Into Everything

These days nothing is safe. Luke can reach the top of our bookshelves in the living room and dining room, he can open cupboards (although he hasn't shown too much interest in that just yet), he can motor around just about anywhere! Yesterday while I was blogging he joined me in my bedroom and sat in the closet "trying on shoes". Those sandals always attract his attention with their beads and long straps. And he makes the sweetest noises when he talks to them.

The other day Derek was brushing his teeth and Luke followed him into the bathroom, stood up next to the tub and flushed the toilet. The sound seemed to startle him and he stood very still and listened (he couldn't see it flush because we keep the lid shut so Luke won't get into it). Then he smiled and flushed it again. Derek said that before he had finished brushing his teeth Luke had flushed the toilet six or seven times!

Stuck Bum

video: Luke likes to crawl under the tables, but yesterday he crawled under and couldn't get back out! He had also pulled the exercise ball in front of the table, so I had to send Derek on a treasure hunt to find where the frustrated grunting was coming from.

Today is the beginning of a very long week. After Wednesday you may not hear from us for a few days, because we are traveling to California on Thursday! That is very exciting, and we are going to be busy once we get there, but there are lots of things that need to happen before we go, too.

Today we are visiting Suzy and taking Sookie to the vet for her shot updates. Don't worry, Derek is going with me this time! Tomorrow we are visiting with Celeste and running errands (taxes, bleh). And Wednesday I have tried to leave clear so that we can have plenty of time to pack and relax at home with Derek before being gone for a week.

Luke's newest talent is walking along furniture holding on with only one hand! He is progressing so quickly. He can even pull himself up on flat things now, like the refrigerator and the bare wall. And he's beginning to climb. Saturday Derek laid down on Luke's bedroom floor and Luke pulled himself up on top of Derek and yanked his glasses off (glasses are always a target).

Friendly, Handsome Baby

Luke doesn’t know a stranger. Or a I guess you could say he knows lots of strangers. He smiles and waves at anyone who looks his way. I was the same way when I was a kid. My parents were always scared that I would wander off with a stranger. But the stranger usually had a dog, so I was justified in trusting them.

Luke also draws a lot of attention, simply by being so naturally good-looking. People stare and smile at him so much that once or twice I thought I must know them from somewhere, but really they were just googling at the baby. I’d like to take some credit for Luke’s good looks, but I also have to give Derek a hand here. When Derek was a baby his Mom entered him in a baby beauty contest at the town’s Harvest Festival (back then it was called Old Time Value Days). Derek refused to walk across the stage on his own, even though he was capable of walking along independently at this point. So his Mom hoisted this big baby up on her hip and walked across the stage while he stared and flashed the crowd a winning, brown-eyed grin. And win he did, first place!

I think we ended up with a really great combination of persons here: Luke has my outgoing, never-knew-a-stranger demeanor, and Derek’s good looks. How could you not love this baby?

Check out this drift in our front yard. We are tired of the snow, but look how the wind has sharpened it's edge...and isn't it pretty in the sunset?

In and Out

Above: 3 months Below: 9 months



18 months ago today, Luke was an indistinguishable multi-celled organism. He was as tiny as a person can possibly be, and still be alive. Nine short months of baking brought him to us as a fully recognizable little human. Today Luke is nine months older than that floppy, helpless, blinking baby. At exactly 9:30 tonight Luke will have been OUT as long as he was IN.

In nine months Luke has learned to hold his own head up, he's learned to recognize and use his own hands, he's learned how to roll over, push himself up to sitting, pull himself up to standing, walk along holding our hands, say Mama and Dada and banana, he laughs at appropriate moments (and not just when he passes gas), he can see further than a foot in front of his face, he plays with other children, he has developed a fascination with pulling hair, he decidedly loves the song "Where You Lead" by Carole King, he has rhythm and dances to tunes, he gets himself from room to room without help, he bathes in the big tub instead of in the sink and flaps and flips around like a baby whale, he sleeps through the night in his own bed, he eats whatever we eat (and sometimes just as much!), he uses some discernment as to what goes in his mouth now, he has two teeth, way more hair, and much bigger feet, he has really rounded out compared to the scrawny little creature he arrived as, he gives slobbery kisses and waves good-bye, he sits on his own in the grocery cart instead of in the infant carrier, he's so cheerful and alert that I am not afraid to miss nap-time when we are out and about, and now when he cries we usually understand why and are able to soothe him. My! What change nine months can bring!

Housebound

I don't have much to say today. I think I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, and for me. Plus, the power's flickering and I don't want to be on the computer much longer. It's a dark, stormy day out there, taking pictures is the brightest part of our day. I keep reminding myself that Saturday is supposed to be 0 degrees and SUNNY. Saturday, saturday saturdaysaturdaysaturday.

Tiny Chewer

Everything is backwards! I was sick and it was warm and sunny and I had to cancel fun things, now I'm well and it's snowy and raining and everything's cancelled.

Luke cut a tooth last night, so he was awake a lot. We are now the proud owners of TWO teeth. Two bottom teeth to be more precise. Luke is already chomping away on food like a big boy! He chews and chews before he swallows. Perhaps it's a strange thing to notice, but I am so proud of his tiny chewing! He's such a PERSON.

He just chattered away at himself for the last forty minutes and now his bedroom is finally quiet. I think he's asleep. He stands in his crib now, and practices his chewing on the edge of the crib. There are tiny little teeth marks on the corner of his crib closest to the door! When you walk into his room in the morning he beams at you with his eyes and keeps his jaw working on the wood. It's really the most slobbery-cute thing I've ever seen.

Video: A regular night at home with the Thiessens (also from last week - very soon I will have some NEW stuff for you, I promise).

Buddha Baby

This video is from last week, getting ready for bed. Derek does Luke's bath and jammies, then Luke nurses and sometimes we read a book. Just before I got the camera, Luke was shouting and making little cooing noises. Of course he stopped the minute I turned on the video camera. Oh well, this is pretty cute too. See how he kicks his legs?

The ice is all melted off the driveway now. We've had several days, maybe even a week, of above freezing temperatures! It's been nice, but the last three days have been gray and rainy - uck. We want SUN.

Well, before all the ice melted off the driveway I was going out there and scraping a little of the ice off each day. A week or so ago it was above zero, so Luke came out with me and sat in his exersaucer in the doorway of the garage. He was getting sleepy in the warm sun and squinting his eyes at the kids playing across the street. His lower lip was sticking out like a little sausage. Luke sat there so fat and happy in the sun, that he reminded me of a miniature, smiling buddha wearing a fleece toque.

Following Dad

Last night Luke took a long trip. Derek went to start the bath and as he walked he and I continued to have a conversation. Luke followed Derek's voice down the hall and into the bathroom where a surprised Derek said, "Look what the cat dragged in!"

Luke has been going further and further on his own. Just now he followed me from his bedroom to mine and is now down the hall in the living room playing with the dog. It's pretty amazing watching him motor around. His wide open hands go "smack smack smack" on the floor, and before you know it, he's pawing around in the dog's water dish. I am enjoying his independence, but I still like when he'll sit quietly in my lap, lean back against me and listen to a story.

Basket Fun

I am just getting sicker and sicker. Yesterday I actually felt better in the evening, but this morning I feel like my head is made of lead and my nose is as big as a bus. Luke seems to be doing fine. He's got a runny nose, but so far no fever or any other symptoms of a cold.

These pictures are from yesterday evening. The basket was a big hit with the kids. They took turns sitting in it, and Cammy pulled Luke around in it. Luke is a pretty good crawler now, and can stand up and play with toys on the coffee table with Cameryn now. Cammy wanders around the house saying, "Come, 'Uke. Come!" And then she handed him the baseball mitt and threw the stuffed baseball at him and said, "Etch!" Luke laughs and laughs at her, and follows her around on the floor. Luke is determined to catch her and pull her hair, as you can see in the picture where he's climbing Helene's leg to get to Cammy. We barbecued hamburgers, and even though yesterday was colder than the last few days, let me tell you: it felt like Spring! Potato salad and hamburgers! Oh, I can feel it coming.

Yesterday before we left the house I posted the blog, and while I was in the back room Luke was hanging out in the living room playing with Lightning McQueen and poking Sookie through the wires. After a few minutes I noticed it got very quiet. I was just about to go check on things when I heard Luke laughing hysterically. I ran out into the living room, and wouldn't you know it! Luke had managed to open Sookie's crate and she was on top of him licking his face, while he laughed his head off.

Doing Dishes

I have a cold, so last night while I was laying on the couch, Luke and Derek did dishes. It's hard to get anything done in the kitchen these days because Luke crawls right over and wants to climb your legs or get right in the oven while you're preheating it. But helping put dishes away was pretty darn cute.

Today Luke and I slept in a little and then our day becomes a whirlwind. Luke is staying with Helene most of the day while I head to Winnipeg for a meeting about the School of Writing. I'm also going to get to see Megan for a minute or two over lunch! I was really excited about this trip to Winnipeg without the baby, but now that I'm sick I am starting to worry about how exhausted I will be at the end of the day. Thankfully, Helene has invited us over for supper so I don't have to worry about that when I get home!

Old MacDonald

Luke and I sing Old MacDonald almost everyday, and we read poems about all the farm animals. Today, St. Patrick's Day, it was especially poignant. MacDonald is Irish, you know. He immigrated to Canada from Ireland in the 1600's to save his children from having to fight in what seemed like the constant back and forth battle between the Old Irish and the new English and Scottish settlers. When he got to Canada he was given a parcel of land from the government, in exchange for a percentage of his crop income for the first ten years. After ten long, hard years (the land was covered in trees, how was he supposed to farm?!), he had paid his debt to the country and the land was his.

The song written in his honor, "Old MacDonald", is perhaps one of the saddest children songs ever written. "Old MacDonald" HAD a farm - as in, he no longer HAS a farm. So either he's dead, or some multi-national corporation bought him out and the land that had been in his family for generations was sold off, depersonalized, and most likely exploited. Poor Old MacDonald. The old farm house was torn down, the cattle siphoned off to some larger, less clean facility and the stone carrying the family name was heaped with all the other ancient stones that had been dragged from the field where they were once placed to mark the edges of MacDonald's property. If he's not dead yet, he's probably heart-broken over his choice to sell the farm. I know I am. And doesn't Luke look sad, too?

These are a few of my favorite things

I wanted to post the picture of Luke with pancake in his ear, but it looks like it was accidentally deleted. Luke has decided pancake is on the top of his Favorite Foods list. He also likes bran muffins, sweet potatoes, cool whip, and bread of any shape or flavor. Saturday morning I made pancakes and we let him feed himself. As I was taking him out of the high chair I noticed he had pancake in his ear! Of course there was pancake everywhere else, but somehow I didn't expect to see any in his ear.

Saturday night we went to the Winkler Skate Club annual review. I love to watch figure skating. Luke didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped because he didn't nap very well during the day and was really tired. Celeste's two daughters are involved in the Skate Club and they both won awards, so it was very nice to be there.

We had fog yesterday! But it wasn't like Shafter fog. This was freezing fog that made everything white. It was beautiful. Harv and Helene came back Saturday night and we had lunch with them on Sunday. Luke left a huge mess under his high chair at the restaurant. Once again he had pancakes (Derek ordered breakfast), and a dinner roll. I had planned on feeding him some of my vegetables, but they were inedible, chewy, cold bits of disgusting. Luke is really enjoying starting to feed himself. Food is quickly becoming the high point of the day for this little guy.

By the way, at the restaurant the waitress said she'd love to baby-sit such a cute little guy and a total stranger stopped us and told us, "What a handsome little boy you've got!" I'm not the only one.

Roller Coaster

Luke has never ridden a roller-coaster, although when I was pregnant with him I DID ride a merry-go-round at Disneyland. He acts like an old pro at roller-coaster riding when he's in his exersaucer. He tosses his hands in the air and jumps, jumps, jumps and his shout gets louder and louder until he shouts, "AAAAAHHHH", ending with a breathy satisfied sigh, then turns to whoever's in the room and smiles a huge smile.

This morning was pretty strange. I think maybe Luke's having a growth spurt, or has another little cold. He went to bed at 8:30 last night, just like always. But this morning he woke up at 6:45. I fed him at 7am and then laid him back down in his crib thinking maybe, just maybe I could get a few more minutes of sleep...I woke up at 9am, and Luke was still asleep! He slept until 9:30! It was beautiful.

Then we read cookbooks and came up with a dessert for tonight. We're having dinner with James, Jaime, their kids, and Doug. We're just ordering pizza, but I wanted to make a nice dessert. I've been craving cheesecake, but after looking at the cookbooks, Luke and I decided just to make something that has cream cheese in it. So we're either going to make that dessert that I don't know the name for that Mom always used to make with pistachio pudding but I like better with chocolate pudding, OR earthquake cake. Mmmm. I had to call Plain Ol' Grammy to get the recipe for Mom's dessert, and Grammy had it listed as "LeeAnn's Dessert". So none of us really know what it's called! Well, good food and good company will be a good end to a (pretty) good week.

Nightmare

Photos: Sookie is trying to teach Luke how to open her crate so she can make a break for it. And Luke is climbing my leg. He tries to climb everybody's legs. He even tried to climb Cameryn's legs the other day and once he got himself up to hold onto her shoulder, he decided a thank-you gesture was in order and pulled her hair.

I have a few very exciting opportunities coming up, but they all sort of overlap and I am getting nervous about being able to do them all at once. First there is the photography for CMU's School of Writing. My former English professor accepted my offer to photograph the event and asked if I would like to take the Poetry class in exchange for my photography. Then she asked if I would also like to be her Woman Friday for the event! To do all of this I will have to spend the entire week in Winnipeg, and have a baby-sitter for Luke the whole week too. To top it all off, the photography class that I planned on attending at Prairie View School of Photography begins the very same week and goes from 7-10pm, one night a week for six weeks. And I still have to decide how we're going to work the feeding thing. Will I wean Luke before May 4th? Will I pump? Tough decisions!

All of these things are running through my head at once and I am beginning to wonder if I'm in over my head. And then I have the nightmare. Ugh, it was horrible. I was shooting a wedding with my Nikon and my three flash cards. I got the ceremony all on one card, and most of the reception. The bride wanted a picture with her whole family at the reception, so with all the guests watching we set up the family around the head table and I took a test shot. It was far too dark, so I had to get my flash. As soon as I put the flash on my camera and took one test shot, my battery died. I had to go back and get my spare battery. As soon as that was done and I went back to take the picture my CF card blinked FULL. Everyone was getting pretty antsy by now and the bride was getting frustrated. As I dug around looking for my spare CF cards I realized I had left them in my pocket. I reached in and pulled out these totally mashed, destroyed CF cards. They were leaking wet, colorful pictures like liquid film.

I started to cry, but went back through the only CF card that was working and started deleting anything I thought I might not need. I cried as I deleted and deleted and deleted, trying to make room for the rest of the wedding but distraught that I had to get rid of pictures before I was certain I didn't need them. Finally I took the family's picture and I hadn't yet photographed the reception details, like the cake and the tables! I was frantic. Then I woke up.

The good news is, three weeks from today Luke and I are coming down to California! We are getting very excited, and Luke is practicing his wave so he can say hello to everyone properly.

Dog Vomit

It's about time I tell this revolting story. I've been trying to forget it for several days, but I think the only way I can truly purge my memory is to tell the story.

I bravely took the dog and the baby with me to the veterinarian. Or perhaps it was not an issue of bravery, but rather of stupidity. I knew my hands would be full, but I thought I could handle it. It's a bitterly cold day, that's even how they described it on the weather station. "Bitterly cold with a dangerous windchill". I manage to get everyone packed in the car, Sookie on the floor in the front passenger seat. Of course she is not happy down there and continually attempts to jump into the passenger seat which is blocked by my diaper bag/backpack, so she ends up climbing up the side of my backpack and hanging on by her fingernails trying to balance and stay on top of it. I keep pushing her back down.

We get to the vet's office and suddenly I am at a loss. Do I take the baby in and ask the nurse to hold him while I get the dog or do I take the dog in and ask the nurse to hold the dog while I get the baby? I settle on taking the dog in first. The problem arises once I get inside and there's nobody behind the desk. I wait and wait and wait, and the baby's still outside, alone in the car! Finally somebody comes and agrees to hold the dog. I run out to the baby who is, by now, crying.

When we come back in the nurse has weighed Sookie, and been peed on by Sookie. What a good dog, eh? Everything goes pretty well during the visit. She doesn't even seem to feel the shot, she's happy as a clam with the vet who says she's healthy and beautiful, all these things which we knew before. So we head back out to the car: baby first, then dog.

Once we're in the car Luke falls right to sleep. He hasn't had a nap all day long and by now it is 4:30. He has been incredibly grumpy, and presumably is teething, but AT LAST he sleeps! I decide to extend this nap by driving around a bit. But Sookie is still unhappy on the floor of the car. She clambers up onto the seat over and over. Finally she seems to settle down onto the cushion on the floor. But moments later I realize why she's so still...she's about to puke! I curse loudly and the baby wakes up..and what more can I do?! I can't stop, and even if I did pull over I have nothing to clean this mess up with, and opening the car doors for any length of time does not seem smart with such a cold wind. She pukes right into the depression beneath the handbrake, and it just keeps coming! It fills the spot beneath the handbrake, overflows down the side of the passenger seat and into the soft black rubber around the brake.

Gross. Gross, gross, GROSS! It smells like dog food, and now she's eating it again. I try to stop her from eating it, but then I realize the more she eats, the less I'll have to clean up, so I let her at it. The only thing I can do now is drive straight home. The sound of her licking makes me want to vomit too.

I should have gotten a baby-sitter.

This is How We Stand

We went to Mom's Group this morning and I pitched the idea of a baby-sitting co-op to the group and nobody bit...I guess I'm the only Mom in the entire town who ever needs a baby-sitter. HA!

The good news is that the group coordinator has asked me to put something together about baby-sitting cooperatives to actually present as the topic for one of the upcoming weeks. I'm getting excited about talking on the benefits of baby-sitting for parents and children alike. I'm even considering sending the piece that I've yet to write to the newspaper. Yes, I'm so excited that I'm getting ahead of myself. I have a writing assignment!

Luke's for sure got a tooth coming in. I can see it just under the skin. He didn't nap at all yesterday, although he slept well during the night...thankfully. I was wiped out after a day without naps!

Sole Proprietor

Pictures: Luke is doing a lot of standing these days. He pulls himself up on anything that stands a few inches off the ground. When he's tired of standing he has begun squatting like his cous-uncle J'mark, or sitting on his knees, like in this picture where he's playing with his red truck.

I address you today as the sole proprietor of the company Thiessen Photography. This morning Luke and I went down to the bank and opened a business account and were told that I, Laura, am the "sole proprietor of Thiessen Photography". At least until we register our company name with the city. then Derek can become joint owner.

Luke did a very good job going to the bank on business this morning. Our banker gave him a balloon and he pushed it all over the floor of her office and chased it. Luke did some business at the bank on the floor, Mommy did some business above the desk.

This afternoon we have another exciting outing planned. Sookie gets her booster shots (I guess it's not exciting for Sookie). So far Luke is having a doozie of a time getting to sleep for his nap, though. I hope he gets at least one little nap in before we have to go out again at 3:30. Normally he'd have had both naps by then, but here it is almost noon and he's still crying in his crib. He has started standing in his crib, which keeps him awake. I go in and lay him down and usually after the third or fourth time I lay him down he goes to sleep. But in the meantime he's chewing away with his one little tooth on the corner of the crib where he stands.

First Full Workout

Today was my first full workout at Curves, and my third day in a row of getting up at 5:45am. I'm doing okay, but by 9:30 in the evening I am toast. I am definitely going to have to be going to bed earlier with this new schedule.

Luke is all in green today. Green car socks with orange racing stripes, green camouflage pants and his green dinosaur shirt. I am also wearing green. I suppose we are in green withdrawals. Our apparel today is like my last symbol of hope for this Winter to end. If it doesn't end soon I might shrivel up and be swept into the dust bin like those dirty, hard old raisins that I find for weeks after Cammy has been over. I just crave green, growing things!

So far Luke has fallen down four times this morning. He's been up for an hour and a half. This morning when I went to get him up he was standing in his crib. That's the first time we've seen that! Luckily Derek put the mattress down last weekend. Luke is just convinced he can pull himself up to standing on everything. Twice he grabbed the handle on the desk drawer and pulled himself up only to smack himself on the forehead with the handle on his way down. Yesterday he tried to pull up on my camera bag, this morning again the laundry basket, another time my pant legs..this kid. This house. This dog. It keeps me busy. Still I am going mad for Spring to come already!

Thursday Breakfast

Okay, I haven't even shown this to Jaime yet, so you can't say anything...but I am so excited about it! These are pictures from yesterday's shoot, and I put together this card this morning. I'm going to design a few more while I'm on a roll and give her some options. I just wrote "giver some options"...I've read too many Westerns haha.

This morning I went for breakfast with Celeste and her son. School was cancelled today because of the ICE, so Mackenzie came too. I tried to get a picture of Sookie trying to pee on the frozen snow, but I missed it. It was hilarious, and incredibly dangerous. I didn't even take my garbage down the driveway because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get back up the slippery pavement! But by ten o'clock everything was thawing out nicely and Celeste and I were able to go out to breakfast. I also got some free advice on Roehn's card from the pro, which is always very helpful.

Busy Day

What a busy day we've had and it's only one o'clock! This morning started for me at 5:45, when I got up and headed to Curves. It was nice and talking to the owner was very encouraging (as she weighed me and took my percent body fat). When I came home Luke was waking up and Derek left for work.

Luke and I had breakfast and then did our footprints. Sookie didn't want to be left out either. Then Luke went down for a nap and Jaime and her kids came over for a photo shoot of Roehn. We got some great stuff this morning, and I'll be putting together some 3 month cards for them, which I am getting pretty excited about.

The rest of today is going to be slow, and I'm making turkey pot pie for dinner - yum!