New skills

Towards the beginning of September Lucas has started to use a spoon at breakfast time. He gets his own spoon to feed himself his oatmeal. I still have to supervise and assist, but Lucas likes to do it himself, and at times won't open his mouth when I am trying to giving him a bit.

I got him a popper toy, I didn't think he would grasp the concept so quickly, but right off the bat he started pushing that toy around and loves it. He also likes pushing a baby doll stroller around, yes, Craig let him have a stroller, we were lucky enough to find a green one, so at least it is manly looking.

We have also been listening to the musical talent of farmer Tad, and at random times different animal sounds. We got Lucas this Leap Frog farm animal thing that you put on your fridge. Lucas loves to push the button where farmer Tad plays the banjo and Lucas rocks out.

Lucas has also been paying more attention to the pictures in books, at times I will find him staring at the pictures in a book that he has found, he loves books. He also continues to jabber constantly, today I bought him one of those toy microphones that magnify your voice. He loves it, every time we went to someones house he would find that toy and walk around talking into nonstop. So now he has one of his own.

The other day Lucas got into the diaper bag and found the graham crackers. He brought them over to me and said, "want this", I said you want some graham crackers and he said, "this". It was sure cute.

More Teeth!

Lucas is up to eleven teeth now. All at once it seemed teeth started to pop up again. He has his upper right molar and his lower right cuspid. It seems that all of his teeth are appearing on the right side, though I think he is getting his left bottom cuspid. We are really working on brushing all of those teeth, but Lucas seems more interested in sucking on the toothbrush.

Pittsburgh

On Labor day, we went to Pittsburgh. We have never been and wanted to see what it was all about, so we grabbed Lucas, and some friends and headed west (in the past we have always seemed to be heading east).

We went to the zoo/aquarium in Pittsburgh. It was pretty neat and a ton of fun!!! The Pittsburgh zoo has a cozy feel to it, and the animals seemed to be more in the open. I really like how it was set up. We saw a bunch of animals, elephants, birds, tiger, bears, rhinoceros, giraffe, ostrich, gorillas and seals. While Lucas and I were watching the orangutans through the glass (some of them were right by the glass), one of them got up and start to move up against the glass. This surprised and scared Lucas, he start to scream, and we had to leave the orangutan area because we couldn't calm him down and every time we started to show him the monkeys he would tense up and start to whine. The seals put on a show for us and did all sorts of tricks. Lucas really liked the seals.

That was just the zoo part, they also have an aquarium which was pretty cool. They had this tunnel that you walked under with water above the tunnel and you could see the sharks swimming above you, it was awesome and a little creepy. They have a polar bear and tons of different kinds of fish. They have this huge aquarium that is two stories tall that has a wide variety of fish and other types of ocean life. There were mini hammer head sharks, some type of spotted eel, and a tiger shark.

After the zoo we decided to head into Pittsburgh and see where the rivers meet (the city is split by two rivers). We found a look out point that overlooked the city. We decided that Pittsburgh looks pretty at a distant, with the yellow bridges and the rivers, it was really neat looking. The Steelers football stadium and the Pirates baseball field overlook the river. We decided to end our day with a late lunch/early dinner, but as it turns out everything was closed. That is right; if you plan on going to Pittsburgh on Labor Day, don't plan on eating there.

All in all we had a great day though ,I didn't get my beer battered fish and chips, guess were going to have to make another trip to Pittsburgh.

So it begins...again!

Fall has arrived and with colors changing, apple and pumpkin goodies, comes football. For those who do not know this, Craig bleeds blue(BYU). Thus the reason for a BYU Football countdown on this blog. So we wore our BYU shirts, yes even Lucas has a BYU shirt (thanks grandma Nean, and grandpa Boyd). We invited our friends over, grilled Brats, and watched the game. What a tradition!

Lucas and Craig's Hat

The other morning while we were getting ready, Lucas found Craig's hat. He decided to try it on. It did not fit, of course. It was the only thing he was wearing, besides his diaper and he looked pretty cute! Lucas kept taking it off, then putting it back on. He must have enjoyed that hat, because he never keeps his hat on.

Run in with the law

On Thursday when Craig got home we quickly had dinner and then went to the grocery store. We didn't want to wait till the weekend, because there was a football game on Saturday. When football season starts you do not want to be on the roads, there is a lot of people, most of them from out of town, and there are a lot of cops looking for drunk drivers.

Walmart is very busy if you go during a home game during football season, it is likely that you will see several RVs in the parking lot. There were RVs already parked in front of Walmart and it was only Thursday.

We were on our way home, about to get on the highway, when we saw lights behind us, my heart dropped, Craig pulls over, and I am asking Craig, "Were you speeding?", "Did you run a red light?", "What did you do?" The cop informs Craig that his headlights are not on, (just a note, there are not a lot of streetlights in this town, the roads are really dark at night, we happened to be on one of the few roads that has a few streetlights). Fortunately we were not drunk, the cop wondered if we did not have our lights on because we were drunk, and he lets us go. Thankfully!

Crowded Car Rides

Sometimes our adventures take us a little ways from home, so we do not usually go alone, because it is funner when you have company. This is Lucas crammed in the backseat with his friends, Cooper, and Sadie. This has become a pretty common situation. These trips are usually very entertaining and noisy!

Pots and Pans!

Lucas has been having a ton of fun cooking with me! That is to say he likes getting into the cupboard where the pots of pans are and dragging them out, banging them together, and putting his letter magnets in them. The other day I couldn't find his water cup, I looked everywhere. Later that day I opened the cupboard and there it was. He has also started climbing into the cupboard, I don't know why, probably just because he can.

Grange Fair

This week was the Grange Fair. The Grange Fair is a very unique and very big fair that goes on every year. Everything revolves around this fair when it is going on, they even delay the start of the school year for the Grange Fair. There are miles of RVs and these old green army like tents set up that people live in for the week. There is a very, very long waiting list to get a tent spot, it is usually pasted on from generation to generation. It is a pretty crazy event.

Lucas and I went when they were having kids day, and I wanted Lucas to see the animals. We had a ton of fun!!! Lucas did not like Winnie the Pooh, the lady taking the picture told me he was the first kid to cry, but I am sure he was not the last.

They also put together this huge ice-cream sundae, it looked disgusting, they dumped tubs of chocolate syrup, maraschino cherries, and pineapple over this mound of ice cream, but it still tasted yummy!

They had a balloon man. It was pretty impressive the things he made out of balloons! Though Lucas was not interested and pretty much wandered around the entire time! We also were looking forward to seeing Buford the bear, but he had car trouble and didn't make it, so we went back the next day to see him and he was there but they were delayed in getting set up, so we never did see that darn old bear, I guess it just wasn't meant to be. We did get to see several animals, ducks, roosters, sheep, goats, pigs, and cows! Lucas loved this, at one point he was baa baa-ing like a sheep and then mooing! Cute!

Little League World Series!

We are not far from where the Little League World Series takes place. Last Saturday it was going on, so we thought we would go watch and see what it was all about. Wow it is a huge event, I had no idea. There were 25,000 people there! We sat on this pretty steep hill and watched the game going on below. It was Taiwan against Japan. Japan won, though we weren't there to witness the end, we had to leave early. The Goodyear Blimp was there making rounds above the stadium. It was a lot of fun!

Another Word!

Lucas and I have been walking in the morning. During our walks we usually see a couple of people walking their dogs. The day after Lucas said "water", we were on our walk and he pointed at a dog and said, "dog". It was pretty awesome! I definitely had a proud parent moment.

Water!

Add water to the words that Lucas knows! Every Friday we go to a playgroup, they usually go to a different park every Friday or some other fun activity. Today we went to this park that has a river, sandbox, and playground. Lucas spent most of the time roaming around and doing is own thing, he would not stay in one spot for more than a second, though the sandbox and slide did keep his attention for a little while. Lucas eventually discovered the river, I was able to catch him a few times before he got to it, but he kept going back and at one point I didn't get to him before he reached the edge of the water (when I say river, I mean it is a river that doesn't really have a currant, is shallow, and Lucas can wade his feet in it without get really wet, so maybe it is more like a stream). When I came up to him he kept saying, "water, water, water, water" clear as day, it was really, stinkin cute, and after that can you really pull him away, no, so Lucas spent some time wading in the water and picking up the rocks that were in the water. Here is a picture of Lucas eating his lunch on one of the park benches. Peanut-butter and jelly sandwhich yummy!

The Slide

Lucas can go down the slide by himself and he loves it! We have a playground by our house, we usually make a trip to the park on a daily basis. For the past several days we have been working on going down the slide and the other day Lucas climb the stairs, sat down and went for it; he had this look of fear with excitement all at once, and it must have been pretty fun, because he was eager to go again. He is getting pretty good at it, the other day he practically flew down the slide landing on the ground at the bottom. I have been trying to get a video of him doing this, but it is turning out to be more difficult than I thought it was going to be, hopefully I can get it figure out and post a video of him going down the slide.

Let the Canning begin!

With supervision, from a friend, I have been learning how to can. Last year we canned pears and applesauce! This year I canned my first jar of tomatoes. That is right literally one jar of tomatoes. We have a garden, the other day Craig brought in a bunch of tomatoes, I had no idea what to do with those tomatoes, and I didn't want them to go to waste. My friend wanted to can peaches, so on the day she canned peaches, we canned the tomatoes. We were able to get two jars, but one did not survive, so we ended up with one beautiful jar of tomatoes.

Back to School!

Summer is quickly coming to an end! Though I am getting so excited for fall! And all of the yummy things I can make with pumpkin and apples!
Craig started school on Monday. Though Craig is pretty much done with classes and is only taking a seminar class that is one day a week. He is however, a TA this semester, he teaches a lab one day a week, has TA hours one day during the week and here comes the kicker, he will also be working with the observational telescope that is on campus for the students taking the class. This will be every night for a couple of hours. I will be occupying my time at nights Craigless with reading, netflixs, and projects, the first one being refinishing a dresser. Craig will also continue to work out at Swift doing research.

Facing Forward!

When I went to put Lucas carseat back in the car, because we had taken it out the night before, I installed it facing forward. We decided to do this because Lucas was loosening the shoulder straps when he hit the button with his legs. Later that day we headed towards the car and Lucas started to get this distraught look on his face, however, much to his surprise the carseat had been adjusted, when I strapped him in he didn't make a sound or struggle to get loose. He seemed to enjoy himself and was quite content with the adjustment. Plus it was fun to be able to see him, through the mirror.

Dress up!

Usually while I am getting ready Lucas will roam around the bedroom, exploring and playing. Lately he has been getting into the dirty laundry, which he will drag around the bedroom or try to put it on his head or throw it around his shoulders. Today he got hold of my bottoms and manage to get them over his head and started pulling his head through one of the legs, his head got stuck and he had one eye peeking out of the leg bottom it was funny. Lucas wasn't expecting this and started to get frustrated, so we untangled him and he went on his way, back to the dirty laundry. The other day I had my clothes laying out on the bed. When I went to get them, Lucas had one of the shoulder straps of the bra around his neck, one cup in the front and the other on hanging down his back, it was hilarious. Yes, I did take a picture, several in fact, however I am not about to post my unders on a public website, so I guess your going to have to use your imagination.

Outside!

Lucas loves going outside! He will bring me his shoes or head to the door if you even mention going outside. Recently he will bring me his shoes without even mentioning outside. It has gotten to the point where if I start putting on my shoes, walk towards the door, or even sit on the second stair (which is usually where we put his shoes on) Lucas thinks were going outside and will head to the door. Were so glad that Lucas is catching on to things and is developing, unfortunately we are not always going outside and this can be a problem.

NIne teeth in counting!

On Saturday (21st of August) on our way to D.C, while Lucas is crying, because he is sick of being in his carseat, we discovered a tooth. Lucas is getting his first molar, the bottom right. Yeah!

Climbing

For the past week or so Lucas has learned to climb up onto things. At first it was the couch, which wasn't a problem, he would get a snack and then climb up onto the couch, get comfortable and eat his snack, it was pretty cute. Now, were climbing on everything onto the bed, where mom had laid out her clothes, which are now on the floor, or on Lucas head. Climbing the chairs, so we can get onto the table. So you think pushing in the chairs would solve that problem, you would be wrong. The other day Craig and I watched as Lucas climb the chair (that was pushed in) from under the table and then wiggle his way so he is standing on the chair, it was impressive, but annoying.

Really!?!

Lucas has learned how to lift up the seat on the toliet. We are in the process of getting latches for the toliet, but have not put them on yet, so for the time being we have a carseat on the toliet in the upstairs bathroom. The other day I was in the shower and I heard a crash, I peeked out the shower curtain, Lucas had pushed the carseat off of the toliet, has his bath toys in hand and is up to his elbows in toliet water, playing. Fortunately I had cleaned the toliet the day before, but still the toliet really!

Ag Progress Days

Last week we went to the Ag Progress Days the University puts it together. There are lots of tractors, farm machines, and other agricultural related booths set up. We went because it was free and something to do and we thought there would be animals. There were some animals; Llama's, cows, and horses; huge, massive horses. There was this carriage with six horses hooked up to it, it looked pretty cool. Lucas seemed to enjoy it.

Oops!

Yesterday, we stayed after church, because I had a meeting. Craig and I gave Lucas a couple of apples, two to be exact because he has to have one for each hand. Lucas is constantly on the move and it has become difficult to keep track of him. We don't usually stress too much about it when were at church because people know who he is and he is easy to find. On this particular Sunday he took off without either Craig or I noticing. When Craig realized he wasn't in the room, he went looking for him. Craig came back several minutes later with Lucas. Craig explained that he went down the hall and could not find Lucas, at the same time someone opened the door to the chapel, and Craig just happened to glance in and he sees our child on the other side of the chapel munching on his apples. Now this would not have been embrassing if it wasn't for the fact that the other ward was having sacrement meeting in the chapel. Were not sure how Lucas got into the chapel, we think he wandered in when someone opened the door. Craig was able to retrieve our child without causing a scene. I doubt anyone noticed.

Zoo!

Kim's flight was out of Baltimore and we were taking her, so we decided since we were going to be heading to Baltimore we would make a day of it and stop in Washington D.C and go to the zoo. This was so much fun!!! Though it was very hot!!! The zoo is huge, we spent a little over three hours there and we didn't see everything. Lucas did very well, he was always alert and watching everyone and everything. We saw tigers, lions, panda's, birds, butterflies, very big fish, gorillas, an elephant, snakes, and other strange creatures. Out of all of the animals we saw Lucas's favorite animal was.... drum roll please... the Flamingos. He loved them! He just stared and stared at them. Those bright pink, funny looking birds. They were all clumped together in a big group, squawking, and moving around. I don't know why, but he was very fascinated with them. We had a very enjoyable time! We will have to make another trip!