Naked Yoga

Ellen hangin' with the boys...

Lucas was tired and had scratched his eye that night...

Ellen and Max

First Dentist Appointment

LB went in for his first teeth cleaning today! We have been talking about it for weeks, so this morning he was hopping around the kitchen asking if it was time to leave yet. When we got there he was excited that the had a fish tank with Nemo in it and then had fun playing with the toys in the waiting room. When Miss Sherry came and got him she was super nice and asked him about the fish on his shirt. She then showed him the chair and told him that she was going to count his teeth. I said something about her brushing his teeth and he said in a whisper to me, "I tink I already did!" haha. And then he was a little hesitant to lean back in the chair, but once he did he seemed to enjoy the whole process. He even giggled when she put "mr. slurpy" in his mouth to suck out the water. After the cleaning Lucas played with some trucks and then they called him for the doctor to "count his teeth". When the doc was examining his teeth he told me that his teeth were a little close together and that when his permanent teeth come in that they may be crowded. I responded that I was surprised because I thought Lucas had beautiful teeth. He laughed and said that if they have a Hollywood smile at age 3 then they are probably in trouble because their permanent teeth will be bigger than their baby teeth. And because his mouth is small and teeth are close together (aren't they supposed to be?) we need to start flossing - ha. Lucas left happily with one more stop by the fish tank and his goodie bag of a toothbrush, toothpaste and stickers. Next appt in 6 months...

Lucas with Miss Sherry

Lucas being examined by Dr. Pretzer

Lucas's 1st Dentist Appointment!

Lazy Sunday

Today was so nice. Here's how it went...

- Jeff was finally able to get in a game of golf with his friend Josh and was gone by 7am.

- Ellen woke up at 7am, but allowed me to snooze in our bed until 8am.

- Lucas slept until 9:45am!!!!

- breakfast and cartoons for a while...

- Ellen napped from 11:00-12:30 while Lucas and I played in the water hose out back, pulled out the "patio furniture" and cleaned it, and gave Tyson a bath.

- When Ellen woke up we played in the front yard - Ellen on a blanket and LB with his trike.

- Lucas and I made a quick run to the farmer's market mid-afternoon.

- Early dinner of fresh fruits and veggies on the back patio on our make-shift furniture.

- More playing in the back yard - Lucas with worms, baseballs and composting and Ellen with toys on a blanket.

- Kids in bed by 8pm and Rocky Road ice cream treat for Jeff and me : )

A few more lazy Sunday pics...

Sitting up...

... for a few seconds at a time : )

A 3 year old and a 6 month old...

Nice Picture with Grandpa

Ellen Meets the Goeltz Fam

When we were in Memphis Jeff's Aunt Geri, Uncle Bob and cousin Tanya drove 10 hours total to spend only about 15 hours visiting with us... so nice! They wanted to meet Ellen and see Lucas since they know the turkeys grow up so fast. It was great to see them. And by the way, I'm sure that Tanya is the blog's biggest fan. She remembered details of stories from 3 years ago - I was flattered : )

Here is Ellen meeting Tanya...

And Geri...

And a group picture right before Ellen's nap... (she's even cute when she cries!)

Ellen with her SaSa

Emma and Lucas

Our friends Louie and Lisa live in Memphis with their little girl, Emma. We were happy to visit with them while we were there. I think this pic is hilarious! Dainty little girl and dirty little boy!

6 Month Well Visit

Ellen had her 6 month appt with Dr. Wiles and Nurse Janet yesterday. She continues to be a little bird, weighing in at 14.2 lbs, which is in only the 15th percentile compared to other little girls her age. When Janet told me that I got alarmed, but Dr. Wiles wasn't concerned at all and told me that her growth curve looked healthy and that was all that mattered. Ellen is a very efficient eater, nursing for only about 5 min at a time, but she never fusses and I assume she would if she were hungry. So she's just thin right now. Her length, however, is in the 65th percentile and her cute little head is in the 55th.

I was really looking forward to her visit - I always love to hear what Dr. Wiles has to say. I was disappointed that Ellen woke up early, around 7am, and was due for a nap at 9am - the same time as our appointment! She was stimulated though, and hung in there. I just love our nurse and doctor. Nurse Janet always seems genuinely excited to see the kids and is always impressed by something they are doing - like a family member would be. Yesterday she commented how strong and busy Ellen was at this age as Ellen scooted all around the table, squealing with delight and then looking up to smile at Janet.

I was also looking forward to this visit because Miss Ellen has not been sleeping well and I was looking for something to blame it on - like an ear infection (not that I wanted her to be sick). Along with not sleeping well, she has also been scratching at her eyes and ear. It turns out that she looks great, so we're guessing it is allergies, teeth, or maybe a mild cold since she did have a runny nose for a day. OR it could be that she has been talking to Lucas about sleep habits!!!

Happy 6 Months, Ellen!

Ellen,

Mommy, Daddy and Lucas love you SO much! We are so blessed to have you in our lives. Happy 6 month birthday, sweet baby.

Love,

Mommy

The Memphis Zoo

The kiddos made their first appearance at a zoo while we were in Memphis...

Lucas wasn't as into it at first as I thought he would be. He wanted to keep moving, but did stop for a few minutes to look at the awesome panda bear that was chowing down on bamboo...

Most of the animals were sleeping or far away, but when I saw the elephants right next to the fence I got excited. Lucas had never seen an elephant, but has been talking about them for two years. Unfortunately the sno cone cart was right next to the elephant cage and it trumped the elephants for Lucas. He chose purple and didn't look twice at the elephants : )

He did enjoy the aquarium, but mostly because he made friends with a little boy and they were playing "chase" with the seal. The seal was going in and out of a tunnel and the boys would run back and forth in front of the glass to see him on each end... giggling the entire time. I didn't get a picture of that, but here is sweet Ellen in the aquarium...

As we were walking to the next exhibit Lucas noticed that there were some men with diggers planting trees. He said the heck with the animals and ran into the middle of the park to watch them. SaSa ran after him and the two of them rested for a few minutes. Lucas had on his serious face... and his Spiderman t-shirt, of course!

Jeff and Ellen rested on a nearby bench...

Oh, and here is a cute picture of Ellen that has nothing to do with the zoo : )

Mama and Babies in Memphis

A Tribute to Our 3 Year Old

Jeff and I are so pleased with our little three year old. We are amazed at how three is so much different than two and a half. My parents noticed it too. Over the past few months Lucas has taken a big jump from being a toddler to a preschooler. He has blossomed into an amazing little person.

He is silly...

Lucas lives life with passion and gets the most out of each day. I admire how he lives in the moment and laughs out loud many times a day. As we've said from the beginning of our journey with Lucas, he is "very" everything. Silly is no exception and Lucas shines in this department as a three year old. Some mornings, fresh after 10 hours of sleep, he skips through the house making funny faces and talking in deep and high voices to make us laugh. He loves the attention and we sometimes wonder if he'll be a class clown. "Watch this" is heard often around our house and is followed by a silly dance on tip toes or a dive onto the floor. Lucas's confidence is boosted by Ellen and her adoring stares and belly laughs that she saves only for her big brother.

He is serious...

Lucas can be silly, but he can also be serious when he is "working". We know that he is in this mode when we see his serious face - expressionless, lips poked out a bit and eyes focused.

He is compassionate...

Ahhh, probably my favorite Lucas quality. He has a big heart. If we say "ouch" he is quick to say, "Dada, what's wrong? You okay? You get a boo-boo? My kiss it?"; If Ellen cries he stops what he is doing to find her a toy and bring it to her as he says, "It's okay! Don't cry." And if that doesn't work he tickles her, hops on top of her or yells in her face... which always startles me but then what can I say when Ellen is giggling at him! ; He is sweet with animals and with babies. We were visiting with a 16 month old friend last week and he would make silly faces to make her laugh and would hand her toys as he talked in his baby voice to her... I was so proud of him. I am sure that he's learned to do this because he's around children younger than him at school. He respects that they are younger than him.

He is polite...

Thanks to Ms. Xenia and Mr. Len (and maybe a little credit for us), Lucas is a polite little three year old. The clown at his party was very impressed by the way he said "please, thank you and ma'am". He had to be prompted months ago, but now he is quick to thank someone if they do something for him.

He is imaginative...

Months ago Lucas started talking about someone named Go Man. We still haven't really figured out if this is an imaginary friend, or just something that we are misunderstanding. Lately, however, it's become more clear that Lucas is starting to use his imagination more. Several times a day we are asked if we want grocery items... like yogurt, coffee, or ice cream. When we say yes Lucas runs away to the "grocery store" and brings us back whatever we're requested. After we pretend eat it he always says, "It good? You like it?" Additionally, he is suddenly into super heroes. I wasn't looking forward to this stage, but it's actually pretty fun to see him prefer one shirt over another or fly off of the couch and exclaim that he is Superman. We haven't figured out how to tell when he is Lucas or when he is a super hero though. After his party Jeff asked him if he was Spiderman and he said, "NO! I'm Lucas!"

He is independent...

Lucas wants to get dressed by himself now and all of a sudden has an opinion about what he wears. I have to get him some more super hero shirts because he often throws down the cute collared shirt or hip t-shirt and runs upstairs to get the dirty spiderman shirt that he already wore twice that week! Other things that he wants to do by himself include changing batteries in toys, which involves a screw driver and good eye/hand coordination and is sometimes frustrating.

He has an open mind...

... when it comes to food at least. I also owe this to his teachers who encourage him to try different foods that they serve him. Today he took a bite of my collard greens and said that they were okay... but wouldn't take a second bite : )

He is slowly weaning...

Lucas is down to nursing only a few minutes in the morning. I'm so proud of us (him, Jeff and me) for sticking with breast feeding for as long as Lucas needed it. I think we are near the end.

He plays and sleeps hard...

Like I said before, Lucas gets the most out of each day. He plays and plays and plays until he is so exhausted at night that he nearly collapses into bed. I hold him as he falls asleep and what used to be a two hour process now only takes minutes as he drifts off into deep, loud breathing sleep.

He makes friends easily...

Lucas loves making friends with little boys that are his age, or especially a little older than him. The other day were were walking through North Hills and we saw some boys playing in the courtyard. I offered to take him to Target for a treat and he opted to sit on the bench and watch the boys roll and tumble on the lawn. These were 12 year old boys, so he wasn't brave enough to join them, but giggled as they giggled and then asked me to come and play with him on the lawn right beside the other boys. Another example is that we were on vacation last week and there are three boys next door - two 5 year olds and one eight year old. They all made friends instantly and I knew Lucas was having fun because he got a familiar look on his face that he has when he's around Max and Ben - it is a look of joy, admiration and excitement.

He is enjoyed by his friends...

Often after a play date the mother of the other child will tell me that their child asked to play with Lucas for a few days after the play date. Lucas does the same thing. It is so great to see him branching out from us and developing friendships.

and last but certainly not least...

... he usually SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!! After 3 long years of interrupted sleep, I can now finally say that when Lucas goes to sleep at night I expect him to sleep until around 7am.

Little Jeff

Most people say that Lucas looks like me, but lately I've had some people say that he looks like Jeff. I can see it - same build, similar hair. This wknd we were looking through some old albums and I was so surprised to see pictures of Jeff when he was Lucas's age - they DO look alike! So cute. Check out this picture of Lucas this Easter morning and Jeff on an Easter morning about 30 years ago...

The Stoker

We've been in Memphis visiting Jeff's parents. I can hardly believe I'm sitting here writing about it - the time flew by, as usual these days. I also can't believe that we drove to and from Memphis with two kids... and it was awesome! We rented a minivan and it was SO MUCH NICER than our cars. I am still not ready to buy one, but I can totally appreciate why people do. The kids were so great. Lucas watched DVDs and colored and Ellen just chilled out and played with her toys. We broke up the trip a little over half way and that is what is shown in these pictures.

When we left Raleigh it was 70 degrees and we were all in shorts with sundresses and flip flops packed in our bags. When we got out of the car it was 30 degrees and snowing! We didn't get to play in the snow, but we had a super time building this fire and stoking it for hours. Lucas took it very seriously. He thought that the fire had to be continuously stoked or else it would go out. At one point his face was so red and his shirt was hot so I told him to take a break on the couch. He said, "Okay mama, you stoke the fire please!" ... and then 2 min later he took the thing out of my hand and told me that he would just do it.. hahaha.

It was a very relaxing half way stop and we enjoyed the pretty snow the next morning...

The stoker

So serious!