Play at Home Mom

I found this awesome little blog that posts activities to do with your toddlers. Luke has enjoyed so many of the activities, however, his absolute favorite is dyed shaving cream. He has played with it for at least 2 hours everyday this week. We have gone through 2 dollar store cans of shaving cream. Who knew?

He also enjoys playing with playdough:

Jumping Bean

Luke discovered that the crib mattress was raised and figured out a way to climb in and then began jumping like the wild man that he is.  I probably should have stopped him but that little giggle and grin was too cute and so I just stood beside the crib and allowed it. 

I made a few changes in the nursery and still haven't hung anything on the walls but for the most part it is ready for little Alex's arrival.  I painted the walls the same light gray that I painted Luke's dresser, made new curtains and a few other things to make it different for our new little man.  By the way, he will be here in 11 days or less!!!!  I can't wait to meet him!

We did it!

Luke is sleeping in his big boy bed!  Many thanks to his awesome daddy who spent a night in his room teaching/comforting him to sleep.  The most amazing thing is when we put him in his bed he understands that it is bedtime and not to get out of the bed unless we come in there and get him.  He has actually grown to love his new room and bed.  We ended up putting him in his pack-n-play for a few nights and our little man-child learned in those few nights to climb out so we realized we were going to have to buckle down and teach him to sleep in his bed.  I am shocked that one night was all it took. 



Working out

I took these pictures when we were at Grana and Papa's house for 4th of July but just found them on my camera.  One of Luke's favorite things to do there is play on their Gazelle.  I thought these were just too cute of Derek and Luke working out together. 



Luke's Big Boy Room

After spending the past month painting and sewing we are nearly done with Luke's big boy room.  I just have a few more projects to complete.  This was definitely a "work with what you've got" situation.  I seriously feel like I have spent a couple thousand hours in his room painting.  I painted the walls, the dresser (light gray), the bed (dark gray), the curtain rod (navy), the rocking chair (navy), the gallery wall picture frames(dark gray), and the canvas (dark gray).  I made the curtains, the bedskirt, the lamp and most of the art prints on the gallery wall.  Here it is in its current state:

I need to post a before and after on the dresser.

My handy husband hung the roman shades.

My very homemade curtains. Luke put his Bible in the rocking chair for my pictures ;)

I covered this lamp in twine like I plan to do with some lanterns to hang above the other end of the dresser.

Some of our friends gave Luke this wooden Louisville Slugger with his name, birthdate and birth stats engraved on it. The wood letters are from his nursery.

I have a huge (50x38) world map to hang above the dresser but I'm having trouble finding a poster frame for that size that doesn't break the bank.  I also plan to make a little pillow for the rocker and I have some navy seersucker to make bolster pillows for the bed.  I also want to make a few of these lanterns in a few different sizes to hang above the dresser.

The transition to the big bed is not going so well. He has taken 2 naps in the bed but if he wakes up he is quick to jump out of the bed and come find us. The last few times we have tried to put him asleep in there he freaks out. He has always been a creature of habit and change generally affects him more than your average bear. He has slept in the crib in the nursery for nearly 2 years so that is what is comfortable to him and the way he thinks it should be. We decided we aren't going to make too big of a deal out of it.  If we have to when Alex arrives we will put Luke in the pack-n-play in his room to teach him that he now sleeps in his room.  Maybe he's just not ready.  Since he has always been a great sleeper I am really hesitant to do anything that might change that.

22 Months

loves to wear my "gwasses"

water table at the mcwane center

loves to climb into everything

the splash pad/pool in Troy

watching TV with daddy

start 'em young

serious phone coversation...notice Derek's watch around his elbow

wearing a hat like daddy

new haircut

loves playing with blocks

chef Luke

McWane Center

Last weekend we traveled to Birmingham to spend time with friends before our summer came to a close.  Jessica and Leah were in town visiting Jessica's parents so Luke got a lot of play time with Leah.  We took them to the McWane Center on Saturday morning.  I was concerned it was going to be a little too old for Luke but there was plenty for him to do and he loved it!  At one point he climbed to the 5th story of the playground and this 32 week pregnant momma had to climb in there after him .  I am sure it was a sight to see.  He is quite the little daredevil. 

That evening we met some good friends at Jim n Nicks in Gardendale to celebrate the arrival of little Alex.  We got lots of diapers and wipes and are so grateful for our sweet friends who are so generous. 

Leah and Luke watching TV

Leaving for McWane

The water table...I think we could have spent the whole day here



Digging for dinosaur bones

Celebrating baby Alex with some sweet college friends

21 months

This is going to be a catch-up post. Luke is now 21 months and he is soo much fun. Some things about Luke:

-We must say the blessing before we eat. Most meals we have to hold hands and say it more than once. After we say 'amen' he throws his hands up like a referee calling a touchdown
-He has started dancing again and is a dancing fool. Every time he hears a beat he starts doing what we call the one-armed chicken dance.
-He is a fan of Jake and the Neverland Pirates. We have finally found a show that he will sit still and watch.
-Hitting a baseball off the tee seems to be his favorite game to play.
-He still calls me 'da-da' and Derek 'daddy'.
-Pointing to my very pregnant belly. I don't think he understands that there is a baby in there but he definitely notices.

Other things:

Silliness with daddy

Helping daddy move his classroom

First haircut

Rides at the mall with Grana and Papa

Falling asleep in the nursery at church

 

Ready for a bike ride

Thirsty at the beach!

carousel at Pier Park

Airplane ride at Pier Park

Splash pad in Gardendale

Eating cupcakes

Training to be a triathlete

Mother's Day Out

Luke's first day, he went straight for the ball!

Luke started Mother's Day Out at our church last Thursday.  He will go two mornings a week.  He loves to play with other kids and has been so excited both times that I have dropped him off.  He has never been one to cry when we drop him off and usually he is quick to say "bye" when we do.  I guess he is confident that we will come back and get him.  He is in the 2 year old class so he is the youngest one.  I am hoping it will help improve his vocabulary and communication. 

Summer officially ended for us today as Derek went back to work.  We had an awesome, busy summer and will miss having daddy around.  I have so many things to catch up on and hope to use some of this MDO free time to catch up on blog postings!