Easter 2014

This Easter certainly seemed like a success to me. Though we didn't formally go to any Easter egg hunts locally, we still managed to do one at home. Joe's birthday was also kind of successful, I suppose. I guess it's best to start from the quasi-beginning. At the beginning of every April, I go online and search the potential times and locations of local egg hunts. I write them all down so we can look and choose which would be possible to attend. If played right many can be attended with lots of fun had. We had an ok list and I really only planned on going to one of them. But after discussing the contents of the filled eggs, we decided it best just to pass. They don't tend to keep age into consideration around here. Instead we celebrated daddy's birthday. Or tried our best to.

We were going to go to Korean BBQ to check it out and see if they actually had it, but our plans ended up changing for the better. We were able to have dinner with an old friend who was in town for the day. We went to a buffet style Mongolian BBQ place instead, which was fine. Lucian likes the place. He was just having a rough day. Our friend even surprised us by paying for dinner! In the end it was nice to catch up and have a good time. We hope to see them soon in summertime.

Now back to Easter...

I planned ahead and bought some all natural egg dye from Earth Paint. I won some of their regular paint in a giveaway and Lucian really liked it. They come in powdered form so you can scoop and mix in as much powder as needed or even mix colors. Lucian helped dump the powders into each cup and mix them. Then we pulled out the eggs (which I cooked the day before), and got the boys started. I had to get ready for work while they dyed the eggs, but was able to see the results before leaving.  They turned out great and Lucian seemed to really enjoy coloring and dying them.  We had a lot of dye left so Joe decided to get more eggs.  He said Lucian was very patient during the cooking and cooling process.  He also waited after dying the eggs to paint them (with his poster paint). As you all probably know, he loves to paint.  So coloring, dying and painting was an all day extravaganza for this kid. They had fun and that's what matters. I did build up the idea for a few days beforehand so he knew we'd be making eggs pretty colors.  When Easter came (daddy had to do school work), Lucian and I looked at our pretty eggs. Then I told him I was going to hid them, so he helped me. Then I told him we had to find them and collect them as an egg hunt.  He seemed to enjoy this as well. First he collected them in his butterfly net, then he set them on bubble wrap and carried them. I was cute and no worrying over breakage.  After we found them all, I wanted to see if he'd be upset about cracking them open.  He can be very sensitive about certain things. Completely the opposite! He loved the idea of cracking and peeling the eggs. Though I ended up eating most of the egg, Lucian did enjoy eating some yolks.  I gave him a salt shaker and he was happy as can be.  I had to stop him after the 5th or 6th egg. I was full at that point.  But promised we could do more later, and we certainly did.  In fact, I'm still eating Easter eggs.

We did get him a few toys, but we didn't do a formal basket or anything. He also got a special box from his Gram and Poppy.  They even got to watch him open his stuff over video. I'd have to say that Zingo has been surprisingly accepted.  He has already played it a few times, without me bringing the idea up. He also really enjoyed the carob bunny. He couldn't finish it, there was a tiny piece left. He certainly tried his best and enjoyed his candy and toys.

Speaking of toys, we have been making homemade bean bags. I pulled out and set up the sewing machine. We went to the store and let Lucian pick out his own designs. We have made a few already and they have turned out very well. Lucian has gotten a lot of enjoyment from them as well. More successful than our homemade juggling scarves! Can't wait to make more things!

I guess I should go and help Lucian cut paper into really small pieces!  Come back in a few days and check out my post about the zoo.  We will be going for the first time on Saturday! We've been to the aquarium when he was younger in Seattle, but never the zoo.  The Indy zoo apparently has an aquarium too. I'm looking forward to it.  I don't think Lucian understands what it is, even though we've talked about it, read books, etc. I better get my camera ready!

Tis Freezing!

We officially survived the cold, below freezing weather. It has been too cold to go out and actually enjoy the snow, but we've been making the best of it. Maybe we will even get to build a snowman this winter. Lucian has gone sledding a few times. We have also made some ice chunk piles and snowballs. Hopefully there will be more fun to come.

What you may not know is we have adopted two kittens. Originally we adopted a little black kitten who Lucian was completely attached to.  Every time we visited the shelter, Lucian would spend a lot of time just sitting with this kitten.  We ended up adopting him on the spot one day when he was almost adopted by someone else; Lucian was crying when they took him away.  That's when we knew we needed to make a decision. Needless to say, we ended up with a cat who Lucian named Hao.  He's a very special kitty who experienced some head trauma when he was really little. He has approved a lot, but has a very large amount of energy. We decided we needed another cat for him to play with to release some of his energy and have a friend. After a failed connection, we decided to take Hao into the shelter to see his reaction to a few cats we thought would make a good match.  That's how we ended up with Burnie, our hyperactive orange tiger.  We originally named him Sarge, but we decided Burnie was a better fit. So now we have two hyperactive kittens!

As for Lucian, he has been ecstatic about our new additions. He loves to play and torture the kittens. He is also very emotionally attached to them. I think it has been great for him, especially being stuck in the house due to weather. Lucian continues to grow, though I try to make him stop sometimes (never works). He speaks more and more every day and tries to sing songs. He is becoming more proficient with numbers and letters.  He has been able to write a few letters for awhile now.  We have been working on his name as well. Looks like he will be right handed, but the jury is still out.  Every day he amazes me.

Old School Candy

We all remember the black and orange wrapped peanut butter taffy that is popular to give out on Halloween.  Kids dread it like the plague, yet it always seems to appear in your candy stash.  Well, Lucian received one piece from an older gent when trick or treating. Joe and I laughed and joked about it at the time.  I forgot about it until now.  Lucian pulled the single piece out of his candy bucket and opened it up.  First he pretended it was a partially unwrapped airplane as he flown in in small circles around his chair in the living room. Then he was trying to figure out how to consume it because it was in a harder state.  He pretty much stuck it in his mouth once or twice and then looked at me.  I asked him for a taste and took a small bit off the end to soften it a bit. He proceeded to do the same thing, but wasn't very intrigued about it. One bite was enough before he passed it off to me.  Great moment in history and it needed to be documented and shared.  I just wish I had a picture of the face he made when trying it - priceless.  I really need to empty my sd card and charge my camera!

Candy Monster Indeed

Lucian ended up being sick on Halloween. Luckily, trick or treating was postponed until the 1st of November due to the weather. So we ended up going out and having a good time. Joe had to work during most of the trick or treating times. I still took him out for a bit and then we picked Joe up and went a little bit longer. It was cold and Lucian was tired, so he didn't last much longer.  We still had a good time and ended up with a bucketful of candy that we are currently eating from at the moment. I'm excited for the point when the bucket is officially empty. As for costumes, Lucian sported a wreck it Ralph costume, Joe went as Fix it Felix, and I was Qbert. Lucian had a fun time and that was all that mattered. The best part of Halloween was finding out that Lucian knows how to open up candy wrappers. He was sitting in his car seat with a small bag of candy. I opened one piece for him and let him hold the bag since he couldn't open the wrappers. Well the joke was certainly on me when I realized he was back there opening up several pieces of candy and enjoying every last bite of sugar! Happy Halloween indeed!

Since then we have been trying to empty that pesky bucket of candy. I would definitely say he has eaten too much. At least we have been trying to get out and run off that energy. Since it has been colder outside and getting darker early, we've been trying to utilize indoor activities. We now have a membership to the Wonderlab, a local science museum for kids, and he absolutely loves it there. We would be there right now if he wasn't still pretty sick.  Every time we go it is at least a 2 hour adventure.  It would be more if it was up to Lucian.  Overall, I'd say it was a good idea. Soon, I'd like to take him to some open gym gymnastics.  I'm hoping between gymnastics, wonderlab, the library and animal shelter we can keep him fairly busy through the winter when it gets very cold and windy.  Now it's time to deal with the snot issue at hand!

Tomorrow My Baby Turns Three

The last few years have been a real adventure. Both of us changing every day, trying to survive the daily challenges. Three years have been too quick. I've seen so much yet so much has been missed or overlooked. We try to enjoy each day to it's fullest. In the last month Lucian and I have had a lot of good times. We've gone to the observatory to view the moon, gone out for late night snacks, conquered new parks in the area, watched the sheltered cats come and go to new homes, and discovered new enjoyments. Lucian has discovered the joy of playing with other children, the sadness of having to leave, the unfairness of rules and not playing what you want to with other kids, and the creativity of putting new ideas together to come up with new fun things. We've watched new movies, even experienced going to the theatre on campus, created new traditions and routines, and learned to have as much fun as we can in any situation.

Some new games that we have learned to play:
cards with slapping
chutes and ladders
jacobs ladder
pick up balls with pliers, bounce balls into containers
pushing teddy in the stroller
scaring people with "boo"
drawing creations on white boards
painting and mixing dry paint for new colors
paper mache
sticker fun
squirting pedestrians while in the car with water
how to draw on pumpkins

I hope the next year is just as exciting and full of new discoveries. I never seem to know where Lucian is going to take me each day. Especially when we wander out on the bus. We could end up anywhere in town and we could end up with a bucket full of unknown nature. It all leads to more fun and knowledge for everyone.

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.