A Line in the Sand

(Yeah! I finally found my camera cable! Funny, it was in my laptop bag. Who would have thought to put it in such a logical place. Surely it was not me!)

Since Will first became mobile, we struggled with the idea of giving Luke his personal space and a place to go away from the baby versus giving Will free reign regardless of where he chose to wreak his havoc. We initially decided that Luke's room could be his own private space where he could go and shut the door and be alone if he needed it.  However, this quickly turned into a lot of slamming doors and unnecessary drama as it evolved from a space Luke could go to be alone to a place Will wasn't allowed to go and wasn't allowed to touch anything. As Will got old enough to care he began to get his feelings hurt by the slamming doors and Luke started to stash toys in his room just to keep Will from playing with them. I became increasingly irritated with the situation as it escalated to Luke absolutely having a fit for the two minutes Will would be allowed to be in his room while I helped him get dressed. There were tears on all sides of this battle.

Back in February, when we had the blizzard of 2011, we were cooped up for quite a few days. Luckily, the first day I had to go to work. (Luckily? I don't know about that.) As I prepared to be home with the boys the next day, I decided I had had enough of this behavior. I started talking about it the night before to Luke--about how the slamming doors hurt Will's feelings and about how he should start letting Will come in and play. Luke didn't think I had any good ideas. So the next morning, I drew a line in the sand. I said no more shut doors and Will could touch/play with whatever he wanted. He could have his alone time with the door shut during quiet time and that was it. I told him it was too cold to shut the door. (I do have a reputation around here for coming up with abstract and inane reasoning to get my kids to do what I want--but this one had merit. Luke's room is the coldest in the house and it was 17 degrees outside.  I couldn't let the kid freeze!) 

This was initially met with resistance but I held my ground (silently giggling inside).

The door must remain open.

Nope, you can't block his way either. . .

. . . put your arms down. . .

You can't smush him up against the wall either. . .

And that was it. All smiles from here on.

 Luke even gave Will one of his most coveted toys.

I was a little surprised. He put up a good front initially, but once he gave it, there was not a single problem. The whole day went smoothly as did the next, and the next, and the next.  A little surprised is an understatement. I was actually stunned that this worked. But it did and now the two are playing together like peas and carrots.

As for the rest of the wintry weather--

Well, it was 17 degrees outside. I was not taking anyone outside who refuses to wear mittens and hats . . . ahem, WILL. I stood outside in the wintry weather waiting on the train for long enough to get my fill of the snow.  Luke didn't really ask to go out, so we didn't. 

But we did try on funny hats! I love funny hats on kids! They just make me smile.

But it didn't last long, as I knew it wouldn't.

Will was permitted to look at the snow. (I know, I'm such a good mom, right?)

And once the weather was above freezing, I bundled them up as much as they would allow, and we went out for an afternoon at the boys favorite park!

Santa stopped here!

Luke was soooo into the holidays this year and really looking forward to Santa Claus visiting our house. He loves Christmas lights, Christmas trees, and knows tons of songs. We visited Santa when he was at the mall the week before Christmas and Luke asked him to bring him some cars. Well, I guess Luke was on the good kid list because Santa did not disappoint. He got a kitchen with lots of accessories.

I'm not sure if you know this, but this kitchen actually serves another purpose other than for kitchen play. It is really great for parking cars in! For the first few days, he kept emptying it out and filling all the doors with his expanding collection of cars.

Luke is really good at talking Gene and I into buying him little Hot Wheels when we are at the store. They are super cheap--usually less than a dollar, and its an easy reward when he's being extra good. The only thing Luke likes more than getting a one car is getting a multi-pack of new cars! Here he is getting a 20 pack! Lucky dog!

Playing cars in the aftermath of Christmas morning. He is going to be a GREAT valet driver someday.

Will fell asleep in the middle of all of this.

The only thing left to do was bundle up and go play in the snow!! Luke was really excited about playing in the snow.

This is my favorite picture of the whole day!!

Daddy & Luke having a snowball fight!

They even made a snowman!

Let it snow,let it snow. . .

Merry Christmas Eve!

As tradition, we spent Christmas Eve at my parents. Just like the rest of the nation, we got to experience some of the crazy winter weather.

Never in my life have I seen it snow around here like this! This was the first blizzard warning this far south in Texas--EVER!! And of course, we had to go out and drive in it. The trip to my parents usually takes about 45 min, but it took us an hour to get there and two hours to get home. Once we got home, it took us three attempts to get the car to go up the incline of the driveway--and its not that steep!

Will got all bundled up for the trip out to my parents.

One of Luke's favorite gifts he got on Christmas Eve from my parents. Here he is enjoying it on the floor of their kitchen. He is really, really into cars--Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Cars Movie. . . all of it. He got this giant semi truck that holds a ton of cars and came half filled with cars. Immediately he unloaded the cars and assumed the position. He always lays down like this to line all his cars up in parking lot rows.

The Cra-Z-Art set from Luke's cousins was also a winner around here. As soon as we got home we had to whip out some paper so we could try out all the colors.

Due to the weather, we decided to skip Chrismas Eve service so we could head home before it got too late. We went ahead and put on our church clothes and took a family picture anyway. It took quite a few shots for us to get a family picture in which Luke was not a blur. Its hard for a two year old to stand still. This is one of the best ones we got.

Luke & his Pop Pop

This is what we came home to--a thick blanket of snow covered our backyard.

Sweet dreams!

P.S. Happy Birthday Nammy!