Hooray, Make Way: Recap!

Greetings from sunny Chicago! Apologies for the unplanned blogging hiatus. I could laundry list excuses that have kept me busy (urgent care visits, ear infections, sinus infections, conjunctivitis, house hunting, lost babysitter) but basically things got busy with a whole lot of nothing special. I have often times drafted blog posts in my head and just never got around to actually posting them. After a combination of four antibiotics for Luke and me, we seem to be all floating back towards healthy. Hopefully I can be better and recommit to regular posts as we enter this new season and quickly approach the blog's one year anniversary.

In attempt to catch you up on our mundane day to day lives, let me provide you with a bit of a recap. Recap is a word that has taken on whole new meaning in our house these days. Kate continues to play school for hours on end when she is not actually at school. Her move to the Yellow Room in January did mean more structure and some more grown up activities like Show and Tell, assigned helper duties, and even an upcoming field trip! One of the things they do in the Yellow Room at the end of each day is recap the days events. The kids are asked to remember the various activities and projects they did along with what snacks and meals they ate. Kate's steel trap memory is well suited for this activity and so she now spends a good amount of time recapping her school activities at home. Of course she is the teacher (99% of the time she is Miss Celia, her current favorite!) and she is quite bossy to all of her students whether they be stuffed animals, a babysitter, Luke or even her parents.

A few notable events from the last month or so. On Saturday, February 5, 2010 - Luke took his first steps. We did capture on video but the files are arduous to load to the blog. On Tuesday February 8, 2010 Luke gave up the bottle cold turkey. Within 3 days I would say he was taking 6-8 oz of whole milk from a sippy cup and in the week to follow he grew into his current 16-20 oz. of milk daily from a sippy cup. I was thrilled to say goodbye to the bottles officially and no longer have this sight be a constant on my counter tops -

After several weeks of taking steps, I would say that by the week of February 28 Luke became a walker - setting out on his own accord to walk from one place to another place without significant prompting from us. And he has been honing his skills ever since. He got his first pair of real shoes to be worn outdoors. He can now proudly stand up from a sitting position without pulling up on something. And he can walk around carrying objects - large toys, his milk cup, a snack trap - which was a skill which made him feel especially good about himself. We even have video of him walking around a banging on a drum with a beaming smile on his face. He is working on communicating and definitely understands a lot of what we say and responds to simple commands. He babbles a lot and we are hopeful we'll see a burst of language in the form on words in the next few months. He definitely seems grown up and is quickly leaving the baby stage behind!

Kate is still thriving at school. She talks constantly about the letter of the week and as I mentioned before pretty much reenacts the events of school in a constant loop on the days which she is home. She turns the family room into nap central and refuses to allow us to turn the lights on while she comes and goes, purse in hand, pretending to be one of the teachers. She is thrilled that it is once again warm enough for us to walk to school and she is anxious for park days to return. She is also really enjoying her ballet class on Saturdays! It is fun to see her get excited about learning the weekly theme. She is generally exerting a lot of independence - picking out her own clothes, putting on her own shoes, requesting privacy when in the bathroom - but in the next breathe will melt into a puddle of tears if Luke and I walk up the stairs more than 3 steps ahead of her because she wants to be with me. She is constantly pushing me away and then pulling me back - I guess this is all age appropriate in her exploration of boundaries but it does feel manipulative at times, to say the least.

They are both growing up so quickly and while it is an exhausting, patience busting daily grind, I am trying to live in the moment and enjoy each stage for what it is.

Happy Friday!

Luke enjoying a snack and some milk. He is currently obsessed with Veggie Booty! He's gotten rather picky and since we are attempting to put some weight on him, this is a go to snack right now for sure.