Musical Muffin Monday - November 29, 2010

Wordless Wednesday - November 24, 2010

Musical Muffin Monday - November 22, 2010

Today was another installment of "Muffin Monday Mommy Style," as Jonathan had to work today.

Our morning started off with breakfast at Mimi's. And then music school and then a visit to Barnes and Noble. Christian loves their kids' books section ... but Mommy forgot about their Wall o' Thomas (the train). Christian got really mad when I pried him away from the Thomas wall for a bathroom break ... and then really mad a bit later when I told him it was time to go (and without the two trains he so desperately wanted).

He cried and screamed as we walked through the store and it was terribly embarassing. But I just stayed calm and quiet as we made our way to the door (there was nothing I could possibly say to calm him down - except for buy him something, which wasn't going to happen).

We got outside and the fit continued. He plopped down onto the sidewalk and intentionally banged his forehead into the sidewalk and looked up for my reaction. I did my best to not give him a reaction, and told him I was going to keep on walking. Well, that made him really, really mad ... so, I decided it was simply time for us to get into the car and go home.

Ah, to be the parent of a three year old ... it's not always easy.

Christian's Birthday Tricycle

Christian's Granny and Grandpa gave him a beautiful, shiney red tricycle with chrome fenders. His first words? "A tricycle ... silly, silly tricycle!" It was so cute ... and I'm glad I captured the moment on video to share with ya'll!

We're working with him on how to use the pedals. For the past two years, he's been riding his "Okey Dog" (the green bike he's riding in the video before he sees the tricycle), and the Okey dog doesn't have pedals. So for now, he's still using his feet to propel the tricycle.

They Okey Dog also didn't have a front wheel that turns, so Christian is having fun being more in control of where the tricycle goes.

Our thanks to Granny and Grandpa for the "silly, silly tricycle"!

Click the photo collage to enlarge

Wordless Wednesday - November 15, 2010

Musical Muffin Monday - November 15, 2010

Click to enlarge

This Kid ...

. . . has a knack for making a big ol' mess.

I put Christian down for a nap in a clean, organized room each day (and each night at bedtime, for that matter). Lately, it's been taking him a long time to fall asleep at naptime (and some days, he does't fall asleep at all).

These days, I always hear some sort of raucous in his room during naptime, but I've learned that it is best for me to just leave him alone. If I open the door and he's sees me, it's all over ... he comes up with a whole list of things, "Read a book!" "Read Sneetches!" "Where's Thomas?" "Where's Bella?" "Take the boys to the track!" "Let's practice!"

His mattress is in two sections and he likes to take out the smaller section and play with the wood slats underneath the mattress (fortunately, they are connected by fabric bands so all he can do is slide them around and make noise). I wised up today and switched the larger portion around with the smaller portion ... and that at least kept his mattress on his bed for today (although, he did TRY to take out the mattress ... the bedding was lifted up).

The other day, he even managed to get his side railing off the bed (which has since been fixed).

It took him a long time to get to sleep today and so I peeked in on him after it was quite in there for a long time and found this disaster:

Geeze, it looks like a crime scene! See him in the bed with the black pillow over his head? And the sticker on his thigh ... looks like he found a sheet of stickers, too. I'm sure I'll find stickers all over the place when he wakes up later.

Welcome to three. The age of adventure, experimentation, resourcefulness and messiness.

Christian Turns Three!

Our little bundle of joy turns three today. He's still an absolute bundle of joy, but he's not so little anymore! I've been looking back at various pics of Christian over the past three years and I'm just amazed at how much he's grown, and how much he's changed.

Here's just a small sample of the literally hundreds (or thousands?) of photos we have of our boy wonder.

Today Sprout aired Christian's birthday card! I was so delighted to see the card on TV ... and watching the clip makes me cry every time!

You can also see the card online at http://www.sproutonline.com/sprout/birthday-party-center/birthdaycards.aspx. If you don't see Christian's card, be sure to click on the calendar at the top and go to November 2nd.

A Boy and His Papa

October Festivities

October sure was a fun month for the Lucero family!

For the first time, Christian went trick or treating. I had only planned to take him to two neighbors' houses, but he was having so much fun that we kept on going!

As you may know, we don't give Christian candy. The last thing a toddler needs to eat is sweets - toddlers are energetic enough on their own, thank you very much. But I know that at school, the kids are occasionally given some kind of candy (i.e., a small KitKat bar). And that is okay, I suppose .. as long as Christian doesn't come to expect it from us.

So the Friday before Halloween, his school had Halloween festiviites and he came home will a bag that had a few pieces of candy. He took out the DumDum lollypop and licked it with the wrapper on and said, "Delicious woddypop!" As you can imagine, he very quickly figured out that the wrapper comes off, and licking the ball on the end of the stick is even better!

What's a mommy to do? Let the kiddo enjoy his first lollypop, of course!

However, when we arrived home and it was naptime, I had to take the lollypop away and whoooooooooooooooo Lordy! MELTDOWN!

Here are some photos of trick or treating ... and Christian eating his second lollypop after getting home.




We visited a local farm to check out the fun. Pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere! This is the same farm we went to last year when Christian squatted down and picked up a pumpkin, much to our surpirse! I'll have to create a side by side photo.



We sat down to carve pumpkins ... certain Chrstian would be interested. Nope. He was more interested in playing with his trains. Sooo typical! I made a "cheeseburger" pumkin ... inspired our nieces.

Christian received his first ever non-birthday party invitation! It was given by one of his classmates at a local park. One of the activites was cookie decorating. In front of Christian was a platter of "decorations": M&Ms, marshmallows, candy corn, mini Oreos, etc. I showed Christian he could put the deocrations on his cookie and he somehow realized the were edible ... and he grabbed a candy corn and put it in his mouth ... and liked it instantly. Same thing with the mini marshmallows. So what's a mommy to do? Let him enjoy!

It's no wonder that he walked up to me yesterday and said, "Want CANDY. Want CANDY!"

And so it beings. But hey, I got away with no candy in the first three years of his life. :)

Is That the Cat in the Hat??

Wordless Wednesday - October 27, 2010

Musical Muffin Monday - October 25, 2010

Musical Muffin Monday - October 18, 2010

Christian and Jonathan have just returned home from the second installment of Musical Muffin Monday. Jonathan told me Christian was much more comfortable today and had a great time!

I can just envision what happend in the photo below: Christian saw the camera, said "Cheese" and smiled his big ol' "camera smile" with a mouthful of muffin.

Cracks me up every time he does it! :)

Christian's Birthday Card for "Sprout"

PBS has a channel for preschoolers and younger called "Sprout." Christian LOVES Sprout ... especially a show called "Caillou" which is about the adventures of a little kid named, you guessed it, "Caillou."

Each day, Sprout shows birthday cards that parents have made and sent in to the show for their kiddos. So, I made Christian a card. I wasn't sure if I'd get it done in time ... but I did!

It is a big card - 8 1/2 x 11. The card needs to be big enough and colorful enough to show up on TV nicely ... and has to feature at least one of the characters from Sprout. So, I picked Caillou!

I started off with blue cardstock, and painted clouds on it. Added Caillou and some sparkley balloons, glitter letters, a picket fence and some plants/flowers/butterflies/bees.

Here's the front:

On the inside, I painted more clouds, more glitter letters, more sparkley balloons (and stars!) a red glitter border and a recent picture of him. All the sparkles problaby won't show up on TV really well ... but that is okay.

So, if you get Sprout on cable or DirectTV ... you just might see his card! I can't wait! :)

Here's the inside of the card.

Musical Muffin Monday

Today was the first installment of "Musical Muffin Monday" because today was the first day of Music School!

Although he was a bit apprehensive when the class began, Christian enjoyed himself and Jonathan says Christian will really enjoy himself next week for his second class, because he'll be more comfortable adn have a better idea of what to expect.

Christian got to play with the keyboard, drums, bells and cymbals ... and sing songs. Great fun for a kiddo his age!

Enjoying a Nice Weekend

We Luceros had a nice weekend. We are so thankful the temps have finally cooled down!

On Saturday, Jonathan worked hard to "scalp" the lawn in preparation for planting the gorgous, lush green grass we dream off all summer. Sure, we had a green grass all summer, but that was Bermuda grass. Rye grass is the winter grass, and it's what dreams are made of. I've watched our community parks get scalped down to nothing in the past couple of weeks, only to start growing the rye grass in just a few short days.

While Jonathan worked on the yard, Christian and I headed for a park a few blocks away. We had a great time listening to music and dancing, looking at trees and butterflies, and Christian had a great time with his soccer ball.

Sunday, we went out for breakfast and ran some errands together. Christian is lots of fun to take out these days because he has a lot to say ... about everything. Sometimes he gets really excited and talks very loudly and so I need to remind him to use his inside voice when we're at a restaurant or cafe. He makes us laugh in the car, in the store, in the restaurant ... everywhere! He's so full of wonder and it's fun to look at the world from his perspective.

Enjoy a short video of Christian with his soccer ball!

It's a Present

Christian treasures his little cars. They must accompany him to dinner and to bed ... and everywhere in between.

Last night at dinner, Christian said, "Here, Daddy!" and handed one of his cars to Jonathan and said, "It's a present!"

Christian then handed another car to me, "Here, Mommy! It's a present!"

Jonathan and I each took our cars and thanked Christain for the presents. And he let us keep the cars ... didn't even ask to have them back.

Awww!

Wordless Wednesday - October 6, 2010

A Lovely Day

Today has been such a lovely day!

First, it is cool outside ... FINALLY! Yesterday afternoon, a storm rolled in and cooled things down to 75, which was absolute heaven for those of us worn out by several months of 100+ days. At long last, the air conditioner is turned off (if only for just today) and all the windows are open, allowing for a nice, cool breeze to flow through the house.

Today, the storm lingers overhead and is dark gray to the east. I see flashes of lightening, rumbles of thunder and it was sprinkling on our drive back from school. The community parks have been "scalped" in preparation for "winter grass," and so in combination with the weather ... it actually FEELS LIKE FALL!

For our readers who don't live in the Phoenix area, I may sound silly gushing about these delights. But when just two days ago, it was 100+ ... after several long, hot months of being 100+ ... and when a cloudy day around here is rare (and a storm even more rare), I sure do get excited!

Aside from the weather, I delighted in the report from Christian's teachers today. He's becoming more vocal and speaking his own thoughts, rather than just repeating what is said to him. Today they told me:

1. Christian said, "I need some space." There is a corner in his classroom called, "The Cozy Corner" and is a place where a child can go if he/she just needs to be alone. There was formerly a child in the classroom who was a bit aggressive with the other kids, and so the other kids were instructed to tell him, "I need some space" if they felt intimidated by him (knowing Christian, I'm sure he avoided the child like the plague). Today the classroom was loud and Christian proclaimed, "I need some space" and went to the cozy corner.


2. The other day, Christian's teacher asked me if at home, he indicates when he's done eating (he does). I learned that at school, Christian doesn't indicate when he's done ... and that he'd sit there all day if he wasn't prompted by his teacher to get up. Today, however, at both snack and lunch, Christian got up when he was done eating and said, "I'm ready to go play."


3. Christian's teacher was coming in late today, so he started off in a different classroom this morning. She told me that when she went to go get him, he was sitting on the floor with every book in the bookshelf on the floor surrounding him ... and he's been looking at every single book! That's my boy!

I'll have to come up with a blog post with his latest "Christianisms." He's been saying a lot of new word combinations lately. He's at such a fun age! :)

Muffin Monday - Mommy Style!

Unfortunately, Papa had to work today. So today's "Muffin Monday" was with Mommy!

Christian and I had breakfast at the Wildflower Bread Company today. As you can see, he really enjoyed his cranberry scone (okay, so it was a scone, not a muffin ... but "Scone Monday" just isn't at catchy as "Muffin Monday.")

Afterwards, we paid a visit to Coldwater Music School and spoke with the owner ... and promptly enrolled Christian in their one year Music Wonderland program:

Parents and children enjoy activites that introduce music concepts and sounds through listening, singing, movement, playful imagery and keyboard playing in a group setting. This course establishes an outstanding foundation for enriched study and skills development in the Junior Music Course.

What fun! Christian will LOVE IT! He was so thrilled to be sitting there playing on a Yamaha keyboard while I was talking to the owner.

The courses are usually Wednesday afternoons, but the owner had another parent waiting on a waiting list - and she was just waiting for one other child to join in order to form a new class. So, we are fortuante to have the new day be on Mondays at 9:30am. PERFECT!!!

A mighty fun "Muffin Monday," if you ask me! :)

The Newsletter Lad

Christian's photo was featured in this month's school newsletter ... how cute!

Click to enlarge

Christian's Prayer

We pray together at dinner each night, and Jonathan prays with Christian in his room as he's putting him to sleep.

Tonight, after our usual dinner prayer, Jonathan asked Christian if he'd like to pray. Christian agreed and immediately launched into a prayer. We couldn't understand most of what he was saying, but we did hear:

"Thank you for school and thank you for friends" (friends are his classmates).

HOW CUTE! We are just so very proud of him!

Muffin Monday - September 27, 2010

Big Dog Cloud

Christian has really been using his imagination lately and it's do darn tootin' cute.

The other night, he looked out the window and said, "Big dog cloud!"

We looked and sure enough, there was a cloud that one might imagine is a big dog in the sky!

BIG DOG CLOUD!

Since then, he's looked out the window at dinner for "Big Dog Cloud," but alas, we don't get too many clouds around here.

But you never know what our little Boy Wonder might see in the sky next.