New blog website

Hello everyone!  The hardest thing about keeping up with this blog has been finding the time to update it.  So I’m trying something new, I got a tumblr account, which is like a mini-blog where I can post pictures from my iPhone and keep it updated frequently.  The website is:

http://jnashlittle.tumblr.com/

I’ve updated it with new pictures and a new post… so check it out!  I think it will work well, but if not I can always use this site.  If you want to follow that blog, I think you have to sign up for a tumblr account (which is really easy) but if you don’t want to then you can just check back in regularly.  I can also send a reminder on this website every once in a while as well.  Hope this works!

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Catch up!

Wow, this is the longest time I have gone without a post… life has been so crazy!  Lucas is growing so fast, he will be 2 very, very soon, which is so hard to believe.  He is QUITE the active toddler and we are exhausted just trying to keep up.  I’ll try to do better at pictures and updates.  In the meantime, here are some good videos while I play catch up:

 

Lucas’s hilarious scary face…

Helicopters!  Airplanes!  At the Air and Space Museum:

Honing his dance moves with the car radio:

Kicking the ball… he loves to kick these days!

Lucas with one of his best friends Rosie:

More Rosie and Lucas time:

Happy Halloween!

(I wrote this back in November and never posted it!  I’m playing catch up now… sorry!)

We had a great Halloween, once again teaming up with my creative neighbor (lucky me!).  We had a new boy only a month younger than Lucas move in the neighborhood and he too joined our Halloween theme.  We were a bit nervous that we peaked too early last year with Luke and Han Solo, so the pressure was on.  In the end we decided to have them go as Hobbits.  It was a pretty hilarious sight!  My neighbor made the vests and capes and I helped with swords and other accessories.  Our third neighbor came up with the feet idea, but I have to admit Lucas was only willing to wear those for a short time… luckily enough time to get some good pictures taken.  We then joined up with some other neighbors and walked around to different houses.  Lucas had is regular shoes on, and I was so surprised that he just jumped right in.  He marched up to houses with the rest of the gang leaving us behind.  He didn’t ask for candy, instead just watching the other kids trying to figure it all out.  We also didn’t give him a bucket cause he wouldn’t have eaten it anyway, but I have a feeling next year he is going to be all about it.  He didn’t want to leave, he just wanted to keep walking around!  He also loved all the costumes and decorations… his favorite were GHOSTS.  He would say GHO!  Really loud and deep with is mouth a perfect O.  He still points to places where their were ghosts and loves books and shirts with ghosts on them (I bought him a Ghostbusters shirt and its now one of his favorites!).

In the last post I also mentioned Lucas has two obsessions.  One is a love for airplanes and helicopters.  He can hear them coming way before we can and he can tell by the sound whether its an airplane or a helicopter.  If its a helicopter you better sweep him up and take him outside cause he gets SO excited… he’ll be laying down almost asleep and hear a helicopter, then he’ll jump up and point to the window saying helicopter, helicopter, helicopter!  So we took him to an airplane museum a few weekends ago near our house and was in hog heaven.  The videos really said it all… in December apparently SANTA is arriving by HELICOPTER… and we are so there.

Lucas’s other obsession is our neighbor Isaac, who you have seen before.  He wakes up saying Isaac, we walk by his house and he points to Isaac, he goes to bed saying Isaac… the other night they were not home and Lucas just walked up to the door and started banging on it.  When Isaac comes out, Lucas starts squealing and runs to see him.  Isaac does the same… they are SO cute together.  They run around and look and laugh at each other.  The other day we were at their house and they were playing a game running from one wall of the house to the other.  Isaac would run and hit the wall, then wait for Lucas, then Lucas would do it, they would laugh and do it all over again.  There isn’t any other kid that Lucas gets so excited about.  We feel so fortunate to have them near us and that they play so well together.  Every night when we get home you can find us outside playing.  Now that the time has changed we’ve been contemplating flood lights and reflector vests for them cause we just can’t give up our evening playtime outside with Isaac.  It is really fun watching them grow up together!

Pumpkin patch

Winter fun

Happy Halloween!

A visit from GiGi (great-grandma!)

Future basketball player

Piloting his first plane

My superman

Lucas's other BFF, Rosie, with my good friend Shana

Rosie and Lucas at the Arboretum

Lucas and Isaac, double trouble

Isaac plants a kiss to say he was sorry... even best friends squabble every once in a while

Happy Fall Y’all

Its Fall and we’ve been very busy since the last post.  First, Mor Mor has now come to visit twice, once around Labor Day and second just last week.  Also in September, I braved a solo flight to Georgia with Lucas.  I was heading down to see the Dawgs play South Carolina (a heartbreaking loss as it turns out) and decided to bring Lucas so he could see my grandparents.  Mor Mor met us at the airport and took Lucas down to LaGrange while I went to Athens.  Apparently he had a blast with Mimi, Great Grandpa, Aunt Clarice and Mor Mor.  I know it was special and despite the extreme DIFFICULTY at keeping him still during the flights, it was worth it.  We also went to West Virginia for a weekend and had a blast with Rose Mary.  The weather was great and she had many trucks and toys for Lucas to play with… it was Lucas’s first trip there and it was really special.

Meanwhile Lucas keeps growing by leaps and bounds.  Just in the month between visits, Mor Mor could not believe how much he looks like a kid rather than a baby.  He is SO tall and his face is starting to lengthen (he still has those cheeks thankfully).  He understands so much… if you say go get your shoes or let’s go eat or where is your truck he will always respond appropriately.  His daycare provider said that she gives Lucas a cup and says, Go take this to Nolan, and another to someone else and someone else.  She said he never gets it wrong and always gives it to the right child.  He now knows where his belly, foot, and teeth are.  But beware, if you ask him where his belly is he will insist on seeing yours as well, no matter where you are.  Our days are filled with much of the same routine: get up, go get a treat (teets as Lucas says) for Tucker, eat breakfast, go outside and play, usually play with the neighbors, eat lunch, get a treat for Tucker, take a nap, go outside, usually play with the neighbors, come inside to eat dinner, go get a treat for Tucker, play chase with us all around the house, bath, chase all around his room with Tucker, and finally bed.  Sprinkled in between are reading his books about trucks and airplanes and helicopters.  I’ll have to create a separate post just to cover his new obsession with trucks and airplanes and helicopters.

Lucas has also really begun talking in earnest now.  His words are as follows:

Treat (teet), teeth (tees), cheese (chees), Mama, Dada, Go, Tucker (Uh-ka), all done (ah dah), Diddle diddle (I know, its not technically a word but this is what he calls all large motorized vehicles like trucks and buses), hot (haaa – said over and over with mouth wide and hands spread out), shoes (shooz), Isaac (Iiiiiisaaaac, our neighbor’s son and Lucas’s BFF), agua (babua), squirrel (quirrel), apple (aahhhpple), night night (ni ni), baby (bee bee), and helicopter (codacopta).

Yes, that last one was helicopter…. it makes no sense and no one else can tell that is what he is saying, but I’m telling you the boy says helicopter.  Did I mention his obsession?  He is also so adorable about our neighbor’s son Isaac.  Every time we go by his house he says Iiiiii saaaaac and wants to play with him constantly.  They both get so excited to see one another.  They will hug, kiss, and of course push and smack each other too.  The other day we were at the park and Isaac fell down and started crying.  Lucas ran to him looking so concerned.  He patted Isaac’s mom’s leg since she was holding Isaac and she ended up comforting Lucas along with Isaac.  It was adorable.  We are so lucky to live in this neighborhood… there are so many kids and almost every evening you can find a big group of us outside playing in the yard and the street.

We have alot of fun times coming up, including Lucas’s 18 month doctors appointment (I can’t believe it), a visit from Tom’s cousins and Gram, and Halloween.  We are working hard on his costume, last year’s Luke Skywalker is tough to beat.  I’ll be sure to post pictures soon after.  In the meantime, enjoy catching up on pictures and videos!

The beach is tiring stuff

Mama that is ticklish!

Woah, what is that??

A diddle diddle!

Let me tell you...

What's in your pocket Great Grandpa?

Say what?

Blowing bubbles with Rose Mary

Love Tucker

Getting chilly!

Best friend Isaac

"I'm sorry I hit you buddy"

"Dude, no need for kissing!"

New table just my size from Mor Mor

Fall fun

Rosie and Shana

Punkin Patch

Family fun on the farm

Hayride pulled by a TRACTOR

Here moo cow!

I love almond butter!

Sweet boy

I’m totally backlogged on posting pictures and videos, so this might take two posts.  Since vacation we’ve been laying low, and Lucas getting a really, really nasty stomach bug helped with that given we could not leave the house for 4 days.  Poor baby lost more than a pound!  We know this because we went to his pediatrician for his 15 month appointment on day 4 of the bug.  To add insult to injury, they gave him 3 shots and she saw that he had an ear infection.  On that following Wednesday he face planted on the front sidewalk and got his first head boo-boo.  He was fine, cried for about a minute till he saw the gate and then immediately wanted to latch and unlatch it over and over again.  But it was just not his week!  At his appointment he weighed almost 26 pounds and measured 33.5 inches long.  Yes, you read correct, 15 months and 33.5 inches long.  He really looks more like a 2 or 3 year old, especially now that he is walking.  And boy is he walking!  Running sometimes.  He is doing so well… I am going to post a few videos that show just how much he has progressed in walking, as I realize I haven’t posted enough of this new talent.  He really never crawls anymore, unless he is pushing his dump truck or train around on the floor (which he is doing quite often).

This weekend we had one of the most fun weekends I’ve had with Lucas.  We went to the fair and saw all kinds of ANIMALS!  And he was SO excited.  He pointed and wanted to touch them all.  We saw horses (when one of them snorted he laughed hysterically), sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, roosters, cows, longhorns, ducks and bunnies.  He got to touch a cow and a pig’s tail (it was hanging outside the fence… poor pig).  He waved at the cow and got so excited to touch it.  I think a petting zoo is in our future.  We went with friends whose daughter is 5 months younger than Lucas.  We also rode our first merry-go-round, which was met with a lukewarm response, he was done with it before it was over and was frustrated he had to sit still on the horse before it started.

Today it rained with a huge thunderstorm, which he found interesting.  It always amazes me how much he has to learn about the world and it is so humbling and awesome to be a part of him learning it.  He pointed to the sky when the thunder boomed and wanted to touch the rain falling from the sky (since it was lightening we didn’t let him run around in it).  After his nap we went to the park and for the second time this week he got a treat… PUDDLES.  On Monday we went to the park with our neighbor Carrie and Lucas’s BFF Isaac.  There was a great big puddle there… Lucas found it first but Isaac was right behind him.  They had an absolute blast getting filthy and wet.  We had a hard time dragging them out of it!  Today was no different… the video is below.  I also have some footage of his other new favorite pastime, walking Tucker.  Tucker is of course still #1 in Lucas’s book, so now that he can hold his leash and walk Tucker, forget it, that is all he wants to do.  We have a hard time getting him to get in his stroller so we can walk to the park!  He is non-stop going, busy all the time.  And its a complete blast!

Not feeling well...

First big boo-boo... what a week!

Its a PUDDLE! Double trouble with Isaac

More walking Tucker

Poor pig

Look, its a pig!

And a cow!

And an alpaca! (I think)

I don't want to sit still and wait for it to start!

Get on with it!

This is okay....

Okay, get me off this thing!

Vacation in New England

We just got back from a great vacation visiting family in Maine and touring in New Hampshire and Vermont.  Because we are insane, we drove and took the dog too.  Just call us the Griswolds!  We spent two nights on the way up in NJ with Gram, then drove to Portland to see Tom’s cousin Kathy and her family.  They have two girls who both adored Lucas and we adore them.  It was so fun to watch the cousins together.  We went to a parade that was part of the Yarmouth Clam Festival, to the beach, and to downtown Portland.  Lucas LOVED the beach and the girls loved playing with Tom in the water and the sand.  The weather was just perfect and we had a really wonderful visit.  I now understand why they brave the winters because their summers are perfect (almost).

We then headed up to Brewer Maine to visit Tom’s aunt and uncle.  Unfortunately the weather turned HOT and Lucas got kinda grumpy.  But we went to Acadia where Lucas again got to play at the beach so that made things better.  It was a beautiful trip, one I always enjoy.  We all took naps on the way there and the way back… poor Aunt Sarah had to drive a car full of snoozers!  We also learned that Lucas really loves trucks during our visit.  They live near a big road and whenever a big truck would go by he would point and make this deep, guttural AHHHHHHH  sound.  It was hilarious!  I am still amazed at how much BOY is just inherent in him.  We also got to see Tom’s other cousin Lara and her three boys which was really great.

Lucas decided to start walking while at Sarah and Robert’s house as well.  We had been trying to get him to walk from me to Tom for everyone and he had refused.  Finally, he decided he would just walk across their whole living room!  At this point it was like a light bulb went off and he has been walking ever since.  We finished the trip by driving to New Hampshire and Vermont.  It was just so lovely, just like I expected, quaint and charming.  Unfortunately the heat stayed and we endured 90 degrees in Vermont!  That made me kinda bitter given their average daily high is 75 in the summer.  But we made the best of it (and had air conditioning in the room thank goodness).  We bought a used kid backpack in NH and decided to take a hike in Vermont.  The brochure said a “vigorous” hike lasting two hours.  Well they must have meant two hours ONE way as it was straight up hill the entire time, climbing rocks and winding paths.  Poor Tom did it all with Lucas on his back.  The view at the top of Mt. Stowe was gorgeous and Lucas had a great time.  But we were beat given it was a 95 degree heat index… of course I really shouldn’t say we since all I carried was the water bottle, but I was tired.  That is all for now, enjoy the video and pictures!  I’ll upload more walking videos soon.

Uncle Terry took Lucas on his first tracter ride.

HE LOVED IT!

At the beach with cousin Ginny

A love of the beach runs in my genes... he has it too, yey!

Yarmouth Parade

Animal park with the cousins!

Dinner time! I couldn't get one where all three were looking at once.

Dress up is a fun game with the Willing girls

Queen. Luckily that meant I could boss everyone around.

Love this shot! Tom has one of him, Lara and Kathy at similar ages...

Acadia

Uncle Robert, Tom and Lucas

In New Hampshire on an EARLY morning walk.

First hike!

Bottle break before more climbing...

The top!

Lucas didn't break a sweat

But it was tiring stuff...

First steps!

Lucas took his first steps today!!  He walked from me to Tom.  We’ve been encouraging him to go hands free for a while but today he took the plunge.  It was only 3 or 4 steps and he is still quite wobbly, but it was exciting for all three of us.  After torturing him by trying to make him do it over and over, I finally got the video camera and captured this before he went to bed.  The first go is a pretty good one, the rest were just heaving himself towards us… hey, he was tired, his mean parents made him perform all afternoon!  But he is really proud of himself that is for sure.  I’ll try and get a better shot soon.  We are so excited and also a little frightened.  I’m also a little sad as my baby officially becomes a toddler.  Sniff.  Tucker may move to the basement permanently.