Breaking news...Luke's first big boy pee!

Tonight Luke tried his new potty before his bath. Since he has a history of peeing as soon as his feet touch the bath water, I wondered if the old "hand in warm water" trick would work to make him pee. IT DID! And, fluke or not, boy did we celebrate!

I had plans to tell you all about our trip to story time at the Book Cellar and Trader Joe's...but this breaking news definitely trumped it!

Jim is skiing in Aspen this weekend with some guys from our small group so he missed it...bummer!

Who needs Toyz-R-Us?

One of Luke's favorite toys. He pushes it around the floor or drags it behind him. He's figured out how to get it over doorways (needed a little coaching on that). His daddy even put those sticky felt feet on the bottom of one side so it slides better (and is easier on the floor).

Click the picture to see the whole set of photos.

Hankel's Flowers

I was visiting Kirsten's work and noticed that Hankel's Flowers was going out of business. Bummer! (Maybe just moving?)

Here's how I know Hankel's Flowers.

It was April 26th, 2002, the day I was going to propose. I had it all worked out--or so I thought. Little did I know what lay ahead.

Kirsten was living in Chicago, I was in Columbus. She knew I was coming to visit this weekend. She thought I was flying in that evening. Instead I arrived in the morning. I dropped my luggage at my sister's place and scoped out the area. To keep her from seeing me as I passed by her office, I walked down the back alley across the street.

Finally the time came. I went in the back door of Hankel's Flowers, got two dozen red long-stemmed roses, and left through the front door. The street was very busy and I struggled my way across. A man on a mission.

I rang the bell. The receptionist answered. I said, "I'm here to see Kirsten." She said, "Right this way." She took me down the hall, around the corner, and into the wrong Kirsten's office! She's walking away as this other Kirsten and I are looking awkwardly at each other--me with my big armful of roses. "Um, excuse me! Wait!" I yelled after her, my face as red as the roses!

As it turns out, in crossing the busy street, I got a little off and wound up at the office next door! (They look pretty similar from the street. And I was a little nervous to begin with!)

So we figure that out and I go next door. Now it's "take two," but this time I'm very flustered from what I've just been through. Gulp!

The rest of the evening went much better--she said "yes!" And it's been getting better ever since.

Living in the City

Some days it's harder to live in the city than others. Yesterday was one of those days. I was in the baby aisle at the grocery store picking up some creamed spinach for Luke (don't ask me why he loves it), I see a man at the end of the aisle in front of the infant formula. I didn't think much of it until I pushed our cart past him and realize he's stuffing a duffle bag full of formula! I was in disbelief for about 30 seconds, then decided to go back and find him. I'm not sure why...maybe to offer to buy the formula for him or maybe to point him out to a clerk. But it was too late. He was gone and the formula shelf was empty.

I know stealing is wrong. That's common sense plus it's not like the Bible makes exeptions for extenuating circumstances. The ex-retail manager in me usually kicks into auto drive when I see someone stealing, but for some reason stealing the formula made me pause. Is he stealing because his child is hungry or simply because he can? And, why does this happen in the city so often? When these issues wear me out and dig away at my hope, the travelled road to the 'burbs sounds so much simpler.

Soooooo cold!

Just walked the dog. Wow, is it cold!

Bath Etiquette

Thanks to a new toy he received from his Uncle Doug and Aunt Emi, Luke now loves his bathtime.

So, one would ask...if he loves playing in the bathtub so much, why has brought his last three baths to a screeching hault by (yep, you guessed it) pooping in the tub? At this point, we might consider a "floater" heaven on earth, since thanks to prune juice Jim (heh) is left with a giant gooey smudge to scrub, welded to the tub.

We should have known this was coming. There were signs. His first experience in a kiddie plastic pool had a similar fateful ending.

Luke's Vocabulary

Luke says these sentences:
What is it?
I did it!

Here are most of the words Luke can say.

• Mama


• Dada


• Sydney (correct pronunciation: "Zhi-zhee")


• Shoes


• Socks


• Hat


• Apple


• Bottle


• Cracker


• Owl


• Car


• Otter


• Uh-oh!


• No! (I'm sure he won't use this often!)


• Ball


• Up


• Down


• Eyes


• Water


• Walk


• [wrist-]Watch


• Tickle


• See


• Hello


• Fish

Favorite letter: O. Also knows F and R.

He knows the sign-language for: "eat," "more," and "bird" (just showed me today!) among others.

He recognizes a lot more than he can say. I'll ask: "Where's the horse? Where's the pig?" And he turns to the page and points to it!

My Funny Valentine!

Luke made his first refridgerator worthy piece of art...a valentine for his mama! Becca (babysitter/dula/lifelong friend) helped him make it. Jim has been in Columbus working this week, so Luke and I had our own Valentine's Day celebration. We rebelled against all our normal bedtime routines. Luke stayed up an extra hour, we read triple the books, had some icecream, watched a little tv, skipped his bath, and then let Luke fell asleep in our bed quite content before I put him in his crib.

The Holy Grail of Toddler Mischief

Behold, the Holy Grail of toddler mischief: The Toilet! Such an odd contraption! So interesting!

But most entertaining of all is how it brings the parents running when he gets near it!

The other day I was doing errands around the house, putting things away. Luke looks at me while he's walking into the bathroom. I keep working another half minute, then go check on him. He's standing by the open toilet waiting for me to see him: then he sticks a hand in! (I thought the toilet seat was down! Maybe it was!)

(In case you can't tell, that's Kirsten's foot holding the toilet seat down while she gets ready one morning.)

Sumo Luke

This week we celebrated Jim's dad's 80th birthday! His dad didn't want a big ta-do, so we just celebrated with Jim's sister's family.

Well...it seems like you always underpack something. This time it was diapers. In a pinch, we used a napkin and hand towel (a la Wyndham Hotel). As you can see, Luke wasn't amused. We got a kick out of his Sumo wrestler look until we realized it wasn't a very effective diaper.