Best Friend

Luke has a few "best friends" that he talks about (Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, etc.) but when it comes down to it, we all know who his best friend is: it's Sally of course. Maybe you've heard of her, maybe you've seen her, maybe you have a Sally of your own.

Luke's Sally is something special - although we have three of her. Well, technically, we've gotten up to 5 or 6, but there are a "Luke-accepted" three. There's a "car Sally," a "home Sally," and "miniature day-care Sally." All are equally important and life will be miserable if one is missing.

I recommend to all parents whose children are still under a year to figure out quick what their child's lovey is and then buy a ton of them. We only got to three before Luke figured out whether they were his "Sally" or an unfortunate imposter.

Sally is good for (including, but not limited to)

Calming down:



Relaxing with Daddy:




Dancing with Mommy:




Watching our favorite tv shows:

Poor Sally and her right ear - it is a whole icky color. If you're really lucky and Luke is in a good mood, he'll offer you Sally's left ear. To put on your nose. And for the record, it is surprisingly calming and relaxing. It use to be more so before Sally got . . . icky. I suppose it would be better stated that she is not "icky" but "well-loved."

Just about everyone receives a "Sally" at their baby shower now, if they're expecting. Sally goes by the product name of "Sleep Sheep" and comes with a sound box that plays 45 minutes (no joke!) of a variety of sounds. Everyone needs a Sally.

Luke figured out quickly that if you take out the sound box and slam it against the wall between Mommy and Daddy's room and your own while shouting "HELLO! HELLOOOO," Mommy or Daddy will come into your room to get you rather quickly.

(please note: sound box is still used, but in a seperate location that Luke does not have access to)

Oh how I wish we had introduced more Sallys to him early on. Lesson learned!

Great-Grandma's Cookies

Its like a sixth sense . . . Luke knows when Great-Grandma cookies enter the premises . . .

The second day that Grandpa came to work on our room, he brought Great-Grandma cookies and immediately asked for them. They are his absolute favorite. Either that or I deprive him and never make him cookies. Probably just because they're Great-Grandma cookies.

He loves these cookies and will pester and pester until he gets one and then will continue to pester every day until they're gone. What can I say? I'd do the same if I couldn't open ziploc baggies!

Updatin' the Bedroom

When we moved into our home, we were so thrilled about the neutral colors the walls had been painted - we weren't going to have to paint over bright colors or dark colors or ugly colors. Hooray! We did paint over the pink (ew.) in our bathroom and the yellow (eh.) in our main bathroom, but overall, super thrilled with the neutrals.

Until we looked around . . .

And realized . . .

We live in . . .

A jello chocolate pudding cup.

Everything is BROWN! Ack! All of our furniture and our bed linens and our furniture was all the same shade of brown. It was just too too much. So we tried to lighten it up but getting a new comforter and pillows, but still . . . so much brown.

Before school started, Grandpa spent a few days with Todd putting up crown molding in our room and painting the room a pale gray. I don't have a pre-molding picture (not that it was anything anyone wanted to see . . .) but at least the pudding walls can be seen.

The Before:

The Before looks better than it did, simply because its a few steps towards the After, there's molding up.

The After!

At this point, we've changed our dresser and our nightstands, but still need to replace the bed (its just about to fall apart - good timing!) and find something, anything to put on the walls. Such a blank expanse . . .

But the room feels so much bigger and brighter now - I'm in a great place with gray!

We're thinking now about the front room, with its basic shade of brown, which of course match perfectly to our relatively new brown couches that there's no way we're changing. So paint it is, whenever and whatever that may be.

Day 2

Not as successful as day one, but at least we made it through two days.

I went out for groceries/errands first thing in the morning and Luke had an accident in his big boy undies. He didn't seem phased, which I guess is good . . . ?

After getting clean new undies, he figured that it was the best time to rock out on the guitar. He loves "playing" musical instruments and "singing" which makes him a pretty good form of entertainment.




Luke is pretty into himself and loves to watch himself in videos. Clearly, while taking these pictures, I did not realize that what Luke was expecting was video. When I showed him the pictures, he was confused and said, "move! move!" Whoops. So I recorded a video - not quite as good as the first performance (stills, only) but is still pretty indicative of Luke's performance art.

Operation: Pee Pee in the Potty.

Day 1 of Potty Training.

Salty snacks? Check.



Unleaded Juice? Check.


Naked bum, so underpants, diaper, etc.? Check.

Holding your pee for 7 hours before exploding all over the bathroom? Check.

Please note: there was a goodly amount of pee pee in the potty. Consider it a success.




Things I've learned from potty training:

1. Just because you load the kid up on juice does not mean they will pee in a timely manner.

2. Two year olds can have an iron clad bladder. Even one who is related to me.

3. Saying that you're "done" after sitting on the potty does not mean that one has actually peed. It just means that you're done sitting on the potty.

4. For sanity sake, its just easier to stick the potty in front of the tv.

5. Potty training is exhausting. And I really didn't do anything.

The Simple Things

Labor Day Weekend turned out to be busier than I had planned, with Todd having friends visit from out of town. They had a great time and I laid pretty low at home. But on Monday, the family all got together at Dan's house for a bbq and sprinkler run through.

It goes without saying that all the cousins had a rip-roarin' time.
I present the following evidence:



Running, jumping, splashing, drinking, slipping, laughing, laughing, giggling, laughing, chasing, laughing.


But it couldn't be all crazy running time. There had to be a point where they stopped.

For popsicles, of course.


Luke got the "Incredible Hulk" popsicle, which created immense joy. (He has no idea who the Hulk is. It didn't matter.)

"Gracie?? Whatchu DOING?!?!"
"Making faces."


"Me too! Me too!!"

Yeah, it happens.

Its a pretty normal thing around the Bickel household. Head bonks. Man, they happen all the time. We run into things, we fall on things, we slip, we trip - we do it all.

It had been a while. I clearly became a little too comfortable.

Didn't even see it coming.

I offered him a chip, he ran to follow me into the kitchen, then suddenly: WHACK! and tears. Somehow he ended up face first on the kitchen tile. *sigh*

But he recovers so quickly, its almost silly. Luke took maybe two or three minutes and then he was done.

I'm okay Momma! Its okay.

Though maybe a little Sally quiet time isn't a bad idea.

Poor Miss Helen - I brought him to daycare on Tuesday with a huge bonk on his head and his arms and legs all scratched up from running (and subsequently falling down), he looked quiet a mess. But its become the norm for Luke.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

For Auntie Ellen's birthday, we celebrated down in Monterey by visiting the aquarium and having lunch at Bubba Gump. Luke had never been to the aquarium, so he was completely enthralled by everything there, but most importantly: if his cousins were excited, he was excited too.

Cousin pictures are tough - they're always headed in opposite directions and looking different ways. This was understood from the time Luke was 6 months old. Its really just wishful thinking at this point.

They always kept Luke right between the two of them - keeping an eye on him and holding his hand.

We arrived early enough for the kids to play in the water area without competition from 50 other kids. (I have never been with a kid, so I've always avoiding this area like the plague. I had no idea.) But Luke loves to splash and enjoyed one type of fish (yellow) and could have cared less about everything else. He is quite particular.

Everything was exciting.

Initially, Luke was not sure about the water (tide) rushing over his head. It took a few times . . .

Oh thanks Grandma. I get it now.

Its freakin' awesome!


Come on fish, come on! This way! Let's go! Aw, man.

It all ended up okay, in the end.


I like my hubby. I will keep him.


Even on her birthday, Auntie Ellen still makes sure Luke is a happy little boy. We really shouldn't have started this climbing stuff. I mean, its one thing when its mommy or daddy, but when he starts climbing on everyone else . . . and we know he's prone to head injuries. Its just not a great combination.


Yup. She's so nice. She let him climb and flip over and over . . .


Yet no trips to the ER. Sweet deal.

Was able to catch Collin in the Forrest Gump shoes, but Luke was too impatient to wait for me and the camera. Aw man.

It was such a fun day - we were able to celebrate as a family before school started (bleh) the next day. Which is what has been preventing me from keeping everything updated. This is quite the class this year. Yikes.