Bits of Paper and Popping

So this is what Luke does now. He not only tears whole pages from books and magazines, but then he takes pleasure in tearing the pages into little tiny bits. Sometimes he eats them. You might think, "Well if he's going to eat them, why do you let him make the bits in the first place?" Because he usually doesn't eat them! And he has such a good time making them. So I just try to be watchful for him putting them in his mouth.

Luke also likes to store things in his cheeks. Like a squirrel. He has these little dissolving, peach-flavored stars. And rather than eating them, he stuffs them in his little cheek. Then he chews them on the other side.

And here is a small glimpse of the game he played with Grandpa B. Luke is distracted by toys, so his popping isn't as faithful as it usually was.

Visit from Grandpa B.

Rich's dad is visiting us this weekend. Rich and his dad are going to see a wrestling match at the Naval Academy tonight. Luke has been getting along with his Grandpa very well, climbing all over him and such. But stranger anxiety set in when I left to take a shower. :( Here's a pic of Luke and Grandpa B.

In Our Routine

We're in a bit of a rhythm. Lukie usually takes two naps every day. One at 9:45am and another at 2:30pm. He goes to bed at 7pm every night. Then he gets fed at 8:30pm or so and sleeps until 4am. Then he goes back to sleep and wakes up for the last time at 6:30am. Rich usually gets him up and changes his diaper. Then Rich puts him in the walker to play with his toys while Rich takes a shower.

I think Luke finds his routine very comforting. I try to get him out of the house every other day or so, but he always gets so much energy and a big smile on his face whenever we return home. He likes going around to his different spots, taking his toys and Rich's yearbooks out. This morning, he left a pile of destruction as he pillaged the living room.


Lukie before we leave on a cold day

Clowning around with a JAM bowl

Lukie before his nightly bath. He stands next to it while I run the water.

Finally! In the bath. :)

Mischief and Sickness

On Monday afternoon, I was in the kitchen and Luke was in the living room. Then I hear this bee-line crawling. Now, Rich and I have learned that even at this young age, where there is silence, there is trouble. And it's the same with the fast crawling. Unless he's crawling after you, he's crawling for something. And usually it's something he shouldn't have.

I immediately knew what it was, because earlier in the day, he had figured out how to stand up and stick his hand in the toilet. I went to the bathroom and found him just sitting on the rug, but no doubt he would have had a dirty, little, wet hand had I waited 10 more seconds.

And poor guy, today he's sick. :( I picked him up and fed him around 7am. Then Rich took him and changed his diaper. Usually he kicks his legs vigorously and wants to play in the morning. Not today. His head was very hot; he has a temp of 100.1F. Rich laid him in bed with me and I nursed him some more. A few minutes later he coughed violently and threw up (projectile-style) all over the bedspread. I sat him up and pulled back the covers. Another cough and more throw-up--this time all over me and the sheets and himself.

We gave him some tylenol and I made his special sick palette on the couch.

After an initial 30-minute nap, he talked a little and smiled while I made his bunny dance and sing to him. Then 45 minutes later, he fell asleep again--this time on my lap. He been sleeping here for 40 min now.

Potomac Primary

Quick, I need cold compresses and a Bloody Mary. Your mother is talking about adopting a communist orphan. HURRY, DAMNIT.---Red Forman, That 70's Show

In the scene, Kitty (Red's wife) is going through some menopause challenges and has a series of emotional breakdowns. But as I watched this episode, I empathized with Red, because I realized that Emily could be yelling some derivative of the aforementioned quote in the near future. Why? Because this may very well be how I may react this November if Hillary Clinton becomes president.

When I became a resident of the District of Columbia, I actually registered as a Democrat. Now, I'm not a member of the Democratic party, and actually am one of the 9% in DC who voted for Bush in 2004. But if you live in DC you learn that if you want any influence on local politics, in which the Democrat always wins, you need to be registered as a democrat. In this way, I can at least vote against the obscene, crazy liberal in favor of just the crazy liberal.

Enter the upcoming presidential primaries this Tuesday in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. I've been looking forward to voting in this for a long time, and have always intended to vote against Hillary. Throughout 2007, I would smile just thinking about casting a vote for the non-Hillary in February 2008, whoever it was, and then look for the "I just voted against Hillary" sticker to put on my chest for the rest of the day.

But as I've watched the Republican field narrow and have come to the conclusion that McCain will be the likely nominee, I have a dilemma: At the end of the day, I want McCain to have the best chance to win. I'm afraid that if it's McCain vs Obama, McCain will lose, because it will become a generational vote, and McCain will just look like the old, mad, white guy who's been a part of the establishment his whole life. On the other hand, I think that McCain has a good chance of beating Hillary, because they're basically both from the establishment, they both voted for the war, and she's such a polarizing figure.

So after Super Tuesday, I started to realize that if I wanted my covert democratic DC primary vote to do the most damage, perhaps I should vote for the democrat I thought would be most likely to lose in the eventual presidential race. Noooooooo!!!!!!!!

I've been really struggling with this the last few days. The thought of actually voting for Hillary makes me gag. I actually have a physical reaction to it. I could just not vote, but I am very particular about voting, so that's not an option. I can vote for Obama, which wouldn't give me any short-term aggita, but I would just be adding to his momentum for an eventual landslide win over McCain. However, with the large numbers of African-American voters here in DC, I don't want to actually vote for Hillary if Obama's going to win anyway.

It's definitely an interesting predicament. It's what I get for registering democrat.

In closing, here are some pictures of Luke and loved ones happy and healthy. You know, before a national health care system is implemented.

(these pics are with my Mom and Grandma Gallo in January in NJ)

More updates...

We have been really busy the past couple of weeks! Last week, Rich was in Cape Verde for work. I kept myself busy cleaning the house and visiting friends. Here is one project I did: hung curtains from the ceiling around Luke's crib. (He was actually sleeping in it when I took this picture.)

I went to Ikea and bought these special curtain rods (really tracks) that you can attach to the ceiling. They have little plastic hooks that allow the curtain to slide along the track. (It's called Kvartal, in case anyone's curious.) Then Eileen had some thick blue curtains that she wasn't using. I just basted up the bottoms to the right length (an 18-inch hem!) and hung them up! The goal is for Luke to feel cocooned so that if we have to come in or turn a light on or something, he isn't disturbed. Maybe we'll actually start sleeping in our bed again!!

Here is the bedroom from the doorway. My next project is to make a white duvet cover for the bed.

So last Friday night, Rich returned with a very sun-burned forehead, and we spent the weekend in Norfolk with Ash for her birthday!! We were able to get her some groceries and a few things for her house. AND we watched the Super Bowl on the TV at her work, because she didn't get FOX at home. That was a treat, because the dStefano TV is much bigger than Ash's. :) Ash made puppy chow, and I made potato wedges for the game. And congrats to Rich! His team won! I was rooting for Eli.

Here is a picture of Luke at Ash's house. I think he looks like the Hamburglar in this picture. Not sure why.

Then on Tuesday, Luke and I spent the day at the Board of Zoning Adjustment, waiting for a hearing on a parking variance that the charter school that's being built across from us applied for. (Whew! Lot of clauses in that one.) That was kind of stressful. We spent most of the time in the hallway.

And we have a full weekend ahead of us! Luke's friend Carolina (see pic below) has a birthday party on Saturday. Rich has a meeting; I have a music thing tonight; parents' life group on Saturday...

In this video, you can hear a little tinking as he chews on his cup. That's his little tooth! Also, this is his latest talking. GA GA GA!! GA!

Luke having a bad attitude. He looks cute and happy, but he's actually rebelling, and we don't tolerate this behavior. ("Be a happy boy, not a mad boy.")

Mom gets Luke's nose. He thinks this is hysterical.