Luke's 3 year well-check

At three years old, Roger weighed 37 pounds and was 37 1/2 inches tall. Luke, at three, weighs 29 pounds and stands 36 inches tall. Daddy was a BRICK! Granted, Roger's mom is 5'9'' whereas I'm a towering 5'3", but it does make you wonder if Luke would be a bit bigger with a 4-chambered heart.

I think we're out of the worst of the doctor-phobia phase (for now, right?). Luke was so cooperative at the appointment, saying "Aaah", giving his arm for blood pressure, letting the doc look in his eyes and ears, etc. Surprisingly cooperative. Up until the point they had to draw blood from a finger poke and then proceed to give him his 4th Hib booster. I haven't seen him cry that hard in a long time. But in the midst of his crying fit, as we're telling him "We're all done! Let's go home!" he kept saying, "I don't want to leave! I want to stay here!" Didn't I tell you this kid lives in the present?

Everything checked out great and we got quite a bit of time with the pediatrician to ask our questions. The only follow-up he recommended was with an eye doctor. They saw a slight astigmatism in his left eye and want us to get it checked out further. I was hoping we could add another doctor to our list.

Sarcasm aside, it hit me again yesterday how healthy Luke has been this past year and how thankful — incredibly thankful — we are for that. As the doc was skimming his chart, he noted aloud that it was pretty impressive Luke hadn't even been to the pediatrician since last winter, much less the E.R. or through a hospital admittance.

A few other take-aways:

• We're going to start giving Luke Vitamin D supplemental drops, since there is no way he gets enough in his diet. We can only get him to take 8-10 ounces of milk per day. Even though he loves cheese and yogurt, I'm pretty sure he still doesn't get the recommended amount. He also wouldn't mind seeing Luke take some sort of Omega-3 supplement.
• When Luke's Fontan was planned for this summer, Rog and I felt okay about letting Luke keep his mimi (pacifier) through the hospital stay. He only uses it in his bed right now, and we felt if it brought him any comfort at the hospital, we wanted that for him. Now that the Fontan has been pushed back a year, we don't really have a reason to keep it around anymore. I cannot tell you how sad this makes me! For some reason, I am having such a hard time thinking about taking it from Luke. Maybe I'm just too soft? I think more likely, it's that I hate the thought of taking something from him that he loves so much. He hasn't had a lot of say in what's been done to him in his short little life, and now we're going to take away one of his best buddies. "Is there really anything wrong with it if he just uses it at night?" I asked the pediatrician, praying he'd say, "No! Go ahead and let the little guy have it as long as he wants!" No such luck. He said it was time. This is one, like when we went through sleep training, where I am going to seriously need my husband's strength and reassurance Luke will come out mimi-less just fine.
• His teeth looked great! I have always worried about Luke's teeth because of his flavored medicine he's taken his whole life along with the severe reflux his first year. He still wants us to make Luke's first dental appointment, but he saw no sign of decay or cavities.

Our prayer last night was that we don't go back to that office until Luke's 4-year checkup!

Mama, am I three now?

Yes, you are my little man. Three years old and full of life, questions, determination, will, surprises, and song.

Luke singing our before-meal song, "Let us thank Jesus".

In John 10, Jesus says, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

Luke, if I had only a sentence to describe you, it would be that you live life to the fullest. You daily teach us about living abundant lives full of gratitude and we daily thank God for you. You stretch us as parents, people, and followers of Christ. At three, we already see some of the gifts God has given to you and we pray that as your mom and dad we can nurture and help develop those gifts. You are funny. You are musical. You are creative and you love to talk. We can't wait to see how God continues to grow you in the years to come. He has an awesome plan for you, Luke, and we are privileged to get a front-row seat to watch it unfold.

Before the blowing of the candles, Luke belted out the "Happy Birthday" song. It wasn't until about halfway through he realized the song was to HIM and sheepishly stopped singing.

"No need for forks or plates, Mom and Dad. I'm good just like this!"

Presents, pizza, cake and family. A great party for a great kid.

We love you, Luke!

PTW!

This little boy:



is, two and a half years later, a master of the potty!



PTW (Potty Training Weekend) was a slam dunk. The best advice we received about potty training was to wait, wait, wait until you're sure your child is ready. I'm sure that is why the weekend was so successful. It was three days of stickers, high-fives, whoops of encouragement and lots of family activities. It was, believe it or not, fun. Each time Luke was successful in the potty, he would get a sticker. Every seven stickers, we would let him pick something fun to do, or let him pick what he wanted for dinner, etc.

On day 2 of potty training, we decided to push the envelope and drive up to Seattle (a 45 minute drive) to return some rugs we had ordered. I was pretty sure the Potty Training book did not recommend this, but we felt like walking on the wild side. Luke was a superstar all the way up and back. He did have one accident, but that was technically our fault. We got a little over-confident and sat down to lunch without taking him to the potty first. At least these over-zealous potty trainers did remember to bring an extra set of underwear and pants. He was so ready to be potty trained, he's even keeping his Pull-ups dry at nap.

Three days after potty training weekend, Luke is a pee-pee pro. And now I'll stop talking about it, since my poor son will not appreciate this documentation when he's older.

Donate to help Haiti victims

I have the honor and privilege of working for World Vision, an organization that shines all the time, but glows even brighter in the midst of tragedy — tragedy that the people of Haiti are experiencing firsthand right now.

If you feel a tug to donate, know that World Vision is trustworthy. They have been working in Haiti for more than 30 years and as of today 18 metric tons of lifesaving supplies are being rushed into the devastated country.

You can learn more here, or donate by clicking here.

Will you help us celebrate Luke's birthday?

I have been in memory-preserving mode lately, trying to organize photos and keepsakes. In the same vein, I would love to put together a collage or book of some sort of people's comments to him on his big THIRD birthday (Saturday the 9th). Would you help me?

Please leave a comment for Luke to help celebrate this huge milestone. Thank you, thank you!

To leave a comment:

1. Click on the "comments" link at the end of the post.
   
   
   
   
2. A new window will pop up with any comments already left as well as a text box below where you can leave your comment.


3. After typing in your birthday wishes, you will need to type in the verification word.


4. Then, it will ask you to choose an identity. If you don't have a Google account or OpenID, simply select "Name/URL". A field will appear where you can type in your name.


5. Click on the "Publish your comment" button.

Nap, anyone?

Trying to get Luke to nap these days has forced me to get a bit creative. This past week he has fallen asleep only when he's in bed with me, but today even that tactic didn't work.

"Luke, honey, you need to close your eyes now."

He squeezes his eyes shut for a couple of seconds.

"But mom, I can't see my train movie when my eyes are closed!"

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What do you moms out there think? His napping is very inconsistent these days. Of course I love it when he naps so I can get stuff done nap, too, but it consequently takes him much longer to fall asleep at night.

I would love ideas for instituting a quiet time as well, if napping is going by the wayside.

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I want to write more about Cutler's service earlier today, but in the meantime wanted to share that hope far outweighed the despair and I was privileged to be a part of that.