thanksgiving crafts

As part of our Thanksgiving festivities, we created pine cone birdfeeders. The idea was to "share the bounty" with the birds. Pop-Pop and Nana kindly collected pine cones from North Carolina and shipped them out to us in advance of their visit. Mama and Luke bought the birdseed, and then we all sat at the "kid's" table to mash shortening into the pine cones, roll the pine cones in birdseed, and tie on a loop of twine. We had a lot of fun mashing, smashing and rolling, and then hanging the bird feeders outside. Fun, that is, until I started feeling itchy. It turned out that the birdseed had peanuts in it! Who knew?! I had to dash inside, take a full shower, put my clothes in the wash, while Pop-Pop and Nana got all of the peanut-birdseed out of the house, vacuumed the rug in the garage (so as not to spread peanut dust) and basically disinfect everything. It was quite the drama!

christmas list

Thanksgiving has quickly given way to Christmas over here. Our Christmas tree is set up, and Luke and I are talking about Pere Noel (Father Christmas) all the time. He has asked for just one thing: a "marvel" tower, which is a marble tower. Unbeknowst to Luke, Nana has purchased this very wonderful wooden "marvel" tower for him and it's sitting in our garage!

I am knitting a few items for Luke and have ordered some accompanying books. I don't want to give him too many things, but also *adore* how delighted and thrilled he is with surprises. I think that my "big" gift might be a scooter. But, the ideas also change daily. Last week, I was all set to get him a fire station.

For those of you who might be thinking about sending something Luke's way, I have been keeping a list of toys that I'm either looking at, considering, or think that Luke would be interested in. It's at: http://amzn.com/w/3KIUNCQ0PS03A.

Right now, he loves:
- Books of all kinds, and especially about trains
- His train set (although it would be hard to buy trains for him, because he is *very* well outfitted)
- Scooting, either on a scooter tricycle at school or pretending to "skateboard." He has a wonderful tricycle but isn't yet captivated by pedaling. I'm thinking of getting him a Razor-type scooter.
- Things with wheels: trucks, fire engines, cars, etc. He is big time into things with wheels lately.
- Craft projects/supplies. After a long lull in art projects, we've started doing lots of "experiments" like coloring pasta and making crayon shavings. We're well outfitted with craft supplies, but anything new and art-related always delights him. His favorite color is (still) black.
- Things with Thomas on it. Sesa has done a tremendous job of delighting Luke with Thomas stickers, sports bottles, and colorforms, and boy, does Luke LOVE his Thomas regalia!
- Games. Lately, he's interested in games that you can play with other people. He plays hide and seek at school and red light/green light. I think he might be ready for Candyland or another type of 3-year old (no reading required) game.

And, to my delight, I think he will soon be ready for a "boy dollhouse," e.g., a tree house or fire station play set. He is on the cusp of more complex pretend play and is super-creative, so I think that with a few new playthings, he might have fun acting out little scenarios! Of course, Mama always dreamed of having her own dollhouse, so perhaps this one is a bit of projection.

The role reversal, where I get to play Santa, is so much fun, and I am thoroughly enjoying being preoccupied with toys and what might delight Luke. It's a nice counterbalance to the other, heavier, things going on in life, lately.

a quick halloween pic

All dressed up and enjoying the day at the Golden Gate Mother's Group Halloween party! I joined this super-cool mommy group when Luke was an infant, and the Halloween party is a signature event: 3 bouncy houses, face painting, craft projects, continuous trick-or-treating, "spooky" music (like Monster Mash), and balloon twisting. They also had a professional photographer to take photos. Luke was a super cutie, and I also dressed up (relatively speaking) as a kitty cat.

pumpkin patch

Luke and I visited the pumpkin patch yesterday to pick out a pumpkin for Halloween. We had so much fun that we actually came home with 8 pumpkins! Fortunately for the wallet, most of them were of the very small $1 variety.

belated snapshot of easter

Luke with the other two musketeers: River and Yuba. We hosted an Easter egg hunt in our backyard this past Easter, and here they are, lining up to go egg hunting!

the easter report

It feels like I start nearly every post gushing about how amazing, wonderful, funny and fun Luke is, and how whatever adventure we've embarked upon has been a great delight. I used to think adoring parents were so boring, blah-blahing about how it only gets better and kids only get more wonderful. Now, here I am, charter member of that blah-blah club. Luke was wonderful at 6 months old, for his first Easter, which we only remotely celebrated with a Bunny sweater. He was glorious at 18 months old, for his first Easter egg hunt which involved empty plastic eggs, since the whole delight was the peekaboo nature of finding eggs. This year was the best, with our glorious 2 1/2 year old. I very much enjoyed my new role of filling the Easter basket and organizing the treats, as opposed to (many) years past, when I received the Easter basket. The roles in life all switch around eventually, and it's a different and just as delightful way to celebrate.

Since we're essentially starting our Easter traditions from scratch, JM and I decided that the Easter Bunny would ring the doorbell, scamper away, and leave Luke's Easter basket on the front doorstep. That would give JM time to position the camera and catch some great shots of Luke's excited face discovering the basket. Only, we didn't quite count on the anticipation Luke would have at the sound of the doorbell and the prospect of MEETING the Easter Bunny. The doorbell rang when Luke was downstairs with Dada, they both rushed upstairs (thus allowing a quick getaway for the Easter Bunny) and Luke was utterly crestfallen to have missed the Bunny. He almost couldn't focus on the Easter basket because he was so disappointed about missing the Bunny. Chocolate eggs quickly soothed the disappointment, but I think we may need to change our game plan for next year.

Other highlights from our celebration:

• A massive 100+ egg hunt for 3 kids in our backyard (Luke and our friends' children, Yuba and River, who are 4 and 2 1/2)
• Jean-Max creatively hiding those 100+ eggs in our backyard for said children (in the sandbox! hanging in the tree! in the dumptruck!)
• Three gloriously happy children, running to and fro, filling their baskets
• Luke getting distracted while he ate a chocolate egg
• River getting distracted once he saw the front loader in the sandbox
• Yuba giving a "bath" to the stretchy (non-edible) lizard toys that were in some of the eggs
• Luke declaring that his new Schleich dog (Marley) was "so sad and crying because he wants a brother"
• River, a most dedicated engineer, playing with Luke's trains for nearly 2 hours -- and Luke letting him
• Yuba making all sorts of lovely delights with Luke's new tea set (wine or tea, she offered)
• Luke carrying water from the water table to a separate tub, carrying, carrying, carrying
• The quiet that descended over the lunch table when all 7 of us sat down to eat
• Luke and me napping together, post-party, exhausted, happy and snuggly

first easter bunny hunt

We attended a local mommy group Easter Egg hunt on Saturday, which Luke affectionately called the Easter Bunny hunt. There was a sea (literally a sea) of strollers and designated stroller parking, pictures with Mr. Bunny Himself, bouncy houses, craft tables, snack tables, face painting, bunny tattoos, a puppet show, and a proper egg hunt. Also at least 200 babies, toddlers, preschoolers and their adoring parents. Luke ran, arm swinging, from location to location in search of chocolate eggs. He also "found" a few eggs in the hunt, tried out the bouncy castle, fed Mama chocolate eggs, and got his face painted. It was a beautiful day!

top 10 things about pop-pop & nana's visit

Pop-Pop and Nana will be arriving on Friday for a 10-day visit, and it got me thinking about all the things I will enjoy. My top 10:

10. No need to tidy the house, because it's just going to get messy again.
9. Suggestions to walk (rather than drive) to the coffee shop each morning.
8. The book Pop-Pop always finishes while at our house and leaves for Mama to read.
7. Nana's desire to plant flower bulbs in our garden, which we get to enjoy and admire each spring.
6. The Project (two years ago, it was organizing Grammy's china; last year, it was mulching our garden; who knows what excitement this year will bring?!)
5. Pop-Pop and Nana's willingness to do anything and accompany Mama on just about any errand.
4. Outings.
3. Luke's delight at having a houseful of family.
2. Pop-Pop's cooking.
1. Free babysitting!

happy halloween

Luke's first Halloween, he was a mostly no sleeping infant with a really tired mama. Last year, he was sick, and we put the candy in a bowl on the front steps with a sign that read, "don't ring the bell! sick sleeping baby inside!" This year, however, we were in full Halloween mode.

We read books about Halloween so Luke would be fully studied-up on what happens. Luke picked out his own costume (a train engineer, of course), and Mama dressed up, too (a kitty cat). We carved mama and baby jack o'lanterns. And, our friends, Kina and Isaac, joined us for the evening. Luke was in heaven with four adults to lavish attention on him, and trick or treaters arriving every few minutes. Luke handed out the candy and stood on the steps and waved "bye bye" to the trick or treaters as they left. In between visits, he worked on his favorite puzzles with Kina, and remarked on how tall Isaac is.

When it was time to go to bed, Luke quietly went to his room for jammies, came out and gave everyone a hug, and went down with no fuss at all. Mama and Dada were so proud! Today, we all paid the price for our parting ways, with a low energy day and a loooong nap for everyone.