My Baby's All Grow'd Up

Last Sunday Tony decided it was time to teach Luke to ride the motorcycle. Much to my chagrin, we loaded up the truck and headed to an abandoned neighborhood. I don't understand why my mind reacts so disapprovingly at the thought of Luke riding something w/ an engine. It's silly, really. Dallas was only a few months older than Luke is now when Tony put him on the bike for the first time. I've just always perceived Dallas as being so much....... sturdier than Luke. My baby seems so fragile next to his big brother. Even at birth; Luke's measly 9 pound 7 ounce (perfect) little body was shockingly scrawny compared to Dal's hulking

9 pounds 15 ounces!

But I digress. Where were we?

Oh yes, Luke's first solo motorcycle ride....

I was so proud of Dal's willingness to help Luke get started.

He was almost unnaturally helpful. Hmmm....

Tony gave Luke some instructions. Right hand is the throttle....(this is when I began my silent prayers...)

Right foot is the brake.

"Dear Lord, please let Luke be not only listening, but comprehending what his father is telling him right now."

As he was giving Luke a few last minute pointers, I couldn't help but ask,

"Why is Dallas being so nice to Luke?"

Trembling, I took my post approximately 30 yards from the starting gate. Luke was instructed to ride to me, turn around behind me, and ride back to Tony.

"Dear Lord, please don't let my baby get hurt. Please give me the courage to stand here and photograph this monumental event in the life of my child. Please don't let me drop the camera. Please don't let Luke accelerate past me so that I have to drop my camera and run after him. Please let Luke safely make the turn around me and return to his father."

I needn't worry.

He was amazing.

I was so relieved and overcome I didn't even get a picture of his beautifully executed turn.

He was a rock star. And so was Dal. When I regained my composure I asked Dal what he thought while watching his little brother ride away... while I prayed,

"Dear Lord, please let Dallas accept and celebrate the fact that Luke is

crazy good

on the motorcycle!"

"Thank you, Lord!"

Dallas had given Luke an appraising "baby" thumb's up!

Watching him ride I realized he was naturally talented, freakishly so.

He took to that motorcycle like I take to Target - massive adrenaline rush while maintaining calm control.

We tried not to make too much of his super-fantastic, off the hook, awe-inspiring, superhuman, stupendous, miraculous, death defying first ride. We just smiled and cheered as he passed between us. Back and forth, back and forth.

After a few uneventful passes, Luke grew bored and decided to play chicken with Dallas. I'm sorry I didn't get a better photo. I was too busy trying not to wet myself. He came straight at Dallas - closer....closer... neither of them wanting to be the first to bail....

Luckily he doesn't have a death wish, and Luke jerked to the right just seconds before impact.

Still trying to process what I had just witnessed, I looked up in time to see him standing on the pegs. Who was this child, and what did he do with my baby boy?

Tony calmly put the kibosh on Luke's hot-dogging. Surprisingly, Luke obeyed when Tony gave him the stop signal.

"Thank you Jesus."

Father and son shared some happy words of encouragement before Luke took off again.

But in a surprising turn of events, Luke whipped back around.....

...pulled up next to Tony and asked,

"Dad, will you please show me how to put it in second gear? I want to go FAST!"

Bursting with pride...No, wait... Exploding with pride, Tony adjusted the throttle and taught Luke how to change to second gear. The difference in speed was immediately tested by Luke. In his first pass in second gear, this is all I caught:


At this point I decided to put the camera away, gently eased my weary old bones into the back of Tony's truck, assumed a reclined position, closed my eyes, and begged,

"Dear Jesus, please take me NOW!"


I guess it wasn't my time to go - at least not just yet. Joyfully I realized Luke's number was not up, either.

Hi-5 J.C.!

and a thumb's up from Lukey Boy.

Sadly, my camera was put away when Dallas added the whipped cream and cherry to our already perfect sundae. Gleefully he approached us and stated,

"I think Luke is so good he should just keep my motorcycle and I'll get a new one."

A-ha!

I knew he was up to something....

A POST FROM LUKE

I am very sad because today my pet grasshopper died. I found him on Wednesday. He was climbing on the fence. I made a house for him with grass and a leaf, and I poked holes to make sure he could breathe. He lived with me for two days. Today he died. We buried him in our garden.

Goodbye little fella. I'm gonna miss you.

Seriously Part II

I am not making this up. Here's a conversation that just took place while tucking Luke in for the night.

Mom: Tomorrow is preschool! Are you excited to see Ella?

Luke: Yes

Mom: Ella is your good friend, isn't she?

Luke: Yes she is. But do you know what? Dallas hates me.

Mom: No he doesn't, Luke. In fact, Dallas probably loves you more than anyone else in the whole wide world. That's what brothers are like.

Luke: silence

Mom: Do you believe me?

Luke: more silence

Mom: Imagine what would happen if a bully was picking on you and Dallas walked up. What do you think Dallas would do?

Luke: He would protect me.

Mom: That's exactly right. And what would you do if you walked up and a bully was picking on Dallas?

Luke: I would kick the bully in the nuts.

Mom: silence

Luke: I said I'd kick him in the nuts. You know, the weenis.

He thought I needed clarification.

Seriously

The following conversation is real. It took place approximately 10 minutes ago.

Dallas: "Hey, Mom, can you guess what I'm thinking about right now?"

Me: "Geez, I don't know, bananas?"

Dallas: "Nope. Fried chicken."

And there you have it.

Happy Easter

MARCH m A d n E s S !

We've been having so much fun this month. From leprechaun traps to championship basketball games (hooray Caitlin!), new Crocs to learning to fall forward when rollerblading... there's never a dull moment. Spring is finally here and we could not be more pleased!

Bummer...

I haven't been much of a blogger lately. Ever since YouTube revoked access to my "Fancy Pants" clip, I haven't really felt there's anything to celebrate.
Actually, truth be told, right before Christmas I was hit by a truck. At least it's felt that way. Life is good, but very busy. Teaching preschool 5 days a week has proven to be more work than I anticipated. It sure sounds easy enough. Twelve-and-a-half hours a week, piece of cake! Wrong. I have to say, though, it is the greatest job I've ever had. I'm doing what I love to do in the comfort of my home. I can walk Dallas to the bus stop every day and have a snack waiting when he returns after school. I'm blessed. And tired.
I thought I would try to get this blog up to date this weekend. We have been having a wonderful time together - enjoying various holidays, birthday parties, dentist visits (NOT!), date nights, tea parties, classroom parties... so many things to celebrate. Forgive me if I post things out of order, but I'd like to go through my photos over the past few months and post some of my favorites. If I have to worry about getting them in chronological order I'll suffer anxiety and give up all together!

What Makes You Laugh Until You Cry???

I love to laugh. I love funny people, and I rather enjoy being funny myself. (At least I think I'm funny. In fact, I'm one of the funniest people I know.) Here is something that makes me laugh until I cry. Every single time I watch it.
Wait!! Before you click play you need to go down and pause the nice Christmas music. I'm too lazy to delete it.


And now for your enjoyment I bring you

F A N C Y

P A N T S

I LOST MY TOOTH!!!

Literally, he said, as he came bounding off the bus this afternoon.
I lost it at lunch today and I totally don't know where it is. I LOST it!

I think he must have swallowed it during lunch, offered sweet Madeline.

No worries, he wrote Ms. Faree this fabulous note to take the place of his coveted tooth, and gently tucked it under his pillow ...



It's a little hard to read...

deer TooTh faree.

I LosT my TooTh

I do not know war my Tooth is.

I have a feeling she is going to reward him BIG TIME! :)

* P * A * R * T * Y *

How Cool Is This?

It's About Time For A.........

Dallas Post!

Man, I love this kid. So smart, so handsome, so funny, and so much like his mom! I have a few funny stories of him to share.

The other day we were in the car (btw, so glad we don't have a dvd player in the car.... soooo many interesting conversations take place while on the road!) and Dallas made a statement about something using the word "similar" in his sentence. I said something like, "Wow, Dallas, I'm so impressed by your vocabulary. Usually only kids in the 8th grade or older use words like 'similar'."

Never being one to pass up an opportunity to toot his own horn, he adds, "I know a lot more big words, like introduction, interactive, and exoskeleton."

"WOW!" I gush. "Go on!" (like I needed to ask.)

"Canine, feline," he says.

I'm growing prouder by the moment.

"United States of America, indecent exposure,"

cringe

"Ummmm, honey, where did you hear that one?"

"You taught me. Remember? It's what police will arrest you for if you show your privates in public."

Whew. Dodged a bullet there. And then I had my Sally Field moment: He listens, he really listens!

And he wasn't done tossing around the impressive big words! "Hillside, electricity," he recites. "Grand finale."

"Ohhhh," I say, "that's a good one."

"No, grand finale. I'm done. Those are the only big words I know."

Have you heard the one about Dallas' first grade teacher? She rocks w/ a capital "R"!!! And apparently I'm not the only one who thinks so. A few weeks ago Ms. Kistler was on the verge of her 30-something birthday. I asked Dallas what he would like to do for her and he suggested painting her portrait. (Lavish vocabulary and a renaissance man? A true force to be reckoned with!) Splendid idea. I hooked him up w/ a canvas and some acrylics, and the kid went to town. He's quite the artist, but typically produces war/UFO/jet/super-hero depictions. I wasn't sure if I needed to run to the store for a "plan B" gift.

Fear not.

Behold, Ms. Kistler.

Ummm, is it my imagination, or does Ms. Kistler look kinda hot? By comparison, I've also included the portrait he painted of yours truly a few years ago.

Granted, his fine motor skills have improved over the years, but why did she get earrings and a pretty necklace and all I got was a silly purple ribbon in my hair? I'm just saying.....

Finally, here's a picture of Dallas after he gave his teacher the gift. She loved it. And I love her because when I tried to get a shot of the 2 of them together Dallas kind of freaked out and tried to squirm out of the way and she grabbed him and held tight while they BOTH smiled for the camera. Looks like I'm not the only one who loves this young man!

I could survive for 44 seconds chained to a bunk bed with a velociraptor

L is for Lucky, and for Luke, and for Love

I don't know how he does it. A quick trip to the grocery store typically results in the mother-load for Lukey Boy. I seem incapable of telling him no. Most recently he asked for a mouth guard like Dallas wears for football. I needed to grab a few items from the store and $.97 for a mouth guard seemed reasonable. Then he pulled me down the balloon aisle. (for those of you who don't know, Luke has a passion for balloons. he covets them, literally) Okay, a mouth guard and a bag of 12 "It's a Boy!" balloons. Enough damage for one day. Wrong! As I whiz by for a couple of 2 liters of diet soda, Luke eyes the bright pink lemon/lime/cranberry concoction, and while it wasn't of the diet variety, I found myself intrigued as well. Mouth guard, balloons, soda. One quick pass down the baking aisle and we're done. Until Luke sees the marshmallows. In a performance worthy of a daytime Emmy, Luke convinces me he must have marshmallows. The colored ones. No, wait, the plain white ones. No, the colored ones. Wait, not the little colored ones, the big colored ones. What? The big colored ones only come in pink? The big white ones, then. Yes, the big white ones. Delicious.
Oh how I love this boy.

What Am I Going To Do With You?

First I must admit that this picture has nothing to do with this post. I just love the picture.
Today Luke crawled up beside me on the couch and sighed a big, shoulder-slacking sigh.
"What's up?" I asked.
"I just don't know what to do," he replied in an overly-dramatic tone.
"What do you mean you don't know what to do? Like right now, you don't know what you want to do right now?"
Another ridiculous sigh.
"Not right now. I don't know what I want to do when I grow up."
"Oh," I replied. "That's not a big deal. You aren't supposed to know what you want to do when you grow up because you haven't tried everything yet."
"I don't know what you mean," he said, perking up a little.
"I mean, you shouldn't decide that while you are so young. Right now your job is to try out as many things as you can to see what you like and what you don't like."
"Like what?"
"Well, like skiing. You haven't tried skiing yet. You haven't tried tennis, or golf, or coaching, or being a teacher, or flying an airplane, or riding a motorcycle, or anything like that."
"Well, what else haven't I tried yet?"
"Let see, you should try playing a musical instrument, cooking in a fancy restaurant, studying spiders, being a zookeeper, a gardener, a cameraman, a mailman, a librarian... there are so many things you should try to see if you like it."
"OK," he says.
"So, what would you like to try first?" I asked eagerly.
long dramatic pause...........
With great confidence and improved posture he looks me right in the eye and says, "Drinking beer. I think I'll try that first."

Luke's Hot Rod

Today after preschool Luke asked me if he (we) could build a car out of a box. I set aside the mile-long list of things I needed to get done during those precious few hours between preschool and Dallas arriving home starved and ready to rumble, and set out to build the best darn cardboard car my child has ever seen.
First I made a preliminary sketch:

Next we gathered all of the necessary tools and art supplies and got to work. I did all the major cutting and left painting to the master.


Luke napped and I made dinner (lasagna rolls - a family fav) while we waited for the paint to dry. Dallas' arrival home from school was timed perfectly and he was able to help with the finishing touches. (The license plate was Dal's idea - it reads "Hot Rod" but it's a little tricky to see in the pictures.)





Daddy came home to find Luke "parked" in his parking space. A day well spent. Oh, and yes, his rims are pink. It's all the rage with the 3.75 yr. olds!