Christmas at the Lake

We spent the weekend of New Year's at Tablerock Lake with my dad, step-mom, step-sister and nephew. We got there on Friday afternoon after driving down from KC. Unfortunately Luke only slept for 25 minutes in the car and of course refused any more nap. We just hung out, watched TV, played Wii Resort (I really liked it) and MarioKart and had a great dinner. After Luke went to bed early, the rest of us opened our presents and tried to stay awake until midnight. Once midnight arrived we all went to bed--it was a very uneventful New Year's which is just the way I like it.

On Saturday morning Luke opened his gifts which we managed to get through fairly fast. He and Wesley had fun playing his new computer on the TV. A side note: Luke loves to hang out and play with Wesley and I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual. Wesley will even change Luke's diaper (awesome for a 12 year old). Right after Luke went down for his nap, Troy, Kristi and I drove in to Branson to do a bit of shopping. When we got back some friends had arrived and we enjoyed another yummy dinner and dessert and played Mexican Train dominoes. It was a short trip but we enjoyed seeing everyone!

On Sunday, we planned to leave before lunch so that we could get home and Troy could have a little down time before going back to work on Monday (turns out he didn't have work Monday but didn't figure that out until he and a co-worker were the only ones there Monday morning). So, the car was loaded and we headed out about 10:30. Well about 15 minutes down the road Luke throws up all over himself! So back to the house we go. Troy and I figured out pretty fast that he was carsick because he almost got sick again on the way back to the house. Thankfully, Luke managed not to get it everywhere and the clean-up was relatively quick and painless. Poor Luke though was incredibly pale and upset. He and I sat in the recliner with a blanket and he was asleep almost instantly. We figured that was the best thing for him to get his equilibrium back. After about 35 minutes he woke up and we gave him some crackers and juice which went well. So back in the car we go only this time we started the DVD player before leaving the driveway so Luke would focus on that rather than looking out the window on the very hilly, curvy roads. That apparently did the trick and we made it home without any more problems (unless of course you count no further napping on Luke's part).

Park and Trains

On the morning of the 30th after having breakfast with some good family friends, we decided to take Luke to Loose Park in KC because it was pretty nice outside and we all wanted the fresh air. After a quick 10 minutes on the jungle gym equipment we decided to see if we could find the ducks at the pond. We struck out on the ducks but Luke managed to find some really nice sticks and leaves and we walked around the park for about an hour!

After our walk around the park, Troy and PawPaw wanted Luke to see the trains down at Union Station. There is a bridge over the tracks and the trains go right beneath you. Luke, as you can imagine, was VERY excited about seeing the trains go under him. While we were there we saw two trains.

Christmas in KC

We celebrated Christmas in KC with my mom, step-dad, sister, aunt and my cousin and her family on the 28th after driving in from Topeka. We let Luke open his presents in shifts hoping that would help him get through them faster. So he opened a few before his nap, then during his nap the rest of us opened our gifts and after Luke's nap he opened some more before my cousin's family arrived. It was great to spend time with everyone and just relax and catch up a bit. We also enjoyed a delicious dinner of beef tenderloin and other yummy stuff (I was thrilled I could finally eat at this point). The following are pics from the rounds of gift opening.

Luke was the center of attention for much of our visit which he loved, per usual. It is amazing how fast kids learn to ask someone other than a parent for something (namely M&M's) when they know that someone will give them a better answer than Mom and Dad. Luke was even so bold at one point to reach up on the counter and grab a handful of M&M's by himself. Unfortunately for Luke, he gave himself away because he was still chewing on them when he came into the room where we were all talking--oops!

The morning of the 29th Luke and I went to visit my best friend from elementary school, Jen and her kids. The kids had a great time playing while Jen and I talked. After we got back from that Luke finished opening his gifts from the day before (and YES, he got WAY TOO MANY presents in case you were wondering). Luke took a great nap during which the adults ran some errands and messed around on our computers. When Luke got up we all had fun playing before dinner. That night before bed Luke got a car massage courtesy of PawPaw. It was amazing how much it relaxed him.

Unplugged

This morning Luke and I had a fun new adventure. Because the temperature was going to be below freezing all day and there wasn't much hope for going outside, I decided we should go to Unpluggits, an indoor play and craft place with no electronics. I had recommendations from some neighbors that this is a great place and boy, they were right. Luke and I truly lucked out because for the 2 hours that we were there no one else was there. I thought for sure since it is so cold that there would be a bunch of people there--no complaints from me though because I didn't have to worry about Luke as much and I was able to read my scrapbooking magazine.

Playing in the Pirate Ship

The 3 story slide that Luke went down once. He came down head first on that attempt and it scared him so he didn't want to try it again.

This slide was more his speed plus he could see me.

Air Hockey was very exciting.

One of two paintings Luke did. I love the bright colors!

The "spin" art we made using a salad spinner (awesome idea for art at home).

As you can see we did several different things while we were there. Luke also played at the sand table, the train table, messed with Playdoh and rolled balls around. It really was an awesome place--I highly recommend it to those of you close by.

The absolute best part for me though was on the way home. As we were pulling into our neighborhood, Luke sort of quietly said, "Thanks for taking me to have fun Mom." Oh, melt my heart! It brought tears to my eyes. Love you so much Munchkin!

2 1/2 Years Old Today

Luke is two and a half years old today! It is amazing to me how fast time goes--yes, I know I say that a bunch but it's true! We are having a quiet day at home because it is cold and snowy outside. I actually love these days at home when we don't have to go anywhere or do anything because we have so much fun together. Luke is also usually pretty snuggly on days like these which makes it even better. I relish the snuggles because Luke is not so free about sharing them as he used to be.

So what else is my kiddo up to--I'll tell you but there's no way to cover it all!

• Luke is talking incredibly well--pretty much everything is in sentence form. The other day he said a 14 word sentence. It was a run-on but it was still a sentence in my book. We also have full conversations with him and it's absolutely so much fun! Lately he has been saying, "Here me is." I've been working with him to say here I am which from Luke comes out as, "Here my yam." Although sometimes he gets the "I" sound right.
• Luke can count to 16 (without skipping 8 anymore) and sings too many songs to count. Through the holidays "Jingle Bells" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" were heard numerous times during the day.
• His favorite toys still include dinosaurs and Thomas the Train. More recently cars and music/singing have become higher on the list.
• I should include books as a favorite too. On days that we stay home we can sit and read over 10 books in a row without interruption. Luke has also started "reading" books to us and he also will "read" to himself if we are reading. I love that he is so into books.
• Another recent development is singing our prayer before we eat. It used to be that we would have Luke repeat after us when we prayed but now he sings the prayer they use at MDO--it's "For We Thank You." Luke will also sing it by himself at random times throughout the day.
• As any toddler, Luke is constantly asking questions. What's this? Why? Where are we going? He also will repeat a question until he gets what he thinks is a good answer.
• Unfortunately eating well still is not a top priority for Luke. I have managed to find a few more meals that he will eat with us but Troy and I can only handle those so many times in a row before we need something different. And I'm almost convinced that Luke will never eat solid vegetables! Ugh! I know it can be a long process but I'm so done with it.
• Luke is still a rockstar sleeper! He goes to bed between 8 and 8:30 and usually wakes up around 8. Naptime is also great; typically I can expect 2+ hour naps and sometimes it still can be over 3 hours.
• Something I don't think I've ever mentioned before in my updates about Luke is how expressive he is all the time. He makes some of the greatest faces and you know exactly how he is feeling when you look at him and he has been that way ever since he was a baby. I'm glad my mom reminded me about this fun Luke fact. (Let me know if I've missed something that you think should be included.)
• Luke's memory amazes us. While traveling for Christmas he could tell us what happened at each grandparents house the previous time we visited there. He will also repeat things he has heard throughout the day or even from a previous day.
• We also love that Luke is a big helper. He really likes to help me in the kitchen when I'm cooking, he lets Maggie in and out and he loves to help me move the laundry in and out of the washer and dryer. I know this will pass so we're taking advantage of it now.
• Potty training is unfortunately non-existant right now. We talk about it and ask Luke if he wants to sit on the potty but he adamently refuses. It's frustrating because he will tell us when he is or has gone to the bathroom in his diaper so he understands that part. We just have to wait until he's ready--hopefully sooner rather than later.
• Luke's manners are also very good which is something I am proud of because I work with him a bunch on those. He is very good about saying please, thank you, excuse me, bless you and we are working on you're welcome and asking for things nicely (the phrasing not just the please part). I recently had someone comment on how polite he was and it made me so proud.
• Some more favorites: riding on Dad's shoulders, playing with Benjamin, going for walks in the neighborhood, going to MDO and the big truck he plays with constantly there, petting Maggie and Daisy (who are both very tolerant), combing his hair, and my favorite--just being a cute, adorable little boy.

Johnson Family Christmas

The morning of the 26th we drove to Topeka (after a quick visit to urgent care for me to make sure I just had a stomach virus). We got there a little past lunch time so we quickly had lunch and attempted to put Luke down for his nap.

The room he stays in has a twin bed and we debated having him sleep there but decided against it because the dresser drawers had too much stuff he could get into in them. So we set up the pack-n-play and put Luke down. After about 45 minutes of noise and talking, Troy went in to check on him. Turns out we put the pack-n-play too close to the dresser and Luke had managed to pull open one of the drawers and pull everything out of it. He was having a great time but unfortunately not sleeping. So, we moved the pack-n-play away from the dresser and told him to go to sleep. Well, not even 2 minutes later static is coming from the monitor meaning the channel had been changed on the part in Luke's room. So I go in to check on him and he is completely out of the pack-n-play playing with the buttons on the monitor. At this point, Luke was wide awake and too excited about being at Grandma and Grandpa's to go to sleep so we gave up on naptime for the day. I also have to say at this point Troy and I were very concerned about Luke sleeping the rest of the week as he had "escaped" from the pack-n-play. Thankfully, he didn't manage to do it again.

Before we had dinner we opened our gifts with Troy's parents. Luke's pattern of opening one present and wanting nothing to do with the others continued. We did get him through all of the gifts in a reasonable amount of time though and then enjoyed a good dinner. After we put Luke to bed the rest of us played Mexican Train Dominoes (I highly recommend this game if you've never played). Troy and I hadn't played in a long time so we enjoyed the game and catching up with his parents.

On Monday extended family came for a second Christmas celebration. We do a secret name drawing gift exchange because there are so many of us. Luke was again the center of attention and managed to get through his gifts fairly fast during this round. Troy's mom along with his aunts prepared a great traditional turkey and ham meal (I still wasn't able to eat much at this point and it was beyond frustrating with all the good food around). Everyone left around 3 and we all relaxed while Luke took his nap. The rest of the day was just chillin' and having fun. The next morning we (I should really say Troy) packed up the car for the second time and we headed off for KC.

Playing with Dinosaur Train dinosaurs

New art easel Luke got from Grandma and Grandpa

Enjoying some pumpkin pie (or maybe cool-whip) with Dad

Checking out a new gift with Grandma

Opening gifts

What's it gonna be?

Christmas Day

Christmas morning was such a fun morning for all of us. Luke woke up about 8 so Troy and I quickly got a few things ready and then went to get him from his room. The first excitement was the candy cane that Santa left for Luke outside his bedroom door. It was almost hard to get him downstairs because he was so excited about it (still when asked what Santa brought him for Christmas his response is a candy cane--too bad Santa didn't know that it could've been so easy).

Once downstairs Luke made a beeline for the new Thomas the Train set that Santa left and played with it until we made him look in his stocking. Each new item pulled from the stocking brought such wonder (ah, to be 2 again). After we had all opened our stockings, we tried to get Luke to open some presents but he was too interested in the stuff that was already open to want to open more (turns out that was a theme for all our celebrations). We slowly managed to get Luke to open his gifts but it took over 2 hours for everything to get opened (we did take a break for cinnamon rolls too). Luke was so insistant on playing with every new thing he opened. I commented to Troy that this would be the only year Christmas mornig would be so slowly paced. We did enjoy it all though. It was SO much fun watching the excitement in Luke's eyes as he ripped open his gifts. It was as if each was the best ever.

After all the presents were finally opened, we skyped with our families. Luke really enjoyed showing off his new toys and singing Jingle Bells for each family. I was really glad to see everyone and share the fun of Luke's excitement.

We didn't do much for the rest of the day other than pack for our week long trip to visit the families. I still didn't feel too good but I did manage to make a nice dinner for all of us. It was a wonderful day together as a family hanging out in our pj's and knowing we didn't have to do anything or go anywhere. My favorite moment of the day came after Luke opened a whole bunch of musical instruments. He LOVES music and was very excited with this gift. Luke said, "Make music with me Mom and Dad," which we happily did. The smile on Luke's face as he looked at Troy and I playing our instruments was absolutely priceless.

We were very excited that we managed to get Luke to cooperate for the timer on the camera so we could have a family picture!