And the party. . .

This was the biggest birthday party we have ever given Luke either of our kids, yet surprisingly it required the least amount of preparation and was probably one of the smoothest. We have always had parties either at our home or at a local park because that is what he wanted. This year he wanted a roller skating party. I was down with that except that there was only one rink he wanted it at and it was not in our city. It required driving through a ridiculous construction zone freeway. The last party we went to there we were met with a line wrapped halfway around the building just to get in. But it was awesome because he got out there and did that roller skating thing all by himself.

We got on the computer one night and looked around the internet for fun places to party that were local and easy to access. We chose a place called Leapin' Lizards which was awesome. It had 8 or 9 inflatable play things, a big playground/climbing/slide thing and the party packages included absolutely everything from napkins to party favors. We had a party bouncer that was amazing. He took one look at the party and then knew who belonged and who didn't. Luke kept calling him his coach, as in, "Where is my coach? I need a drink of water." I just can't rave enough about this place and I would recommend it to anyone. When you consider all the things included, the price was reasonable to me--what we would have spent on birthday decor, plates, food, favors.

Will jumping with the big kids

 Will was in absolute heaven. He talked about that yellow castle for days, literally. The kid never stops jumping around on dry, flat, solid land. Putting him in a bounce house was like sending him back to his home planet.

Group shot with Izzy(?) the lizard.

I did my best attempt at a spiderman cake.  Thank you for action figures.

A cute bunch of kiddos.

 This picture below was one of the best features of the party. The kid-mob riot that happens at present-opening time drives me bananas. They had this giant inflatable chair that they plopped Luke in for presents and it totally gave me the space I needed. I didn't get a good shot of it though because I was standing to the back/side.

 When we got home, this is the first present he ripped from the package.

Look out. This kid is five and he means business.

And just for fun. . .

4 years old

Three years old

Two years old

One year old

Minutes old

Rec Center Classes

Every summer, I put the boys in classes at the rec center to keep them busy. This year we went a little light on the class load due to my work schedule, but they are having a blast regardless.

First session Luke had basketball and Will had tumbling.

Luke was so excited on his first day of basketball. He watched a lot of the basketball playoffs with us and roots for Dirk. Here he is with our tiny basketball at home before going to his first class. 

On the last day, they let the parents into class to show off their skills.

Luke is in the red shirt and white shorts. The greatest part about this is that he actually PARTICIPATED in every class! And did everything his teacher asked him to. This is a huge milestone for Luke and we were so proud. He has a history of being really excited to do things but then chickening out at the last minute and refusing to participate.

He was worried about dribbling. He couldn't do it (probably because he only has that tiny, mostly flat basketball at home and can't practice). We really encouraged him to try and talked about how important it is to practice something if you want to get better. Finally in show off day, he dribbled the ball three bounces in a row! He shot us a thumbs-up afterwards.

Our friend Ryan was in his class. Here are the two boys plotting something. . .

Will LOVED tumbling. He loved all the running and climbing. He did everything everyday and loved the big red mats.

I had to do it with him. He's not quite old enough for the beginner class so we did Mommy and Me. This picture describes exactly how I felt most of the class--BLURRY. Will is so dang fast!

(If you can't tell, he's doing a roll. His head is down and feet are up)

Next comes swimming! We just finished up swimming lessons this Friday and both the boys had a blast! Will literally could not wait to go in the gate everyday and threw these gigantic temper tantrums every morning when we would wait for his class to be called to come in. 

He loves everything about swimming except for the fact that you can't quite let go of him in the deep water. He has even started "swimming" at bath time.

Luke has progressed so much from last year!

Here's a refresher from last year. . .

Refusing to put his face in the water. . .

This is supposed to be "snorkeling" but he wasn't buying it.

Clutching to the instructor. . .

And crying on the side. Poor thing. His mom must be real mean to put him through all that.

And now for this year. . .

Happy in the pool.  Ready to snorkel. . .

His face was all the way in!

Swimming with his instructor.

Even jumping in!

Way to go Luke! We are so proud of you!

Catching up: Party at the Park (Luke's birthday, part two)

 Luke's party was at our favorite local park.  He is so easy to please! All he wanted for a party was the park, cupcakes, and balloons. Easy enough for me. Somehow, we have lucked out on his birthday weather every year and ended up with a beautiful day for a party. Last year on his birthday morning when he woke up he said, "Mommy, tell me all the people who are coming to my party." So I listed all the family and close friends we had invited. And his response was, pitifully, "I don't want those people. I only want George*." Of course George wasn't invited because we hadn't invited ANY of his school friends. So this year, you can bet I invited every school friend, church friend, family friend, minor acquaintance, neighbor, and all their siblings and cousins as well. Since it was at a park, the guest list was virtually unlimited. And all the right people showed up!

(*Name changed to protect the innocent)

Luke picked Handy Manny for the theme and all the kids got plastic tools on top of their cupcakes.

Count the four candles for Luke!!  It was really windy that day and we barely got the candles lit, but really all Luke cared about was licking the icing off the top.

And here is the evidence that they were there. . .

Family. . .

Neighbors and friends. . .

When it was time for presents, I felt a little like I was in the middle of this pint-sized mosh pit.

It was so much fun, and Luke enjoyed it. The wonderful thing about having it at the park was that I didn't have to plan any activities or games. The kids entertained themselves the entire time.

A big {LATE} thank you to everyone who came and made this day so special for Luke!

Luke's not the only one who grew in the last year. . .

Will's (now traditional) picture with Aunt Kim--

Hasn't Kim grown up so much??!? And Will, too. We even let him have his own cupcake this year!

They keep growing. . . and growing. . . and growing. . .

This picture was taken on the first day of school this year. . .

And nine months later, the last day of school.

He's grown an enitre brick in nine months!

An Willy keeps growing too. Here he is back in September,



And now. Not so much of a chubby baby anymore--although he never really was chubby--not like Luke was. Will is a lean, mean, climbing machine.  Doesn't sit still long enough to store chub.

This is where Luke took his nap last week. He was supposed to be in his room. He usually plays in his room for quiet time and rarely actually sleeps. He was waiting outside his door for me to come tell him he could get up and I guess he just passed out.  He slept this way for over an hour until I woke him up. 

And more of Will climbing on things. He loves light switches and figured out he could climb the shelves to get to this one. He was discovered when I was investigating the mysteriously flickering lights. 

Trying to get some food. Or attention.  Most likely both.  Standing in his chair doing the sign for "more." 

Luke in my boots 2009 and 2011. What does it say about my style that I am still wearing the same boots three years later??



WonderWill

Poor little neglected blog. These boys just keep me so darn busy--its hard to keep up lately.

Will just turned 15 months. He is into--well, really, on top of--everything. He walks, runs, tries to jump, but mostly, just climbs. His physical skills amaze me. He is on the go every waking minute of the day.  True to his namesake--he is very strong willed. If he is being made to do something against his will, for example, leaving the grocery store today, he will fling himself to the ground. The flinging is usually a backward move and I aim to protect the head. Occasionally, the back bend is so severe, he gets his legs, bent at the knee, stuck behind him. Thanks to his strong will and mobility he is no stranger to injury--generally, head injury.

Check out these shiners:

This picture doesn't do it justice because the protruding goose egg was really impressive and this picture just didn't catch it well.

 And here he has a shiner on the other side and is missing a bit of skin on his nose and lip.

Our collection of places-he's-not-supposed-to-be pictures, as debuted in Mommy's Little Overachiever, continues to grow.

"Talking" on the phone amidst the trains. Will loves Thomas the train. He has his own sign (as in sign language) for Thomas and his own dance for the Thomas theme song. Everything with buttons gets tried out as a phone. Remote control? It's a phone. iPod? It's a phone? Cereal box toy with buttons? It's a phone. You get it.

 He's been working up to this one for a while. It first started by climbing up in the lap of anyone who might be sitting in this chair.  Then he would try to stand up on the arm. We just stopped sitting in that chair. Recently he learned how to get up into the chairs on his own. I think he had fallen once before I got this picture because while I was in the other room, I heard some piano keys plink followed by a whine. When I went to investigate, this is what I found.

 I moved the chair away so that he wouldn't be tempted again. Sweet little Luke, a man after my own OCD heart, couldn't tolerate the way I had left the chair all askew in the playroom. He drug it back into its appropriate position later that afternoon. The next day, Will was at it again--this mountain to conquer.

 He really does have good balance. I decided to wait this one out to see what exactly it was he was after. Did he want to fling the pictures around? Was he after middle c?  Nope, I guess he had just spied a good "sittin' place."

And, for the grand finale, he will attempt a feat of amazing skill, balance, and coordination for you. Once again, the whining gets you caught every time.

With all this work on physical strength, he has fallen behind on verbal skills. Luke was behind at this point, too, so we are not terribly worried.  He is being followed by ECI (Early Childhood Intervention). It most likely is related to all the ear infections he had during his first year of life. He basically had constant fluid built up behind his eardrums for the whole first year. Someone told me once that it is basically like hearing underwater. They removed his adenoids and placed tubes in January, and he has not been sick once since then! (keeping our fingers crossed on that one!) He is making leaps and bounds now. He first started mimicking the sounds for "Thank-you." Word-wise it didn't sound like thank-you, but he had the timing and intonation down. It has progressed to "Da-doo" and he uses it appropriately--when he wants something or wants to give you something. He uses baby signs and has the signs for "more," "please," "all-done," "bye-bye," and we have been working on "cup" and "milk." He knows the hand motions to this song Luke has been singing called "Gimmie Ice Cream" and when we had ice cream tonight, I handed him his cone and he started doing the gimmie, gimmie sign in the song. And, as I mentioned before, he has his own special Thomas sign.

We were outside on the patio one night and I was doing something on my phone. I was holding it up, looking at something, and I heard this sweet little angel voice. So I had to switch to video and catch it.

It's basically his first real, understandable, sounds-like-what-it-is word. CHEESE! And it has so many uses for him as cheese is one of his favorite foods! (Sorry for the crazy lighting--I had to convince him I was really taking his picture by making the camera flash.)

And, lastly, on to my favorite game--Luke vs. Will!

In corner one, we have Will in an honestly unstaged photo moment:

 And in corner two, we have Luke, pulling the same shenanigans years ago!

What is it about the crunchie can that makes them want to put their cup in it? When I saw Will doing it I had to get a picture!

Just around the corner--Luke's 4th birthday! Stay tuned. . .