Luke really enjoyed the Halloween festivities tonight. Jami and Luke hit a few houses in the neighborhood for Luke to try out his newly expanded vocabulary: "Trick or Treat" and "I'm Elmo!" Dad stayed home and manned the candy distribution for the Leahy household.
All was well until we encountered a man with a scary mask and long black robe handing out candy at his house. Luke started wailing when he spotted the guy 10 ft. away. We quickly walked off, despite the man yelling behind us, "You sure you don't want any candy?" No thanks, buddy.
Then we drove over to see some friends who live nearby. Luke started taking the candy out of his bag and giving it to them ... reverse trick-or-treating!
Monday, October 31, 2005
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Colorado Visitors
Grandma and Grandpa Nelson came to Arizona for a 5-day visit. Here's a glimpse of our fun itinerary while they were here.
Taking bike rides. We got a new trailer (AKA burley) to pull behind the bike. Luke loves to go for rides. He climbs in and matter-of-factly states "Need a ride!"
House projects. Jim and Dixie helped with some house projects like repairing a sink, hemming curtains, etc. All in a day's work!
Rest and relaxation. Luke (and his grandparents) had to take a little afternoon siesta each day. Perhaps Luke's youthful energy wore them out!
Pumpkin farm. We paid a visit to the pumpkin farm to check out the latest crop of pumpkins and see some farm animals.
Time outdoors. Now that the weather has cooled off, we are spending tons of time outdoors. We had a BBQ one afternoon ... nothing beats grilling salmon, playing badminton, and carving pumpkins!
Taking bike rides. We got a new trailer (AKA burley) to pull behind the bike. Luke loves to go for rides. He climbs in and matter-of-factly states "Need a ride!"
House projects. Jim and Dixie helped with some house projects like repairing a sink, hemming curtains, etc. All in a day's work!
Rest and relaxation. Luke (and his grandparents) had to take a little afternoon siesta each day. Perhaps Luke's youthful energy wore them out!
Pumpkin farm. We paid a visit to the pumpkin farm to check out the latest crop of pumpkins and see some farm animals.
Time outdoors. Now that the weather has cooled off, we are spending tons of time outdoors. We had a BBQ one afternoon ... nothing beats grilling salmon, playing badminton, and carving pumpkins!
Thursday, October 27, 2005
From the trike to the bike...
Luke is movin' on up from the trike to the bike. The two-wheeler (oh yeah, plus the training wheels) is Luke's latest favorite mode of transportation. However, it wasn't until this week when he finally grasped the concept of pedaling. He's still got a long way to go before he'll be riding off into the sunset, but he pedaled a few times on his own! Grandpa Nelson has been conducting bike-riding lessons for Luke this week. Now if he can just teach Luke to pay attention so he doesn't veer off the sidewalk when he's gawking at something else!
Elmo
Some kids love to dress up for Halloween. Luke does not ... yet anyway. This year for Halloween he is sporting the costume of Elmo from Sesame Street. Today we had a Halloween party with Luke's playgroup friends. Although he did wear the costume for about 20 minutes, he maxed out soonafter -- probably from heat exhaustion in the furry little suit! We'll see how he does on the big official day of Halloween!
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Down home on the farm
This week for our playgroup we went to a pumpkin patch for a little fall fun, complete with a hayrack ride and frolicking among the pumpkins. We took a moment to also photograph these farm animals. The sheep may look a little familiar!
Say what?!
Luke is really chatting up a storm these days. With the increase in vocab, he's also starting to say some pretty funny things.
"Not dirty." The other evening in preparation for bathtime, Scott asked Luke,"Ready for your bath?" Luke's reply ... "Not dirty." Scott pushed the issue a little more, "Not dirty, huh?" Luke very matter of factly replied, "Noooo."
"Green light go." Luke has a little phrase he likes to use to describe things in motion ... "green light go." It originated with waiting for the stop light to turn green, but now applies to anything transportation related ... or when Luke is running full speed ahead.
"Baa. Moo. Woof. Hoot. Meow. Grrr." One of Luke's new tricks is to make animal sounds. He has quite a repertoire of sounds ranging from man's best friend to fine feathered fowl.
"E." We've been trying to teach Luke names of friends and family members, whether in person or with photos. It was seeming a little difficult for Luke to say "Uncle Eric" so we shortened it just to "E" so now whenever we mention Uncle Eric or ask Luke about him, he starts saying "E! E!"
"Not dirty." The other evening in preparation for bathtime, Scott asked Luke,"Ready for your bath?" Luke's reply ... "Not dirty." Scott pushed the issue a little more, "Not dirty, huh?" Luke very matter of factly replied, "Noooo."
"Green light go." Luke has a little phrase he likes to use to describe things in motion ... "green light go." It originated with waiting for the stop light to turn green, but now applies to anything transportation related ... or when Luke is running full speed ahead.
"Baa. Moo. Woof. Hoot. Meow. Grrr." One of Luke's new tricks is to make animal sounds. He has quite a repertoire of sounds ranging from man's best friend to fine feathered fowl.
"E." We've been trying to teach Luke names of friends and family members, whether in person or with photos. It was seeming a little difficult for Luke to say "Uncle Eric" so we shortened it just to "E" so now whenever we mention Uncle Eric or ask Luke about him, he starts saying "E! E!"
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
PLEASE!
A preface to this story: We've been working over the last several months to teach Luke some basic sign language to help in the phase when he wants to express his opinions but can't fully verbalize them yet. He has learned several signs, one of them being "please" (the sign is made by rubbing in a circular motion on the upper chest, like asking earnestly).
Scott was putting Luke to bed the other night, and Luke was a little resistant since he LOVES his time with Daddy! They had done the normal bed time ritual (bath, reading books, etc.) and were just rocking with the lights off. In the dark, Scott could see Luke moving his arms but couldn't figure out what he was doing. Then it registered ... he was making the sign for "please" as if to say, "PLEASE let me stay up and hang out more with you Dad!" It was so sweet. Scott got Luke a bit more to drink and let him stay up for a few minutes longer ... after all, Luke asked so nicely!
Scott was putting Luke to bed the other night, and Luke was a little resistant since he LOVES his time with Daddy! They had done the normal bed time ritual (bath, reading books, etc.) and were just rocking with the lights off. In the dark, Scott could see Luke moving his arms but couldn't figure out what he was doing. Then it registered ... he was making the sign for "please" as if to say, "PLEASE let me stay up and hang out more with you Dad!" It was so sweet. Scott got Luke a bit more to drink and let him stay up for a few minutes longer ... after all, Luke asked so nicely!
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Here's a toast!
Scott has been involved with a Toastmaster public speaking group at Motorola for the past 2 years, as one of the founding members and serving as president at one time. This past week, Scott was selected from his chapter to attend an area competition. He competed as an evaluator ... meaning that he was being judged on how well he evaluated the other presenters! He ended up placing 2nd and taking home a trophy. So here's a toast ... to the Toastmaster!
Sport Clips
Luke had his first professional haircut this week. To this point, Luke and Scott had a 2-for-1 deal with the family barber (AKA Jami). However, Luke had been a little too squirmy the last few times to really achieve any decent amount of haircutting, so his hair was getting a little unruly and uneven.
Luke's first "real" haircut was at a place called Sport Clips. They specialize in haircuts for men with the added entertainment of non-stop sports on TV. Luke was doing fine until she put the cape on ... at which time Luke realized that it was limiting his arm movement and he couldn't flap around as much as he usually does. So being confined to the barber chair and wearing the cape were more than he could tolerate ... and the screaming and wailing began. This subsided briefly with a lollipop as a temporary cure and distraction, allowing a majority of the cut to be completed.
We were on the homestretch when she had to do the final trimming around his neckline and ears. Luke had some major issues with that portion of the process! He decided he'd really make her work for her money by dodging and swaying away from her every move. But in the end, the hair stylist was able to add her finishing touches (with a little help from mom) ... and Luke was able to add his final "comments!"
When it was all said and done, the finished masterpiece was nothing short of a miracle considering that the poor woman cutting his hair had a loud, moving target most of the time. But the final result was a little boy with a grown-up haircut ... see for yourself!
Luke's first "real" haircut was at a place called Sport Clips. They specialize in haircuts for men with the added entertainment of non-stop sports on TV. Luke was doing fine until she put the cape on ... at which time Luke realized that it was limiting his arm movement and he couldn't flap around as much as he usually does. So being confined to the barber chair and wearing the cape were more than he could tolerate ... and the screaming and wailing began. This subsided briefly with a lollipop as a temporary cure and distraction, allowing a majority of the cut to be completed.
We were on the homestretch when she had to do the final trimming around his neckline and ears. Luke had some major issues with that portion of the process! He decided he'd really make her work for her money by dodging and swaying away from her every move. But in the end, the hair stylist was able to add her finishing touches (with a little help from mom) ... and Luke was able to add his final "comments!"
When it was all said and done, the finished masterpiece was nothing short of a miracle considering that the poor woman cutting his hair had a loud, moving target most of the time. But the final result was a little boy with a grown-up haircut ... see for yourself!
You say it's your birthday...
October is a big birthday month for our family. We celebrated 2 birthdays this past week with Eric's birthday on the 13th and Scott's on the 14th ... and what better way to party it up than with Maggie Moo's ice cream as seen above!
Scott celebrated his 29th birthday on Friday. His closet had a major overhaul with most of his gifts being new work clothes. He's sure to be voted "Best Dressed Engineer" at Motorola this season! Luke's treat was to take Dear Ol' Dad out for pizza.
Monday, October 10, 2005
A Mass to Remember
We usually go to Mass on Sunday morning because they provide a nursery at the 9:30 and 11 a.m. services. Luke enjoys the hour in the nursery playing with the other kids, and we are able to focus our full attention on the Mass (rather than on keeping Luke quiet and out of trouble).
We decided to go to Saturday evening Mass this week. We knew it might be a little challenging because Luke usually gets fidgety once the homily starts, but we decided to give it a try. We even decided to bypass the cry room and sit in the regular sanctuary. And as luck would have it, we ended up sitting in the middle of a long pew. So there we were ... sardined in ... with a ticking time bomb who we just knew might create a ruckus in the middle of Mass.
Much to our amazement, Luke was so well behaved. We made it past the homily with no loud outbursts. When it was time to receive the Eucharist, the row in front of us stood up to file out of the pew to go up front. With a hearty wave, Luke bid them farewell saying, "Bye, bye. Bye, bye." Snickers all around us. We got the flapping and waving and bye-byeing controlled, but yes, we too were chuckling at his innocent gesture.
After returning to our seats, we were kneeling and trying to keep Luke somewhat still. A man near us sneezed. In the midst of quiet prayer, a tiny little Luke voice rang out, "Ahhh-choo." Again, chuckling amidst the pews.
This is sure to be a Mass we will remember for a while, not only because Luke hung in there for the duration of the hour-long Mass, but he also cracked a few smiles in church.
We decided to go to Saturday evening Mass this week. We knew it might be a little challenging because Luke usually gets fidgety once the homily starts, but we decided to give it a try. We even decided to bypass the cry room and sit in the regular sanctuary. And as luck would have it, we ended up sitting in the middle of a long pew. So there we were ... sardined in ... with a ticking time bomb who we just knew might create a ruckus in the middle of Mass.
Much to our amazement, Luke was so well behaved. We made it past the homily with no loud outbursts. When it was time to receive the Eucharist, the row in front of us stood up to file out of the pew to go up front. With a hearty wave, Luke bid them farewell saying, "Bye, bye. Bye, bye." Snickers all around us. We got the flapping and waving and bye-byeing controlled, but yes, we too were chuckling at his innocent gesture.
After returning to our seats, we were kneeling and trying to keep Luke somewhat still. A man near us sneezed. In the midst of quiet prayer, a tiny little Luke voice rang out, "Ahhh-choo." Again, chuckling amidst the pews.
This is sure to be a Mass we will remember for a while, not only because Luke hung in there for the duration of the hour-long Mass, but he also cracked a few smiles in church.
Saturday, October 08, 2005
The Great Pumpkin
We went to Dewey, Arizona, today to Young's Farm to enjoy a fall festival. It's a tradition of Eric's girlfriend Charity's family to go there every fall, so they invited us to go along this year ... and what a great time we had! Luke was a little afraid of the pony rides, but he did brave the big inflatable bouncy with his dad and Uncle Eric. We stocked up on some apple butter, sampled some cider, and picked out the biggest pumpkin we could! It's still in the 90s in Phoenix, but this spot about 1 1/2 hours north of Phoenix near Prescott was a nice breath of autumn air!
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