Too Smart for His Own Good

Our new routine for bedtime since Lucas has started school is to go into his room right around 8pm. All four of us go in there - Lucas, Dada, Tyson and me - and close the door behind us. We read a few books and then Lucas remembers that there is more to do outside of his room, so he goes to the door and hangs on the door knob as he whines. We tell him that everyone is going night-night and he needs to too. He looks at us with wide eyes and says in a whisper, "Len? Miss Na? Mack? Nicholai? etc.. (all of the people in his class). After we go through that for a few minutes and think we're going to make progress he says, "eat? eat?".. we tell him that he's already had dinner and it's time to rest. Most of the time he'll then go get a book, climb up in the rocker and then say "bye Dada." The other night, however, he wanted especially bad to get out of the room. He dumped all of his stuffed animals out of their basket and then threw them across the room as he looked at me. When I didn't respond the way he wanted he took a heavier toy and threw onto the floor so it made a loud thud. I responded with, "Lucas, no sir. You are about to get a time out." Lucas responded with running to the door and saying in a happy voice, "time out? time out?"

The little stinker misbehaved so that he could get a time out... his ploy to get out of the room!

Mama and Dada's Shoes are Cool Phase

Sunday Breakfast

We had breakfast with our next door neighbors, Will, Ele and Finn on Sunday morning. I was so excited because they have a great backyard and we had planned to eat on their porch. Lucas woke up saying, "Emma? Emma?"... Emma is their dog and he was looking forward to playing with her. Right as we were about to sit down it started raining (dang!), so we moved the party to our house because their house is not Lucas proof yet (they can still have nice glass dishes sitting at Lucas level). It was fun to catch up with them and to see how Lucas interacted with 5 month old Finn. This was the first time that he showed any interest. He even went as far as to touch him! Ele said it was only because Finn was in his seat and not a threat to Lucas's territory (my arms). We have to do this more often because he only has 6 more months until there will be a baby around all the time!

Tyson sat in Lucas's time out chair as we ate breakfast...

Pictures with Mama

He just gets sweeter and sweeter!

Lucas in the Morning

We're getting into a great morning routine. Lucas is waking up at about the same time each day and after sleepily nursing and cuddling on the couch for about 10 min is in a great mood. It's a lot of fun to pick out his outfits each morning. This morning I put some brown sandals on him and he said "red, red" and ran out of the room to get his red Keds instead. Then he ran back in the room and said, "Mama, school. Bye Dada!" It was only 7:30 so we had to play with Mr. Potato Head for a few minutes to kill some time. When Jeff told him it was time to go he said, "tatohead, up" and put all of the parts away and then the potato back on the shelf where he got it. Then he said, "Dada, up" and pushed Jeff out of his chair so that he could push it in. Sweet little guy...

A Diaper Changing Tip

My friend Sara told me that when Naomi doesn't want to get her diaper changed she acts like she is leaving the house. When Naomi tries to go with her she tells her she has to get dressed first.

This morning right before we left for school and work Lucas needed a diaper change. He started his usual silliness of dancing just out of our reach and saying, "nooooo" when we asked him to lie down. We were late and needed to get going, so luckily I remembered Sara's tip. I picked up my stuff and started out the door saying that I guess I'd just go to school without him. All of a sudden he came flying around the corner screaming, "Nicholaiiiiiii, Nicholaiiiiiii!"

I told him to lie down and we'd change his diaper fast so that he could go to school and see Nicholai and his other friends. He plopped down and it was easy after that...

Thanks Sara!

A problem I didn't expect...

As I posted all last week, Lucas has transitioned amazingly into his new school. The problem that we are having is the transition OUT! I said yesterday how last week I thought that he was just tired and overwhelmed, but yesterday when I picked him up we had a very challenging* 1-2 hours. I don't think the problem is that he wants to stay at school because he is super excited to see me and is happy until we leave... hmmm, as I typing this I'm wondering if he DOES want to stay at school and is happy because school is even better when mama is there. Anyway, one thing that a friend pointed out is that maybe it is the 15 min car ride home that is getting us. He's had fun all day and then it gets better because mama arrives, but then I strap him in to his car seat - one of his least favorite places to be. But geez, he's a smart kid, doesn't he know that we are only going to be in the car for a short period of time? Another friend said that she read that kids often have this reaction when being picked up from daycare. The theory is that they have been on their best behavior all day and when they see their mother they just release all of their emotion onto her. I'm still chalking it up to being in a transition period, but after this week I don't know if I can say that anymore. I hope he works it out soon... I hate not knowing how to make him happy.

*challenging - bawling uncontrollably; asking for something, like a cracker, and then throwing it down and screaming when I hand it to him; collapsing on the floor in tears; and throwing toys on the floor out of frustration.

Happy Birthday Christopher!

Little Christopher turned 2 last week and his party was this past weekend. I think that the parties are done for a while, which is good for my little cupcake monster! Christopher had a great time at his party. Lucas seems to be slightly intimidated by crowds, so he just wanted me to hold him for most of the party (or maybe it was related to being away from me last week). He had his eye on the cupcakes from the beginning, however. I'm still amazed at what he can understand. I told him that the cupcakes were Miss Kim's and that he'd have to ask her if he could have one (thinking that would be a good distraction until it was time to eat them). A few min later he spotted Kim on the other side of the park and practically screamed, "kim, kim, kim" as he pointed at her. I was able to divert his attention again, but when Kim finally made her way over to us Lucas practically attacked her with "cake? cake? cake?" Luckily it was time to serve the cupcakes...

And then Lucas thought it was time to open presents...

Sweet Lucas about to eat his cupcake...

Ticked off Lucas that just through the bread of his cupcake on the ground and is asking for more icing...

We were able to get him to loosen up by going on a little walk to throw some rock into the creek...

15 Wk Belly Shot

Last week my belly popped out, although it seems much more so to me than it looks in these pictures. I definitely look more pregnant as the day goes on. My friend Megan had a baby last fall (she actually had the same due date as I do this year), so she had some summer maternity clothes that she so nice to send me (thank you so much Megan!). Having cute clothes to wear over my bigger belly is exciting. I look forward to picking out my outfit every night now. I can still wear regular pants with my Bella Band, but am choosing maternity pants on most days.

I've started to feel the baby move a tiny bit. It is hardly noticeable, but I think that's what it is. My appetite has grown since I got over my cold and since I've been back at the office. I've gained 4-5lbs so far, but I'm sure that will increase quickly now that I've got my appetite back.

We have our next appointment on May 6th - we'll have an u/s and hopefully be able to determine the gender...

Lucas's First Rainbow

Weekend Update

Lucas is doing super at school. He really seems to enjoy being there with the other kids... he is constantly saying their names. He mostly says Nicholai, Nicholas, Mack and Katrin. The other two kids, Harrison and Lincoln, are a little younger than him so this makes sense since Lucas looks up to older kids.

The only "issue" we are having with school is trying to get on a schedule at home. His routine at school is very, very consistent and it seems that Lucas needs that at home now too... at least with meals and bedtime. On Friday night we went to a friend's house and didn't leave until around 8pm because Lucas demanded it. I'm still learning because just a week ago he would stay up until 9:30 or 10:00, but now he really needs to be in bed by 8:00 or 8:30. Anyway, I was caught off guard and he totally lost it around 8:00 and we had to rush home and work hard to calm him down and get him to sleep. The same thing happened on Saturday morning! We went to Christopher's bday party from about 10:00-12:00. At school he eats around 11:30 and goes down for a nap around 12:00 or 12:15. At about 11:30 he lost it and again we had to rush home and work hard to get him lunch and down to sleep. Last night was better, but I am learning that he needs to eat around 6:30, have bath around 7:00 and be winding down and ready for bed around 8:00-8:15.

This morning he was in a great mood and it was a great drop-off. He hasn't asked to nurse for the past 2 days before going in, so we just walk straight into the school, change his shoes, and then I hand him to the teacher. Yesterday and today he went right to her and started pointing at the other children and saying their names.

He Does What?

Lucas's teacher just called with her daily update. She said that Lucas stands in line to get his diaper changed before his nap. I had to ask her to repeat herself because all I could think about was my skinny, naked kid running from me this morning as he giggled and I waved a diaper at him!

2nd Trimester

I'm 14wks today, which means I'm officially in my 2nd trimester - yay! I definitely feel better this week, just like I did while pregnant with Lucas at this time. While I was sick I didn't eat much and lost all of the weight I had gained. Our scale is broken, but I'm sure I've gained it all back this week because I've been starving and eating all of the time. In addition to snacks and big meals throughout the day, I've had two servings of ice cream for the past two nights. My super fit friend is sending me some of her maternity clothes from last summer, so this is my motivation to stop this trend and stay in shape. My belly started poking out more this week, so I need to take our first belly picture. It said the avg baby of this age is about the size of a fist. Oh yeah, this baby must like red meat because I can.not get enough! Jeff and I used to go weeks without eating red meat, but now we are having it 2-3 times a week. Maybe it's because my body needs the iron?

Last night and this morning... Day 4

I promise I won't post about Lucas's morning every day until he moves out, but I think I'll at least capture the first week.

The night before last Lucas slept in his own bed from 9:30pm - 6:30am. Jeff and I welcomed the break of getting up once in the night, but we knew not to count on it. Last night Lucas was exhausted by 8:30. We went into his room to read (which usually lasts FOREVER), but his eyes were closed before I even started reading. He woke up around 3am and I practically jumped out of bed to go see him... I couldn't wait to get my hands on him : ) Jeff had been getting up with him, but I want to make sure he nurses during the night during this transition period... and then we'll work on that again if we need to. I have more energy because our days are not as stressful and he's not nursing so many times during the day, so getting up at night may not be that hard anymore.

Lucas was in a good mood this morning as we talked about school. He usually acts like a silly clown when it's time to get dressed... running from us and hiding behind things so that we chase him. Today, however, he saw these new army pants that I had gotten for him and said, "ewwww! Nicholai!" as he ran towards me and laid down on the floor so I could change his clothes. Haha. Nicholai is this apparently cool 4 year old in Lucas's class and he wore the same type of pants on Monday : ) I think it's so cute that at 2 years old they notice things like that.

When we pulled up to school today he got a look on his face like he was about to cry and said, "done, done" as he waved his hands (the sign for done). I told him that it was okay and that he was going to have fun in school. He then said, "milk porch, milk porch", telling me that he wanted to nurse on the porch. I told him that was a good idea and we made our way to the tiny bench on the front porch. As he was nursing I was talking to him about how mama was going to work and Lucas was going to school. He was going to see the bunny, do some work, play with his friends, etc. I asked him if he wanted to go see the bunny and he said "no" and kept nursing. We kept talking and a few min later I asked him about the bunny again and he jumped down and ran to the door. When we got inside he changed his mind and started saying, "boobie, boobie" as he tried to walk outside again. I told him that we needed to put on his giraffe shoes and tried to distract him by talking about things we saw in the classroom. As we stood up the teacher came to get Lucas. I handed him to her and told him to have fun at school. He looked kind of unsure, but reached for her and didn't cry. I heard her telling him that they had puzzles and bells out in the next room. She had emailed me by the time I got to work to tell me that we both did great with the drop off and that there were no tears today!

At about 12:30 she called me and told me that she just HAD to tell me that Lucas got into his cot today by himself and fell asleep in about 10 min (yesterday it took an hour). She said that he climbed right in by himself and then said "cars? cars?" - he has a blanket with race cars on it that I told him was like the movie Cars. She also said that you'd never know that it was only his fourth day. She said he was working very hard this morning by getting work/toys off of the shelves and taking them to his mat, putting them away, selecting another one, taking to the table, etc. She said that she loved him to death and she was very proud of him. What a great teacher! I am so amazed at how removing mommy and daddy and adding some other kids has influenced him. He seems to be loving it.

Thank you for all of your support!

I feel so blessed this morning because of all of the emotional support we have gotten over the past few days from our friends and family. All of you have so much going on and so much to fret over yourselves, but you still take the time out to ask how Lucas's morning went, send an email checking in, call me to check in, or post on the blog. Thank you! I am very lucky to have you as a friend : )

Day 3 Update from Teacher

I really like Lucas's teacher. She is being very considerate of my feelings this first week by sending me emails once or twice a day. Here is what she said today:

"This has been his best day yet. He has been working, engaging with the other children, smiling, he even gave me a hug. I think the quicker we do drop off, the better. He might cry, but like this morning it was only for a minute. Then he knows you are gone to work and he starts his school day. Anyway, he is adjusting great and I am sure will continue to."

and...

"Forgot to say... Lucas ate all his lunch today, cheese sandwich, carrots, peas, corn, and peaches."

Yipeeee!

3rd Morning of School

Lucas cried this morning for the first time : (

The morning was going really well and he seemed excited about going to school again today. When we got out of the car his new friend Nicholas was also arriving and Nicholas asked Lucas if he wanted to walk in together and hold hands. Lucas said, "no" and wrapped his arms around my neck. Then when we walked into the room there were 3 other kids being dropped off, so it was congested and one of the kids was crying. I think it was just a little overwhelming for him. He asked to nurse so we went on the porch for about 5 min. He then said he wanted to go see the bunny, so we went back inside. He wanted to be there, but he didn't want me to leave. Mr. Len came to see us and suggested that I hand Lucas to him. I was torn about whether I should nurse him again on the porch or just say good-bye. It was a quick decision, but I thought that if we kept going out on the porch that it would make it harder on him. I gave him a hug and told him that I loved him and handed him over. He started crying with such a sad face as soon as I did, but I just smiled and told him to have a good day as I walked away. I felt horrible!!! I glued my ear to the door once I got on the porch to see if he was still crying. I couldn't hear him anymore, but I wanted to be sure so I waited for another mom to arrive and asked her to give me an update. She came out and said that he was eating breakfast and laughing with the other kids. The teacher called 1 min later and told me that he stopped crying as soon as I left and was totally fine. It made me feel better to know that he was fine, but I still felt like a trader for dumping him when he was crying. I'm such a softie. Only 6 hours until I can go pick him up!

2nd Day of School

I was totally expecting Lucas's 2nd day of school to be harder than the first, but it was super! Lucas woke up in a great mood and we were talking about school and his new friends as we got ready. On the way to school we talked about it some more and when we pulled up he pointed to the playground and said, "wow!"

When we walked in Harrison was standing there and Lucas said, "arrison!" We then sat down by his cubby hole to take off his red keds and put on his slippers (robeez with a giraffe on them). As he walked into the room with all of the toys (work) his teacher, Mr. Len, greeted him. Lucas pointed to a toy and said, "dis, dis" as he looked at Mr. Len. Mr. Len told him that he could work with that and to use two hands as he got it off of the shelf. I walked away to sign him in and then I caught his attention and told him bye and that I was going to work. He looked at me and then back at Mr. Len and said, "bunny? bunny?" How great! His teacher has been great about updating me on him this week. Here is the note that she sent me yesterday around 1:15:

"He had a great morning. He was choosing his own work, taking it to the rug, doing the work, putting it away. It was neat to see on his 2nd day. He did lots of different works in both rooms.
Outside he was more active, using balls, climbing on the structure, going in the houses, etc.
He seems to be comfortable here. I got a few pics of him working and outside today, so I will send them to you as soon as I download them on the computer. Hope your day is well and see you this afternoon."

Note: Montessori schools call all activities "work", so when she says that he was choosing his own work she means that he was selecting a puzzle or something like that to play with.

I quickly snapped this picture of Lucas in front of his cubby hole. I love his expression - his eyes were shining with excitement about being at school!

First Day of School! First Day of School!

Drum roll please... it went GREAT!!!!!! I really couldn't believe it, but am SO relieved and happy that Lucas is happy. Here is how the day went...

We got Lucas up at 7am and acted like it was a huge day. We were singing, "First day of school!" and dancing around as we got ready. On the way to school we talked about school and his new friends. He was naming them with me and saying, "nemo!"

When we got to school I carried him in and the first thing that happened was his new 4 year old friend Nicholai introduced himself. Lucas gave him a high five and wanted to get down to explore his new surroundings. I was planning to stay for 30 min, so I helped him look around. The other kids filtered in and he met them and gave them high fives. He was really loving it, but didn't realize yet that that mama doesn't stay at school with you.

At about 8:30 the teacher rang the bell and announced that they should wash their hand for breakfast. She asked Lucas to come with her and he threw his arms around my neck and said, "no" very matter of factly. He repeated this several times and we finally decided that I'd just hand him to her. He was interested in blowing out a candle that she had lit, so she said he could do that after they washed his hands. He reluctantly went to her, but didn't cry as I left. I, on the other hand, completely sobbed all the way to work. I regretted not bringing my make-up to work because I looked yucky all day.

The teacher promised that she'd call mid-morning and then after he went to sleep. When she called at 10 they were outside and she said that he hadn't cried yet. She said he had eaten a muffin for breakfast and was mostly observing the other kids... not really interacting, but she said that was normal for the first day.

She called again around 1:15 and said he'd just fallen asleep!! She said that by lunch time, their second meal, he had already figured out how to get his place mat and napkin out and set his spot for lunch. He ate a little chicken and banana and played with his peas. Next it was time for them to rest. The teachers set the cots out and Lucas cooperated by getting on his cot and covering up with his blanket. She said that he was almost asleep a few times, but every little noise made his eyes pop open. After about 20 min of this he called out "mama?" - ahh, it broke my heart to hear this. The teacher went to him and told him that mama was at work and that he needed to rest. He responded by saying "done!" She told him that he couldn't be done yet and that he needed to rest. How did Lucas respond? He snotted her! Actually, he just blew his nose out of frustration and nothing came out, but still. She told him that he couldn't do that and got him to lay down again. She said he fought it for about 10 min, but then couldn't help but falling asleep and sleeping for 2 hours.

When I arrived at 4:30 to get him the kids were playing in the playground area. I was able to talk to the teacher for a few min before Lucas noticed me. She said that he had responded better to the male teacher when they were washing their hands... he just looked at her, but when Len asked him to wash his hands he was glad to do it. Then in the playground he found a ball and went up to him and said, "Len? Len?" to get him to play ball with him. When he saw me his face lit up and he ran to me as he exclaimed "Mommy! Mama!" over and over again. He jumped in my arms and smiled at me - he was so happy : ) Next he started naming all of his new friends and pointing to them... it was if he was telling me about his day! Next he asked to nurse, so we went on the front porch and had some quiet time. The whole time his eyes were lit up and he kept telling me little parts about his day - "bunny" "nicholai" "mack" "katrin" etc.

I took him to Whole Foods to get a cupcake as a first day of school treat, then we stopped by the park to play with his friend Lucas. When we got home Jeff was out on a jog, so we played in the yard as we waited on him to get home. Lucas spotted Jeff a block away and ran about 100 yards screaming "dada! daddy!" all the way to him. When he got to Jeff he threw his arms up and gave him a big hug!

The rest of the evening we talked to him about his day and what he did. It may have been the few bites of cupcake that I let him have, but he could not contain his excitement. He was in such a great mood and I swear he was already more vocal after just one day of school.

We are so happy and relieved and so proud of Lucas! We know the 2nd day may be tough because Lucas will know when we get in the car that he has to be away from us all day, but we'll see... first day was a success though and we're so happy!

Lucas all dressed and ready for school. He was SO excited!

Mama with her big boy.

Dada with his big boy.

Lucas starts school tomorrow!

We decided a few weeks ago to make a HUGE change with our family and enroll Lucas in a Montessori school five days a week from 8:30-4:30. Working from home with a nanny worked for us for about 22 months. I think it got significantly more difficult this winter because Lucas and the nanny had to stay indoors so much. Other things that contributed to the nanny not working anymore was that Lucas became aware that we were working from home. There would be times when Jeff or I would be on a call and Lucas would be banging on our office door because he wanted to play - that sucked! I felt so horrible for him during those moments. And finally his nap schedule is changing. He used to sleep very reliably from 1pm -4pm. Lately that has changed and he'll stay up until 2pm or wake up at 3pm, which made it very difficult to balance with work. I got into a habit of working 2 hours each night after he went to sleep, which made it feel like I had not down time and no time with Jeff.

We had visited this school in January because we knew we were interested and thought it may be a good fit for us someday. On our drive back from Atlanta on Easter weekend I told Jeff that I was dreading Monday morning and the routine that we currently had setup. We decided to call the school on Monday to see if they had openings. It was like it was meant to be - they had 4 openings, but 5 interviews setup that week... and they ended up filling up that week! We decided that Lucas's first day would be in two weeks on April 14th.

For the last two weeks we have really played up school. We got the names of the other kids from the teacher and talked about them constantly. Anytime we'd mention school he'd say, "Nemo!" because Nemo goes to school and there is a scene in the beginning where he wakes up and says, "First day of school! First day of school!"

Lucas really doesn't know what he has in store for him tomorrow, but I am pretty nervous about it. I told the teacher that I can be available to pick him up anytime during the day, thinking that maybe he'll need a week of 2-3 hours a day to transition. She told me that that would just make the 2nd week harder, so we'd try to make it through the day. I guess I'm most worried about nap time since he still nurses to sleep. The teacher assured me that it will be okay, so I am trying to think positively. I'll update on how tomorrow goes as soon as I can - wish us luck!

A Wonderful Weekend! Happy Birthday Lucas!

We had Lucas's 2nd birthday party at Roanoke Park this weekend and it was so much fun!!! It really went as well as I could have hoped, except that Jeff wasn't feeling 100%, but at least he felt well enough to come and play with Lucas. The weather was perfect - 70 degrees and breezy. Almost everyone that we invited could make the rescheduled date, so the company was perfect. I really thought Lucas wouldn't know it was his birthday and wouldn't have that great of a time because he hasn't been into playgrounds lately, but he had a blast! He was a little shy at first, but after no time at all he was running all around the park giggling and being a silly boy. You can see from the 2nd picture below that he turned into Serious Lucas when we were singing Happy Birthday to him, but that changed as soon as he got that cupcake in his hands. I have tons of pictures and it may take me all day to get them posted, but we have such great memories from that day that I have to include them all...

Lucas's Friends

Katrin

Lily

Sophie

Naomi

Blane

Christopher

Max and Ben

Charles (too cute not to post!)

Yum, cupcakes!!!

Our kid love cupcakes!

And now on to cupcake # 2...

Cupcakes with friends...

Pictures with Mama and Dada

We once again took 200 pics and didn't get a single family shot, so here are some pics of Lucas with his mama and dada... I know he'll enjoy them someday.

Lucas got a little shy when everyone was looking at him...

Mama giving Lucas the blue cupcake of his choice.

Hey, here we are all together!

A special moment with Mama....

I love my little Lucas!

Having fun with Dada