Mr. Physics Craves Friends

Poor Lucian. The only friend he had in this area who was his age moved unexpectedly. So now he craves attention from other kids his age. Unfortunately, most of them don't want to play with him (or anyone else). Yesterday we were leaving the animal shelter, running up and down the ramp as usual, when he noticed a mom and daughter with a puppy in the small outdoor pen. At first I thought he want to go into the pen area to play with the puppy. It was a smaller dog, which he tends to be less afraid of. But he actually went in to talk to the girl. They were talking through the fence (I was translating Lucian's language). It was truly adorable. I felt really bad when we basically tore him away when it was time to leave. Joe had to get homework done before his session so we really did have to leave. There have been other times when Lucian has followed children around stores so he could talk to them or play with them. He's sweet though the other kids are sometimes shy about it. Or scared ha!

On another note, Lucian and I were playing at the fountain yesterday like we often do. There are certain things we always do when we are there. He throws his frisbee and shovel into the fountain and I retrieve them when they get close enough. Then we walk around or play with our hands in the water. At some point he pulls out the sunscreen and gets it everywhere. Yesterday he did something I haven't seen him do before. He was playing with a pink bounce ball I had out. He would stand on the side of the fountain and throw it. Then he would chase after it. Typical for him for the most part. Except once he threw the ball he would follow the bounce pattern to see where it possibly went. The first time I thought he just didn't see where the ball went because of the sun so he followed the first ricochet to see where it went. But after the first time of finding it he kept doing it. I found this really interesting. I've never really seen other children his age do this. It was like he was studying the physics of what was happening with the ball and the possible outcomes. I thought it was neat and a little crazy to see. His intelligence always surprises me.  On top of that a Dad at the playgroup I took him to on Friday said Lucian had really good precision for his age. Lucian was playing with a hammering toy where you place the ball over the hole and then hit it through with a hammer. I never really thought about his precision and control before. That's just how he is and always has been. I guess he is more unique than I thought?

View To The Moon

Last night was a fun evening for Lucian and myself. Joe works late on Wednesdays so we spend the whole day together.  I decided that if he ended up napping late than we would go to the observatory, whose hours are later in the evening.  If he was going to go to bed late I midaswell get him out of the house and do something fun.  He loves the moon and always points it out in the sky at night. I thought it might be fun for him to see it up close through a telescope. He had the basic idea down since we were at a store looking through magnifying glasses and kaleidoscopes earlier in the day. We jumped into the car and went down to campus for a bit of fun.  There were a few other people there but it wasn't crowded.  The observatory was extremely hot in the room with the telescope, but I think it was worth the wait. Lucian looked into the telescope several times and was able to see the moon up close.  I'm not sure if he understood that we were looking at the same moon in the sky. I explained it to him a few times but I'm not sure he truly understood what it meant. We only looked through that single time in line. I'm sure they changed positions to view other things in the sky later in their hours. Lucian wanted to walk around downtown instead, so I complied. We ended up getting honey ice cream at a little shop next to the old theater. I have to admit it was pretty tasty, though Lucian consumed the majority. Afterwards, we met up with Joe on his way home from work. It was a nice evening and break from the daytime sweltering heat.

34 months

It's hard for me to believe that my little boy will be three this year. Where has the time gone? I feel like I must have missed a good chunk. Yet here we are two months away from his next birthday. Trying to keep busy and entertained every day. Right now we are sitting in the living room of our apartment watching Little Einsteins. Lucian is counting how many times the dragon goes around the mountain while eating grapes. He's so smart and curious. He is unique for his age.

His current interests include:
Little Einsteins
Climbing
Jumping off things
Eating honey sticks
Painting

He dislikes:
Being told he is not allowed to do something
Getting in trouble
Not being listened to

His Current favorite books:
Little Einsteins first words
5 Little Pumpkins
Where's Spot

Current favorite snacks:
Grapes
Honey Sticks
Chocolate
Annies fruit snacks
Chips

Favorite meals:
Mac and cheese with peas
Beans and rice
Soup/Chili

Favorite Toys:
Geotrax cars
Any ball
Frisbees

He grows more and more everyday. I'm hoping to update his stats at age three. He usually steals the tape measure to play with so we will see!

Indiana

Now that we are in Indiana, again, and partially settled in I can continue to write about what is going on in our lives. We are still in our temporary apartment until the end of July when we will relocate into our year long lease. Unfortunately, we ended up by the stadium, which was our last choice due to games, but I think we will do alright in the building we chose. I wish we were able to pick an apartment with more light rather than living in a cave, but we were just happy to be able to select our apartment. We picked a one bedroom on the first floor with easy access right by the pool and office area. The other first floor options were either partially engulfed in the ground or difficult to get to or didn't give us a lot of flexibility with our move in date. So we picked the best option. The nice part about this choice is that the porch area is even with the ground making for an easy move in experience. That will be a blessing when moving the washer and dryer. This apartment also had newer appliances than some of the others (which had olive green ovens eek!). I'm hoping that will be a bit more efficient when it comes to our energy bills. Overall, I think we made a good choice. A lot of the other places we looked at would not have been a ground floor apartment, and definitely would have required professional movers to save on the hassle. I'm excited to get over to the new place so we can finally unpack and organize everything! Poor Lucian has been living in 3-4 rotating outfits.

Lucian seems to be enjoying the area so far. I'm sure he will be a lot happier now that we won't be dragging him around all the time to look at apartments. We have been taking him down to the school to wander around and to a few of the parks. He has even enjoyed playdates with our friends who have a boy his age. It's been a change for us all and we are adapting the best that we can. Luckily, Joe will be starting training this upcoming week for his bus job, and I have been able to get some hours at the massage center I worked at previously. Overall, I think we will be a lot more settled and a little less stressed once we move into the new apartment and get into a routine. Just like with everything in life, we will find a grove that works for us and than have to change it all over again to something else that works. Oh well. Here are some updates about Lucian:

I attempted to measure him with a tape measure the other day and he is approximately 35 inches tall. He is getting big and heavy. He still wants me to carry him around though!

Likes:
playing in the creek
meeting new kids at the park
playing with legos
watching little einsteins
watching construction vehicles

Dislikes:
water that is spraying that he can't control
the dinging of the clocks on campus
saying goodbye
any type of squash

Thanks for stopping by and reading about our current adventures.

Moving

For everyone who doesn't know as of yet, we are moving back to Bloomington.  This will be occurring in the next few weeks.  Joe will be starting graduate school in the Fall in Statistics.  This is a big leap for us but it is time that we move on and do something with our lives other than parenting.  We will be in that area for the next 2-3 years.

Unconditional Love

How do you explain death to a child? How do you explain why you are crying and not in the mood to play? Our family has lost one of it's own. Newton is now at peace. No more suffering, no more pain. He was the glue to our unique family. This new year brought failing health and discomfort. We had to make the tough decision to put him to rest. The last week was the hardest. He wasn't eating very much and slept all the time. He wanted to be affectionate, but we could tell it was difficult.  He would jump into my lap and I would pet him, but after a few minutes he would reclaim a spot on the floor. He would run up and down the stairs like a kitten, but contact seemed painful. He lost a lot of weight, which the vet suspects is due to his thyroid. He was a fighter and as stubborn as the rest of us. Looking into his eyes daily was getting hard. I couldn't tell if he wanted us to give him a last final fight or if he wanted us to help him find peace. In the end, we chose peace. He had the biggest heart and showed us unconditional love. We owed him peace, love and respect. We have cried and buried him next to Lizzy so he will forever be in good company. We gave him some last wishes and topped it with some lovely flowers. It was very difficult to go through; I only hope he knows we meant well, that we love him, and that he went pain-free. He was a member of our family and he will be truly missed for all the happiness he brought our way.

Let's celebrate his wonderful life!

Before he became a part of our family, he was a stray for 5 years. Who knows how many little Newtons are running around Indiana. I hope many. We first met at the Bloomington Animal Shelter in 2009. Joe and I knew we wanted to get a pet - we chose a cat. We would go there often and scope out and play with all the kitties to get to know them. We narrowed it down to a little orange kitten and Newton (Blue Boy at that time). I was constantly drawn to Newton because he was such a gorgeous cat and his scar intrigued me. Every time I would visit, he would jump down from his chosen spot and greet me. He was definitely the alpha in the room and showed me often. I continuously visited him and he would hang out with me. It was very comforting and I knew we were meant to be together, I was routing for him the whole time! He didn't like anyone else- I found out from the staff later. When we adopted him I actually had to get him down and put him in his box because he wouldn't let the staff. I thought it was funny. He confirmed our decision when we brought him home. He meowed and tried to escape the entire ride to his new home. We barely made it inside when he punched through the side of the box, extended his claws like Freddy Kroeger, and tore a hole back through the box to make his escape. He didn't sleep for two days - and neither did we really because of it. We knew we made the right choice - no regrets.

Many more memories to share. I hope Joe and I can add some together.

In the meantime, find peace my friend.

April Flowers Bring May Showers?

The weather is getting tricky, sometimes warm sometimes cold, but we have finally been able to enjoy longer periods of time outside.  Even Newton has been venturing outside. Lucian is almost recovered from his facial injury and cold. He is still coughing on flem and has bruising around his eyes.  I'm hoping by mid week we will be clear of both. Hopefully he won't contract another illness by the time this one ends.  I feel myself getting weaker on top of it. Ugh! This year has been rough for illness. All of us have been getting hit hard. It's not just us either, others have said the same thing. People who rarely get sick have all been having a rough season.  I'm ready for warmer weather, but not hot. At least we can look forward to some good playground time!

We went to the park today, it was nice.  Lucian followed around this girl on a tricycle. He would push her for a little or just run behind her while she pedaled.  It was sweet.  We eventually had to drag him away crying, but we didn't want either to get hurt.  Lucian went down some slides, hung on bars, and climbed on one of the obstacles.  He is getting very good at climbing.  Then we played football for awhile and looked at the different plants and trash around the school. Because Lucian will find every piece of trash in the vicinity.

Lucian's Current Likes:
-Cars
-Airplanes
-Watching Little Einsteins, PnF, Gravity Falls, and Spongebob
-Sidewalk chalk
-Following other kids

Dislikes:
-Having to leave
-Not being allowed to behead the neighbors flowers
-Stuff on his hands
-Car Seat (unless candy or a treat is involved)