ROFL

ROFL is text-ese for "rolling on the floor laughing", and this is literally what is happening in this video.

Today is Auntie Lissa's last full day in Winkler, so we are going to live it up. We're going to hit the grocery store and cruise main street as well as go over to Harv and Helene's for dinner. It's pretty cold out here this week, so we're not going to go for a walk to the park or build a snowman, but we're hoping she has experienced Winter at it's snowy-cold best.

What a Night!

Pictures: Luke is taking baths in the big tub now and he sure loves splashing around! He likes laying on his belly and kicking kicking kicking with his legs. Last night his feet were raisins before we took him out, and he would have liked to stay in longer!

With that title you're going to think we had a horrible night, but the truth is the dog didn't make a peep all night long, the baby slept straight through until 7:15 and I slept until 5:30 without waking up once...PLUS I went to bed at 9:30! What a night is right, what a beautiful night! I don't remember the last time I got this much sleep in one stretch. It sure makes me hesitate to have more children. Having another baby would mean giving up several months of good sleep. And oh! How I've missed it.

Derek is having great success potty training Sookie, and we're having a lot of fun getting to watch a puppy romp around our living room. Sookie has decided that one of her favorite places to relax is under Luke's feet in the exersaucer. She gets under there, walks all around his legs and sometimes between his legs before settling down curled around his feet. Then of course when Luke starts to jump she looks up at his bum as if she's thinking, "Geez! Just when a girl gets comfortable."

I threw the tennis ball for Sookie the other day and she waited until it came to a complete stop, crept up to it and then pounced on it as if she were afraid it might try to roll away again. Then yesterday she pounced on the tennis ball as it lay beside the couch and the tennis ball rolled away to the side, her feet slid under the couch and her face mashed against the side of the couch. For a moment she just sat there in shock before trying to extricate herself.

Luke seems really interested in Sookie, but doesn't like it when she tries to lick his face. He can't move his head away fast enough, but he has figured out how to put his hands up in front of his face. He blinks tightly, raises his hands and turns his head when Sookie decides to display her affection publicly. For the most part Sookie is gentle, but when she gets really playful we have to stop her from pawing at him. Luke cranes his head around to watch her from up in the high chair, and he loves to grab big handfuls of soft fur. A few times he has tried to put her tail in his mouth, but that's where we draw the line.

Everyone Wants a Nap

Well it's 10am, which is Luke's naptime, and we are all feeling ready for a nap. The roads are not good, and Derek really wanted to get Sookie potty trained, so he ended up dropping his class in Winnipeg and staying home this week. I am relieved and disappointed. Relieved that the dog is no longer my responsibility and disappointed that Derek had to give up his class.

It's pretty strange having three adults in the house during the day though. Normally I am all by myself and plan my day with just myself and Luke in mind. Yesterday I was pretty overwhelmed with all the noise and activity in the house. It's actually been many years since Derek and I lived alone, but I guess I've been re-sensitized spending so much time home alone with Luke since last Summer. I'm still getting used to the noise of the dog, having two more adults in the house, and being responsible for at least two meals a day. Today Derek, Luke and I have each had naps.

Luke is consistently sleeping through the night now - at least 11 1/2 hours!

Family: Old and New

Pictures: Sookie, Luke and his new puppy, Sookie helping Derek install a gate, and Sookie and her siblings out on the farm where we picked her up.

Here is Sookie. Our new dog. I know, we had a dog, right? But Ally just wasn't cut out for this kind of weather, so now she's happily toasting herself in my parent's sunny dining room. Derek and I have always wanted a big dog, but have never had the space or the time. We've had our eye on the papers for years, and last week there was Sookie! With her seven chocolate labrador brothers and sisters. Derek and I already had a date night scheduled, and we have a history of not knowing how to go out on a date, so we continued in usual form by going to see some dogs while Harv and Helene baby-sat for us last Thursday night. Both of her parents are chocolate labradors...but sookie is golden.

We picked her up on our way home from Winnipeg on Saturday where we also visited Luke's one and only Nona (our neighbor Connie from Mulvey), picked up a baby-gate and...Auntie Lissa! Luke was pretty happy to see his Auntie Lissa. She flew into Winnipeg Saturday afternoon and we had dinner at a nice restaurant before heading back out to Winkler. We all slept pretty good that night, except for Sookie. She is having a tough time adjusting to being apart from her siblings, but who can blame her?

We had a very fun outing last Friday night with Luke. We took him to the pet store to pick out some toys for the puppy, among other gear. Luke squeezed all the squeakers until he found just the right one. He picked out a Canadian goose that honks instead of squeaks, which I find to be a pleasant alternative. He also picked out a rope toy that has three little bits of rope strung through a brightly colored rubber tube. Turns out he likes that one better than the puppy does!

This week I may be posting later in the evening because Derek is in Winnipeg taking a course on the gospel of Matthew and he might take the computer every now and then. It will be nice to have Melissa around this week with the new puppy and Luke to keep my hands full and Derek on the road so much. As I'm typing this she's reading a Cooking Light magazine and doing that annoying thing that Dad always does, reading out loud while other people are trying to ignore him. But I'm getting sucked in because she's reading recipes out loud, and who can resist commenting on "Spicy Stir-Fry Tofu with Snow Peas, Peanut Butter and Mushrooms". Geez.

Welcome Tooth!

Finally we see the tooth
that kept us all awake,
Pushing itself up by its roots
To see the light of day.

We could not see it's shiny whiteness
Until Luke took a drink.
Instead of hearing a slobbery sip,
We heard a resounding clink!

Then poking and prodding
And laughing and shouting
We celebrate the tooth!
That joined us after so many tears,
Pushing itself up by its roots.

It's nearly impossible to get a picture of Luke's new tooth. I just get blurry pictures of a tongue and my finger! Well, as soon as we can we will show you the shiny white addition to our family, which only joined us after two LONG sleepless nights. Last night Luke returned to his schedule with a nice eleven hour sleep. We are definitely thankful for a reward after all our effort. Growing teeth is hard work!

Baby Blues

Don't Give Him the Keys to the Car

This is perhaps the type of thing a parent should not publish, and perhaps I won’t... It’s one of those stories that you only tell when your child is grown and moved out of the house and is obviously not brain-damaged. Well, now I have to tell you, don't I? I wrote this in my journal yesterday:

Today is laundry day. Tuesdays usually are. However, the Growing With Mom program was cancelled this morning due to ice, so I thought I’d get more than just laundry done. I vacuumed and blogged and cleaned up the kitchen all before Luke’s first nap. He sat happily in the middle of the living room floor with his red truck and some toys the entire time I buzzed around him. He even smiled and swatted at the vacuum cleaner.

Then just a few minutes before Luke’s naptime, I went to the basement to start the first load of laundry. Apparently once I left the room Luke decided he also wanted to go to the basement to do laundry, and followed me...down the stairs.

He just made it down the two stairs into the entrance before he decided stairs weren’t all they were cracked up to be. I heard a “Ka-thump-thump”, and then a wail. My heart dissolved inside me as I tore back up the stairs and nearly tripped over my son in the entrance. I swooped him up into a hug and he stopped crying immediately. Then he pulled my hair, as if he was ready for another go-round. The only sign of his “Stair Mastering” is a red line on his chin where he must have hit the edge of a step on what I am sure was an ungraceful tumble down the stairs. It's time to get a gate.

Luke is definitely getting around now. The other day he pulled all the cables out of the back of the VCR. The day before that he got wedged between the couch and the end table and became stuck. He has now gotten into my crocheting, the bookshelf, my camera drawer, and...down the stairs. When my Dad heard this story he said, "You better make sure and hide the keys to the car!"

“I’m gonna master those stairs. ‘Cuz I’m the stair-Master! I’m gonna show those stairs who’s boss. When I’m done with those stairs they won’t know which way is up!” from the movie Shrek.