First of all, great news - my dreaded dental surgery is over. I am sitting here in the living room, still a little drowsy with a chipmunk jaw. Everything went great - I was out of the dental chair by 10:00 compared to what they thought might be 11:00. I slept for a few hours after arriving home and now I'm feeling a little better each minute. I have to go back in 2 weeks for some follow up work - but no sedation or even numbing will be needed at that time. Thank you all for your prayers. I am SO glad to have this procedure DONE!
Now, on to my blog...
I titled this blog, "Hanging Out with Luke," because no matter when and where we hang out with Luke, there is always excitement - his conversational and language skills keep us amazed and laughing all the time.
Here are a few of my favorite conversations...
We have been working with Luke on understanding his name, where he lives, his birthday, and Mommy and Daddy's real names. Here is a little test run that I did with Luke one day...
Mommy: What is your name?
Luke: My name is Luke Bumgarner.
Mommy: Where do you live?
Luke: I live in Thomasville.
Mommy: How old are you?
Luke: I'm 2 in December.
Mommy: What's your Mommy's name?
Luke: My mommy's name is Tasha.
Mommy: What's your Daddy's name?
Luke: My daddy's name is Landis.
I'm so proud of him for knowing this information and also very impressed that he answers me with a complete sentence.
Luke was sitting in the rocking chair one day while I was reading him a book about the story of Jesus' life. Here's our conversation...
Luke: Jesus is disgusting.
Mommy: (with my mouth wide open) - No, he's not, Luke. He died on the cross for you so you could go to heaven. He loves you very much.
Luke: Well, he goes in the mud.
How do you analyze that??? Is it because in the books he sees Jesus walking in sandals in the dirt so he thinks that is disgusting??? Who knows???
As were playing outside one day, Luke picked up a stick and looked at me and said, "You don't run with a stick." I said, "Who taught you that?" Luke's response, "Mommy." :) (I don't remember ever telling him not to run with a stick but I guess I did - and, it is a good safety lesson.) :)
Luke found a feather. While he was holding and touching it, I said, "Luke, that came from a bird. Remember birds have feathers." Luke's response, "Is the bird cold?" :) (I guess because of that one feather that he lost, he's cold.) :)
Luke has had a terrible runny nose for about 2 weeks now, mostly due to allergies. One day, I was talking to him about his runny nose. Here's our conversation...
Mommy: Luke, where did you get that cold? Do your friends at school have runny noses too?
Luke: No, but they have boogers! :)
One night we were all playing in the living room and Daddy was focusing too much on the TV and not on Luke. Luke said something to Landis (I can't remember what he was saying). Landis didn't respond so Luke continued to talk to Landis and repeat what he was saying and Landis continued not to respond. Luke finally said as he approached Landis' face, "Hey, I'm talking to you."
(Now Luke knows how I feel sometimes. Getting Daddy to listen is difficult.)
One rainy morning, Luke picked up the phone and put it to his ear. When I said, "Who are you calling?" Luke said, "Papa, to see if he's going to play golf in the rain." (Landis makes fun of his dad for playing golf every Saturday morning - rain, sun, cold, or hot - and Luke has heard Landis talk about how crazy that is.)
After Luke wakes up from his naps and in the mornings, he normally will say, "Mommy, come in here." and then he will want me to snuggle with him on his bed for a little while before he gets up. One morning last week I was watching the baby monitor and I noticed that Luke was already awake but he hadn't called my name yet. I just kept watching the monitor to see what he was doing. He was sitting on top of his pillow with his baby Shelton on one side and Daisy on the other side. He had both of them sitting just like he was. Before he got out of his bed, he gave them all hugs and kisses. It was very sweet!
I have been working with Luke on being able to identify words. He can already show me the front of a book, the back of a book, and he can turn one page at a time when reading. Even though he doesn't know his letters and sounds yet, I am starting to show him how the words on a page match the picture. We have been using one word per page books and flashcards to get Luke to say what the word is based off of the pictures. He will look at the picture and I will say, "What do you think this page says?" He will tell me whatever the picture is. For example, there is one page that has the word train. He will say, "Train." Then, I will ask him, "Please show me the word that says train." and he will point to the word that says train. Now, please know that I'm not saying that he's reading this word by himself. Eventually, he will begin to memorize the words but right now that's not my goal. My goal is for him to realize that words make up meaning and that's how we read. Fun stuff! When I taught 2nd graders how to read, I thoroughly enjoyed it so applying these concepts to my own son is AWESOME! I would love to have him reading one word books by the age of 3! We shall see....
Lately, one of Luke's favorite things to do while hanging out at home is to play with his tractors and his barn. He has learned how to park his tractors into the barn and then close the doors. (I wish I would've taken some pictures. I will try to this week.) When I play with him, we pretend to "mow the rug" in his room before parking the tractors. We even use several blocks as "push mowers" so that we can push around the edges of the carpet. We also find a block that we can "weed eat" with. One night this week, Luke and I mowed his rug for hours. :)
Now, on to some pictures of some fun times that we have enjoyed here lately hanging out with Luke.
In this first picture, you will see Luke with a sweet little girl named Hannah. Hannah is the 5 year old daughter of a friend of ours. Landis, Luke, and I went to visit Gabe, Catherine, Hannah, and Cape (the little boy you see in the background) last Saturday night. I was extremely pleased with Luke's behavior. He and Hannah played so well together. The grown ups kept our eyes on them, but we didn't have to stand right over them at all. It was nice to be able to sit back and relax and watch the kids play.
Hannah and Luke played outside in the sandbox, on the swings, and slides for a little while. Luke pushed Cape's mower. Then, we came inside and Luke and Hannah played tag and sat in the living room and played together. They played with crayons and stamps and this cute little indoor playhouse. Gabe got out the kids karaoke machine and Hannah and Luke both sang songs. I couldn't believe it but not so shy Luke held the microphone and sang Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star to everyone in the room. It was adorable! After singing, Luke and Hannah played with the Legos for a little while and then before we knew it, it was time to head home for bed. Before we left, Luke helped Hannah (without me asking him) clean up the toys. I was very proud of Luke's behavior. It is so nice to be able to take him places and not have to worry about him throwing fits or misbehaving. I am thankful that so far he saves those moments for home! :)
I only took 2 pictures of Luke and Hannah playing....here they are...
Last Sunday, because it was pouring down rain, Luke, Landis, and I ran a few errands and then headed to Bumper Jumpers in Greensboro. Before Bumper Jumpers, we stopped by Off N Running sports and bought me some new running shoes. They are awesome and helped me run 3.6 miles at 10:06 per mile on Wednesday. (This is the most distance that I have run since becoming pregnant with Luke and I did it with the stroller!) We are aiming to reach 4 miles this next week. Fun, fun!
Anyway, at Bumper Jumpers, we had a blast as usual. Luke enjoyed climbing into the small slide inflatable all by himself and sliding head first. He did this over and over. He also loved diving into the house on the dinosaur inflatable and doing his flip as he rolled in. He met this little girl named Madison and followed her around trying to hug her. They sat in the dinosaur house together for the longest time. Luke also enjoyed his first taste of popcorn. He hasn't eaten popcorn before and they had free popcorn so Luke got him some. He loved it! He ate almost half of it! :) Here are some pictures from Bumper Jumpers....
Daddy bought a brand new lawn mower that you will see in the pictures below. As you know, Luke is obsessed with lawn mowers so he has thoroughly enjoyed watching Landis use this new lawn mower. On Tuesday night last week, we took the big new lawn mower down to papa Donnie's to help him mow. Luke went too and put his big green lawn mower on the trailer so he could mow with Daddy and Pappaw. It was a full night of mowing! It was great!! :) Before we left, Landis needed to make a few adjustments to the lawn mower so he got out his tools and worked on it. Because Daddy had his tools, Luke needed his also. In the pictures below, you will see Luke with his tools...
And now, some video:
(1) Luke bouncing on his bottom at Bumper Jumpers.
(2) Luke doing flips at Bumper Jumpers.
(3) On the way home from Bumper Jumpers, Luke all of a sudden said, "Watch my mouth say...SAND - WHICH." (It was funny.) I guess at some point he must have said this word wrong and someone told him to watch their mouth while they repeated the word. He said this phrase several times and then as soon as I got out the camera to video him, he wouldn't do it anymore. But, instead, he tells us that he wants an ice cream sundae - and, of course, we agree. We all enjoyed a caramel sundae after getting our exercise at the jumpy place. It was a super fun day!
(4) Luke riding his little red scooter in the house. He is getting really good on that thing! It's amazing how fast he can go!
Alrighty....that's all folks...I can't believe I was able to finish the blog before Sunday. We have a fun Saturday planned so I'll post about it next week. Also, I have a few emails about President Obama's healthcare and the things that are embedded within those laws that I want to share with you. With election day quickly approaching, it is imperative that we all begin to pray that President Obama does NOT get re-elected. I am already praying hard and plan on sharing my thoughts and opinions on this blog as election day approaches! :)
Have a great weekend everyone! :)
Toddy
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