Family Christmas!

Pete, Lukie, and I will all be heading to Illinois tomorrow to celebrate Christmas with the families-- so we decided to have our own little family Christmas yesterday. Last year, we were stuck at home on Christmas because of my job. We were awakened at 4 a.m., opened presents with Lukie, and then he was napping by 7 a.m. We had our dear friend Rachel over for lasagna, and it was nice to just have a day to the three of us (plus friends). We didn't want to lose that, but we also really love being in Illinois ON Christmas day. So this is a best-of-both-worlds type scenario.

By the way, here's Lukie last Christmas...

What a difference a year makes.

It's been fun trying to figure out what we want to do as far as Christmas traditions go in our little family. My mom always let us unwrap one present on Christmas Eve-- usually our present from our Grandma Dot. I decided that instead, I wanted to have Lukie unwrap his Christmas pajamas every year on Christmas Eve. Probably less fun. I don't care, he'll deal with it. Even though it wasn't really Christmas Eve, we put him in his Christmas PJ's anyway, so all day yesterday, he wore his new red police car/fire engine PJ's.

Lukie slept in until 8 a.m....which he NEVER does, so Peter and I spent the early morning sitting around waiting for him to get up because we were excited. Talk about backward.

Then he woke up happy, but quickly got cranky with us because I wouldn't pick him up...because I was about to lift the blanket off his toy.

All that changed when I revealed his new big boy truck...

He also got a toolbox with a hammer and wooden nails/screws/nuts/bolts for Christmas. Months ago, I saw a deal where I could get it personalized for no extra cost, so it has his name on it. It will be his toolbox when he and daddy go to work on something. Probably lots of birdhouses for Mother's Day. 

We had pancakes for breakfast (someone has gone from refusing to TRY pancakes to being a pancake-eating MACHINE), and then Lukie spent the rest of the day carrying around  the hammer and riding in his truck...while carrying the hammer. The toolbox actually fits perfectly in the bed of his truck...which delights Pete to no end. Lukie can be just like Daddy!!

When it was time for some quiet time, we parked the truck in the living room and Lukie sat in it for an hour watching a movie, just like a drive-in theater. Seriously, he barely moved.

For dinner, we had homemade rolls, clam chowder, and caramel apple pie. Pete's been on me to make clam chowder for (literally) years. I made it once when we lived in our condo, and haven't since then...so it's been at least 2.5 years. It was a good batch-- honestly, I think it was better than the last time I made it.

Our friends Chris and Suzi (as close to family as we have in Tennessee) came over for chowder, and then they gave Lukie a lawn mower toy. Lukas had a VERY manly Christmas...

(The PJ's had to go after being smeared with jam...and yes, he wore those PJ's for 24 hours...because they were adorable and how dirty had he REALLY gotten?)

I showed him how to fill it up with the toy gas can, and he spent the rest of the evening pushing it around, filling up the gas tank, and trying to load it all into the back of the truck. I'd say it was the perfect Christmas. The only way to make it more perfect would be if all our family and friends in Illinois could have joined us... but I'm not sure I have that big of a chowder pot.

I will say, though, as much as I loved our little Christmas, it was kind of bittersweet. We love our friends down here, but it's been hard not being with family. I cooked all day without my Mama, and I listened to Tommy Emanuel guitar Christmas music without my Daddy. It was a good day-- but I sure missed home.

Let's end with a happy note, though!!!

Look at the beautiful new cabinet Pete made me for Christmas! Eeep!!

Video Post: Lukie vs. the Vacuum

Lukas is OBSESSED with the vacuum. If I start it anywhere in the house, he follows it yelling and banging on it with whatever he can find. It can be hilarious and frustrating.

We even shortened a small vacuum for him. Now he can vacuum with Mommy. I'd be okay if he loved the vacuum FOREVER if it meant he always wanted to vacuum the house. I think I'll encourage this obsession.

Dinner Update!

You guys, dinner is FINALLY going better. Not perfectly, but better! Lukie has been a picky eater since he turned about 1 year old. Despite my best efforts to give him a wide range of flavors, make everything homemade, and try to keep him adventurous, around 12 months, he went from eating EVERTHING we sat in front of him to ONLY eating cottage cheese. It has gotten slightly better over the months; he would eat pizza, cheese cubes, grapes, strawberries, pineapple, bananas, peaches... basically, he is a fruit bat with a weird penchant for dairy.

He wants really badly to sit at the big-people table. This didn't start until his cousins were here and he saw Roland and Freddo sitting at the table like big kids...but now he's pretty sure he's a big kid.

A booster seat may be in our near future.

Anyway, I decided a few days ago that I'd had enough of the cottage-cheese-only diet. Pete and I agreed that part of the problem was that we were putting cottage cheese out on the table. Once he saw that it was an option, he wouldn't eat ANYTHING else. So, a few nights ago, we started putting him in his high chair with a spoon and a blob of whatever we were having for dinner, and just letting him sit there until he was willing to try it. We don't offer cottage cheese; he eats what he eats. I told myself he wouldn't starve himself, and if he got hungry enough, he'd eat what was on his tray.

He started mimicking us when we were blowing on his hot food. This is something he does at every meal now-- he likes to blow on his food. Whatever, as long as I'm not in the line of fire of an overly enthusiastic gust.

It's been going pretty well. The first night, he tried his chicken pot pie pretty willingly. He decided he liked the chicken, and picked most of that out, and then willingly ate 2-3 large chunks of broccoli. He was not, however, a fan of the kale...but I'm gonna chalk that up to still not having much in the way of teeth. I gave in and gave him some cut-up banana after he had not eaten much, but overall, I think the experiment went pretty well.

Last night, he ate most of the egg out of his shakshuka, and then he ate half a quesadilla. (Pete and I were having leftover tortilla soup and quesadillas for dinner. He's not QUITE ((re: nowhere near) good enough with a spoon for soup yet.)

I know lots of people say that it's a parent's fault when their kid is picky. That's partly true...and partly not. I did EVERYTHING I could to make him be an adventurous eater, and despite my best efforts, he turned into a picky eater. I'm treating it as a phase, and hoping that once he sees how many vegetables his daddy eats, he'll want to be like Daddy. We'll keep eating healthfully and offering him healthy choices, and hopefully someday, he'll come around. One thing's for sure, though-- to get this kid to be adventurous, he can't see the cottage cheese as an option. I won't be a short-order cook for his whole childhood, so we can't start that trend now. Cottage cheese healthy, and he can have it sometimes, but the days of it being the ONLY thing he would eat need to end.

Also, laundry baskets and dryers make excellent bongos, if you didn't already know.

Fall Update...

Things are trucking along as usual around here. Contrary to the above picture, Lukie still loves wearing Daddy's ear protectors around the house.

We got him a train engineer hat for Halloween and were going to pair it with some engineer's bibs, but we never actually put him in the costume. Pete's sister and her husband and kids came to visit, and they had so much fun all day that by the time trick-or-treating time came around, they were all too tired to dress up and run around!

The following two pictures sum up, perfectly, what it is like to have 3 boys under the age of 5 and an infant in your house. Everybody had fun. All. The. Time. :)

Poor Toby.

Things went back to normal after our guests left. I got a cold, so I stayed home from play rehearsal Monday and Tuesday, which meant there was plenty of time Daddy and Lukie to play. I got a couple of fun shots of Pete tossing Lukas in the air, which he LOVES.

This one is my favorite... look at those LEGS.

Lukie loves using his discovery tower at the counter. He likes to be up there while I'm cooking in the kitchen. And look-- he's finally eating well again! For months we've been battling him because he ONLY would eat cottage cheese, with a few pieces of pineapple and a grape or two thrown in. This weekend, he ate strawberries (a splurge in November, but if he eats them, I'll buy them), shakshuka (eggs poached in a tomato/vegetable sauce), pasta salad, and spinach-covered pizza (twice! Daddy's dinner request Friday and lunch request Sunday).

We had one of Pete's students come over to babysit Lukas on Saturday so we could get some outside work done. Pete extended the stone walkway behind the house so that we don't track mud in all winter, and I weeded the back garden so that it will come in nicely in the spring. Lukie played in leaves and generally ran Chelsey (the student) ragged.

A few more randoms from Sunday...

The following progression is what happens when Lukas realizes you are trying to take pictures of him...

Boom. Strawberry face.

I had dress rehearsal for the show (we open on Friday!) all afternoon yesterday, but then I came home and made chicken pot pie for dinner. With a little help from this cheery grape eater.

TTFN, folks!