tidbits

Luke seems to be growing up supper fast lately. He started trying to say words more on our trip to Colorado and now he actually says shoes, yes and yesterday evening he tried out his own versions of Mommy and Daddy! He is also learning more signs, potty, eat, and drink to name a few, and getting more clear with some of his older signs, like thank you is starting to come off of his chin instead of looking the same as bye-bye now. I think all the time spent with other kids in Colorado might have had something to do with all the new language development!

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We got Luke a potty chair last week and I showed it to him as I was putting it together. It can be a potty chair all by it self, ore you can move the seat to a toilet seat so that you don't have to dump the pee or clean stuff out, and the base becomes a step stool. (That was when we taught him the sign for potty too). The next morning I took him to the bathroom with me and he started trying to take apart the potty chair and was getting pretty frustrated with how hard it was to do so I took it apart for him. Then he started pointing very dramatically at the toilet so I asked him if he wanted me to put the potty seat there and he said yes! I asked if he wanted to use the potty and he got really excited so I helped him get naked and put him on the toilet and he went potty! I was so proud of him we had a little party. Since then he has asked to sit on the potty a couple of times each day, sometimes he goes and sometimes he doesn't but I'm not worried. He is really young to be potty training at all and I just got it out so he could start getting used to it and what you are supposed to do on it. For now we are just keeping it fun and letting him lead the way. I have heard way to many stories of frustrated parents trying to get their kids to potty train when they weren't quite ready, so all we are doing is playing and when he is ready he will do it, hopefully without sad tears on any one's part!

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Also another thing I really wanted to mention in the last post but forgot to was that Luke and Becca and I shared a room the whole time, and a bed for more than half of it until Luke started kicking Becca too much. Sometimes Luke confused the two of us. One morning he woke up and shook Becca and when she turned over he asked her to nurse before realizing it wasn't me. Another morning he woke up and rolled over and gave her a big hug. Even when he wasn't confused though he really seemed to have a lot of fun with her and gave her lots of hugs and kisses. We miss you sister!

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Since getting back home we have had a few outings with friends that have let Luke enjoy the company of other small children! A friend of mine from work took her little boy swimming with us and we had a lot of fun. Afterwards we went to the park for a bit and then got ice cream before heading home. Apparently that made a pretty big impression on her little boy because now she tells me that he keeps repeating my name all the time! So sweet!

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We also spent an afternoon with my friend Amy and her little boy Glen. We missed his birthday party back in June and this was the first time we had been able to get together with them since! Luke really enjoyed the different toys to play with, especially a toy airplane to ride on and this big truck he was able to sit in some how!

When we first got there Glen was sleeping but after a bit he woke up and then the kissing fest got started, soooo funny!

We got Glen some bugs and a gift card for his mommy to help him spend, the bugs were a pretty big hit I think!

We also ate lunch together and did some errands in town and the boys did fabulous, playing and clapping together in the back seat most of the time. It was a fun day and we need to get together more often!

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Saturday was a baby shower for Courtney who is pregnant with a new nephew for me! She is due September 6th and I think she is ready to get this kiddo out already. It was a fun shower and she got a lot of things that I know she will really use. I took a few picks of her opening things that our family gave her. My mom's gifts weren't there but she got her a breast pump so that she will be able to go back to work more easily, and she made her a baby blanket as well that isn't quite done yet. My sister Becca is finishing up her present too, a turtle similar to the one she made for Luke when he was born but with different colors.

I got Courtney a sling, something I found invaluable, and I made her a seersucker blanket that I crocheted lace around the edges, like my great-grandma. I love the light weight of the fabric, makes it really great for a cover up or light blanket in the summer time or even indoors in winter when you are in a warm building and don't want to get the baby or yourself too hot.

My grandma Bartel gave her a receiving blanket that either she or my great grandma crocheted lace around.

Andrea and Ben got her a really cute onesie with an elephant on it and a hacky sack.

My grandma Regier gave her a cute sleeper and a onesie.

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I also just finished a project that I started since coming home, a baby sweater for a friend of mine. It is the first sweater that I have actually completed and it only took me about a week to do start to finish. It is a really simple pattern, and I had plenty of time in the evenings this weekend to work on it, otherwise it might have taken longer. Anyway, I am really pleased with it and I hope that my friend will like it too when she gets it!

(I took the pictures outside because the light was so much better, but I should have turned the sweater around because when I tried to rotate the pictures on the computer the pic of the whole sweater looked funny, so I left it upside down, the way I took it.)

(The bottom cuff)

(Sleeve)

(Pretty button and neckline!)

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Finally, I want to say congratulations to my dear friend Dori and her new fiance Tom!!!! I am so excited for you two, and you have to call me with details soon! Love you both!!!

That's it for now folks!