Lucan observations

I am no longer doing monthly updates because I'm not feeling it. Props to those mothers who continue to chart and monitor their childrens' growth past one year. Originally I thought that I would, but like all mothers, there are just some things that you say that you will never do (or don't do) that you go back on once you are in the thick of things. There are a few things that I do want to record here in blog land otherwise they will probably go unnoticed.

• Lu has finally gotten the hang of silverware. It took some time and some effort of me just not looking, but we've finally gotten there. Lucan actually gets quite unhappy if he has a meal in which he doesn't get some sort of utensil in which to feed himself.
• Lucan had his first bout of pinkeye just after Christmas break. I'm not sure who he picked it up from, but I'm positive that the fact that when he identifies his eye, he pokes his finger into the middle of his eye didn't help matters. Have you ever given a toddler eye drops? By far one of the more challenging things I've done. Trying to wrestle him into submission while at the same time pry open his eye, four times a day - not my idea of fun.
• At Lu's 18 month appointment, he was solidly in the 64% percentile for height and weight (25 lbs) and the 87% percentile for head circumference. Perhaps he is growing into his head!
• I am amazed by how observant Lucan is which is thus translated into him being able to follow some basic instructions. If we are picking up Lu's blocks, Lucan will help. If I point to a green block off by its lonesome for Lucan to go and get, he will. The other day Lu left his mixer on and I asked him to turn it off and he did! Smart boy!
• My smart boy continues to test his boundaries. He knows that he's not supposed to be on the table, but he will casually rest one knee on the table to see what you will do. After he gets scolded for being on the table he'll just sort of lean on the table. Like I said, boundary testing.
• Lucan's vocab consists of mommy, daddy, uh-oh, no, moo, bang, beep, hi and bye. He still loves to greet every single person he sees at the store with an innocent little "hi!" I'm telling you, you would melt if Lu said hi to you at the store. If not, you have a heart of stone must be hard of hearing.
• He knows what it means to wash his hands and when it's time to eat - Lu will go to the correct spot for these.
• Okay, does anyone else's child HATE to have their diaper changed? Like wailing, kicking, thrashing and head butting? No, just mine? Great ...
• Fav foods: clementines, cookies (Lance's fault), scrambled eggs, applesauce yogurt, yogurt covered raisins and of course pouches as a treat. Lance took him to Subway last weekend and Lucan ate all of the meatballs off a footlong (or is it 11 inches?) sub. Lance thought they were going to share it, but lo and behold, all Lance got was bread.
• Lucan knows where we store the cookies. He'll stand in the corner, by the microwave and just point and grunt to the container. Observant little boy.
• Lucan wants his own computer too. If anyone stands in front of the computer, he wants to be there too. Because Lu wants to bang on the keys or play with the mouse. Speaking of the mouse, we have a wireless mouse and it's been missing for a couple of days now. Pretty sure Lu had something to do with it.
• Confession: we watch television. Lucan LOVES Sid the Science Kid and is mesmerized by Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. Lance likes to watch Dinosaur Train with Lu. It drives me a bit mad because there's no way a velocoraptor is happily co-exisiting with a brachiosaours.
• I can always tell if Lucan has been up awhile in his crib because he has thrown all of his blankets and stuffed animals on the floor.
• Cleaning up is fun, but making a mess is more fun. For example, we can't just get out a few blocks. We must dump the entire bag out onto the floor. Lu does help put the blocks back in the bag, but I'm pretty sure it's just so he can dump them all out again.
• After bath time we are in the regular habit of letting run around diaper-less. Case in point, Lucan peed on a library book the other day. Whoops.
• At bible study Lu will go from person to person playing with their ipad or iphone. If you don't have a fun electronic device, Lu is not interested in you. As a result, Lucan becomes other peoples charge at small group!
• This could just be optimistic of me, but I feel like Lucan is having fewer tantrums. Or it could be that I'm learning how to better avoid them. But last night we were at Granite City for two hours, including our wait time and food time. We had the nicest server, but she was really terrible. Three tables that got there after us had their drinks and food before us. I digress. Lu did really well. I held him for close to a half an hour while we waited and when he started spazzing out, I gave him a pouch for his hunger. I always keep his diaper bag well stocked with snacks and had told Lance to pack some emergency fruit and food (but he didn't). Luckily there was an emergency pouch, some goldfish and some organic fruit snacks. Mommy saves the day with snacks because it kept Lu from a meltdown!