Quiet, winter days

Here's what is new with Luc.


-Counts 1, 2...then back to one unless you help him along, then he'll count to 5 with you after a few times to remind him how it goes.
-Points out the letter 'O' on signs in the store, on packaging, etc.
-Says Thank you, Mommy when I do his laundry. He recognizes his blankie and clothes are clean and says "Blankie, all clean! Thank you, Mommy!"
-Loves to help make dinner
-Starting to sit in just a booster seat pushed up to the dining table
-Loves matching games
-Hates laying down to get dressed and insists he stands and help pull the zipper
-Become very opinionated about what clothes he wears and will take something else out if he doesn't approve of my outfit for him that day. He will look for another pair or pants, etc. while telling me "Me no like it."
-Walks up and down the stairs by himself. When Daddy comes home, Luc will walk downstairs, turn on the light, and wait for Daddy to come in the door.
-Hears a baby/child crying in the store and says " Mommy, baby crying. Need Daddy." (while making a frowny face and shaking his head yes, sympathetically.  Apparently, every child that cries obviously needs it's Daddy, not it's Mommy.
-Attempts to 'swim' in the bathtub
-Likes to brush his teeth every night before bed

Luc has started his Terrible Two phase, but it could be worse. He does get a strong opinion about things, but he's more likely to back down if he's not tired. Otherwise, we're in for a doozy. Other than some whiny and a few fake tears, Luc only has a real devilish tantrum maybe once a week, if that.

Since winter is in full swing and we've survived the Polar Vortex, to help keep us occupied after birthday and Christmas presents' excitement have worn off, I have finger paint, pipe cleaners and other kid crafts lined up to discover.  So far foam heads where you decorate the faces is a huge hit. They turned out a little scary, so we'll have to put them out at Halloween time.

Teething Milestone

Yay!!! Luc got his last 2-year molar this week. I am so excited to not have to deal with teething anymore (at least for a few more years with him).

Snow Days & Christmas Preparation

In the rush of Luc's birthday and Thanksgiving between both Frederic and my family, and visiting Nathalie and her family for the 5 days they were in town, we rushed to put up our Christmas tree after Thanksgiving with Luc. The next few weeks are packed with activities and we didn't want to wait too long to get the tree decorated.

Since last year I broke a few glass ornaments, we decided to buy plastic ball ornaments and garland to decorate the tree this year. That way we don't have to worry about them falling and shattering into a million, sharp pieces. Luc wanted to help us put them on the tree this year. But since he didn't quite get the concept of putting the hook on a branch, Frederic would put the hook on the ornament, hand it to Luc, and Luc would walk it to the tree and hand it off to me. Some of the ornaments are full of glitter and it would rub off on Luc's hands. After each time he had to hand me a glitter one, he would run into the kitchen and wipe his hands on the kitchen towels.

Frederic held Luc up and let him put the tree-topper on this year too. For days Luc would remind us and tell anyone he saw that he helped put the balls on the tree.
Luc: "Balls. On. ME!", while pointing to the tree.

Even though it's not officially winter yet, we've already had 2 snow storms. The first was on a Sunday, and we got about 3 inches. The next was 2 days later, and we got another few inches, but it started to melt on the streets in the afternoon. 
We bundled Luc up in his snow pants, coat, boots, gloves, and hat. Once his glove fell off, all bets were off, and we were headed home with a crying child. With his gloves on, he enjoys the snow and stomping his feet in it.

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It's almost like Luc has Tourette's. He's constantly saying "Me do it!" before he even knows what he's agreeing to or if that answers the question. It was cute the first 100 million times we heard it...on the first day. Now, it's old. We're super proud of him stringing words together to form a sentence and express himself, but goodness, what a broken record!

Guess Who's Two!

Dear Luc-Luc,

Another year has passed, and quite quickly at that. You are far from being that tiny little ball curled up on my chest sleeping. It seems every other day I stop and look at you standing in front of me and swear you grew another inch. Your face is also a little more toddler-looking nowadays, yet I still see that puffy, scrunched face I instantly fell in love with two years ago.

Lots has happened in the last year. You've accomplished quite a bit, such as, transitioning from formula to whole cow's milk (after a short trial of coconut milk, which you were just not having), moving up from the bottle to sippy cups, and eating 'real' food instead of just milk for meals and snacks. Utensils are more often used instead of your fingers to feed yourself. You've finally learned to take longer naps (we're now onto one nap a day at 2-3 hours long. I never knew that was possible!). You also sleep through the night without waking from 8pm to 5:45-6am. (Thank you!) You've grown so tall, you no longer fit on the changing table and instead we must put the pad on the floor and break our backs to change you. But you're quickly learning how to take off your own clothing, or at least understanding the concept where your motor skills lack. You've also shown us how well you adapt to change by giving up your pacifier and barely giving a glance back. You've become such a big boy, with such a big personality to match it.

You're still our little clown. And we Love it! Your laugh is more contagious than any disease the world could know. You know how to make a miserable day, or a stressful moment into an innocent bout of carefree fun and uncontrollable joy. You love to be tickled on your neck and love to tickle Momma's feet in return. Whenever you see skin, you run over to tickle.

"Do you want to go outside?" You never say No. You would still much rather live outside than stay inside any building. You take great joy in walking, which you can do a lot of before you even hint at being tired. Lots of times you start to slow down and don't ask to be held until we offer. So strong! Sticks and rocks are like gold to you. As were the leaves this Autumn...that is until you find a better one. Then the first one gets left behind. You always want to go to the playground across the street, where you can climb the ramp and go down the slide all by yourself. ...a million times!

You're crazy about cars, planes, trucks, and trains. You like to play with balls, and sometimes the simplest toys (such as pom-poms and a container) can entertain you for hours and days. Games of Tag, Hide-n-Seek, and chasing are your favorite right now.

Your vocabulary, I've lost track of how many words you say now. You're starting to string a few words together, and I just love how you randomly find ones to imitate. "Oh Boy!" came from Curious George and it took us awhile to learn from where you picked that up. My new favorite, showing your little attitude in response to my request is: "Yeaaa, all right."

You're very obedient. Is it because I put my foot down that we don't play in the trash when you were only 7 months old? Or is it your nature? Or a little of both? Not to say there aren't times when you resist and try to show your independence. On average though, you're very helpful and listen well when we ask you to do something.

We of course think you're super smart for your age, you're the cutest toddler in the world, and do so much that makes us proud to call you our son.

You love playing with other kids and especially love when a girl takes your hand and tells you what to do.  You get along with lots of types of children and when they get to be out of control or too intense for you, you know how to sneak away and play by yourself for awhile. You give other kids hugs and kisses so easily, especially your cousin Kendall. I'm not looking forward to the day when you shy away from being so affectionate.

Though there are times when having an immobile infant was easier, seeing your personality, voicing your opinions, and hearing your little voice speak to communicate are so much more fun. Playing games together and learning the world through your eyes fascinates us every day. We cannot wait to see what this new year brings and how much you'll change and evolve into a little boy.

Love,
Momma and Dada

2-Year Stats:

Weight: 23 lbs 10 oz
Height: 33.5 inches

Bye Bye Pacifier

Day #1
Luc's been using his pacifiers more as a teething/chew toy then sucking on it for comfort. Of course he loves it when he goes to sleep or he's bored. Over the past month or more, I've thrown out about 3-4 pacifiers because he's chewed them apart. Last week he put a hole in his last pacifier, and I told Luc that once this one was broken it is going in the trash and Mommy doesn't have any more pacifiers left.

Newborn Luc

Yesterday, Luc chewed a bigger hole in his pacifier and kept telling my mom all day that it had a 'boo boo'.  Frederic was with me when I picked up Luc from my mom's after work and he showed us his broken pacifier. Frederic mentioned that it should go in the trash if it's broken. So Luc went to the cabinet to open the door where the trash is and went back to get his pacifier. I stopped him on his way over and told Luc that if he throws it away, that's it. No more pacifiers. He took it, threw it in the trash and said 'Bye Bye,' and closed the trash door. He didn't look back.
One the way home, Frederic kept him entertained by pretending to scare one another. Even at the store, he didn't ask for it. The rest of the evening, Luc and Dada played and went for a walk. He once started to ask for it, but Frederic was able to distract him again. When it was time to go to bed, Luc was looking for the pacifier. He had his blanket and thought we had the pacifier on the table. We reminded him that he threw it away at Grandma's because it was broken.
While we were changing him for bed he really started to cry. It was like someone had died. I can understand that. Something he was attached to and 'loved' was now gone. I can see where that's sad and upsetting. Frederic got him a little piece of chocolate, which seemed to shut him up. We did our normal bedtime routine and whenever he made the pacifier motion with his lips, we ignored it. I had him hug his monkey that he keeps in his crib and told him when he's sad to hug the monkey or his blanket. I also told him he we weren't taking his blanket away from him. I kissed him goodnight and said 'night night'. He responded 'night night', laid down and we didn't hear from him until 5:30am.

 Day #2
When he woke up, I went into his room and laid down on the floor next to his crib. I put my hand through the bars for Luc to hold my finger. He didnt' fall back asleep, but he laid there for awhile. His head touched my hand and I guess he was sleepy enough that he thought my ring was the pacifier and started to lick it and put it in his mouth. But the whole 30 minutes I was there he didn't ask for his pacifier. He still didn't ask for it while Frederic was getting ready for work and when he left with Frederic.
Frederic and I decided to give him one of his birthday presents early today as a gift for giving up his pacifier and being a good boy about it. And also as a distraction later in the day when he wants his pacifier the most. 

When Frederic was saying goodbye to Luc at my mom's, Luc handed his blanket to my mom (as is the routine) and then went to grab the pacifier out of his mouth too. Frederic and mom laughed and Luc wasn't phased by it. Luc was good all morning, not even wanting his blanket, until it was time for him to take a nap. He was looking for his pacifier and Mom had to remind him he threw it out yesterday. So Luc went to the trash and started looking inside for it and Mom told him it's gone already. He cried a little and snuggled up on Mom's shoulder. Then she brought him to his crib and he pretty easily fell asleep. He slept 3 hours.

I brought Luc the fire truck when I picked him up. I asked him if he'd had a pacifier that day and he said No with a little sad look on his face. I handed over the fire truck and said it was for being good and Big boy. He was ecstatic!

Luc didn't ask for his pacifier the rest of the day, even at bed time. And he ignored his blanket as well until I handed it to him before bed. Hopefully we can transition the blanket staying in the crib from now on.
We're really surprised how well Luc's doing with this. I think it definitely helped that he threw the pacifier away and we didn't really make him do it. Having the busy weekend the day before I think also helped him separate from the pacifier.
I can actually feel a relief in myself these past few days. Not that I hated the pacifier, but making sure I always had it on me for certain occasions, or that it didn't get lost or dirty, or could find it in the middle of the night under the crib was somewhat stressful. It was something else I always had to remember and keep tabs on. It was also something I started to worry about effecting Luc's front teeth (they seemed to push out more when he started using the pacifier more often) and his speech (when the pacifier was in his mouth he wasn't as vocal and I couldn't understand what he was saying).
*sigh of relief*

Halloween 2013- Lil Monster

The weekend before Halloween, I went to New Jersey with my mom for my cousin's baby shower. Frederic's parent's church was doing trunk or treat Saturday night, so they took Luc there. I had to hurry up on Friday night to finish making Luc's costume.

On Halloween night, we took Luc trick or treating on our street. Only one person thought he was a cow. Whew. I was worried that only putting on two eyes, the horns, and spots made him look more like a colorful cow than a monster. Ah well. I'll do better next time.
Luc had so much fun. He walked up to each house, grabbed one piece of candy unless they told him otherwise, and always said Thank you. By the end of the night he was warming up to things and started saying 'rawr' to people when we asked him what a monster says. Every time he got a piece of candy and came back to the side walk he had to show Bon Papa and Bonne Maman his 'andy' while holding his pumpkin basket up to show them.
We only let him eat M&Ms, but I think he was having more fun sorting the candy when we got home and pretending to give some to Bon Papa and Bonne Maman.
A friend told me what her friend tells her kids on Halloween. Since she doesn't want them to keep all that candy for weeks and get cavities, she tells them after midnight the witches come and take the candy away from all the kids. I think I might start doing that with Luc when he's a little older...or next year.

 

 

 

 

 

Smiling monster

sorting through his loot

Fall Fun

Luc is talking up a storm nowadays. He repeats more and more words and remembers more and more words. He's still attempting to put more than one word together. This usually happens after he hears us say something simple and just repeats it.
Luc now calls Cali by her name instead of 'woof woof'. But it sounds more like "I-lee".

Nothing cooler than playing with leaves. He always has to find a Red one.

Luc is a boy after my own heart. Or is it just something that people born in the fall love the autumn and everything with it? Luc loves leaves, pumpkins (Pum-pums), apples, pumpkin bread, the cool weather, apple and pumpkin picking, etc. I have a feeling he'll love corn mazes too. We didn't take him this year because we were afraid he'd try to run through the corn that was blocked off. The corn maze we usually go to in PA is acres big, and that's just too much space for him to get lost.

Luc being a clown

Last Saturday, we and Dave did our annual Lancaster Tanger outlet outing. It was prefect fall weather to go shopping for deals. Luc made out big with 2 new pairs of shoes, one of which is a pair of Pumas that light up on the side. He's absolutely in love with them right now and refuses to wear any other pair of shoes we've bought him. sigh.

Luc enjoyed the ride on rides around the shopping center.

Last weekend we went to Davidsonville, Homestead Gardens where they had a Fall Fest going on. Luc got to see some animals, pick out a pumpkin, play with bubbles, and put his head through the cutout board. He was most happy because it meant a day outside. 

Sitting on a big rock on Mommy's B-day...holding a stick, of course.