More of Lucas and Mateo

I just love watching Lucas playing with his friends!

11 Months

Hi Jesse,

This past month, in three haiku's: (Warning: I never claimed I was good at this!)

Two more teeth make six.

Your mouth occupied in prep:
words, roars, wet kisses.

Spring is bittersweet.
Warmer days are coming soon.
With them, no more babe.

Holding you is bliss.
Round, solid, snug in our arms.
Never let you go.

About that last line: we mean it!

Love, us

Whee!

Jesse At The Park

Jodi, Brandon, Jakelynn and Lucia

Lucas's preschool was closed last week for a mid-winter break. We had originally planned on joining Tata, Maquin, Liam, and the Abuelos in Puerto Rico during that time but in the end the trip didn't work out for us.

Missing our family members and getting tired of the cold and the same-old routine, we were starting to feel sorry for ourselves when our (other) southwestern friends came to visit for a few days! Playing together and catching up and getting to know each others' kids a little better was just the right medicine! Thanks, guys!

Look at this gorgeous family!

The girls loved holding Jesse...

Lucas can't stop telling stories about Luci and Jake. We miss you all!

You Are My Sunshine

All this interaction with the camera has gotten Lucas more excited about making videos and seeing himself perform. The other day he came up to me out of the blue and asked if we could record a video of him singing a "happy, beautiful song." So we walked over to the dining room where the light was brightest, sat on the floor, and here's what he sang:

Lucas And The Camera

Sometimes I let Lucas take the digital camera and play around with it (dangerous, I know). His favorite thing is to turn it on, place it on the floor next to his train tracks, then lie down and watch through the camera display as he makes them pass by the viewer.

I love to see what surprises turn up when I upload the pictures later:

Lucas And Mama

L and I have been having a lot of fun with the camera lately (more videos to come!). He especially liked when we turned the camera around on ourselves like this:

The Peanut Song

The live versions of the song you read about earlier.

Our camera allows for just 1 minute of recording time, so here it is, continued:

Compost

Lucas is learning to distinguish between what goes into the trash, what goes in the big recycling box (he and Papi go down every week to the bins in the alley to sort), and what goes in our compost bucket before being sent to the larger compost at the church. He seems to understand that food goes back into the ground to give it vitamins so that our garden can grow and be healthy and so that it doesn't go to waste in the dump.

Out on the front porch Papi and I found that Lucas had placed these uneaten apple slices in the (now neglected) pots that usually hold herbs for most of the year. He later explained that he put the apples in there to help the garden grow! You're starting to get it, Lukie!

Happy V-Day!

Relief

Relief from the bitter cold weather has continued all week. It's great to leave the windows cracked and release the stuffy winter air. It also means as many visits to the park as possible!

Speaking of relief... Local small park = no public restrooms, so Lucas has learned to pee while standing up on whatever little patches of grass are available. When you've gotta go, you've gotta go!

In other potty-related news, Lucas has returned to doing #2 in the toilet! He's back! (And now he'll get a new wooden train, as promised. We never thought we'd use bribery but sometimes desperate measures have to be taken, right?)

First Dental Visit

This was the cutest!

We started to notice some staining on Lucas's teeth from all the antibiotics he's had in the last few months (including a recent 21-day course for a sinus infection - eek!), so we made an appointment to see the dentist. For weeks we've been reading library books about going to the dentist office. As a result he's become passionate about brushing his teeth throughout the day (twice alone before bed!) and will sometimes let me floss them for him.

Lucas was so excited to finally be able to sit in the special chair and say "ah" and rinse and spit into the bowl! First, Captain Sky (the dentist was decked out in an orange space suit) called Lucas's name in the waiting room, and led him to a darkened space room complete with Star Wars the movie playing on the t.v. and a revolving planet mobile hanging from the ceiling.

Then he let Lucas play with his tools and try out the "magic straw" (suction tube) before counting his fingers then moving on to counting his teeth. When asked, Lucas wasn't sure about how many teeth he had but he did share with the doc that Jesse had 4! [Number 5 has made its way out but it's not so easy to see just yet.]

Before turning on the spotlight he gave Lucas a pair of sunglasses to wear (Lucas's favorite part). He thought the chair that moved back and up and down was fun as well.

Such a little boy doing big people things!

As usual, Lucas did great and had everyone laughing with his hilarious commentary. He asked Captain Sky if he could see a black train in his mouth! (The dentist answered no, but he definitely saw a red caboose.)

His teeth are now so clean and shiny and healthy! He begged for a new blue toothbrush before the dentist could even get around to offering.

A proud and beautiful smile. Astronaut Lucas will be back in 6 months!

Guitar

Here's what Lucas is singing while he strums:

"A peanut sat on a railroad track,
His heart was all a-flutter...

Along came a choo-choo train,
Uh-oh, peanut butter!

Splat!"

Chunker

We notice all the time how scrawny Lucas has become in the last year (especially next to Jesse) even though he used to be such a porker (and he eats like a champ). The weather has warmed up a tad this week, but it's not enough to shed the layers... I need to make ways to see and show Jesse's delicious chubbiness before it disappears too soon!

These pictures were taken after a particularly messy lunch (the boys actually eat two "lunches" every day -- one before naptime and one after!). Jesse was so covered in goo that there was no other option but to plop him in the bath. And of course Lucas didn't want to miss out on the fun.

He's In

Jesse knows that Lucas's blankies are dear to his big brother. And though Lucas is really great at sharing his toys with others, when he offers one of his blankies to share, you know that there's something really special going on between the two of you. :)

On this day I caught Jesse right after he had snatched Lucas's blankie from under him. I waited to see how Lucas would react...


Lucas yelled, "Hey!" then snatched back his blankie. To our surprise, instead of crying, this made Jesse laugh, which softened his brother.


Then it became a game. Lucas offered his blankie back to Jesse (who promptly plopped it in his lap before tackling Lucas's head).

Jesse, in the rare case that you ever have any doubt about whether or not you're in with Lucas, you'll always have the blankie test!