California Dreamin'

A few pics from our adventure in California:

The kids menu had a "word find" and he was looking for "X"

Some vacation ice cream!

Poor kiddo was sooo tired after waking up early and going to the beach.

We had planned to go to the beach in the afternoon, but he wasn't feeling very well and fell asleep.

The view from our hotel room.

Wordless Wednesday - August 24, 2011

Christian's Inheritance

The time has come ... Jonathan has decided to give Christian his inheritance.

The inheritance?  Jonathan's life-long collection of Hot Wheel cars.   Christian was absolutely THRILLED!

The 5:00am Wakeup Call

There's no such thing as "sleeping in" at the Lucero Household.  Well, not unless you count waking up at 5:45pm as "sleeping in" (a rare treat).

It used to be that when Christian woke up in the morning (typically at a time much later than 5:00am), he's stay in his room and eventually call out to use while sitting in his doorway ... waiting patiently.

Then a few weeks ago, he started coming into our room with a loud, "RAH!" very early in the morning, and delighting so much in startling us, that it became a game for him.   After a few of those mornings, I just adjusted my own waking time so that at least he doesn't get a chance to scare me out of sleep!

With the sun rising later these days, its now dark when he comes in around 5:00am.  When it was light at that time, he was ready to HAVE FUN.   But with it being dark, I tell him its still nighttime, and we need to lay down and rest.  So he lays down beside me and we snuggle a bit before it gets light enough that he KNOWS its morning.   Having a few quiet, still moments with my usually very active little boy is a real treat!

Now, if only we could somehow convince Christian that its perfectly okay (and desirable) to sleep in on weekends past 5:45am.   Somehow, I don't think that's going to happen.

Good thing I'm a morning person! :)

All About Christian

Ah, Christian ... he's quite the little lad. He's got lots to say, and lots to do. He's a busy, energetic and entertaining kiddo!

Some of the amushing things he says lately are:

• "That's a good idea, Papa!" Christian has that to say when Jonathan answers his question, "What are you doing, Papa?"
• "Bless you, Mommy!" I hear this blessing from down the hall when he's in his room at naptime, and I sneeze in my office.
• "Hey! What's going on here?"
• "Do you want to play a game" (we say yes) "Okay, first ... it's called .... um ...." and he makes up a quick game and gives it a name.
• "What can I doooooo?" We hear this one a lot when he's bored.
• "I can do it!" or "I can help!"
• "I'm going to be a pilot!"
• "I'm so VERY hungry."
• "Let's go to Disneyland TODAY!"
• "Stop kissing me!" or "Stop patting me!"
• "Excuse Meeeeeeeeeeee!" after burping
• "I'm going to fly to ColoraTo" ("t" emphasized)
• "One for youuuuuuuu ... and one for me."
• "Gimme a squeezer!"  (hug)

This week at school, Christian and his classmates were moved to the "older preschool" class. His new teacher, Miss Mandee, has been sharing some little nuggets with me.

• Today the kids were switching activities and Christian said, "Miss Mandee, we do A LOT."
• He tells Miss Mandee all about the various documentaries he watches on TV: Trains, sharks, Disneyland (most preschoolers just watch cartoons, our kiddo watches documentaries - by choice!)
• This week is family week, and we were asked to bring pics of our family. Our pics were put on the wall today and when I walked in to get him, he rushed up to me, hugged me and said, "This is my family. This is my family!" Awwwww!! When we got home, I asked him who his family was and he said, "Grandma Janet!" That one surprised me. He's only met Grandma Janet once (back in early 2008) and its been a while since we've said "Grandma Janet." He's got quite a memory!

One of Christian's favorite activities is reading - still. So much, in fact, that in the classroom he's usually found in the room's "library" rather than playing his friends, or participating in many of the activities. His teacher recognizes this tendancy and makes sure to encourage him to participate in other activities, while making sure to not discourage his love of reading.

As I've mentioned before, and it bears repeating, Christian is actually reading ... he's not just looking at pictures. It's the coolest thing to see him grab a book - a book that has paragraphs - and hear him read outloud. The other day, I heard that the Arizona Dept. of Eductaion has proclaimed that starting this year, if a child can't read by the end of the third grade, he's not allowed to progress to the fourth grade. We'll never have to worry about that predicament with Christian! Perhaps the public school system should invest in a copy of "Your Baby Can Read" for each kindergarten classroom. Seriously! The program works!

Muffin Monday - August 8, 2011

Today's Muffin Monday took the Lucero Men to the new Dunkin Donuts in Buckeye. I noticed that Christian had both a muffin and a donut. Hungry boy!

Afterwards, the men headed to the Penske Racing Museum to check out some cool race cars.

Wordless Wednesday - August 3, 2011

"Did That Little Girl Scare You"?

Christian was happily riding a tricycle at the Phoenix Children's Museum and went through a pretend car wash.  The path was narrow - not quite wide enough for two trikes.  An impatient little girl came up beside Christian and grunted to him her irritation that she couldn't pass through at the same time.

I quickly stepped in maneuvered Christian and his trike so she could pass through ... but my lil' man was already upset by her behavior towards him - he's very sensitive to being admonished ... by us, or by a cranky little girl.

I said to Christian, "Did that little girl scare you?"   And since then, when he's feeling uncomfortable in a situation, he quietly says to me, "Did that little girl make you cry?"  And that's my cue that he needs a little love and reassuring.

A Cupcake in the Heat

Today we went to an outdoor birthday party.  It was 109 degrees, so it was mighty toasty.  But nice people and a festive atmosphere made it tolerable.

Christian eagerly awaited the cupcakes, and just like his Mommy, thinks frosting is the best part!

Click to enlarge

The Best Part About Traveling

I was in Houston this week at a conference. Thankfully the trip was short, as who wants to spend any considerable time in Houston in the middle of summer? Not I!

The best part about traveling? Returning home to the Lucero Men who, this time, were waiting for me at the airport. Awww!

Vacation Bible School

This week, Christian and I went to Vacation Bible School at a nearby church. This particular church holds their VBS during the evening, so it worked out nicely for us.

The class had a lot of kids - way more than Christian is used to at school. So the full room, combined with the unfamiliar setting, made for a very clingy little boy.

I was thrilled when on the first night, he agreed to put on the costume for the centurion guard (the center picture).

Outside time was Christian's favorite time, although once he got a ball to himself, all he did was play with the ball alone. Every once in a while, he'd play with one of the little girl's, Bryn (lower left corner picture).

One our final day there, his teacher (Melissa, the woman who originally watched him before we moved to Verrado) went around the room asking the children what all they learned during the week. When she got to Christian, I didn't expect him to have answer. So I was very pleasantly surprised - and pleased - when he said, "Jesus."

Wordless Wednesday - July 13, 2011

This Week: Papa's Boy

Christian is typically my shadow - every day, every where. This particular week, however, Christian has totally been a "Papa's Boy." How cute!


That pic made me think back to the pic below from February 2008:

Oooey Gooey Waffle Bite

Christian's special 4th of July breakfast was an oooey gooey waffle. I love the way he says "syrup" like "seer-eeeee-up." So cute!

Click to enlarge.

Family Muffin Monday - July 4, 2011

Today's "Muffin Monday" became "Breakfast Monday" because I had the day off. We ventured off to Five & Diner and had a mighty fine morning together!

Happy Fourth of July!

Congratulations to Auntie Liz!

We'd like to congratulate my sister, Liz, on taking a leap of faith and leaving her job of 11 years to take a new, and very different job.

Liz is now working for the Gila River Indian Community as a Hydrologist. It will be a different job in a a very different work environment. The Gila River Indian Community is a sovereign nation and has their own government, and way of doing things. She certainly has a lot to learn.

Most of all, we are delighted that she picked a job that will keep her here in the Phoenix area! Christian LOVES his Auntie Liz and would have been crushed had she moved away.

Liz spent some time with us this weekend, and read Christian's bedtime books to him.

Congratulations, Liz!!

"Coffee is soooo good!"

Christian has always been fascinated with his Papa's coffee. He loves to get really close to a cup of coffeen, take a big sniff and say, "Mmmmm!"

Christian decided he'd like to try some and did the "finger test." As we've seen him do many times in the past (say, with lemons or sparkling water), his initial reaction was a funny face ... but then he went back for more.

And Christian proclaimed, "Coffee is soooo good!"

What was especially cute is the way Christian shared the tastes with his Papa. He'd dip his finger into the coffee, have a taste and say, "One for me ..." and then dip his finger back in, and gave the next sample to Papa, "One for you ."

After he was done sampling the coffee, Christian came to my lap so I could read him a book. Gotta say, it was kind of weird to have my three year old breathing on me with "coffee breath."

Christian's Restaurant

Yesterday at school, Christian created a "restaurant" out of Legos. His class was in a different room when I picked him up and I noticed this structure in his cubby when I picked up his lunchbox.

When I picked him up, Miss Jo asked if I'd see what was in his cubby and noted Christian made all by himself and told her it was a restaurant. Aww!

I asked her if it could stay in his cubby until the next morning so I could take a picture of it, and she agreed.

Today we arrived at school with camera in hand. We walked into Christians's classroom and he lit up when he saw his restaurant masterpiece! And he was thrilled when I asked him to sit with his restaurant at the table so I could take pictures.

He told me, "Its my restaurant. Its beautiful!" What a kid! I agreed with him that it was beautiful and told him I really liked the red flowers."

Miss Jo told me that its a nice step forward that he actually gave a name to his awesome creation.

Cooling Down a Hot Bath

Here in the Phoenix area in the summer, the water comes out of the faucet hot - even when turning on the cold water faucet.

The solution? ICE!

Wordless Wednesday - June 29, 2011

Muffin Monday - June 27, 2011

With an expected high of 115 today (*gasp!*), the Lucero men braved the more mild morning temps and headed to downtown Phoenix to ride the light rail for the first time. As you may recall, Christian loves trains, so he was thrilled to get on board and go riding around!