Happy Holidays from the Henards!

We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a very Happy and healthy New Year! 2009 has been an interesting year for our little family but we are so blessed to have our fabulous Luke and are so grateful for the amazing progress he's made! We hope to stay hospital-free (except routine check-ups!) in 2010 and look forward to Luke turning 3 (!) and starting preschool in just a few short months. Thank you to all our friends and family who have been our constant support system- without you, Luke wouldn't be the sweet, loving, TALKATIVE little boy that he is today! So "Merry Kissmas!" (-Luke) and cheers to an amazing 2010!

Luke v. Santa '09 (Take 2)

Just because we didn't have an appointment AT Stanford Hospital didn't mean we could go up and shop at the fabulous Stanford Shopping Center across the street, right?! Grandma Carole, Luke and I headed up there on the pre-planned day (set prior to the appointment being rescheduled) and did some Christmas shopping. Grandma wanted a picture of Luke with Santa but was willing to settle for "both her babies" being in the picture if it meant Luke stayed tear-free.

I asked for a Barbie. Luke said "trick or treat!"

I found the trick to getting a 2 year old on board with Santa is a really good Santa. Stanford's Santa was soft-spoken and kind, taking time to talk to Luke and giving him a small reindeer toy and a candy cane (yes!) It helped that I held him the whole time but regardless, he was an amazing Santa and well worth the big bucks Stanford charges to visit with him (right Grandma? Thank you!)

Ho Ho Ho!!

Biker (Big) Boy.

Physical Therapist Linda decided to try Luke out on a special tricycle during therapy the other day. Luke seemed to enjoy it so it might become an addition to the weekly program. It's hard to consistently keep a 2 year old motivated but a variation of activities seems to help.

I would love to get him one of these to have at home but our baby is definitely becoming a big boy- he's almost too tall for it! The next size up is huge and incredibly pricey so we'll be waiting a bit on that investment.

Notice the yellow piece under his booty? It's got that seat as far back as it goes!

Working on the motions.

Photo by Luke.

Earning Nor Cal Citizenship.

Luke was scheduled to have a check-up with Stanford neurosurgery on December 8th necessitating a trip up to the Bay Area. A week prior, Stanford called and rescheduled (how dare they!) but we decided to head up for a visit nonetheless.

Overall, I was lazy in picture taking but we did go up to Pleasanton and see Uncle Brad and Aunt Sarah (newlyweds!) and checkout their new home. Since it was beyond freezing outside, we stayed in, ordered pizza and visited. Luke was happy to see Uncle Brad and Aunt Sarah but was less then thrilled to meet their cats, Tucker and Tabitha. He seems to be going through a faze where he is terrified of all animals other then the immediate Hersom family dogs (all the same type of dog, 4 of the 5 from the same litter, the 5th being a 1/2 sibling). Earlier that day we visited with the Werner family (also Pleasanton residents) and Luke just sobbed every time little Brady (dog just slightly bigger then ours) came anywhere in his vicinity. He just kept repeating "Maybe we can leave. Maybe we can leave!" Poor little guy.

Anyway, for the most part, Tucker and Tabitha steered clear of the crazy 2 year old and Luke got lots of love and attention from his aunt and uncle. It was great seeing them and their home is beautiful.

Luke sitting at the table like a big boy with Uncle Brad standing watch.

Uncle Brad, Luke and Aunt Sarah.

Tucker.

Tabitha.

Peppermint Perfection.

Since our pictures with Santa were severely lacking in holiday cheer, I decided to do a little photo shoot later that night at home, post-Christmas tree trimming. Dad acted as my hype man (lots of dancing and "Luke! Luke! Look at me! Say cheese!") while I snapped away, attempting to provide Luke future photographic proof that Christmas is, in fact, a very merry holiday and wearing Santa's hat is a-okay!

Sheer terror replaced with delight! Thank you, candy cane!

Poor, candy cane. You never saw it coming.

Peppermint goodness.

Licking was quickly replaced with chomping.

"You want some?"

Santa v. Luke '09

Luke is not a fan of jolly, old Saint Nick. We were not surprised (he didn't like him last year either) but we had to try because we're really good parents.

Sheer terror. "Ho, Ho, HELL NO!"

Being an excellent mother and taking lots of pictures.

Dad helped slightly smooth over the situation.

Nothing a candy cane can't cure (notice the remnants on his mouth!)

Thanksgiving 2009

For the first time in many years, our little family headed up to San Jose for Thanksgiving. We had a nice time (brunch at my dad and Steph's, dinner at my mom's) but I was completely unmotivated to take any pictures. Here's the only one I took on Thanksgiving. I feel it really captures the day.

Uncle Chris, Luke (in an undershirt), a remote control and Dad. A very happy, football-filled, Thanksgiving was had by all.

The next day we went to a lunch coordinated by one of the girls I went to Presentation High School with. It was nice seeing a number of my old classmates and finally meeting their kids and spouses. Matt got a picture of the attendees and some of the kids.

Nano Nagle would be so proud. (She's founded the Sisters of the Presentation who established Presentation High School... making that caption only interesting to about 10 people.)

Matt, Luke and I had a wonderful dinner on Friday night with John and Jacquie Quinn. I lived in the Cal Poly dorms with John so he's a very old, dear friend. His wife is an absolute doll and happened to be VERY pregnant with their first child (a boy!) the night we went out. Again, dropped the ball on picture taking but I know they read this so wanted to give them a shout-out. It was great to see them and we hope to do it again soon but this time with Aidan (born December 12th!) joining us!

Luke Loves L.A.

NOTE: Even though this blog is dated November 17th, I didn't finish it until December 15th (*Beth hangs her head in shame*) I PROMISE to recommit myself to this blog (can you say New Year's resolution?!) but hang tight while I get all caught up. Thanks!

The beginning of November found our little family in Los Angeles for a day of doctor appointments at Childrens Hospital. It was all pre-scheduled (not an emergency!) and it ended up being pretty informative and interesting.

Luke first had an EEG which is one of those tests that they hook a bunch of lines to your head, looking for seizure activity by examining your brain waves. His local neurologist ordered one to help rule out seizures as a cause of his vomiting. (The report came back negative for seizures- hurray!) He did an amazing job (he had to be hooked up for 40 minutes) and the technician kept commenting how well he was doing for his age.

In the waiting area prior to the EEG. Handsome boy with CLEAN hair. Notice the LA Dodgers shirt?

All hooked up and ready to go.

He feel asleep (as requested by the tech- good boy!) but didn't wake up too happy and wasn't too hot on the removal process.

With a head full of lubricant.

A few hours later we saw Dr. Terrence Sanger, who is a hotshot pediatric neurologist specializing in movement disorders. I had originally made an appointment (a year prior!) to see him at Stanford in August but Childrens Hospital stole him away so I hustled and was able to get Luke in sooner rather then later down there. He did an hour long examine, looking at how Luke stands and walks with special attention paid to his right arm. He did some biofeedback in that arm which was very interesting. We found that if Luke is asked to do something with his good left hand/arm is actually spills over into the muscles of his right very slightly. Amazing how the brain works. Dr. Sanger suggested medication to help with Luke's tone but agreed that it was best to wait until we curtail the vomiting episodes. No major revelations but it was good to meet with him and at least establish Luke as a patient. I'm guessing we will be seeing more of Dr. Sanger in the future.

After our day at the hospital, we went back to our "fancy" hotel room ("fancy" = kind of creepy- albeit clean- room in a seedy part of LA.) We managed to swing a jacuzzi bathtub IN our sleeping area (not bathroom- very odd...) which Matt (in his bathing suit) and Luke (in his birthday suit) were anxious to try out. Luke needed a bath badly since his hair was beyond gross after the EEG so a soak was appreciated by all.

Living the good life.

That's Luke's bed on the left and ours on the right. Fancy indeed! (NOTE- the bedspread IMMEDIATELY was tucked deep into the closet. Beyond necessary when there is a jacuzzi bathtub located where it was located. Ew.)

Luke taking some time off of looking like exactly like Daddy and embracing the Mommy in him. Those ears do me proud.

Halloween '09: Part 3 (The Main Event)

On Halloween "night" (4pm for those 5 and under) we headed over to the Pismo Beach Outlets to trick-or-treat from store to store with the Gonzalez family. Mama Kelci was so sweet in making Luke his very own trick-or-treating bag which we managed to stuff a lot of candy into (thanks Kelci!) So Belle from "Beauty and the Beast" (Bella), Hula Girl (Matea) and Dragon (Luke) hit up all the stores and tucked into dinner at a local Mexican restaurant afterwards. We had a great time and are so lucky that Steve, Kelci, Bella and Matea invited us.

I much prefer adorable to scary on Halloween.

Heading into a store with Dad. Luke was very quiet but said "trick-or-treat" (when prompted) quite a few times. No "all done trick-or-treating" = Luke had a good time!

We let him shed his dragon head. It was literally 80 degrees outside so having to wear the jacket and pants was punishment enough.

Manya (Luke's sitter) asked us to stop by afterwards so she could see our little Dragon and give him a Halloween treat. Luke was more then happy to make an appearance at the residence of three lovely young coeds and it ended up being the only door-knocking trick-or-treat action he saw. We have high hopes for next year!

Daddy assisting in the knock.

The Dragon and Man-gee (Luke REFUSES to call her "Manya" even though he can pronounce it perfectly now) the Witch. He had to show Man-gee his loot piece by piece.

Mommy: "Luke, do you want to hang out with Manya?"
Luke: "Oh, oh, oh- MAN-GEE!!"

When we got home we had to take out yearly "Luke on front porch with carved pumpkin" shot. He wasn't entirely thrilled but it's amazing what the promise of candy can accomplish.

Dad, Luke and this year's carving creation.

Luke and Jack.

He found the blinking light extremely interesting.

If you give us a "trick" we unleash THE DRAGON.

Strong contender for my new favorite picture.

Halloween '09: Part 2

On Friday, October 30th, Matt and Luke carved a pumpkin. Matt worked hard and Luke supervised. Although he was alarmingly interested in "cutting". He only looks sweet and innocent, right?

Daddy wore his sweatshirt in honor of our pumpkin friend. Hard to tell, but Luke is holding the pumpkin cutting saw in the picture. Good thing he has protective eye gear and it's not really sharp, just bumpy.

Pumpkin guts weren't really Luke's thing. Not big on getting dirty.

Luke is obsessed with my camera lately. I'm literally cornered, squatting against the kitchen cabinet and he's coming at me (that's my knee is the bottom corner). Good thing he wasn't still brandishing that pumpkin saw...

Halloween '09: Part 1

Our Halloween weekend began at Farmer's Market in Downtown SLO on Thursday, the 29th. There is an annual tradition of dressing up (kids and adults) and the kids can trick-or-treat at some of the downtown shops. We were more interested an excuse to put Luke in his dragon costume and eat McClintock's BBQ. Matt and I dressed up as "lame parents."*

Our little 1/2 dragon (he only has the pants on here) enjoying a mouth full of BBQ chicken.

Negotiating the sidewalk on the way into Tom's Toys for Luke's first official 2 year old "Trick or Treat!"

"Trick or treat!" ended up being "No, all done" and me forcing him to stand there while I said those 3 magical words and collected his candy. Success?

*Lame parent costume concept courtesy of Kelci Gonzalez (takes one to know one, lady!)

Chairman of the Board.

On October 27th we had our first official public school, preschool meeting with some of the preschool faculty and Luke's therapists and service coordinators/providers. There were 8 adults and then myself and Luke discussing what direction we might consider going when Luke is eligible to start school on his 3rd birthday (or probably a week or so later since his birthday falls on a Saturday and during spring break). We have classroom observations coming up around January and then the actual deciding meeting mid-March. I just can't believe that the time is almost upon us!

I had to take a few pictures because Luke was being his typical, Mr. Personality, self. Since Linda (his beloved physical therapist) was there, he kept calling her out and informing her of what he was up to (after making us all laugh he announced "Linda! I'm LAUGHING!") I guess you had to be there but trust me- it was super cute.

He finally just went and sat in Linda's lap. Maybe he just wanted to establish himself at the head of the table?

Jotting down some dates on his (Linda's) calendar. He's going to be so ready for preschool come March/April.

An ACTUAL Proud Moment in Parenting.

This is the immensely proud face of a little boy who just went pee pee in his potty for the very first time- October 25, 2009.

We're still a way off from actual potty training but I've been planting the seed like crazy. He asked to sit on the potty so I put him on there before bed and- won't you know it- he peed! I was so excited and he was BEAMING. He's done it a few more times but until he gets the concept better we'll hold off on pushing it hardcore. His favorite move right now is telling us "I'm pooping" mid-B.M. So we've got all the terminology down but we need to work on timing.

And a happy Monday morning to you!

Moments In Good Parenting.

Matt's fraternity had there annual alumni weekend October 23-25th. It was different then years past because we were missing a lot of the usual attendees (Matt Werner?-new baby- Brad Hersom?- recent newlywed!) but I still packed up our little Sigma Nu in-training and headed over to visit with Daddy and his "brothers" for Saturday's festivities.

As a special treat, this year we were blessed with the presence of one Mr. Jason Cosso. He was Matt's roommate when Matt and I started dating (poor him) so he goes way back with our little family. It was very cute that Luke kept asking "Where Cosso?" after the weekend passed. "Where Cosso" indeed. Hopefully he won't be MIA for the better part of a decade again...

Jason, Matt & Luke. You now Luke's ready to party when he rocks the Hawaiian shirt.

This brings a tear to my eye. And possible cuffs to my wrists (the bottle was EMPTY!)

Luke insisted that they trade.

Luke's "hurry up and take the picture" smile.

With the dilapidated Sigma Nu house in the background. Makin' memories.