Lucas is 15 Months

Lucas is 15 months old, and is as cute and busy as ever!

Generally easygoing and affectionate, he likes to be held by both Mommy and Daddy, but primarily Mommy. All the nursery ladies at church and MOPS tell me how sweet he is. :o) We couldn't agree more.

Lucas cruises around furniture and is quite steady on his feet, but is not yet walking. He is a speedy crawler and loves to do a backwards crawl/slide. He also has begun a new yoga pose the past week: "downward facing dog." He is certainly proud of this accomplishment and Christian loves to join in for the attention. :o) Lucas also crawls up and down the stairs to our bonus room. There have been many occasions where he has disappeared and we find him happily playing upstairs. I feel like I am less cautious this time around with #2, maybe that is a bad thing? But for the most part, Lucas doesn't get into too much trouble, in fact, he hasn't even really started exploring the cabinets and their contents yet. I am sure it is only a matter of time.

Lucas has also been doing more talking, and forming sounds that sound more like recognizable words. He says "baby" and "ne-ne" (blankie- which he LOVES.) He also seems to ask questions, and tilts his head to the side while he waits for a response. His sound for any furry animal is: "Meow." Lucas' new thing is scrunching his nose, sometimes while showing us his teeth (he now has 6 and is working on number 7.) Last week Lucas started to point at things of interest.

Lucas' favorite activities include playing on the back patio and being outdoors, "wrestling" with Christian on the bed with pillows, bath time, playing with cars and making car sounds, and has taken an interest in the Etch-a-Sketch and drawing (maybe he has been studying Big Brother.)

Compare: Christian at 15 Months

Lollipop

Lucas' first lollipop. He really enjoyed sharing his with Christian and barely even noticed when C bit half the candy off the stick.

Colorado Here We Come!

It's been almost 7 years in the making, and now we can say we will be heading home to Colorado late May (assuming the pending amendment goes through on Steve's current orders that have us moving in August)! We thank God for His hand in making this possible. We are beyond excited to return to Fort Collins and Colorado State University, our Alma Mater! Steve was accepted to their PhD program in Industrial Organizational Psychology. He will begin research this Summer, complete the Master's program in a year and a half, begin teaching at the US Air Force Academy December 2014, and then hopefully return to CSU to complete the PhD portion after his 3 years at the Academy. Whew! Steve has a lot of hard work ahead of him, but we just cannot wait to be an hour and a half from family and friends. We will easily be able to celebrate holidays, birthdays, and everyday life with those we love!

Christian is 3 1/2

Wow! Another 6 months has gone by, and Christian is now 3 1/2! We love, love, love our sweet, silly, and yes, stubborn little boy. These past months have been so fun.

It is so special as a parent to experience a child's development at any age, but we are especially enjoying Christian now as his language, mannerisms, and reasoning have expanded. He understands so much more than we are aware of, is incredibly observant, picks up on everything we say, and asks insightful questions. He continues to love to build, draw, and create, and his art is beginning to take form as he is more intentional in his drawings.

Christian still loves his stuffed animals, and it seriously seems like they multiply on their own. Each night before bed, Christian creates something called, "his machine" where he lines up his animals in a particular way, the same. exact. way. each time. Now of course, the setup is completely different for nap time. He will not go to bed until they are just so. In addition, the stuffed animals usually each need a toy...so you can imagine the chaos that he sleeps with. I am just thankful that half his stuffed animals are bagged away in his closet and he has forgotten them temporarily. This is a perfect example of how Christian is extremely "strong-willed" in that his little world needs to be a certain way. Morning rituals need to be the same, etc. Christian has never really been what I would call an "easy going" child, but we love his spirit, and the fact that he loves and cares for others so deeply.

This is the bedtime "machine"

Christian seems to enjoy and appreciate Lucas more and more. Lucas is becoming more vocal and Christian enjoys "having conversations" with him, where C acts like he actually knows what L is saying. :o) Christian often asks if Lucas can come and play in his room, where they play Duplos, LEGOS, blocks, and puzzles. He is very helpful in giving Lucas snacks, and is eager to share his leftovers from meals (of course, Lucas is always willing to eat them.) I love to see their brotherly love. :o)

Mommy spying through the bedroom window- Christian was sharing his cereal with Lucas.

Christian has also developed a really strong bond to Daddy in these past few months. I am not sure if it is because Steve has been TDY so often, but Christian always tells Daddy how much he loves him, and that, "You are my best friend." C also becomes quite upset when Steve has an early morning and he doesn't get a chance to see him before he leaves for work. He cries, "I want to give Daddy kisses and love."
We have lots of changes coming up this Summer and it will be fun to see what the next 6 months have in store and before we know it, we will have a 4 year old!

Daddy Turned 30!

Steve's big 3-0 fell shortly after our Disney World trip, in the middle of a busy week, and Steve left the following day to go to Colorado State for a recruitment weekend. So we kept the evening simple with dinner and of course, white cake with white frosting, Steve's favorite.

Christian decorated the cake...he even put the candles on by himself...perfectly evenly spaced. 1 candle for each decade. :o)

Looking forward to new adventures in the next decade! There are lots of exciting things coming up this Summer and Fall already! Plus, I've heard 30's are so much better than 20's. Guess I will find out come November. :\

Disney World Vacay

Last week we took a fun family vacation to Disney World! We have been promising Christian for awhile now that we would take him. We wanted to go in November (one of the best times to go crowd-wise,) but it didn't work out, so this was our last opportunity especially with a summer move quickly approaching. It has been so convenient to only have a 7 1/2 hour drive to Disney, and to not have to pay for plane tickets. :o) Plus the military tickets are currently deeply discounted. It will most likely be a long time until we get a chance to go again.

We turned Lucas' seat forward-facing for the first time for our drive down. The boys did great on the way, Lucas not as much on the way home. I guess the novelty of facing forward was over.

We're here! Christian was very excited. Lucas fell asleep 45 minutes before the arrival on Disney property.

This was Lucas' first Disney experience, and the first time the four of us have stayed in a hotel room together. Overall it worked out well, we all went to bed at the same time, and were always eager to get out of the room to explore "Mickey Mouse Disney World Yay!"

We went to our favorite parks: the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT and spent two evenings at Downtown Disney. (The LEGO store, Ghirardelli's, and Earl of Sandwich!)

Christian's favorite rides included the "Many Adventure's of Winnie the Pooh," "the Seas with Nemo and Friends," "Pirates of the Caribbean," and "Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid" in the new Fantasy Land. He was also really into the monorail, the bamboo plants at the Polynesian Resort Hotel, and the fireworks.

Lucas enjoyed the rides, despised the what was supposed to be 20 minute and became 55 minute wait at the "Peter Pan's Flight" ride (as did Mommy and Daddy,) and missed a few naps, but loved the food, especially Disney's mac n' cheese.

Our biggest regret on this trip was only bringing a single stroller. Not sure what we were thinking, but needless to say, Steve's shoulders are still sore. We walked everywhere on this trip from our hotel at the Shades of Green to the Polynesian, and then from there to the monorail either in the Polynesian or the one at the Tickets and Transportation Center. Definitely an exhausting trip, but always worth the memories.