Who needs a neighborhood pool?

Lucas got this cool little pool for his birthday, but I'm just now getting around to setting it up for him. You hook the hose up to it and water sprays up out of little holes to give a fountain effect. It really wasn't working right because something is up with our water pressure, but Lucas had a ball. He stayed outside for over an hour and would have stayed longer if I let him. It looked really lame to me, but he really enjoyed filling up the cups and then pouring them out. I thought that I could relax a few minutes while he played, but then he figured out that it was more fun if mommy held the blue cup while he poured water into it. Here is he asking to play our new game, "blue cup-orange cup".

Waking Lucas

Jeff and I love it when Lucas wakes up from a nap. He doesn't play in his crib, but he usually doesn't cry either. We just hear sounds like "uh" and "ah" and other talking coming from his room. When we open the door this is what we see... little Lucas hanging against the railing, reaching for us. It takes him a minute to wake up, so we get to enjoy sweet, cuddly Lucas before he starts "working" again. (we say that Lucas goes to work because he acts like he has business to take care of - so intense and focused).

"Mom, do all kids have to sleep in their shoes?"

Sweet Boy

We were just in Lucas's room and Tyson got sick (probably from eating something he shouldn't have). I was quick and put a towel under his mouth so that it didn't get on the carpet. I was holding Lucas at the time. A few minutes later I put Lucas on the floor and he went over and looked at the towel that I had folded up and set by the door. Then he walked across the room and picked up Tyson's favorite toy and took it to him. He usually teases him with it so that Tyson will chase him, but this time he just dropped it beside him. I think he felt sorry for him because he got sick and I was saying, "Poor Tyson, he doesn't feel well.".

What a sweetie. It's so cool that he's at age where he understands these things.

Best Buds

Isn't this cute?

Hat and Spinach

We found this hat in a bag of hand-me-downs that are the next size up. Lucas wore it around all day on Saturday.

Lucas is eating Dr. Praeger's Spinach Patties here. His new fav.

Spice Art

The other day Lucas got all of the spices with red tops and put them on the kitchen chair. Then he stepped back and looked at them and thought about it for a second. Next he ran over and got the two spices with yellow tops. Stepped back. Thought. Then got the blue and the black. Finally he stepped back, looked at them, smiled, and ran away.

Tyson's New Challenge

I've challenged Tyson to step it up to this level.

Looks Like Ty

In this picture Lucas had just gotten into the plant and is getting upset with us for telling him that he can't put dirt on the rug. Jenn, doesn't this look like Ty? Does he have this outfit? I know Ty never cries, but something resembles him.

Starting to Pack

We started packing last Friday. We are procrastinators and so I fear that the moving day will arrive and we won't be ready. We're going to try and pack a couple of hours each night and then a lot this weekend. We close on the 28th and will move the 29th through the 4th.

These pictures are from Saturday. As you can see, we took many breaks to take pictures of Lucas in the boxes and trying on shirts and hats. He had a blast.

Picking Our Battles

Lucas is COMPLETELY OBSESSED with anything small that has a lid. On the top of his list is chapstick, lip stick, vasoline, and Sharpies (permanent markers that we use for writing on the boxes). If we carry him past a countertop that has any of these items he says "uh-uh-uh-uh" and reaches for it. We have to use our quickly improving diversion skills to avoid a tantrum.

This weekend Jeff was playing golf (for Father's Day) and I was packing up some stuff in Lucas's room. Lucas was in the bathroom and I knew it was quiet, but it was so nice to have a few minutes to finish what I was working on. When I checked on him I found him dipping his toothbrush into the vasoline. I could have gotten upset and taken it away from him, but the damage was done and I figured it wasn't that big of a deal... so I got out the camera.

"Hi Mom. Did you get a lot of packing done?"

Vasoline Monster
(make sure you click on this one to make it bigger).

Silly Vasoline hair picture.
We had to wash his hair.

Sound asleep after the fun.

Happy Father's Day

Dear Da Da,

Happy 2nd Father's Day. I love you.

Lucas Bryant

Happy Birthday Ty!

Dear Ty,
Happy Birthday dude. Now we are the same age.
Love,
Lucas

Ty enjoying his birthday cake.

"Shhhh!"

I was just singing a song to Lucas as I changed his diaper. He looked at me, put his finger to his lips and said "shhh, shhh!". Little stinker.

Jeff's Baby Picture

And all this time I thought Lucas looked like me!

Spaghetti and Watermelon

Obsession with the Glider

Maddie Inspired Breakfast

I was motivated to provide a better breakfast for Lucas after seeing what his friend Maddie was eating on a blog picture last week. Lucas is not a big solid food eater in the mornings. I usually offer him a banana and some cheerios, with maybe some oatmeal or yogurt. He only eats a few bites, probably because he nurses for most of the night. That is another story for another day, but on a side note... last night I tried to not use the pacifier because he seems like he's losing interest, but Lucas found a substitute for his binky... so mommy didn't get much sleep. Anyway, back to breakfast. Lucas has gotten homemade whole wheat pancakes and blueberries this week. He still doesn't eat that much, but seems to be more interested in playing with the blueberries than he was the bananas. He's having fun learning to use a fork and a spoon. He occasionally gets a piece of food in his mouth while using them.

So close!

What is up with this hair?
It is growing longer on one side than the other.

Whip cream makes every breakfast better.

Bad Hair Day

Trend Setter

Collared shirt and Robeez. That's it.

Our New Neighbors

There are a lot of things about our new house that make me think that this house was meant for us. On the day that we first saw it we had met our realtor during our lunch hour and had a few houses on our list to visit. This house wasn't on our list, but as we were leaving the area our realtor said, "Well, we're close, so let's swing by this other house." We hesitated because we were in a hurry, but decided to go by there. When we were leaving the house I told Jeff that we had found our house.

Later that week I was telling a friend about it and she said that the address sounded familiar. She called me later and said that she looked in her address book and that one of her friends lived right next door! I really knew it was meant for us then... what a coincidence! Anyway, my friend introduced me to Ele and we all got together for the first time on Saturday. We had some drinks at their place and then walked to a nearby restaurant. It was so fun to be able to walk to dinner.

Ele and Will have a dog named Emma that Lucas loved. He's usually shy around new people, but was running around their house playing with Emma from the moment we arrived. We can't wait for Tyson to meet Emma. They will be backyard buddies through the fence (if either one of them ever go outside).

Jeff and Lucas playing with Emma

Will, Ele and Emma

A perfect ending...

Lucas fell asleep on the way home and transferred easily to his crib. Yes! We were happy to sit down and enjoy our ice cream sundays. My sunday is on the left. Jeff's boring sunday with no nuts, whip cream or a cherry is on the right.

Wow, he gets it!

Lucas now understands just about everything we say to him. I don't know why I'm so surprised. The books say that 14 months is the right time for this level of understanding. I guess it kind of snuck up on me. One day he was a baby and the next he is a little person that I can actually engage in conversation (baby conversation at least).

The other day we were in his room after a bath and he was running around naked. I asked him to please lay down so that I could change his diaper. He walked right over to me, sat down, then laid down and looked at me like, "Well come on, I don't have all day". It was the coolest thing. Last night, however, Jeff and I spent 15 min asking naked Lucas nicely to lay down for a diaper change. We could tell the little stinker knew what we wanted, he just chose to not comply.

He's had a signing explosion lately as well. I remember all of our signing friends (Katrin, Maddie, Lily, and Charles) signing more around 14 months. It's amazing how they pretty much develop along the same timescale. A few months ago we made up a sign for "Sophie". The sign is just making a fist and putting it in the middle of your forehead. We hadn't done it in a few weeks. On Thurs when Sophie and Kristen arrived we were upstairs. When Lucas heard them come in the door he sucked in his breath really fast (like you do when you're excited), looked at me, started hitting the top of his head (his version of the sign), and zoomed down the stairs (backwards on his belly) to greet Sophie.

Another Sophie related story is from yesterday. They were playing with some blocks and you could see that Lucas was getting frustrated with Sophie. She wasn't doing anything wrong, but I guess he didn't feel like sharing. Lucas looked at her, hit the top of his head and then shook his hands in front of him (the sign for "all done"). And then he did the two signs again. It seemed like he was saying, "Sophie, you're all done with my blocks!"

I have a few friends that have blogs (see links to right), and I love to read them because most of the babies are older than Lucas, so I get to see what is coming up in his development and how their mommies handle difficult situations. Katrin's mommy posted something regarding discipline yesterday that I loved. She said "We offer her two choices when we are at a cross roads with her, rather than just saying "No" all the time. For instance, when she is in a parking lot, we say, "Do you want to hold our hand or be carried?" Rather than saying, "No, you can't run in the parking lot." I think this is so smart. I could easily say "no" to Lucas all day because he's constantly exploring and pushing the limits. I think I'd have a bad day if someone was always telling me something that I couldn't do. I thought I'd try this out last night during our bedtime routine. I was holding Lucas in my arms and singing to him while he squirmed to get down. I said, "Lucas, you have two choices. You can either stay in mommy's arms or you can get in your crib." You'll never believe it, but the little stinker pointed to his crib. I'd love to say that he then fell right asleep, but there was another 20 min or so of going from crib to mama and then back to crib. He ended up falling asleep in my arms.

Fun times ahead.

Lucas the Fish

When Lucas woke up this morning Jeff was in the shower. He went straight to the shower door and started banging on it and yelling at Jeff. We figured, what the heck, stripped him down, and let him get in the shower with his daddy. He loved it. There were many tears, well actually just many screams, when Jeff turned off the water. Jeff told him that he couldn't take too long of a shower because it wastes water. Lucas didn't care.

Later this afternoon Kristen took Lucas and Sophie to the pool for a couple of hours. When Lucas got home his friend Charles was waiting on him and we went to the pool again. When we got home at 8pm Lucas went straight in the bath.

So basically he's been in water most of the day! Here is a pic of his morning shower.

We're Moving!

I can finally make a post on our upcoming move. I've hesitated for months because we could not sell our townhouse and I was worried that the deal would somehow fall through. We never did sell our townhouse, but we've found a wonderful tenant to rent for the next year. We're hoping the market won't be as saturated this time next year.

We're very excited about our new house! We close on June 29th and will be moving in the week of July 4th. The new house will only be about 20 min east of where we live now... closer to the city of Raleigh. We've got some good friends that live in that part of town, there are lots of parks we can play in, museums we can visit, and we like some of the schools in that area.

Our current townhouse was built in 2002. Our new neighborhood was a planned community that was developed in the 1920's due to Raleigh’s population growing after World War I. Our house was built in the 1940's. When we found it the builder had tore it down to the frame and was adding on to make it a little bigger. The bungalow style houses from that era were about 1,000 sq ft and we need a little more than that now that Lucas is here. The cool thing is that our builder designed the house so that it maintained it's bungalow style and doesn't stick out as a new house on an old street. We're down to the fun part now of picking out the paint colors and other options. Here is an old picture of the front of the house, but it still looks basically the same. Hopefully a lot of progress will be made in the next few weeks. Notice the old trees in the background. The trees are one of my favorite things about this street.

We've committed...

... to co-sleeping.

I had never even heard of co-sleeping until I saw a couple discussing it on HBO's show, Six Feet Under, before Lucas was born. The character, Lisa, had some other "granola" type characteristics that I liked, so I checked out some articles on the internet the next day. It's one of the subjects, like many baby related subjects, that is highly debated. If you support it you really support it, and if you're against it you are really against it.

When Lucas was a tiny infant we liked the idea of having him next to us, so we bought a little bed that we could put between Jeff and me, but Lucas was protected. When he grew out of that and the bassinet we moved him to the crib in his room. We liked to say that we intentionally put him down in his crib and then into bed with us in the wee hours of the morning, but it wasn't planned or intended... it was just the easiest thing to do.

What we do now is rock Lucas to sleep around 8 or 8:30 and put him in his crib. He sleeps there 4-5 hours, on a good night, and then we bring him to bed with us. We did this in our queen bed for a few months, but it got too crowded, so we moved Lucas's twin mattress beside our bed. Now it's GREAT! I love it. Jeff and I have time to hang out a few hours on our own each night, but we also get to snuggle and bond with Lucas for several hours each night.

I think if I were staying home with Lucas all day and not working that I may need a break at night, but since I work full time and only see him for a few good hours of quality time each day, I look forward to seeing him at night.

Anyway, here is our setup now... notice Tyson's little head on the big bed.

Weekend with friends...

We had a busy weekend, by Schroeder standards anyway. On Friday night Lucas was invited to have dinner with his friend Katie. She is 21 months old. Lucas enjoyed playing with her toys. I took my camera but forgot to take any pictures. On Saturday Lucas met his buddy Charles at Playspace, an awesome museum for children in Raleigh.

DARN PICTURES KEEP DISAPPEARING...I'LL FIX THIS POST LATER...

Lucas's favorite part of the museum was the water feature. He was soaked by the time we left.

Lucas cruising with his buddy Charles

Lucas taking control of the wheel...

After the museum we had dinner at Mark and Wendy's house. Here are the boys getting cleaned up.

As a great day came to an end Lucas and Charles put on their PJs and played with Charles's toys. Lucas doesn't play with any of his toys at home, but he had a great time playing with Charles's. These two were interacting a little more this weekend, but it's mostly still parallel play. When they do interact, however, it is usually because they are defending their territory or one of their toys. They will push each other out of the way or grab a toy out of each other's hands. They do have a few moments of showing us that they are great friends. Charles randomly gave Lucas a hug this weekend, Lucas kissed Charles hand before leaving, and they gave high fives (assisted) when we were leaving.

Charles took a liking to Jeff this weekend. We think it's because Jeff offered Charles his hand early in the evening for Charles to lead him around the house. Here Charles had just asked to sit in Jeff's lap. You'd think that Charles was Jeff's kid instead of Lucas... they have the same hair in this picture.

Blane Playdate

Blane came over a few nights this week while his parents worked late. He is one week older than Lucas. It's fun to have a comparison to Lucas size. Blane is probably going to be tall because his arms and legs are long and thin. Lucas, next to Blane, looks like a little wrestler... thick arms and legs and big hands and feet. If babies are like puppies, Lucas may shoot up one day and be a pretty big boy... his hands and feet are so big. We had to get his first pair of shoes in an extra wide size.

Here are the boys playing peek-a-boo with Tyson.

Barnes and Noble

We have recently discovered the kiddie room inside of Barnes and Noble. They have a Thomas Train table setup in there and Lucas enjoys playing with it. It only holds his attention for a few minutes however... then he is off to check out the books and toys on the shelves. B & N also has a story time for kids on Wednesdays and Thursdays for half an hour. I haven't been yet, but Kristen has taken Lucas and Sophie a few times. She says that Lucas becomes quiet and serious when he's around all of the other kids. He sits quietly in her lap, listens to the story, and scopes out everything going on around him. As you can see from the pics, he's not still and quiet when I take him there!

"These chairs are just my size!"

"Out of the way, Mom. I've got things to do."

And he's off...

How do you not laugh?

Lucas has really been testing us lately. He does things that he knows he isn't supposed to do while grinning at us! Last night Jeff and I were watching t.v. in the family room. Lucas kept trying to walk behind the stereo stand and t.v., which I guess looks like a wire obstacle course to him. He's seen Tyson do it once, so I think that is where he got the idea. Anyway, we must have told him not to do it 10 times. During this we even blocked the entry with his basket of toys, but he persevered and pushed it out of the way or climbed over it. Then he'd quickly go behind the stereo stand and peek around at us with a big grin. We had to turn our heads and laugh. I didn't think discipline would be this hard. I wanted to give him a high five for not giving up, but I had to tell him that he wasn't acting appropriately instead.

"Hi Mom."

First Skinned Knee

Lucas can sympathize with his friend Lily. They both got their first skinned knee recently. We usually go for a walk after dinner... Lucas in the wagon and Jeff, Tyson and I on foot. We thought it was so neat last week that Lucas wanted out of the wagon to walk. We thought for sure that the nearly quarter of a mile that he walked would tire him out and he would sleep well that night. We thought it was a great idea until he fell and skinned his little baby knee. He really looks like a big kid now.

The sidewalk that Lucas walked on that night.

Poor baby!

"Help me sleep!"

Lucas can tell us that he needs help, but right now it's in the form of a whine or a scream. We're working on the sign for "help" since this whining is soooooo annoying (no offense Lucas). Last night in his room he was interested in a fan we had temporarily placed in his room. I showed him how to push the buttons and he was facsinated. He kept walking up to the fan, raising his arms to be picked up, and whining. We showed him the sign for help in hopes that he'd just go to the fan and do the sign. He was trying to do it, but it looked like the sign for "more". Jeff picked him up a few times after showing us this sign. A little while later I was rocking him to sleep when Jeff peeked in the room. Lucas popped up and showed Jeff the sign... so of course Jeff showed him the fan a few more times.

Today Kristen tried to get Lucas to sleep for his nap because I was on a call. She peeked in and told me that he was squirmy, so she was just going to wait until I was done. I could hear him downstairs getting restless. When I walked down the stairs a few minutes later he spun himself around so that he was facing me, did the "night-night" sign and then his new "help" sign. Then he clapped. I'm sure that this is a stretch, but it seemed like he was saying, "Mommy, I'm so glad you're here to "help" me go "night-night".

I'm probably giving him too much credit, but it was cute.