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.

Eye Surgery #1.

October 13th Luke had surgery on his cute little eye balls in an attempt to straighten them out. This surgery is very routine and it went well. We got to French Hospital (in SLO) at 8am and were home just after 1pm. The biggest issue was the HUGE storm that hit that day! We didn't lose power until the middle of Tuesday night/Wednesday morning for a few hours but trying to get an unhappy kid from the hospital to the car in the midst of a mini-hurricane proved to be a feat.

The surgery's outcome has been okay. I really only notice a minor difference but Dr. Stathacopoulos seems pleased with it and others who don't see him daily say there is a change. We were warned that we would still need to patch and he would more then likely need further surgery (or surgeries). The trick is trying to convince his brain to use both eyes. The doctor can straighten them perfectly but that still doesn't mean his injured brain will cooperate. Add to all of that the apraxia (how his eyes move around from side to side at times) and he's just a complicated case.

And for those of you who really like the gory stuff- the literally cut into his eyeballs and lengthened/relaxed the inside eye muscles. IN HIS EYES. Yikes. The inside of his eyes were really red but they are healing. You can see the stitches (blue!) in his eyes but those will dissolve. We're doing eye drops (a little slice of hell for mom, dad and Luke!) until the redness is completely gone.

The day after the surgery. Still turning those baby blues in...

He-Man Luke. Seriously- this kid is a trooper.

2 1/2 years old = cheesy picture smiles.

The city's massive clean-up the day after the storm. This is our neighbors' house. Trees were down everywhere.

Pumpkin Perusing.

That's right. Not picking, perusing.

We headed out to the Avila Barn on October 9th because Matt got home a little early from work and it sounded like a nice, seasonal, FREE activity. Luke, in typical Luke-fashion, was not impressed with their selection of animals (he still dislikes farm animals- "All done baby goat!") but enjoyed leading us around (the Kid Walk has sparked a new interest in being upright!) and checking out the giant pumpkins. We didn't buy anything because it was so early in the month and the weather has been so hot. No use in purchasing a pumpkin that would be rotten by Halloween, right? Fortunately, Luke didn't care so overall it was an enjoyable trip and a tangible reminder of why we are so lucky to live in this area.

Big boy and bigger gourds. And some hay.

Handsome Henard Men.

Luke telling Daddy about the Great Pumpkin?

"I wanna walk."- Luke

May not enjoy farm animals but he does enjoy lavishing love upon seasonal produce. We may have a farmer on our hands yet...

The only giant pumpkin we took home.