The Rocker's Halloween Party

Lucas hosted his 2nd annual Halloween Party with his friends from our birth class on Saturday night. Since he's been dancing so much lately he dressed up as a rocker. Jeff and I had a fun time planning out his costume and then actually dressing him up. Lucas got a kick out of us shaping his hair into a mohawk and seemed to enjoy being dressed up. He enjoyed himself a little too much, actually, because he was super wound up all night and really fought us when it was time to go to bed. We made a note that Lucas will get no more Halloween candy this year! Those couple of M&Ms we let him have went straight to his head. We're excited about Wednesday night - I think Lucas is going to love trick-or-treating.

The Rocker

One of his two tatoos - the other one was the Baby Einstein logo head.

Oh yeah

Charles the Train Conductor, Wyatt the Bear, Lucas the Rocker, Naomi the Bat and Nora the Zebra!

Blane's mommy was sick - we missed them!

Naomi with her mommy and Nora with her mommy

Wyatt with his mommy

Charles with his daddy

Lucas with Miss Wendy

Even Rockers get tired...

Too busy for baths..

First of all, how sweet is that face???

Lucas has been too busy for baths lately. A lot of his friends went through a stage like this, but I thought our little fish would never go through it. I don't think he's afraid of the water... I think he just wants to run around and explore instead. Each night after his bath we turn on the music and dance around upstairs, or at least Lucas does, so maybe he just wants to do this and skip the bath...

Big Boy Cup

I was having a glass of wine while cooking dinner one night last week. Lucas kept reaching for it so I grabbed another wine glass for him and put some water in it. This was the first time I had ever seen him drink out of a real glass. Now if we are at home he drinks out of a real cup. This could be my favorite development yet since I can never find all of the pieces to those darn sippy cups!

Rockin' to a Little Paul Simon..

Notice how his moves change when he hears the words... and just when you're getting bored he throws in a shoulder dip and some head jives...

All Boy

Thanks JoAnn

My aunt works for an airline, so she has the luxury of being able to fly for free. This weekend we picked her up at the airport at 10am and dropped her off for a 6pm flight. How cool! She didn't have to bring anything but her purse and her camera. We're hoping she'll come up in December again so that we can go to Big Ed's... our favorite place for breakfast.

Lucas and JoAnn dancing in the kitchen.

Pumpkin Farm

Yesterday my aunt JoAnn flew in from Atlanta and we took Lucas to a pumpkin farm. This first picture shows Lucas after we got off of the hay ride that took us to the pumpkins. We took off his shoes and he ran towards the pumpkins like a crazy man. He had such a great time...

And he's off...

Lucas with his Mama

Lucas waving to some random person.

Taking a short break.

Still running...

"I'll take this one, Mama."

He must have picked up 15 pumpkins.

There were also ponies!
Lucas grabbed right on to the seat like he'd done it before.
He loved it...

... and hated for the ride to end.

There was also a train ride...

... and of course farm animals.

Lucas, our little helper...

Dr. Wiles asked us at our last appointment if Lucas is interested in "helping" us with things. We said "yes!"... as usual, he was right on with what other kids his age do. Lucas likes to copy us, which includes helping with the dishes, laundry, make meals, vacuum, sweep, sort cd's, put on our shoes... just about everything. We just said today that we are going to have to watch what we say and do even more closely now. Here is the turkey in action...

Time Out Face

We posted on January 8th of this year that we thought that Lucas would be the "future king of timeout". We were joking then, but looking back, maybe there was some truth to that! Our little stinker is really testing us lately with his hitting. The thing is that he doesn't do it out of anger. Most of the time he is giggling or looking at us to see what our reaction will be. The doctor said this is all to be expected and that we should just make sure we set boundaries and teach him what is acceptable. Anyway, we've been taking him to timeout when he hits one of us or Tyson. Jeff and I can hardly keep a straight face when we sit with him in timeout. Lucas senses that there is some tension in the air and tries to make light of it by giving us the biggest fake smile you've ever seen. I'm talking about teeth clinched and eyes squinched type of fake smile. It is hilarious. After we sit with him for about a minute and talk to him about what he needs to do differently we ask him if he's sorry and to give us a high five or a kiss. If he needs to apologize to someone else we ask him to give them a high five too. I just looked up the sign for "sorry" tonight, so we'll start using that now. So far I really like timeouts - it's a time for us to step back and bring something to Lucas's attention and have a little chat about it. It's really the only time all day he sits still, so that's nice too.

I shouldn't have done this, I know, but he made me giggle while I was talking to him in timeout so I got the camera and tried to capture his new fake smile. I didn't get it, but I did get this sweet little expression...

Little Girl at the Park

This cute little girl approached Lucas at the park. These pictures show the sequence of their brief encounter... Lucas didn't notice her at first, but by the last picture is pointing to show her something cool that he sees...

Nibble Tray

Lucas hasn't been in to eating solid foods lately. I read in one of my Dr. Sears books to try putting their food in a tray with different compartments and to let them nibble on it all day. I thought it would be fun to try for dinner so I spent a few minutes creating this nice little assortment of fruits, veggies and whole grains for Lucas...

Sliding and Snacking at the Park

Sleepy Head

Jeff and I just LOVE it when Lucas wakes up from a nap. If possible, we both go in there when we hear him call out for us. When we open his door he is usually leaning over the edge so that he can see the door. Sometimes he's grinning and sometimes he looks concerned, but his hair is always messy and his face sleepy. Lately he calls out "ma-ma" when he wakes up. Sometimes we dance and sing a wake up song like "Lucas is up, Lucas is up". If he's in the mood he'll start bouncing in his crib to the beat, and if he's grouchy he will lift his arms and say "uhhhh".

I could just eat him up... he's such a sweetie.

Farmer's Market Pumpkins

Lucas and I made a quick trip to the Farmer's Market on Friday morning before work. I just love the way he looks in his layered winter clothes! The yellow and blue hat that I loved last year still fits. We're going to a big pumpkin patch this weekend, so this is just a preview of pumpkin pictures...

Our 5th Anniversary

Jeff and I had a great evening with our boys. After work we ran by Whole Foods and picked up some stuff for a picnic at the Art Museum. It was the perfect day for it and we were the only ones there, so we couldn't have asked for a better anniversary picnic. It was nice to share the special day with Lucas and Tyson... our little family.

Lucas with Blane and Charles

Fall 2007

Fall 2006

Spring 2007

Lucas and Tyson's Window

October 2007

April 2007

Mama got a new haircut...

My hair was getting very heavy and blah. It was either in a ponytail or behind my ears. I like this new look, especially now that I've washed it myself. When I left the salon I looked like a rockstar with really straight hair with pointy, hair-sprayed ends. It still looks long, but the guy took off so much of the weight, so it feels a lot shorter.