Soccer Stud

Division: U6 South
Team: Victory
Year: Rookie
Jersey Number: 2

Happy 2nd Birthday Luke!

Sesame Street cake.
Birthday Boy.

Party!

Monster truck bouncehouse.

Enjoying Sunday morning cartoons in the forts made of Giant Airblox. The boys are both really loving this gift!

Augustravaganza

Despite the questionable name of the fair, the boys had a good time at our church's summer festival recently. Aside from a carousel ride or two, this was Luke's first time on any sort of carnival rides. He had a great time - what's not to like!? Just look at his face here:
THAT is the look of total excitement, which apparently costs a small fortune, but is really worth every penny.

Summer Vacation 2010 - Holland, Michigan

Like last year, we took a trip to the shores of Western Michigan and had a fun time. The weather could not have been more perfect - partly cloudy and in the low 80s, which is great weather for just about anything you might want to do. We arrived in Holland on Friday morning and left on Monday morning and that is plenty of time in Holland/Saugatuck since there aren't any major attractions or sites to see. It was a pretty laid-back vacation were nothing was planned and there really wasn't anything that just HAD to be done. Other than the beach. Jackson was really looking forward to the beach. We ended up going to three beaches over the course of the extended weekend - Oval Beach in Saugatuck, the beach at Holland State Park, and then we also went to Silver Beach in St. Joe on our way home on Monday. Oval Beach wasn't as crowded, but I wouldn't recommend it since there was a wide stretch of pebbles at the water's edge that really made it uncomfortable - and sometimes difficult - getting in and out of the water.

We also went to the Windmill Island Gardens and to Nelis' Dutch Village, saw a bunch of wooden shoes and windmills, and generally got a lifetime's worth of fake Dutch culture. In between all of that we spent our time eating, napping, and swimming in the hotel pool. One evening we went to a pretty great playground at a city park along Lake Michigan in Holland, which was even more enjoyable because there was some sort of park music event going on at the same time that we were able to enjoy. On Saturday night, we also went to dinner at a restaurant on Lake Kalamazoo in Saugatuck and then stayed for their Venetian night festivities.

The one hotel room for the four of us as a bit of a challenge, given nap schedules and Luke still learning to adjust sleeping out of a crib and in new environments. All in all, it was a nice trip. I really only took vacation pictures when we went to the Dutch places because we were either going somewhere that I didn't want to lug the big camera too or we were going to the beach and I was too afraid of getting sand in or on the camera to take it there. Anyway, here's some pictures of the trip that I did take:

Windmill Island Gardens







Nelis' Dutch Village







Holland State Park (The one time I actually took the camera to the beach)

Let's Talk about Luke

I'm not doing as well writing about Luke's skills, milestones, personality, etc. as I did with Jackson at this stage. I'm busier with two I guess, but that can't be it. Maybe the blog has just lost it's luster for me? I dunno. I feel like the 2 of you who read this blog, don't even know him. To fix that, I'm gonna make a list of random thoughts about Luke, at 22 months old. Yikes, he's almost 2!

- He's cute. I mean really cute.

- He's lost quite a bit of appetite. I can't help but compare him to Jackson and I recall Jackson going through this at one point too. I'm not concerned about Luke's health though. He tends to eat 2 good meals a day - usually breakfast and lunch. He's been more prone to eating small dinners lately. It's fine. I'm not really one to make them finish their plate or anything. He's been thinning out a bit, which is probably good for him.

- Oh boy, can he make some faces! I think he has the most expressive brow on a 22 month old ever. I need to take some pictures of it. It's not something that easy to describe, but you can easily tell if he's mad or inquisitive or confused just by the look of his brow - without hearing him or seeing the rest of his face.

- He's dramatic. I guess he has to put that expressive brow to use.

-He LOVES Dora the Explorer. Like loves it. Chris would probably charaterize this as Luke's biggest flaw because he can't stand Dora. Luke gets very distraught if he can't have Dora and would watch it for hours if you let him. The good thing about this fixation is that we know exactly how to keep him content for long rides in the car.

- He wears mostly 2T clothes, but he still fits in a few 24 month shorts and such. Size 7 toddler shoes. That reminds me, I better check to make sure his feet aren't gettin jammed in those. I haven't done a size check in quite a while.

- He usually sleeps from about 8pm to 7am or 7:30am. He also then takes about a 2 hour nap around 12:30pm.

- If you want him to fall asleep fast, play him some David Gray music. It knocks him right out. Especially Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.

- He still loves Venus and calls her "no-nee", for whatever reason.

- He is in speech therapy one day a week. It's definitely helping, but he's still behind where he should be for his age. He can definitely say a lot more words, but I'm trying to get him to use them more consistently. There are words that I know he can say because I've heard him say it, but in the course of everyday life he's in the habit or prefers to grunt/whine and point. We spend a fair amount of time each day trying not to respond to the grunts and make him say the word. He usually tries to repeat what we say, it just doesn't always come out close. :) I'm kinda anxious to hear what the little bugger is thinking, so I'm ready for him to start talking better already!

- He's been much healthier since the tonsils and adenoids came out. He's still gotten a few colds where he was quite mucus-y, but they never developed into sinus infections like they used to. Better drainage.

- He and Jackson have started to play games together. Simple games, like chase. It's super cute since this is a relatively new development. Before, Jackson wanted Luke to interact with him, but Luke really wanted nothing to do with it.

- Of course, now that they're playing together, we're really trying to teach Luke to be more gentle. He's a brute!

- Even though he's interacting with Jackson more, Luke still doesn't like to be touched by him. He's constantly telling Jackson to "go away", even if it's something as simple as Jackson's foot touching his foot.

- He gets jealous of Jackson quite easily, as one might expect. He can be jealous of just about anything, but I think he gets most jealous anytime he sees me interacting with Jackson. Like, if I'm sitting on the couch and Jackson gets on my lap, Luke runs over and gets next to me and then tries to interject himself between Jackson and I. It's not a lot of fun because he'll step on my/Jackson's fingers/toes/belly/etc. to get in there!

- Luke is in the midst of battling separation anxiety. Of course, there's no way around it - you just have to keep handing him off to daycare/babysitters until he gets used to it.

- I haven't figured out any specific food that he'll automatically reject. But, the boy sure LOVES cheese. There's plenty of mornings where he will only eat cheese for breakfast. Not my idea of the best choice, but it works in a pinch when we are trying to get out of the house on a weekday morning!

- He's stubborn, but I'm pretty sure most nearly 2-year-olds are.

- I'm pretty sure he's getting his 2-year-old molars in. I'm to chicken to get my fingers back there because Luke is the kinda kid that will bite down while they are still in there, but he regularly has a finger or two stuck way in the back and he kinda chews on it for relief.

- Luke is quite sweet and lovable most of the time. He'll always give you a kiss when you ask him and quite often, he'll plant one on you out of the blue. I think we'll keep him!

At Indiana Downs

While Jackson and Chris went camping for the weeked, I took Luke to the horse track. I figured it was something that could entertain us both, and I was right. Luke really stunk at picking the winners, but he couldn't get enough of that place. He can't say "horse" so every time he saw a horse, he shouted "neigh!" Of course, that meant he yelled it a MILLION times - I mean, we were a a horse track and there's a LOT of horses. It was cute the first 10 times or so, but got pretty old, really fast. All the elderly at the track enjoyed smiling and laughing at him though. The track has a family pavillion-side to it, so it's pretty kid-friendly. They have a playground to make it easier for you be willing to lose your money to them! Genius!

July 4, 2010 in Action

Trying to row with a water noodle is difficult, but fun, apparently.

Two words: Water Trampoline!

Even some brotherly bonding was had over the weekend.