Tahoe - Day 1

Growing up, every January, my family would take a long weekend up to Tahoe to spend time together, enjoy the snow and celebrate my brother's birthday. We always rented the same condo and I appreciated the family time together.

We had a revisited family trip 5 years ago, but haven't been back since Luke has been born. I was so excited about Luke getting to play in the snow. Grandma and Papa decked Luke out with some winter gear along with snow gear handed down from his cousins. After the ER visit, we were concerned about Luke traveling, but the doctor okay'd it, so we went with it.

The first day, Luke was so excited, we bundled him up, bundled ourselves up and were out the door. He had so much fun sledding and walking around!


The weather was beautiful and Luke loved to GO FAST. Imagine that!

We found a snow covered playground that Luke was happy to toddle around in. He found it very funny to slide down a slide that was half-covered in snow. Not a fast slide, but a silly one.

Todd took a seat and watched for a bit while I took a bunch o'pictures.

Then he tried his hand at "Sled-boarding."


Not very effective at first, but he got the hang of it.


Todd tried to get a really gigantic icicle for Luke, but it was a little more difficult that he had anticipated.

He was successful, though!

Papa had to get one for Luke, too. It was scary and enormous.

I was so happy to see how much fun Luke was having - he didn't complain about the cold or about the falling, he was just glad to get out and play in it.


Luke loved to be pulled along on the sled. Grandma thought it would be pretty fun to pelt him with snowballs. Interestingly, he thought it was pretty funny, too.


After the first day, we were all pretty exhausted. Luke's cousins were going to be driving up that afternoon, so we relaxed for the afternoon. We were going to be starting off the next day sledding and had to be ready for that.

Except . . .

Luke ended up with a high fever that night. Poor guy - it was just awful. We were up all night trying to get that fever to break . . . which it finally did around 4 am. My parents were on the phone trying to find the nearest hospital, in case he got any worse. He had never had a fever that high before, so we were all freaking out.

But after the fever broke, Luke and the rest of us were all able to get some sleep and relax.

First Day - Round 2!

We'll do a little backtracking before keeping current. I'm okay with that, hope you are too.

Winter break was what I'd like to refer to as "Clash of the Titans" as we were feverishly trying to potty train Luke before he started full-day preschool. It was not successful. It was full of tears and frustration and a really poor way to potty train. I don't recommend it.

School was starting on January 3rd. Luke started peeing on the potty on January 2nd. Nothing like pushing the boundaries. The only reason he started peeing was because it was on his own terms. I know that, he knows that.

So the next "My-Baby-Is-Growing-Up-To-Fast" moment that results in tears and photos is making Luke's school lunch. So I cried and took a picture. Due to his "activity" level, Luke is off juice at school. :)


And, I totally forgot to take a picture of my kid. *sigh*

But Luke absolutely loves school and couldn't be happier. We still have moments of crying when we have to leave, but it just reminds me that he really wants to be there. We've seen improvement in so many areas - from listening and following directions to knowing his letters and sounds. He loves learning Spanish and adores his Spanish teacher - it's nice to be able to hear about what he's up to all day, as he's only a few classrooms over from me and I'm always running into his teachers.

The first day of school, Luke bailed running of the play structure and fell on the steps, face first. Took him all of one day for a head injury.

By Thursday, he ran, fell into a cement wall and I was off to the ER. Sounds about right. Turned out he was okay, but he was acting strangely: wanting to go to sleep, not wanting to eat, crying a lot, and asking for me. Not like him at all. But he had a great time at the ER and hanging out with the doctor. The worst part? They put a monitor on his thumb sucking thumb. That was NOT okay.

But Luke got a popscicle, some juice and a hospital bracelet out of the deal, so we were good. And we left the next day for a family trip to Tahoe . . . which was another adventure.

MONSTER TRUCKS.

For Luke turning 3, we had to have a monster truck party. Luke has never seen a monster truck rally but he still loves them. I think it must be a boy thing. I found the invites online and had to laugh at a monster truck barreling through a cake. It was very "Luke."


We kept the party pretty simple this year, which was definitely a good thing as most kids were either a) sick and couldn't come or b) getting sick and were only staying for a bit. This both resulted in c) Luke getting sick. (More to come on that)


Always watch the kids.

As any parent will tell you, kids at a party really only need 1 thing: balloons. Not even nice blown up helium balloons (mine were half deflated by the party anyways . . .) but just regular ol' air balloons to be kicked around and hit back and forth. Glad I didn't drop all the $$ on the pinata. *phew*

We bought take-n-bake pizzas from Safeway on the cheap and even sent a couple of unbaked pizzas home with family. Fruit, spinach dip and cheese and crackers rounded out the meal. And cupcakes. Of course, cupcakes. I put decorated donuts on the tops of the cupcakes, which were decorated to theoretically look like monster truck tires. Eh. Close enough. No one complained!



The kids ran and played, enjoyed pizza, sang 'Happy Birthday' and ate cupcakes. Luke opened presents, but got tired of it pretty quickly. (We still have yet to do family gifts. He is certainly wants for nothing . . .) Everyone trickled out and a few friends and family remained to hang for a little bit. Luke napped like a champ and we were thrilled. He was able to get up and play with his new presents . . . but then came . . . the fever . . .


Not so interested in taking pictures and being swung around by Daddy . . . we get why now.

Playing with his fire truck and fire house from Grandma and Papa.

Oh my.

Yup. He's three. It's official.

I don't know where the time went, or where I was when it went there, but there it is. Wherever it is.

Before I go through the fun of his birthday party (MONSTER TRUCK PARTY.) I'll reflect as I do on his birthday every year, cry and moan about what a big boy he is, remember fondly (seriously) the day he was born, think about eating another cupcake, think about losing the last ten pounds from when I was pregnant, then be bummed about not having lost the weight, then eat ice cream to drown my sorrows of not having a baby anymore.

What a cycle.

So I'll blog, then eat my ice cream.

Because his birthday is today, I'm letting Luke play hooky from school to hang with Nana (in town) and Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa. (I'm super jealous.) So because he was missing on school on his birthday birthday, he was able to celebrate his school birthday on Friday. I got to feel very "Mom-ish" by baking cupcakes and taking them to his class.

Please note: I am a teacher and sympathetic to the plight of the teacher with classroom birthdays. This is what I brought: mini-cupcakes. That is it. No juice, no full-size cupcakes, no balloons, banners or candles to LIGHT ON FIRE IN A CLASSROOM. No knives, no full-size cakes, no cupcake cakes, no goodie bags. No choices - every cupcake is exactly the same. (vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting and multi-colored sprinkles.) Because it is still school. Heck, I didn't even bring napkins. They have their snack routine, I scheduled the birthday to align with snack, so that I could just drop the cupcakes in with the rest of their snack stuff.

How old are you Luke? Three! Yeah, almost. I'd rather not be reminded.

Birthday party time: 5 minutes, tops. Then they played outside to burn off the sugar in a mini-cupcake.

As I reflect on the last year, it's like I had a kid exchange. Where is the little boy from January 2010? We are now:

1) potty trained (for all intensive purposes)
2) in school - full time.
3) a problem solver. (The solution to almost every parent-induced problem: the step-stool.)
4) a joker. He thinks he is much funnier than he is. Just like I think I am much funnier than I am.
5) looking a little more like me. I like that.
6) taller. Duh. But the pants that fit in the waist are still flood waters.
7) excellent at puzzles.
8) impressive with not only knowing his letters, but his sounds. Even the two sounds of the vowels. And knowing what a vowel is. Crazy.
9) a little "cuddlier." At least he's willing to placate me a little more.
10) a little boy. Not a baby, not a toddler. A little boy. One who is *ahem* very vocal with his opinions.

And now that I am super freaked out about him being such a big boy, I will now dive head-first into my baby memories.

Tis the season :)

My little Luke-pie, first home. I think I post this every year because the memory of how little he used to be is an absolute blur. One of the few times he was asleep in the first three months. No wonder we have a picture of it. We were in shock.

The infamous "Grandpa" photo - in his little old man sweater and hat. I love it - just a little guy at 4 months old.

Luke's personality in a nutshell: He will do everything on his terms, in his way. He will not be constrained by "normal" teeth growth. He will not have his front teeth come in first. He will have his fangs come in first.




8 months, outside in the backyard when we were living in the duplex, letting him jet around in the walker. A time of containment. It was a good time.


1st birthday. Being one year old doesn't slow Luke down. He's moving all over . . . I should have seen this as a sign . . .


Luke is two. Luke loves Cars. That pretty much summarizes 2010.


San Diego zoo. Knot on his head. Par for the course. Amazed my child has only been to ER once. (*knock on wood*)




I can't believe how 2010 flew by . . . Shoot. I can't believe how the last three years have shot by. It feels like yesterday that I was swearing up and down I would "not be pregnant one more month. I refuse to have this baby in February." Or being absolutely positive I would have this kid "before breakfast. I want breakfast."


And yet, here I am . . . I can't believe I have a preschooler . . . I can't believe how independent, resourceful and sweet he has become. I'm such a proud mommy.

So stop now, okay? Three is enough.

Love you, Luke-pie.

Christmas Eve

We decided to attempt to host both families for Christmas Eve . . . dang, that was some serious work. I loved having a "reason" to decorate. So while there were "normal" Christmas decorations up, there were also extra decorations for the party. So everything was all blue and white and silvery, which was fun.

Todd used his new smoker (I swear, I'll post all about that . . .) to make me bbq ribs which was all I really wanted. And I really wanted to eat them on my wedding china. The wedding china has been packed away and hidden for years (5 actually!) and finally made their "Bickel Family Debut!" I thought I was clever having ribs on china. Something about the juxtaposition or equally clever :)



So we had pork butt and ribs and beans and all sorts of deliciousness.


And of course, as has been touted on this blog for years, Great-Grandma's famous cookies. And I know that I am "in," as I received the main grouping of cookies. I got the official "Christmas Cookie Tupperware." Not to keep of course, because Great-Grandma will not fill it up with more cookies if I don't give it back. Todd got a tin of chocolate chip (epic) and Luke got his own tin of Christmas Cookies too. But mine was the biggest. I must be the favorite. Right? Right?

As we were getting ready, my amazing MIL surprised me with a Christmas gift: a new fireplace set! It was gorgeous, with a very simple fleur-de-lis pattern.

A fire in the fireplace - with all my new fireplace swag. Pretty freakin' gorgeous. And weird . . . doesn't it look like a reindeer in the actual flames?

The finished glory.

The Great-Grandparents gave Luke his Christmas gift early - his own tool workbench. With a drill that makes a drill sound (just like the dentist!) that he will drill everywhere. Did you hear that? EVERYWHERE. We spend a lot of time saying, "On the bench! ONLY on the BENCH!" He loves tools and will pick up any tool that is in reach to try to "fix" something. And if it doesn't need to be fixed, he can make it so that it will need to be fixed. I think that's a boy skill.

Apparently, it all packs up into itself like a nice little suitcase, but we haven't tried that yet. Cool, huh?


Cupcakes and cookies, oh my! (And yes, he had both.)

Cute face = more cookies.

Great-Grandma made sure that he was well sugared up before bed.

Me and the hubby. Notice the gash in my lip? Probably not, but I'm super-self-conscious. My darling son zoomed his very pointy jet plane into my face. Merry Christmas, Mommy. The joys of boys.

Some of my favorite people.
I loved having so many people that I love so dearly all with me on Christmas Eve - its why I love the holidays.

We finished up by Luke getting his new Christmas jammies, which he was half-heartedly interested in. I told him that Santa wouldn't be able to find him if he wasn't excited to wear his jammies. I do love Mommy Law . . . gets things done.