Life

This was at 9 pm a couple of days ago. It's still mostly light at 10 pm right now. The kids are sleeping great, and that was my only concern. Since it hasn't messed up the kids' sleep, I can now say definitively that I love this time of year! It's always light and you have so much more day.

This was during our Mommy-Daughter date yesterday. Months ago, we were going to rode the bus into town to avoid paying for unconvenient parking. However, the bus was full, especially since we had a stroller, and Rebekah was devastated. So, I decided to try again yesterday. We totally lucked out and got the 2-story bus both directions! Rebekah was beside herself all morning in anticipation of riding the bus! This was her face the WHOLE time!!

We went downtown to the malls that sadly do not offer play areas, so I compensated by getting her several treats, one of whichw as this wonderful chocolate M&M (they're on the other side- of course they're facing her so she can see them!) biscuit (aka cookie) on a stick! Yummy. Yes, I also got a biscuit, but opted for milk chocolate chip not on a stick. Hindsight, I should have gone for the stick! Anyway, it was a win/win for me. I got some badly needed one-on-one time with my favorite girl and got to do soem much-needed shopping...seriously! I went to our version of Walmart and they didn't have a blush or a brush! So, we hit the right stores and picked up a little of this and a little of that and had a delightful time! Granted, the whole time all Becs could think about was getting back on the bus...

We came home 3 hours later and Luke was still asleep! Seriously, I woke him at 8:10 am from 13 hours+ of night sleep, he went down at 10:15 and was still asleep at 1pm when we got home. We then went to KC Kangaroos (an indoor play area) until R said she wanted to go home for a nap (?!?), at which point we ALL crashed from 2:30-5pm! Luke then went back to bed at 7 and R wanted to go to sleep at 7:30! Do the math- Luke was up for 6 hours! That's nuts. While we're on Luke, bless him, he is back to himself! That means he shrieks to high heaven half the time I leave or move about the room, but is happy to play and smile most of the time. Whew! He was just delightful 99% of yesterday and 100% of today and it was so good to see him feeling better. However, tooth #7 is on the way- when my mom came 5 weeks ago, he had 2 teeth! Anyway, the poor boy has a lot going on, but was full of sweet snuggles and giggles today. He is off his meds and seems fine w/o them, so that is good and he still slept really well today.

We are amazed at whata wonderful big sister Rebekah has become. Today in church nursery, Luke did wail when he saw me leave. We also watched as Rebekah promptly sat next to him, put her arm around him, and explained that Mommy and Daddy were going to church but would be back. Oh my gosh- my heart almost burst. We have had lots of those moments recently. I really am quite proud of her. As we arrived at church even, Josh motioned for me to look in the backseat- Rebekah was holding Luke's hand and they were looking at each other while she smiled and he giggled. :) Precious.

Another Luke development: he is starting to try to put things inside other things. This seems advanced to me. ;) He tried to put goldfish snacks in containers, toys in baskets or buckets, tiny specks in other tiny things, etc. His fine motor skills are actually quite good, which we noticed b/c of his precise signing of "more" etc. He is also starting to mimic more. R was sucking her thumb and you could just see the cogs spinning in his head. He looked at his own thumb, studied her some more, put his in his mouth, tried it, and you could tell he must have thought, "What's the big deal with this? I got a paci!" We were so amused. Of course, he's mimicking noises and some "words"- he especially loves "Mack!" which we've been doing in honor of my niece, Riley Jane, who gives out "macks" liberally. (kisses of course) It may just be that Luke loves my kisses right on his mouth, but he is very tickled by it and sometimes tries (I think at least) to say "mack". And don't even start with me about not kissing my kids when they're sick. They are mine and I will kiss them as much as I want unless I'm sick- then I will spare them. :)

That's it for now.