Stinker Story #4: It's Not Easy Being Me....

We are not a family of small people. Sometimes that can be a good thing, like when we need to reach things that are way up high, or when the only sizes left on the sale rack are the big ones, or when carrying a 9 pound, 9 ounce baby in my tummy. But there are also many times when it's a real bummer. Today was one of those days for Luke. When going through his closet this morning, I found a little metal firetruck that I had tucked away for when he was big enough to play with it. I saw it up on the shelf and thought, "Oh, Luke is going to love this!" Sure enough when Luke saw it, he immediately went bonkers for it. I set it on the floor and kept working on some chores upstairs. Within about 45 seconds, I had a VERY ticked off man on my hands. He came running into my room saying, "Up! Up!" and holding the firetruck. I didn't understand at first, but when I put it down on the floor again, he tried to step in it. He wanted to ride inside it (isn't that what you do with cars and trucks, after all?) and wasn't able to get more than one of his big, chubby feet in. He got more and more upset, so naturally, I ran downstairs and got the camera. It was too funny not to capture for posterity and for the slide show at his rehearsal dinner. I did feel sorry for the not-so-little guy though. I feel the same way when I try to put my old clothes on.

I think if I concentrate really hard, I can totally do this.

I'll just step in right here and ...

Nooooooooooo!!!!!!!

What kind of evil trick is this?

Daddy Creates a Monster...

Several weeks ago now, Phil let Luke sit in his lap while he pulled the car into the garage. Although the trip only lasted about .06 seconds and 10 feet, it was the ride of a lifetime for Luke. It has changed him forever and has made him madly passionate about cars, and more specifically, DRIVING. In fact, Luke's obsession was so immediately obvious that Phil actually called me on his cell phone from the car and told me to get the camera and come out to the garage. Ever since, Luke has asked to drive almost every time he has ridden in a car.

"Seriously, Mom. I'm busy here."


Checking his mirror before he kicks it in reverse and peels out of the garage.


Discovering the wonders of garage door openers.


I love this picture because I totally caught Phil's surprise after Luke figured out the horn all by himself.


...And once he found it, he couldn't stop.

He was not happy when we forced him out of the car and into the house. Lucky for him, our awesome neighbors came to the rescue once again. Being that Reid is so big these days, he's kind of over his Little Tykes cars. When Reid's mom, Regina, learned of Luke's new obsession, she gladly offered him Ree-Ree's Little Tykes police car. Luke was beyond excited about it.


Love at first drive.


He loves to turn the steering wheel side to side, like he's really driving...


...but he spends most of his time getting in and out.


Sometimes getting out isn't so easy.


And getting up is no cake walk, either.


It's really tough, though, when the car falls over...


...and you can't lift it back up on your own.


But the absolute worst is when Mommy tells you it's time to get out and go inside.

Owwssssssiiiiiiiiigh....

It is nearly impossible to keep Luke inside these days. He asks to go outside from the minute he wakes up to the minute he goes to bed. It doesn't matter how much time he spends outside, either. He could be out there for a few hours, and the minute we force him to go back inside, he'll start asking or crying or screaming, "OWWWSIIIIIIIGH!!!!", and it takes a near miracle to get him to stop.
Thank God it is starting to cool down a bit and look like fall around here. This year has been the hottest summer we've had since moving here, and it's been pretty miserable. Luke hasn't minded one bit, though. The kid sweats like his daddy, which is to say more than you would think is humanly possible or healthy. Unlike his daddy, though, he could care less about being hot and sweaty. A couple weeks ago, I braved the scorching heat to play outside with Luke (read: sit on the porch in the shade and try not to move while watching Luke play), and I couldn't believe the sweatiness of my son and more over, the fact that it didn't bother him one bit. Phil, father and source of Luke's bionic sweatiness, lasted maybe .03 seconds outside with us before saying he couldn't take it anymore and abandoning us for the air conditioned indoors. I ran inside and got the camera to document the phenomenon that is my sweaty, crazy son.


We'd barely been out there 3 minutes and his hair was already completely soaked through and plastered to his head and his cheeks were bright red. Just like Daddy.

Sweaty, swampy man.


It was also Luke's first day of 1st grade, so we took a picture before he got on the bus.
I'm obviously kidding, but good grief! He looks so old in this picture that all he needs is a backpack and you'd think this was a first day of school picture!


This is how Luke blows bubbles. We've tried so hard to teach him how to blow bubbles, but he insists on just putting the wand in his mouth. Every. Single. Time.

Now prepare yourself. The next two pictures are hilarious (at least to me, anyway). Can you guess what Luke is doing?





Believe it or not, he is just walking down the two porch steps. He usually crawls backwards down all steps, so I guess holding on for dear life to keep from falling made for a super serious Stinker.


Once down the steps, the seriousness vanished as Luke ran out into the yard and marched around yelling "RAAAAAAY" (rain) over and over at the sky. I had just told him that it was getting cloudy and dark because it was going to rain. Maybe he thought I was asking him to call down the rain. Who knows. It was quite funny.



Speaking of funny, he would only make funny faces when I asked him to smile for the camera.


Goober.


Classic Stinker, scrunching his nose.


There we go. That's what I wanted.

Once the rain started coming down (his rain chants worked), we moved to the garage.


Luke was shocked and appalled when he saw his wagon and realized Mommy and Daddy had been hiding it from him for fear of having a heat stroke while walking around the block.


Deciding he'd take it for a ride himself, he stomped on the clutch and kicked it into gear.


"Wait. What's wrong with this thing?"

"Whatever. I'll just chill here and look smooth."

While I am sad that summer is pretty much over, I am excited about fall and am enjoying TONS of time "owwwwsiiiigh" with Luke and even Daddy, too!

Stinker Story #3: Sock It to Ya!

Luke is in love with socks.
He never gets to wear socks of his own, because his feet are so darn wide that we can hardly get his feet in his size 8's without the added 2 millimeters of thickness. As a result, the poor Stinker has major sock envy. Whenever he sees socks lying around, he yells "Sssssssthaaaaaah!" and starts trying to put them on his chunky, not-so-little feet. He even dug through a pile of dirty clothes the other day and tried putting dirty underwear on his feet, convinced that they were socks. I was simultaneously grossed out and guilt ridden. I've got to get this kid some wider (and unfortunately more expensive) shoes so he can wear socks. Plus, after having worn his shoes without socks for so long, they make his feet smell sooooo bad now. I mean BAD. Phil and I can't take it much longer.

Mommy's socks make for some risky business.


"I think these shorts would look really good with my socks!"


This is how Mommy's ankle socks that barely cover her ankles look on Luke.


Now that he's got socks on, he's ready to go.


The next time it was Daddy's turn to share his ankle socks.


And don't they fit so nicely?


In this picture of Luke wrestling with Daddy, you can see just how nicely they fit. The grey heels are up at Luke's knees.


And yet another day, as Mommy was getting ready to work out, Luke stole not only her socks, but her shoes too.


Pajama shirt + big socks + Mommy's shoes - pants = STUD MUFFIN!