Oh Luke... And Winter Outings

So Luke has a lot going on these days. Here's a summary of some recent accomplishments. Some of them endearing, most of them not:

- He likes shortening everyone's name. It started with switching from Mommy to Mom, which is kind of sad :( But then it expanded into "Ky" for Kyle, "Gram" for Grammy, "Non" for Nonnie, "Mi" for Mimi, "Ab" for Abby, etc. And he thinks he's VERY cool when he does this, and likes when you ask him "what would you call..."

- He climbed out of his crib for the first time a couple days ago and crashed to the floor...ouch :( REALLY hoping that was a one shot deal (at least for the time being). He was pretty upset and shaken up afterward, so maybe he learned his lesson. I hope so because I REALLY like to have a containment option for him!

- He has now joined the forward-facing carseat ranks of the world! I was SO hoping that it would reduce the amount of wrestling it takes for me to get him strapped in, but it hasn't :( I was also hoping it would stop his taking-off-shoes-and-socks habit when in the car, but it didn't :(

- He doesn't really drink anything. But he's very demanding in the drink department. He'll demand milk. I'll get it and then he says he doesn't want it and wants water. So I dump out the milk and get water. Then he says he doesn't want it and wants orange juice. And this goes on and on. And I (even though I know I shouldn't) go along with it because he drinks so little that I'm desperate!

- While I still usually get a nap out of him every day, it takes a lot of time/effort. Because that's when he likes to poop. And won't sleep with a poop. So I put him down, and then go back if he hasn't fallen asleep after 15 minutes or so and sure enough, he almost always has a poop. So I change him and then often repeat this one or two more times. I feel like naptime poops were the downfall of Kyle's napping career, and I fear it will be Luke's too :( And I am not ready for that!

- When he's done his meal, he very promptly flips his plate/bowl over on the table and throws his utensils to the floor. And even if I'm right there, I can't always predict when he considers himself done. And he's very quick. So I can't really stop it. And Kyle thinks it's hilarious.

- He discovered that he can operate the water dispenser on the fridge. After a couple small floods, this was easily remedied by using the "lock" feature (the purpose of which I never really understood until now).

- And apparently, he can now open the fridge too. Because when I was exercising this morning, I heard the trademark Luke's-being-naughty-giggle from Kyle. I ran out to see but not in time. Luke had pulled various condiments out of the fridge, which were easy enough to clean-up on the hardwood floor. But he also pulled out my takeout container of BBQ chicken tenders. Which he brought into the family room and dumped out all over the rug. After almost 2 hrs of scrubbing/shampooing, the BBQ sauce stains are gone. NOT fun. And when I told him I was very angry about the mess, and what should he say, he fumbled a bit and then said in his sweet little voice "you're welcome" :) Oh Luke...

And here are some pictures of our recent winter outings to the rail trail, Trout Brook, and most recently sledding! We went this afternoon up the road to the country club (where I think I used to sled as a kid). They loved it! And we ran into my friend Jenn's kids and her husband there...all of the sudden I heard this boy yell, "hey Abby, it's Kyle and Luke" :) I'm surprised he recognized them all bundled up! Kyle loved sledding fast with Abby, and having her pull him around. They had fun throwing snowballs, and making little tiny snowmen too. I just love watching them have fun :)