The 20lb Tornado

We try to make sure the house is pretty clean before going to bed, but by the time I get down to the kitchen to where Jeff and Lucas have been for 20 min, it looks like a disaster. Every spoon, measuring cup, and spice jar is on the floor. If we're lucky we remembered to pick up Tyson's dog food and water before Lucas found them. Jeff says it was caused by our 20lb tornado.

We figured out that it doesn't do any good to get stressed out by the mini tornado, so we're looking at it as a chance to teach Lucas how to clean up after himself. We'll let him play with just about anything he wants, but we try to leave every room clean, so we'll sing a clean-up song before we leave the room. "Spices away, spices away, it's time to put the spices away". Lucas is getting good at throwing stuff back into the drawer and putting the spices back on their shelf.

He is into everything. Here he has my cherry chapstick and potting soil from the plant on his face. I had just told Jeff how much I liked my cherry chapstick.

Mother's Day

We had a nice day yesterday. It started early when Lucas woke up at 5am with a wet diaper that had gotten his pj's a little wet. He usually sleep until 7 or 8, so I changed him so that he wouldn't get cold in wet clothes. That was enough to wake him up completely... ugh. At 6 Jeff got up with him and let me sleep in. Lucas was only wearing a diaper because it was a little warm in our room. I told Jeff to make sure he put a shirt on him before going downstairs. About an our later they woke me up with breakfast in bed (which is impossible with a toddler, so we moved down to the kitchen). See Jeff's outfit selection below. It was a cool and overcast day in Raleigh and after breakfast I was thinking of how nice it would be to curl up on the couch and watch CBS Sunday Morning. Lucas must have read my mind because he took a 2 hour nap from 9-11. Jeff and I started to watch t.v, but it was just too cozy and we decided to take a 2 hour nap ourselves. What a wonderful Mother's Day morning!!

Jeff's outfit selection. Tyson's Halloween costume from a couple of years ago.

Playing with Daddy and his hat. Check out the cape.

Tyson Schroeder as Super Tyson last Halloween

Later On

Later in the day Lucas invited Charles over to go for a swim. It was a little cool, so Lucas spent most of the time playing in the wood chips that surround the bushes they have planted around the pool. He's such a boy.

Wendy and me with the boys.

Charles and Lucas

"Hey buddy, I remember you."

"Hey Charles, have some of my sand."

Charles showing Lucas his diaproval over having sand poured on him...

Belly Sleeper

1 year ago

today

Little Guys

Blane and Lucas at the park

Hangin Out

Lucas, Christopher and Charles

More Play Mommy

Lucas has been on a signing strike lately, so last night I was trying to show him how the sign "more" can be a good tool for him. We were playing a game where I would lay on the floor on my back and he would sit on my tummy as I bounced him around, like he was riding a horse. I would stop and do the sign for "more" and wouldn't bounce again until he did the sign. He caught on quickly and I was stuck pretending to be a horse for longer than I would have liked.

Anyway, last night Lucas was especially restless. Around 3am he decided that he was awake and ready to play. I was kind of grouchy because I wanted to sleep, but I couldn't help laughing out loud when Lucas crawled over to me, sat on my tummy and did the sign for "more". Little stinker!

Bradley Birthday Party

When we were pregnant we took a birth class that taught a natural childbirth method called The Bradley Method. There were 9 couples in the class. 6 of the 9 babies were born within a few weeks of each other. When Lucas was 3 weeks old we got together with these mommies and babies for the first time. We quickly realized how much we needed to lean on each other and were great about meeting every Wednesday for a "play group". When some of us started to return to work we weren't able to meet as much, but we still get together (with the daddy's too) once a month, and we always have emails going back and forth. I have had many moments of feeling confused, lost and frustrated the past year - I can't imagine how it would have been without these friends. Here are the kiddos eating their cupcakes as we sang Happy Birthday to them...

TV Lunch

Sometimes I position Lucas's high chair so that he can see the t.v. and watch a Baby Einstein dvd while eating. I can't believe how much he loves those silly things. He laughs at the same puppets every time...

"Geez Mom, please move out of my way!"

"There's nothing better than carrots and Baby Einstein."

Smells Like Teen Spirit

What "no fear" Lucas looked like in the neighborhood pool yesterday... minus the dollar bill.

Little Swimmer

Twins

Charles and his Mommy and Daddy were able to come over for pizza after swimming in the pool. Charles came over in an outfit that Lucas also has, so I put Lucas's on him and they were twins for the night...

"Hey Charles, you've got to try this stuff!"

Update to slideshow...

Wendy found a website that hosts slideshows to music. Click the link in the post below and turn on your volume. It's more fun with music.

1 Year Photos

This weekend my friend Wendy, Charles's mommy, acted as our professional photographer and took pictures of our little 1 year old. Pictures are just a hobby for Wendy, but these pictures are so much better than the ones an actual professional took that we hired for Lucas's 6 month pictures. Maybe it's just because she knows Lucas, but she was able to capture a familiar expression in just about every picture. She captured perfectly how Lucas is as a 1 year old. Click here to see the slideshow.....

"I can't breathe!"

I had a dream last night that I couldn't breathe. In the dream I was with some friends and I had on a t-shirt with a sweater on over it. I felt like the shirts were too tight and were constricting my breathing so I was trying to take them off. I don't know if they wouldn't come off or if I got them off and still couldn't breathe, but either way I kept dreaming the same thing over and over again. If you've ever had a dream where you were drinking water and it wasn't quenching your thirst, you can relate to how I felt. My brain finally got a message through for me to wake up and open my eyes and guess what I saw... Lucas Bryant was sleeping across my chest. His little belly was laying on the top of my chest and part of my neck while his little arms and legs hung limp on each side of my body. No wonder I couldn't breathe!

More Park Pics

These are from a few weeks ago. Charles's mommy, Wendy, was nice enough to take them for us...

Mr. Serious again...

Lucas with his Mommy...

Big boy climbing up the stairs...

Lucas and Blane taking a break for a sip of water...

Mr. Serious

We see a lot of this face lately. We still see the toothy grins and happy laughs at home, but when Lucas is out in public we mostly see Mr. Serious. When I look back at the past year I laugh at how confused Jeff and I were about Lucas's behavior. When he was 5 weeks old we thought he had reflux (and maybe he did, we'll never know), but we think now that that was probably just his intense personality coming to life. We were both serious little kids, I think, I know I was. I've seen the same look in some of my baby pictures, and even see it now sometimes. We joke that Lucas is all business from the moment he wakes up. Our bed is low to the ground, so when he wakes up now he doesn't play around like he used to. Instead, he goes right over to the edge of the bed, turns around, and backs off onto the floor. He then goes straight to the drawers or phone to start checking them out. If he's "busy" and you pick him up he throws his head back and goes wet noodle on you until you put him down...then he toddles off to check out more things. He has his own agenda...

Swim Class with Mommy

Jeff was out of town for the swim class before last so Mommy had to fill in as L's swim partner. Charles's mommy took some pics for us. Here we are practicing L's kicking. The babies in the water go kick, kick, kick...