Our Weekend

The weekend started out pretty strangely. On Friday morning, before Lucas's 18 month appt, Lucas scratched me in the eye. We were still in bed (we bring him to bed when he wakes up to try and snooze for a few more minutes... we have never gotten to snooze... just play) and he accidentally scratched my cornea. I couldn't see the scratch, but it hurt so bad that I couldn't open my eye. I had to squint all through his appt with tears running down my cheek... my eye wouldn't stop watering. All of a sudden, after lunch, it got better. Weird.

So fast forward to Friday evening. Our friends Will and Ele had their baby shower on Friday night (so I thought). Jeff and I got ready in our "party clothes" and had Kate coming over to watch Lucas. We were planning to be late, but right at the start time of the shower I saw Will pull into his driveway next door. I stepped outside to ask him why he wasn't at the shower and he told me that it was on Saturday night, not Friday night. Gosh, I'm a moron. Sorry Ele! Kate arrived a few minutes later. Instead of going out to a romantic dinner we decided to deep clean the house. We cranked up the tunes and got to work for about an hour. It was actually pretty fun and so nice to enjoy a freshly cleaned house all weekend.

On Saturday morning we went to Kindermusik and then to Marbles, the new Children's Museum in downtown Raleigh. Lucas went down for a nap at 1pm and the Conklin fam arrived around 3pm. We had DVR'd the Georgia Tech game, so we watched that until Lucas woke up, then Erin and I took the boys to the park to meet Kelly and Lily.

On Saturday night we had a nice home cooked dinner at our house and then watched a movie (Knocked Up) after the boys were asleep. On Sunday morning we went to the Farmer's Market for breakfast, stopped by Pullen Park and then our guests left around lunchtime. Jeff and I watched an episode of The Office (the best comedy ever) and then I headed to they gym to take a class that I really like (BodyPump).

Last night was pretty routine. I really look forward to our night's now. Dinner, bath, play, ice cream snack, bed for Lucas, hanging out with Jeff.

More pictures below...

Team Schroeder and Team Conklin at Pullen Park

Lucas at the park.

Lucas with his peeps, Lily and Hunter.

They were all 3 into airplanes that day.

Mr. Lucas in his (my) favorite t-shirt.

18 Month Check Up

We had a great appointment today with Dr. Wiles and Nurse Janet. We are so thankful to be under their care... we respect them very much.

Lucas's stats are 24 lbs and 11oz, which is 35% among other boys his age. His length is 32 in, which is 45% and his head circumference is 18 and 3/4, which is 50%. I think this is the first time that his head size is ranked higher than his weight and height. They said he's following along the same curve, so all is well.

We had a few questions for Dr. Wiles:

1) Food/Nursing: He said that since Lucas's weight is on the same curve that the only thing we need to be concerned with is if he is getting enough iron. I bet he's not since he doesn't eat meat, cheese, eggs, or iron fortified oatmeal. We will work on that. He'll get his iron levels tested in 6 months.

2) Sharing: Dr. Wiles said that 18 month olds are not supposed to share, so Lucas is normal. He said that by 2yrs old they will care what others think of them. He said they may realize that others don't approve now but just don't really care. We can tell that Lucas is developing in this area because if we scold him, or even just offer guidance, he will usually show us that he's unhappy with this by acting embarrassed or throwing something on the floor.

3) Pushing: Dr. Wiles said that 18 month olds are supposed to be testing their environment, so pushing is completely normal. He said we just need to make sure that Lucas doesn't like the outcome. He suggested time out, but also suggest something more straightforward. He said if Lucas pushes someone then we should tell Lucas that that isn't right and then turn our back to him and give the "victim" our attention. He said Lucas will realize quickly that he doesn't like another child getting his parent's attention over him.

4) Frustration: The other day Lucas was building a tower with Leggos. When it got too tall and fell over Lucas got SO mad. He threw the remaining blocks on the floor, and when that didn't make him feel better, he picked up the entire bucket of blocks, spun around with it, and let it fly. I was watching the whole time and it was hilarious. Dr. Wiles asked us if he could self soothe and after hearing that story he agreed that Lucas knew how to self soothe. We told him that Lucas is going to be the kid throwing his bat in the dugout when he strikes out, just like his mom and dad did when they were little. Dr. Wiles said that you can't run from genes. It was funny... had to be there.

5) Nursing at night and the effect it has on his teeth: They say you shouldn't let a toddler carry a juice cup around all day, or sleep with a bottle at night, because it will rot their teeth. I asked Dr. Wiles if we need to worry about Lucas's teeth because he nurses at night. He said, very nonchalantly, "Yes, it's a concern.". He said it's also a risk that he nurses so frequently during the day... said it's the next worst thing after carrying around a juice box. I asked him if we needed to take Lucas to the dentist every few months to monitor his teeth. He said, "Well, if Lucas were doing something that would risk him breaking his leg, would you continue to take him to the orthopedic?" Haha. He always has a way of making a point.

I don't think we'll alter anything as of now. I still think the benefit of nursing on demand outweighs the risk of tooth decay.

Overall he said Lucas was developing excellently and seemed very happy. Lucas was very friendly during the exam, giving high fives several times, pointing to all of the frogs on the walls, and pushing around a truck as he made vroom-vroom noises. After Dr. Wiles examined him he showed him the sign for "more". He cried very pitifully after his shot, but then gave Nurse Janet a high five and selected a Shrek sticker on the way out.

18 Months Ago...

... Lucas was born! Yes, our little turkey is 18 months old today. What an amazing journey it has been so far. Lucas is our sweet boy. Here are words to describe our 18 month old: sweet, kind, competitive, loving, silly, serious, intense, goofy, impatient, bright, curious, cute, smart, short tempered, playful, soft, fast, tough, adventurous, and fearless.

I am at a place how where I can't get enough of Lucas. I miss him when he goes to sleep at night and am happy when I hear him call for me when he wakes up... although it is nice to relax with Jeff for a few minutes every night after Lucas goes to sleep! Seriously though, just when I think Lucas can't get any more fun, he surprises me. We are at a time when we are starting to think of expanding our family, but it's hard for me to envision sharing Lucas's time with another baby. I don't want to miss one second of his life. I remember having the same feelings about Tyson, however, and I found more love in my heart... haha.

We have our 18 month well visit tomorrow, so I've been thinking of things that Lucas is doing in case the doctor asks...

Food: Lucas still nurses 1-2 times during the night, in the morning, before his nap, before bedtime and a few short times throughout the day, especially when he sees me after being away for a while. My goodness, I just counted and that is 6 times, which on average every 4 hours. I recall hearing that they go through a heavy nursing phase before they wean... something to do with needing the security to become more independent.

We offer him solid foods at least 3 times a day, but he doesn't eat that much. I'd say on average he takes about 5 bites before he starts to throw it on the floor. I'm interested to see if he's continuing on the same growth curve and what the doctor says about his eating habits.

Sleep: 9-10 hours at night and 3 hours during the day. Wakes 1-2 times at night, usually 1am and 4am.

Words he uses daily: Mama (ma-MUH?), Dad (dah) and hot (hah).
Words he says if prompted: choo-choo, monkey noises, elephant noises, hi, hello (oh?), Tyson (ta-ta), woof-woof, one, two, three

Signs uses almost daily: more, all done, eat, cat, dog, cookie, ice cream, night-night, book, help, ball, elephant, monkey, itsy bitsy spider, head-shoulders-knees-toes song, thank you, hot, bath, water, please, wheels on the bus, cracker, bathroom, friend, swing, play

Games Lucas plays: chase with mom and dad (signs more to initiate the game and then runs away giggling); runs around the kitchen table during dinner hiding behind his high chair on each round; "this is mine" with Tyson and Tyson's green Grinch doll; builds towers with his leggos and gets upset sometimes if they fall before he is ready; it seems he invents a game almost daily... we'll do something that makes him laugh and then he prompts us to do it again and again and again.

Notable things he has done lately:
- handed the ball to a friend at the park, said thank you, and ran away (he needs to learn the sign for "you're welcome")
- He was really tired one evening after playing in the water outside and I had him cuddled up in a towel when he fell asleep. I laid him on our bed with the plan to let him sleep 1/2 hour or so while Jeff and I ate dinner. I slid a water proof blanket under him, in case he went pee-pee. After dinner I told Jeff that I missed him and that we should go wake him up. When we walked into our bedroom Lucas was already sitting up. He looked at us with a big grin and started showing us the bathroom sign over and over. I think what happened is that he peed and was laying in it, so he thought it was funny, but also wanted us to help him.

Hair: We've been talking about getting Lucas a haircut for over a month now. We made an appt a couple of weeks ago and cancelled it at the last minute. I think we're going to try and snip this one piece that is long on his left side on our own. Jeff keeps asking me to do it, but I'm never ready... I feel like we have to record it somehow and never have the cameras near.

Mobility: Lucas runs just about everywhere that he goes.

Sweet Kisses: Lucas usually gives a kiss when we ask for one, although sometimes he shakes his head back and forth. He gives us each a kiss before going to bed... sometimes even Tyson gets one. He gives us a kiss after he does something "wrong", for example, sometimes he gets excited and hits our face and before we can correct him he plants a big smooch on our lips... how can we get mad after that? Little stinker.

More updates tomorrow after his check-up...

Lucas's New Bedtime Routine

Lucas has developed a new bedtime routine that we probably shouldn't indulge, but we are because it's so sweet and cute.

Just like before, we eat dinner and then take Lucas upstairs for a bath. After his bath he runs around naked upstairs until we can wrestle him down to put on his diaper and pj's. Then we go downstairs and read some books in his room. By reading books I mean that Lucas selects a book and brings it to one of us saying "uh, uh", and the sits in our laps. Sometimes he sits still while read the book, but usually he points to all of the things he recognizes on the pages and then turns them quickly... then he's up to select a new book.

Whenever we think it's time, like when he whines or lays in my lap, we ask him if he wants to go night-night in the crib and have some milk. He usually points at the crib and then starts climbing on it. We remind him that he has to turn on his noise maker, which he does after Jeff picks him up. Next he asks for me to hold him and then he leans back to Jeff and gives him a kiss. Then he starts looking for Tyson to wave to him or blow him a kiss. Lucas and I finally get in his crib .

In the crib he nurses for about 10 min and then gets up and leans over the edge of the crib so that he can see the door and yells, "Dahhhhh! Dahhhhhh!". Jeff is waiting for this cue and opens the door. Lucas grins and reaches for him and then does the sign for "eat" and "cracker". The first time he did this we thought he was actually hungry, but now we think it's just a ploy to get to stay up later. After we give him a cracker we let him run around in the living room for about 10 min. After that time he usually gets fussy and we know it's time for bed. We suggest this to Lucas and he runs into his room and starts climbing on the crib again. This time when we get in his crib it only takes about 2 min for him to fall asleep.

Wilmington Triathlon

Jeff participated in his first sprint triathlon this weekend in Wilmington, NC. The race consisted of a 1500 meter swim, a 20K bike, and a 5K run. In miles, this is about a 1 mile swim, a 12 mile bike and a 3 mile run. The swim took place in a channel system between Wrightsville Beach and the mainland, but channel-schmannel... it looked and felt like an ocean swim. They say that the race is during the incoming tide, so it actually feels like a 750-1000 meter swim because you have the current behind you.

We all got up at 5am so that Jeff could get to the race by 6am. Jeff had a lot of fans cheering him on - Sandy, Dennis, Scott, Lucas and me. When we got to the race it was still dark. Lucas had a fun time pointing out every star in the sky by exclaiming "huh! huh!" as he pointed to the sky. There were 1200 participants in the race, so the air was buzzing with energy. Our friend Jessi was also doing the race, so she and Jeff set out their bikes and caught the bus over to the swim start together. Jeff's official start time was 7:33am. We were there to see him come out of the water and to start his run. He smiled big each time and didn't look tired at all, but as he ran by me on his last leg he said, "This is going to be tough."

He ended up finishing better than he thought he would, so he was happy with his performance. Poor Jessi got caught in a current with a few of the other swimmers for 20 min, so she wasn't as happy with her time. Some of the others that were caught in the current had to get the guys in the rescue boats to help them out, so she did great to get out by herself.

Jeff and Jessi (our workout buddy)

SaSa, Lucas and Tyson at 6am

Lucas and me there to cheer.

Jeff had just got on the bus... Lucas wanted to go with him.

Lucas waiting for his dad to finish his swim.

Jeff at the end of his swim...

SaSa and Lucas trying to keep warm.

Grandpa having fun with Lucas.

Black and white Lucas.

Sweet baby.

Jeff starting his run... still smiling.

Team Schroeder after the race.

10am. Lucas was so tired that I changed a poopy diaper without him waking up!

We have family in Raleigh!

Jeff and I are pretty excited that we now have family in Raleigh (well, Cary). Jeff's cousin's family - Mike, Jill, Max and Ben - just moved down from Virginia last week. Max is 4 and Ben is 2. We've been to their house twice since they moved down... Tyson even has an open invitation since the boys love him so much. Lucas loves Max and Ben... and all of their cool toys. The three of them are cute together. Max must think Lucas is a tiny baby because each time we've been there he has picked Lucas up and carried him to me a few times. He can only pick him up under the arm pits and Lucas's feet are only about 1/2 inch off the ground. Ben is the one that Lucas seems most interested in. Both times we've been there he's jibber-jabbered something that sounded like what Ben was saying. Tonight Lucas pushed Ben, a gesture he reserves for his closest friends. I was about to get on to him, but before I could, Ben pushed him right back and knocked him on his bottom. He didn't cry, but looked shocked that someone had done that to him. Good, maybe he'll learn his lesson! Here are the three partners in crime...

Pullen Park with SaSa and Grandpa

SaSa and Grandpa are in town! We showed Lucas pictures of them this week and he seemed to easily remember who SaSa, Grandpa and Scott were. He's been very friendly with them since he woke up this morning and saw that they were here (well, Scott arrives tonight).

Jeff had to work this morning, so we took Lucas to Pullen Park to ride the boats, train and carousel. He had been on the boats with Ty before, but remember that the pictures showed him being not too sure about them. This time he only made it around one time before he cried to be rescued. He did the sign for "all done". The train and the carousel were a success. After the rides he enjoyed feeding the ducks cheerios. He's such a sweet boy.

He cries out "ma-ma" in this video. I really, really love it when he says this! Usually it's demanding like, "ma-MUH!". He also says "dad", but it sounds like "dahhhh!?".