May Days.

I can hardly believe that it's almost JULY and I'm just getting pictures up from May! Where does the time go? Luke is busy. busy, busy (he's calling for my attention at this very moment) so my time is all about him. I love that that is so "typical" of this age and we have had very few "typical" times with Luke. Therefore, I'm having a serious love/hate relationship with the infamous "Terrible Twos."

So here's middle to the end of May in a nutshell. I've taken very few pictures since then (Luke has become very aware of the camera so every picture is starting to look the same!) but I'm hoping that getting caught up will inspire me again. Very going to need to get some new videos on here as well. Luke attempting to sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" (aka "Itsy Bitsy Diaper") is priceless.

But until then- May 16-31, 2009:

Some of my Kappa Alpha Theta sisters came on May 16th to celebrate our sorority being on the Cal Poly campus for 20 years. It was an incredibly fun weekend, kicked off by a brunch at the sorority house- I even gave a speech! These are the times that it's great living in SLO and so close to campus- it gave us a nice home base to hang out and reconnect versus sitting in hotel rooms. All and all it was an amazing weekend and Luke LOVED having the ladies around to do his bidding.

Ann and Luke. Ann was one of my roommates in college and was in our wedding. It was great to see her but we want to see her little girls (Susie and Claire!) soon too!

Luke and Melissa. Luke bossed Melissa around for hours and was in love by the end of her visit. Gotta love a woman who does exactly what you say.


Melissa's fiance better watch out.


4 1/2 Thetas- Melissa, Mommy, Nicole (due the end of July with a little girl!), Marissa and Jennifer.


Luke's class took a field trip to the dairy one Friday. We got to mingle with the baby cows but Luke is just NOT a fan of farm animals. But that didn't stop me from introducing him to a baby cow and inadvertently allowing the calf to use him as a salt lick.

"All done baby cow. All done baby cow"


Memorial Day weekend my brother Chris and his girlfriend, Gina, came to town. We enjoyed hanging out with them and Luke was a-okay with some novel attention.

Luke and Uncle Chris.


Working his magic on Gina.


Matt, Luke and I went on a little beach walk in Morro Day on Memorial Day. The weather was beautiful and Luke was in fine spirits.

Daddy and Luke.



Mommy and Luke.

Our little barnacle.

This is what I mean by saying that Luke is aware of the camera. I have about 1000 pictures of him with this cheesy grin. "CHEEESSSEEE!"



The last weekend in May, I headed up to the Bay Area to celebrate Luke's soon-to-be Aunt Sarah (my brother Brad's fiance) at a bridal shower. Luke stayed home in SLO with Daddy but I couldn't resist posting a few pictures of my solo trip.


Mommy, Grandma Stephanie, Aunt Sarah and Grandma Carole.


On our way home from the shower (it was in the East Bay) we swung by the Werner home in Pleasanton to meet baby Blake. It seems like just yesterday that Luke was rubbing Heidi's swollen belly but no more! Blake Matthew was born May 19th and is just sweet as can be. Matt and Heidi did a fine job!


Matt, Heidi & Blake Werner.


No matter how hard I try- Luke WILL NOT let me hold him like this anymore. Thanks for letting me borrow Blake, Heidi!

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer and I promise to get back on the saddle with posting. Luke is not a fan of my computer time (he literally turned the computer off on me while I was typing this!) but I know there are a few disappointed grandparents out there who would like more regular updates so I will try!

With Good Reason.

It just occurred to me that it's been almost a month since I've posted anything- bad mommy. But I feel I have good reason. We've been exceedingly busy. Check out this brief video:


So between the now RAPID forward movement and the desire to be UPRIGHT whenever possible- our life has been taken over by a very, very demanding little boy. We have the typical 2 year old behavior (he asks once and then melts down when we decline his request ) mixed with Luke's militant orders. Here's a typical daily occurrence:

Mom sits down at the computer to do a blog post. Luke quickly scoots in the office.

Luke: "Mommy doot-ing?" (doing)

Mom: "Mommy is going to work on the computer"

Luke: "Pick up PLEASE."

Mom: "Not right now, Luke."

Luke: "Mommy check email PLEASE."

Mom: "In a little bit."

Luke: "Sit down lap PLEASE."

This type of dialog continues for a couple of minutes until Luke doesn't get his way and proceeds to have a complete crying meltdown. Therefore my computer time during the day is highly limited.

This also happens when I'm on the phone.

Needless to say, I'm posting this at midnight because our little angel is in bed. I promise to soon post lots of cute pictures from last month but until then a parting picture:

Pudding anyone?

And a little celebration- LUKE IS PULLING HIMSELF UP TO STAND ALL BY HIMSELF!!! WE ARE SO EXCITED FOR HIM AND HE CAN'T BE MORE PROUD OF HIMSELF!! He did it for the first time on May 15th and we're just so happy that he finally hit that huge milestone. We didn't get it on video (he was very sneaky about it- Matt looked over and there he stood at the coffee table!) but the video is an accurate re-creation of the moment. I'm willing to guess he was going for the remote control then too...

Cupcake and the Super Cute Kid.

If proof was ever needed as to how much I love this child:

Cowboy Luke, Cupcake the Pony and the Flip-Flop Cowgirl.

Yee Haw.

Moments before the tears arrived.

Giddy Up.

Luke's school had Cupcake the Pony there last month for the kids to take pictures with. The older classes were stoked but Luke's class of younger kiddos were universally terrified to say the least. Fortunately, Luke loves the camera so he was willing to play along for 2 shots and 2 shots only. I wish I had little Mia's picture- she started screaming about 1/2 second after her mom sat her on the saddle. Meanwhile, Cupcake the Pony seemed resigned to his/her fate.

Cerebral Palsy.

I highly recommend this website http://www.about-cerebral-palsy.org/. It gives very simple explanations regarding all things pertaining to CP. It's geared towards pursuing medical malpractice lawsuits but it's terse, informative and easy to read.

What is the definition of cerebral palsy?

Cerebral palsy is a term used to describe a group of chronic conditions affecting body movements and muscle coordination. It is caused by damage to one or more specific areas of the brain, usually occurring during fetal development or infancy. It also can occur before, during or shortly following birth.

"Cerebral" refers to the brain and "Palsy" to a disorder of movement or posture. If someone has cerebral palsy it means that because of an injury to their brain (cerebral) they are not able to use some of the muscles in their body in the normal way (palsy). Children with cerebral palsy may not be able to walk, talk, eat or play in the same ways as most other children.

Cerebral palsy is neither progressive nor communicable. It is also not "curable" in the accepted sense, although education, therapy and applied technology can help persons with cerebral palsy lead productive lives. It is important to know that cerebral palsy is not a disease or illness. It isn't contagious and it doesn't get worse. Children who have cerebral palsy will have it all their lives.

Cerebral palsy is characterized by an inability to fully control motor function, particularly muscle control and coordination. Depending on which areas of the brain have been damaged, people with cerebral palsy may experience one or more of the following:

-Muscle tightness or spasm
-Involuntary movement
-Disturbance in gait and mobility
-Abnormal sensation and perception
-Impairment of sight, hearing or speech
-Seizures

Get Up, Stand Up.

We're not quite getting up yet but we are standing. Luke has come so far in his core and leg strength as well as his balance. Linda has pretty much been working backwards with him- not being able to use his right hand/arm has made pulling to a stand extremely difficult. So right now we're helping him into standing position (with relatively minimal assistance) and then he's standing tall. Unfortunately, both legs are affected so we're just working hard on cruising (side-stepping while standing at the coffee table or something similar in height.) Luke can take forward steps while being held under the arms or by the pelvis (to help guide his steps) but we're just in the beginning stages.

Hopefully, as Luke gets older and adapts more, he'll figure out how to compensate for his weak right arm. Linda told me last week that if it wasn't for his right hand/arm he would be walking with a walker right now. A walker will definitely be necessary to help Luke contend with the tone issues in his legs. Here's an image of a pediatric walker:

At some point in the future (hopefully not too distant,) Luke will be fitted for walker with a special cuff for his right side (so he won't have to grasp with his right hand but it's stable.) Until we get to that point, we're working hard on strength and encouraging his desire to be mobile and get into the standing position.

We usually end our thrice a week therapy sessions with a walk to the door to open the door and then walking into the waiting area (with Linda's assistance.) Thursday Luke was extra motivated and even stood only slightly leaning against the waiting room couch for support. He did it for so long that I was able to run in, dig for my camera and take a few pictures.

So proud.

I may have said it already but our goal is to have him upwardly mobile by his 3rd birthday. At this rate, I really think we're on track.

Unacceptable.

That's the word that comes to mind whenever Stephanie Selinger and I go a long time without seeing each other- unacceptable. We've known each other our entire lives and we only live about 3 1/2 hours away (she's in Oakland.) Our schedules are just both so hectic that it's proven quite a feat to hang out on a regular basis.

So Luke had not seen Aunt Steph and Uncle Kevin since last July (almost a year!!) so it was long overdue. Unfortunately, Uncle Kevin was unable to make it but Aunt Steph came over to my dad and Steph's for dinner on May 2nd when Luke and I were in town.

And the proof is in the pictures- Luke just loves his Aunt Steph. She is so good with him and we all know how much he hates female attention (*snicker*) We're hoping that Steph and Kevin will be able to come down to SLO and visit again this summer. And I'm personally hoping that Luke has a "cousin" before too long...

The Child of Children of the 80's.

For some odd reason, Cabo San Luis (local fish taco restaurant) thinks that this constitutes a kid's meal toy:

It took Matt, Kate (my high school friend who we were dining with) and I back to the 80's (specifically the TV show "A Different World" - Dwayne Wayne!) but for a kid that wears glasses 24/7- it was just odd. And I think the even-worse-then-usual cross-eyed business is because he's trying to see what the heck are attached to the tops of these crappy glasses. So weird.