas's intense personality developing, although we did see a calmer Lucas around three months, so maybe there was a little reflux/colic.

When Lucas and I used to go to play group I would feel a little insecure because Lucas was the only baby out of the five that would cry. He hated the group picture and would scream almost every time. Then he hated the car seat and would scream on the way home. I was afraid that he'd develop into a grumpy child and then adult because I had neglected to do something "right". When Lucas started communicating he got a lot happier and calmer and these fears subsided. I could see that the love that we had poured onto Lucas was having an effect. He became this sweet, loving, curious and happy baby.

I'm writing all of this because recently I've been reminded of those feelings that I had in playgroup when Lucas was an infant - insecurity that I'm not doing the "right" things...

Since we've moved Lucas and I have been getting together with his friends Charles and Christopher a few times a week from 5-6pm. I am seeing the same intense personality from Lucas that I saw when he was younger. This time it's in the form of wanting everything that Christopher our Charles has. At our house it is the most noticeable. Lucas doesn't want anyone to touch his toys and watches everyone like a hawk to make sure they don't. If they do then he runs over screaming and grabbing things away. Charles looks surprised, but fights back, holding onto his toy with both hands and telling Lucas "me, me, me" or "no, no, no". Christopher is used to a nice, peaceful environment, so he gets his feelings hurt and cries.

Of course I tell Lucas that he needs to share, but I don't see immediate results yet, so there goes my mind running away with thoughts of Lucas kicking and hitting on the playground and not having any friends. The logical side of me knows that this won't happen. We'll teach Lucas to treat others with love and respect and he'll be fine, but at the end of a long day it's hard to think logically. And, in Lucas's defense, he has Sophie (3.5 yrs old) at our house everyday and they act like siblings, fighting over toys and the giving hugs and kisses.

I'm happy that Lucas has so much energy, but just like Dr. Wiles said at one of our first visits, we just need to teach him how to properly channel it. We're trying!

A Jog and A Bug

On Saturday we met our friend Jessi at Lake Johnson for a little jog of about 3 miles while SaSa and Lucas went for a stroll. Jessi and Jeff have signed up for a sprint triathlon in Wilmington at the end of September. Lucas and I participated in this event in 2005 (Lucas was in my belly), so we're just going to be cheering this year. I, however, do need some motivation and am considering signing up for a half marathon that will be held in Wilmington in November (Maybe I'll feel more pressure to do this now that I've blogged about it). The most I've ever run is 6 miles, so it will be a challenge. My friend Holly did a marathon a few years ago and trained using a program where you run/walk/run/walk, so it's not as hard on your body. I'll do this if I decide to enter the race.

Now for the bug portion of the post...

Notice the bright shirt Lucas was wearing in the first picture. Later that day, after Lucas was attacked by a bug (mosquito?), I read that mosquitoes like bright colors because it looks like a flower. Poor little Lucas was outside while we were planting some flowers and all of a sudden he started screaming. We stripped his clothes off immediately and found 14 bug bites!! Something got stuck in his shirt and went to town on his little baby skin. He took a long nap and the welts were gone when he woke up. That afternoon I was hesitant to let him go outside, but he loves it so much that I decided he could if he wore light color, long sleeves and long pants. I guess the downside of all of these trees that I love are the mosquitoes.

Does anyone have any suggestions for safe insect repellents for kids?

A Great Time with SaSa

SaSa came and visited us last Thursday through Sunday. It was SO GREAT. Lucas quickly re-bonded with her and so I got some time to unpack, go to a movie with Jeff, and even take a 2 hour nap one day.

It seems like most of our time was spent eating or preparing to eat. SaSa has a sweet tooth like me, so we made a few stops at the coffee shop and got some pastries a few times as little treats. The NC State Farmer's Market is close by, so we loaded up on fruit and veggies and just enjoyed eating really good food. SaSa even made us blackberry cobbler. Hmmm, wish I had some of that right now.

When Jeff and I came home from our date night we found Lucas and SaSa in her bedroom, camped out watching Baby Einstein. Lucas had been deprived for a week because we hadn't hooked up the DVD player yet. SaSa hooked it up for him and made a little pallet on the floor for them. She propped up a pillow and told Lucas that that was his spot. When I walked in on them he was as limp as a noodle on that pillow - don't see him that relaxed very often! SaSa's room was upstairs, so now he goes to the bottom of the stairs and does the sign for "more" as he looks up the stairs. Kristin let him climb the stairs today and thought he was coming to Jeff and me, but instead he went right into SaSa's room and pointed at the t.v. I know he loves those DVDs, but I bet he also misses cuddling with SaSa!

Baby Einstein Slumber Party

Relaxing with SaSa

A wagon ride with SaSa

Our Little Girl

This is the outfit that Lucas wore in the 1 year photos that Wendy took at the park. Twice in one day last week he was referred to as a little girl! The first person said that she thought his outfit was a dress and that's why she thought he was a girl. His hair is getting a little longer though. I bet if we have a little girl next that she is bald for the first two years!

Highchair Strike

In the morning when I try to put Lucas in his highchair for breakfast he arches his back and screams. We tried sitting him at the table and he looked quite proud of himself. He thinks it's fun to spin around in the seat and look out the back, so we need to get a booster seat or something. Little turkey.

Solution?

Maybe this is the answer to getting Charles and Lucas to sleep through the night.

"Shanda" is where I draw the line.

I really like my name, but when we were choosing a name for Lucas I made sure that we chose one that was easy to pronounce... especially since his last name is tricky (Schroeder sounds like shray-der).

Rarely, rarely, rarely does anyone get my name right. Maybe I speak to fast or have a southern draw. Not sure. You'd think the most common mispronunciation would be Shannon, but actually there is a tie between Shana (shay-na) and Shawna. I'm used to these and sometimes correct the person and sometimes not. The CORRECT way to pronounce my name is to have it ryhme with banana, hannah, or savannah.

Last night I was walking in our neighborhood and said hello to someone that I had met a few days ago. She responded with, "Hi Shanda!"

I immediately started thinking about this post :-)

15 Month Well Visit

Lucas Bryant is 15 months old now! Yesterday we went to see Dr. Wiles and Nurse Janet for a checkup and a couple of shots. Here are Lucas's current stats:

Weight: 23.6 lbs, which is 35% among boys his age

Length: 31 inches, which is 50%

Head Circum: 18 and 3/8 in, which is 40%

This would lead one to believe that he is long and lean, which surprised Jeff and me. Lucas looks so stocky to us. Either way, he's continuing to grow along the same curve and the doctor said these #s looked great and Lucas's development is excellent (a mom loves to hear this).

Dr. Wiles always has something great to tell me about how to work with each stage of development. This time he told me that toddlers Lucas's age are "button pushers". He said to imagine that Lucas has a keyboard and he, being a button-pushing-toddler, likes to push the buttons to see what will happen. For example, Lucas may think, "Hmmm, what will happen if I drop this pea onto the floor... well, she said not to do it again, but will happen if I do it again?". Dr. Wiles said our goal should be to make most of the buttons on his keyboard boring so that Lucas will get tired of pushing them. This may sound counter-intuitive, but he said this age likes to get a reaction, so sometimes it's best to give no reaction and they'll get tired of doing whatever they were doing.

This presents a challenge for a new mom who feels the pressure to make her kid be polite and act appropriately, especially in the presence of others. Oh well... each day is a learning experience and I'm sure I'll be inconsistent and say and do the "wrong" things sometimes, but hopefully Lucas gets the big picture and turns out okay.

Lucas was cute during his exam. He liked it when the doctor shined the light in his eyes and showed him the sign for "again" when he turned it off. (Dr. Wiles isn't that impressed with his signing skills and gave no reaction. C'mon!).

Poor Lucas had to be held down by me during the physical exam and the shots. He hates being constrained and so he screamed his head off. It must have been exhausting because he fell asleep on the way home - 2 hours before I expected him to take a nap.

One question that I was worried about was, "How many words can Lucas say?" He can't really say anything that clearly, but he can pretty much communicate anything he wants to us with signs or sounds. I was happy to learn that a word counts even if it sounds nothing like the actual word, just as long as he uses it the same every time. For example, if he says "guh" for the word "hot" then it counts, as long as he uses it the same every time. I think Lucas can say about 10 "words" now.

Ma-ma: doesn't really call me this, but says it sometimes when he is need of something. Usually says it as he's coming towards me with his hands raised and it sounds like "ma-ma-ma-ma-ma".

Da-da: same as mama. doesn't really call Jeff this, but does occasionally.

Woof-woof: Lucas said this at 9 months old, but hasn't really said it in a while.

Uh-oh: Lucas said this at 9 months old, but hasn't really said it in a while.

Choo-Choo: This actually sounds pretty clear. Started saying this a couple of weeks ago at story time at Barnes and Noble with Kristin and Sophie. They have a train table there.

Hey: Says something that sounds like "ay" as he waves his hand at people.

Hot: Sounds like "hah" as he does the sign for "hot" and points to the oven or something else that is hot.

Thanks: Says something that sounds like "tay" when you hand him something.

Down: Doesn't say this much, but sometimes says "duh" when you're holding him while he's squirming to get down.

Milk: Doesn't sound anything like milk, but when he wants to nurse he says "eh-eh-eh-eh" as he comes and lays himself down in my lap. Sometimes it sounds like "me-me-me" and so Kristin said it sounds like he's saying "milk-milk-milk" in a squeaky little baby voice :-)

We love Lucas as a 15 month old. It's our favorite stage, just like each one before!

Lucas is SUCH a boy! I would have been embarrassed to write about this before Lucas, but I guess all modesty goes out the window when you have kids. At least I know the guys that read this blog, and Brittain, will get a kick out of this.

When Lucas passes gas it is audible. He didn't notice for the first year, but lately when he does it he grins at us. We grin back and say, "Lucas pooted!". He likes the reaction and tries to do it again, often successfully, which results in more giggles and grins. If he's having trouble he squats down and holds his breath.

I guess this is just the beginning of toilet humor at our house.

Lucas and Mommy

It has been grossly hot here the past few days. We go outside as much as we can for walks, the park, or the kiddie pool, but it's even too hot for that most of the time... so we had a water activity in the kitchen sink. Lucas loved it and I got to put away the dishes... a win-win.

PS - My sister is bugging me (j/k Jenn) to post pics of the house. Once we get the boxes put away (hopefully this wknd when SaSa is here) I will take some pics. Until then, here are some glimpses of the kitchen. Notice the trees and bushes outside the window! I love having a window to look out of while doing dishes. Ele and Will's house has a beautiful backyard. At night they turn on these white lights that they have strung on a few of the trees - it makes me feel happy to look out at them. Very cozy.

When I cook dinner Lucas becomes a velcro baby, demanding to be held. I've been sitting him on the countertops (I know, be careful) and letting him help me prepare dinner. We had a salad this night. I would tear the leaves off of the bunch and let him put them into the spinner. When we put the top on the spinner he started banging on the top - what it must look like I'm doing when I'm pushing it to make it spin. Then he helped to put the lettuce in the bowls and set the table. It takes much longer this way, but I figure if he's going to be sitting on my hip that he might as well help!

Jeff and I love our new house, but we love the neighborhood and the things it has to offer just as much. One thing that I can't wait to explore more is the Greenway.

"The Greenway became a reality in March 1974 after the City of Raleigh became concerned over rapid growth and urbanization. The agency responded with the Greenway master plan which permitted urban development while preserving Raleigh’s characteristic natural beauty. The idea has developed into a 54 mile – 3000 acre system and continues to grow. "

Currently there are are about 20 trail segments across the city. I think the ultimate plan is to have them connect so that you can travel these 50 miles or so without having to get off of one trail and look for the next one.

We explored the Fallon Creek Trail last week for the first time. I'm so thankful for all of these trails and trees!

Lucas, Tyson and Mommy

The windows in our new house are all too high for Tyson to see out of without standing or sitting on something. Even though it may not be the best arrangement of our family room furniture, we had to put a chair by the window for Tyson. He is so loyal. When we come home we are certain to see his fuzzy little face staring out the window waiting on us.

Here is another gift from Grandpa and SaSa (minus the bowls). Lucas loves it, of course. He'd be as happy as a pig in mud if he could stay out in the backyard all day long. We're trying to grow grass, so it gets pretty messy.

Thanks for the leggo dump truck, Ty! I love it!

- Lucas

Thanks for the travel carrying case, Tip Top. I love it!

- Tyson

Grandpa Schroeder came to visit us last week. It was a HUGE help to have him here and help out with the move. We wished SaSa could have been here, but she couldn't get off work and will come this week instead.

Lucas was clingy the first few days at our new house, so I told Jeff to tell his dad that Lucas may not warm up to him on this visit and not to get his feelings hurt. I was shocked when Lucas seemed to recognize his grandpa and almost instantly acted as if he were around all the time. I think it helped that Grandpa brought Lucas a gift - his very first matchbox car. Lucas played with it so much that we bought him a track for it the next day.

Grandpa and Lucas were backseat buddies during Grandpa's visit.

Three generations

Lucas loves his grandpa!