Our little Soccer player

What do you think of our newest game? We walk all around the house kicking the ball. I usually narrate our game something like this, "Now Thiessen has the ball and is swinging wide around the island, dodging Sookie and Lightning McQueen, he takes his chance, he shoots, GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOal!!!" And then we run like mad around the dining room table with our hands in the air.

In other news, Luke has started drinking cow's milk. Last Thursday when Derek came into Winnipeg to have dinner with me and Luke, we went out to Applebee's and ordered Luke a macaroni and cheese kid's meal. It came with milk, so we decided to let him try it out and it was a hit.

Last night I counted as Luke walked across the living room floor: 9 steps!

Just the other day the City of Winkler planted a crabapple tree in our front yard. Then Derek came home yesterday all depressed saying he felt like the house was never going to be finished. So I was inspired. I made a few phone calls to make sure everything would be okay even with the frost, and this morning as soon as Luke goes down for his nap I am heading out to plant grass! Surprise, Derek!

First Kiss

Last week Luke gave me his first real kiss. He puckered up and leaned in and put his lips on mine. It was so sweet. Ever since then I've been begging for another one, but he won't give me one. He leans in with a big slobbery tongue hanging out and I say, "no, do it like this", and he refuses. I guess he missed me enough last week to give me a dry kiss. This week he's like, "enough already!"

Luke took four steps the other day. When he walks holding my fingers he steps out so confidently, and he only falls because he's still hanging onto my hand when I stop walking and he keeps going. Any day now he's going to take off. And boy am I frightened. The kitchen cabinets aren't all locked yet, so I'm spending large parts of my day refolding table cloths, and picking up tupperware. I'd be okay if he stayed on all fours a little while longer.

New Pitch

Luke has found a new talking pitch. Instead of doing his high little chatter, he is fluctuating his voice. It's one of the sweetest little sounds. The first video is Luke's progress with sign language. "More" is one that he gets, most of the time. Last night he would only say more after I gave him a bite, and this morning he only said it when I helped him. The second video is of Luke playing and talking to his toys. He chatters a lot in his new-found deep voice.

A story from last week:
Luke wasn't too upset when I left each day in the morning, but if I was gone until his bedtime in the evening he crawled over to the door, banged his head against it crying, "Da-da Da-da". Isn't that pitiful?

Welcome Back

*Luke is happy to be home in his own cupboards. Derek got a lot of siding done while we were gone!

Here we are again, in our own beds, in our own home. We are happy to be home. However, it was nice to have other people making food for me all week, taking care of Luke (putting up with a grumpy Luke). This morning was rough for me. The dog was whining and the baby was grumpy. I have a huge list of things to do, but there's no way any of it's happening when I can't leave Luke to play on his own. So finally I gave up trying to get things done and decided to take everyone for a walk. Normally walks are happy times.

We got two blocks down the road and I realized I hadn't eaten anything yet. And Sookie had diarrhea. Half-way into the walk Luke started to scream. But I was on the path already and it's a loop, so I had to go ahead or go back, and either way it was quite a long walk already. By the time we got home I was nearly a basket-case. I very seriously considered leaving Sookie off her leash and letting her fend with the traffic herself.

Luke is asleep now, and I'm going to go get something to eat. Hopefully I can do some dishes and clean up from the party we had yesterday for Mother's day while Luke is still sleeping. I'd also like to make a few phone calls, read my book and sit in the beautiful sunshine. (I don't even want to tell you that it snowed on Saturday, but since it's so beautiful today it's not so scary to talk about the snow)

The most important thing to get done today is color-balancing my photos from last week. I have to take them into Winnipeg tomorrow before my photography class. It was a really fun week for me. The poetry class was AMAZING. And I got so many good photos! I think Luke had fun too, but he was sort of confused and over-tired most of the time. Plus he's got a tooth that is JUST about out, and has been making him uncomfortable.

Here's a poem of my own that we edited in workshop last week (for some reason I can't get the line spacing right, but you get the idea):

Dead Goose on the Side of the Road, It's Mate Remaining

severed communion
fractured Self
a
lone
goose
crying
where?
where can i go?
the sky is empty
life
less on the ground
flightless
without You

(gone is We, Us,
alone is
i)

Dinner on the Floor

Jolene's dining room table is Japanese style, so all of our meals have been eaten on cushions on the floor. All of our meals have been delicious, too! Is her cooking just incredibly delicious, or is my shorter perspective making everything taste better?

This evening our friend Sarah came over for dinner and it was SO nice to sit on the floor and eat and visit. Luke loves that we are sitting on the floor and he can be eye level with us. It's true that I had to run out and photograph a reading at CMU just after dessert, and by the time I came back all the adults were sitting on the couch again. But still, our time on the floor, so far, has been delightful.

Bob Marley

It's only Tuesday, but I feel like it should be Friday already. I am running around like a chicken...and you know the rest. There is so much film-friendly action happening around me that my camera is constantly attached to my face, and to top off my rushed feeling my professor is crazy about assignments and handouts and I am always dropping stacks of papers filled with my chicken scratch and other people's comments and the prof's notes. It's insane and I feel disorganized and oddly energized by it all. It's a week-long adrenaline rush.

I don't have time to upload any pictures, I am off to my photography class (from 7-10pm). But I thought I'd tell you a cute story (of which there are MANY!) about Luke. Jolene was dancing with him, listening to Bob Marley trying to put him to sleep. Luke was holding tightly to these little magnet bar toys, and wouldn't let Jolene put them away. The problem was that when Luke finally did fall asleep in Jolene's arms, he dropped the magnetic toys and they clattered on the floor waking him up again! He cried until Jolene put the toys back in his hand and he fell asleep in his play pen with the toys clutched tight in his fist.

more later. We are having a great time!

He Knows How to Have a Good Time

Cameryn, Jaime and Roehn came over yesterday afternoon for "coffee". No coffee was had, which is why it's in quotes. We did however, eat these delicious Sour Cream Orange Buns! I am delighted with the likeness they bear to Gingerwood Lane's Orange Rolls. So so good. Click here for the recipe I used: YUM!


Cammy would have dragged Luke all over the house if he was walking on his own. She kept grabbing his hand and saying, "Come 'Ruke!" Instead, he held onto the back of the race car and she drove up and down the hallway, with Luke practically running to catch up. Luke just loves playing with Cameryn.


Every time Cameryn laughed (at him, or anything else), Luke broke out into peals of the most beautiful laughter. I could hardly keep the camera straight because their laughter was contagious! Luke also does this funny little face: he scrunches up his nose and with his mouth open breathes real hard, almost a pant. This is one of his new excited expressions. I caught a little of it on another video, which I may post next week.

Speaking of next week, it is the week I am going to be in Winnipeg. I haven't yet decided if I will leave Sunday night or Monday morning. I have to be at CMU around 8:30, Monday morning. I am photographing the School of Writing, taking a poetry class, and starting my photography class! It will be a busy week, and I may not post every day, but I am hoping to post at least twice with updates on all the fun Luke is having with Jolene.

Well, I hear the little one stirring. Happy Friday! And welcome to May!