Camera Dump

All The Time

The neighbor boy's oma is here taking care of him while his mother is away. As we were visiting this afternoon, she said, "You are out here all the time." Boy, is she right. Jack, Luke, and I have been putting in long hours on our bike saddles. The intermittent rain hasn't deterred us from getting in practice every day this week. In fact, the boys have found great pleasure in riding through the puddles until their backs are striped with mud. 

Luke is celebrating three months with his Strider. He's gotten really good at it. The unfortunate news is that he refuses to get on it if I force him to wear his helmet. For now, I've decided that it's best if he loves biking so much that the ride is worth having to suffer through the helmet. 

With all the traveling that John has been doing, it sure is nice that opening the garage door and getting out a couple of bikes is all it takes to keep the two boys happy for several hours.

Imagination

Nighttime Prayers

A² + B² = C²

Every time I put this shirt on Luke, John asks him if he had fun at math camp or if he can tell him which numbers from 1-100 are prime. It cracks me up. 

MOPPETS

I'm a MOPS (Mother of a Preschooler), and these are my two MOPPETS. Our first meeting was this morning. When I arrived to drop the boys off, the MOPPETS coordinator asked me if I thought Luke would be happier if he could be in the same room as his brother. So, even though it was Luke's first time away from me in a school-like setting, at least he had his brother's companionship to make the transition easier. Even with Jack's presence, twice during the meeting I heard little Luke crying in the nursery. Poor baby. The nursery caregiver confirmed that Luke had moments of uncertainty, but each time she brought him over to Jack and Jack was able to calm him down.

I'm pretty excited about the MOPS group. It feels like a good way to meet a few friends and begin to make Atlanta feel more like home. I know Jack is excited about being a MOPPET, and I hope that Luke will grow to enjoy being one too.

Brothers

As he grows older, he's reminding me more and more of his brother.

Camera Dump

Luke's sweet smile

Luke is a bit confused about where he is supposed to sleep since his crib was taken apart. Chair? Floor? Bed?

Reading together one rainy afternoon

Luke reading in his room

His brother taught him how to do a somersault.

Jack informed me yesterday that he learned in gymnastics class that this is called a forward roll, not a somersault. Ha!

One day I'll find him at the very top. He's getting more and more adventurous.

Practicing with his scissors. I know, Kathy, no training wheels and now he's playing with scissors. 

Pedal Bike- Updated

There are moments in a child's life that inevitably makes his mother teary. The day he says his first word or takes that very first step. When he climbs those bus steps bound for kindergarten. As you leave him at college. On his wedding day. When you visit his babies in the hospital. Those kinds of moments.  Watching Jack on his latest adventure felt like one of those milestone moments. 

For a month or two now, Jack has been watching his friend Chase ride his pedal bike around the neighborhood. Then a couple of weeks ago, I showed him a video of his friend Ross riding his pedal bike. Jack wasn't bikeless. He had his Strider, but all of the sudden the paint on his Strider didn't seem so new. The wheels seemed a little worn. And worst of all, his Strider didn't have pedals. 

I suspect John has been looking at bikes for even longer than I know about, but I know the first time Jack said he'd like a pedal bike like Chase's the search intensified. We thought we would wait until Christmas, but frankly all of us were too excited. And who really wants a new bike in December or for a January birthday when you have to wait until the spring to ride? 

On Thursday night, John and I pored over 10 different bike models, slowly eliminating one after another until the choice was final. Friday afternoon, the boys and I headed to a bike shop on Peachtree Road (How very Atlanta of us!). There were three colors for Jack to choose from. The first one he set his eyes on was black with training wheels. He climbed on it and took off around the store. The bicycle man went to the storeroom and brought out a red one and was headed back to get a blue bike, but Jack couldn't tear his eyes away from that very first bike he saw so I told the bike man that I didn't think it was even necessary to bring the third around. I paid, asked the bike guy to take off the training wheels for us (gasp!), add a shark horn and kickstand, and lower the seat all of the way down. And we were off. 

From the back seat on the way home, Jack chattered about how he couldn't wait to get home and try his new bike out. I tried to convince him he would be better off if he waited for his dad, but there was no persuading him. I put on some running shoes when we got to the house. Jack, Luke, and I went out into the cul de sac to give it a whirl. We lasted 15 minutes. There were no wrecks, but that was probably only because I could not make myself let go of the bike. I'd be all set to give him a push and let him go and then I would chicken out. Before too long, Jack and I decided it was best to wait for Daddy after all. 

John came home, and within 5 minutes I was filming this video. 

Amazing. We give a lot of the credit to Jack's time on his Strider, but John's patience and Jack's enthusiasm went a long way towards their success too. 

Some of the first words out of Jack's mouth this morning were, "Mama, can you help me get dressed so I can go out and ride my bike?" So I set out his clothes, which he put on all by himself, and we all went outside for another day of biking. How is it that something as simple as teaching our boy to ride a pedal bike makes him seem so much older all of the sudden? I'm telling you, it's one of those moments.

Yes, I am the dorky mother who put the bike shirt on him to go pick out his first bike.

This was in my delete folder until I noticed John's grin. I love this one now.

He rides with a smile glued to his lips and that dimple flashing. 

Videos

Pretty much everything I own is out of commission right now. Luke broke my video camera, and I am in the process of organizing all of my photos. When I'm organizing, the last thing I want to do is add more photos to my computer. So, it's going to have to be phone pics and videos for awhile.

The first video is one I wanted to record before Luke stops doing it. I know I shouldn't encourage this insubordination, but isn't it too funny?

The second video is just a sweet one of them playing together.