18 Months Old

After missing his original appointment due to the horrible preschool virus Lucas got the second week of school, we finally made it in for his 18 month appointment last week. All good reports, as usual. He weight in at just about 26 1/2 lbs. He hasn't really gained much in the last 3 months, but that is probably because he...GREW TWO AND A HALF INCHES!  Woah! The doctor measured him twice just to be sure. That's a lot when you are less than three feet tall. He now comes in at the 89 percentile for height. Tall boy!  We didn't take any official 18 month pictures, but I think these pretty much capture the highs and lows of his fun loving/ emotional toddler spirit these days:





Summer Fun With Lucas

Since it has been approximately a million degrees here in Dallas this summer, Lucas and I have had to get all the errands and other activities that involve stepping out of the air conditioning done early in the mornings. This means that we have to come up with lots of creative ideas for indoor and/or water based activities during the day. Luckily, Lucas is a pretty content and creative kid, so we haven't been too bored yet! (Although the forecast for this week is calling for highs close to 110 degrees, so we might just be pushed over the edge here pretty soon!!!)

Here are some of the fun things Lucas and I have been doing to keep cool:

Wake up, have some milk, watch some Sesame Street or Sid the Science Kid

Each some breakfast....yummm....Nutella!

Play at friends' houses...they always have cooler toys than the ones here!

Go outside to swim in the pool...uhhh...play in the dirt.

....and pick up rocks. (But isn't he cute in his hat?!?)

Play some "Duke"! (That's for you, Papa!) This isn't our house, but we have a hoop in the living room that Lucas plays for HOURS every day. He loves it. He calls basketball "Duke", which makes his mommy very proud :)

Build a fort out of blankets, pillows, and the ottoman. Which we broke...oops!

Maybe time for a nap in the fort?

 Not pictured, but still favorite activities...coloring, throwing the ball for Clara to play with, anything we get to do in the playroom upstairs, bathtub paints, Gymboree, going to the pool, and watching movies on mommy and daddy's bed.

Is it fall yet?!?

Pool Shark

So, one of Phil's big wishes when we bought a house was to have room for a pool table.  And we did...we have a great upstairs game room/ playroom/ crafting room that houses our blue table. Lucas has recently decided that this is by far the coolest thing in the playroom, so we are teaching him to play. Every time he runs upstairs, he goes and points to the cues, asking "stick"?!? Then, he stands up on the ottoman and "plays pool."  It's pretty adorable.

Lucas is a little annoyed with me (ok...a lot annoyed) because I have taken over his table with a crafting project. BUT...he is going to love his quiet book for the plane, so it is totally worth it :)

STUCK!

One of the words Lucas knows and uses very well is "stuck." In combination with "Uh-Oh," this is how he lets us know when he can't get something he needs, when he has dropped something, when he can't get up and is "stuck" on the floor, or any number of other things. The other day while I was cooking dinner, he wandered into the pantry, and I heard "Mama...Gulk...Stuck...Uh Oh!" This was the longest string of words I have ever heard him put together...turns out he had spotted the empty jug of milk in the recycle bin. He was apparently worried that it was not in the fridge :)

I was cleaning his room a couple of weeks ago and started hearing "Stuck!" "Stuck!" over and over again. When I came into the den, here is what I found:

I guess that's a pretty useful phrase to know when you are one :)

"What I Did On My Birthday" by Lucas James Hlavaty

Thursday was my birthday. My FIRST birthday. And totally the best birthday so far. (Last year was completely traumatic...I don't even want to think about it!) Here is what I did.

First, I woke up and I was ONE YEAR OLD...no more baby!  Here is what I looked like when I turned one (after mom came in and sang me the birthday song):

Mommy and I ate some breakfast and then Ally and Miss Ashlea came over and we got in the car to go to the zoo.  I didn't know what a zoo was, but mom said it would be fun, so I put up with the LONG car ride.  When we finally got to the zoo Ally and I got ready to go meet all the animals. I had to bring my lion because I was a little scared of meeting the real lions:

The first thing we did was go and visit the giraffes...they were so cool!  We got to walk right up by them and could even pet their heads.  But, then one LICKED Ally!  Right on the face!  She cried, so we had to go behind the fence where it was safe from tongues.

Every time we got to a new exhibit, I made mom get me out of the stroller so I could knock on the windows to say hi to the animals. I know they could hear me and were talking back for sure.

So, we looked at a lot of animals. My favorite were giraffes, penguins, and chimps. But, then we found the playground area and there was MULCH. In case you don't know, I love mulch. It is great for throwing.  So, I threw some. And then I walked around and threw some more. (This was really a GREAT birthday!)



By the way, here is my date for the zoo.  Isn't she cute?!? She's my best friend :)

And here are my mommy and I right before we left.

So, the zoo was AWESOME and I can't wait to go back and take Daddy next time.  But, onto the rest of the day. Daddy came home early so I could play with him, which was super cool. I had to take a LONG nap because going to the zoo is hard. But, then I woke up and had dinner and it was spaghetti and it was the BEST DINNER EVER!!!

I was a little dirty after dinner, so I had to go straight to the bathtub. But that is ok because I like to splash in the bathtub.  After bath, I got an extra special birthday treat...ice cream. Me and mommy and daddy went to the ice cream store and I got to have bites off of BOTH of their cones. I also ran around the store in my pjs and said hi to everyone. 

So, as you can see, I had pretty much the best birthday in the history of all my birthdays. Too bad I have to wait a whole 'nother year until my next one!

Favorite Foods

Since we first started feeding him "real" food, Lucas has proven himself to be a very adventurous eater. He loves spicy foods - barbecue sauce and salsa. Phil gave him a lemon the other day (yes, I know...good job dad). He made a face after tasting it, but went back for several more tastes. He prefers his green beans with Dijon mustard and balsamic vinegar (don't ask how I found that out). He eats just about everything that I feed him and is always eager to try new things off of the big peoples' plates. Currently the only thing he won't eat is plain cheese.  Weird. He grilled cheese, cheesy pasta, and string cheese, but a bite of cheese off the block...NOOOO!!! (This aversion began when he had a stomach bug a few weeks ago...don't really know what the connection is). This week's favorites include: pears, turkey meatballs (made by mom with wheat germ, sweet potatoes, and applesauce), grilled cheese, and any flavor of yogurt. I'm trying to keep his diet healthy and varied, in hopes that he will continue to be a good eater (and maybe a good little sous chef) as he gets bigger.

 Ahhh...so good!

More, please!

10 Months Old!

Well, it seems only appropriate that my first "real" post would be about some milestones in Lucas' life. Those of you who keep up with me on Facebook know that I have chronicling Lucas' growth this year in monthly pictures with two of his stuffed animals.  Here is his one month picture:

Look at that scrawny little guy! (SO CUTE!) Anyway, Lucas turned 10 months old today, and my, how far we have come:

I am so looking forward to taking all of these pictures (along with lots of others from each month) and turning them into a photo book after he turns 1. I have been keeping track each month of his favorite things and major milestones that I will include in the book, too.

This past weekend, Lucas reached BIG milestone...he is now a walker!  He doesn't do it all the time, since crawling is still much more efficient.  But, he is now pretty confident taking 8-10 steps at a time whenever he wants to.  It's so cute watching him do his little toddle across the room. We are working on getting a video, but that little red light just mesmerizes him so much that he can never do anything else while it is on.

Other 10 month things to remember...you can say "mama" pretty consistently (especially when you are tired or sad!), you love to point at things and have us talk about them, you love to knock down block towers, still love balls and climbing, talk A LOT in your own language, love to pet the doggies, still love pears and grilled cheese the most, but won't eat plain cheese anymore, think riding in the grocery cart is the highlight of your week! 

I can't believe it's only two more month until Lucas is 1...time to start party planning :)