Luke Funnies

These days, Luke's vocabulary and thinking skills are growing at such a rate that pretty much daily he says things that make us chuckle. Here are some of our recent favorites.

- Luke put on one of his clip-on ties and he was sitting on the edge of his bed taking his shoes off and putting them back on again, singing, "It's a beautiful day in the neighbor."

- Luke was "checking" Mommy's leg with a pocket watch (a.k.a. stethoscope?) and a toy car. He said he needed to check "to see if you are living." He couldn't give me a diagnosis until he had checked one leg, two arms and my head. Finally, when asked, he admitted that I was "a little bit living."

- Luke has been sick with a cough and cold for a few days, hardly eating or moving from the sofa. Today, his energy returned, full steam, despite the fact that his nose is still running like a faucet. I told him to call his Nannie to tell her "I am feeling much better." When he called her, he got as far as "much" when he exploded into a torrent of coughing and sneezing, and ended with "I need a tissue."

-Last night in family worship, Daddy was reading to us from the Gospel of Matthew about the birth of Christ. Daddy explained that the baby Jesus was born a long, long time ago. Luke chimed in with, "Like Uncle Ryan say, 'First Line: Long, Long time ago ... I can still remember ... " (His Uncle Ryan had been teaching him to sing American Pie.)

My Little Man

Luke is such a joy and a delight to have around the house. Of course, I love my little girl very much, and could write another post completely about my little lady (check back in the next few days) but Luke is making himself quite indispensable as Mommy's right-hand man! He is learning to do so much and he is very particular about things around the house. He likes to say, "We yike mess? No! We yike keen [clean]!" When playing in his room, if he notices that the corner of his rug has gotten folded under, he stops and, with an expression of shock and alarm, says, "Oh! I nee fit rud!" and then fixes it before going along with his playing. I can show him once where something belongs and he knows and can be trusted to put things away in their proper place ever after. He can even be counted on to correct those who make mistakes!

He is also becoming such a little man in his speech and expressions. He picks up on so many things that I say, and I really have to laugh at hearing my own words coming out of his mouth (granted with a somewhat humorous pronunciation)! Recently, Emma had a bad diaper rash and every diaper change was a trial for her. I spent most diaper changes crooning and comforting, while trying to be as gentle as possible. Luke would always appear at my elbow, repeating, "I know, HAW-nee." Today, when Emma fell over backwards, he ran to her and kissed her head, saying reassuringly, "Be OK, Emma. Be OK."

We are even beginning to have theological discussions. In Bible Time we have been learning about Joseph. Recently, we talked about how Joseph's brothers took his coat and, after covering it in goat's blood, presented it to their father with the story that Joseph had been killed by wild animals. We talked about how those brothers lied to their father and that this was not right for them to do, that God commands us always to tell the truth. Later, that day we talked about Luke telling the truth when he had a poopie diaper and Mommy asked him about it. The next morning at Bible Time, as we went through the story of Joseph, Luke explained that Joseph had poo and Joseph told the truth. Hmm ... I guess we're going to have to be more careful to distinguish between the actual Biblical story and the personal application of it!

In conclusion, I just have to say that I don't write all of these things to prove that MY little boy is amazing or outstanding. I just write them to revel in the joy of experiencing the life and growth of a little person, to share the blessings of being able to raise the children given to us by God.

It's A Girl!

We had our ultrasound on Friday. Our baby girl looks beautiful! The technician said she weighs about 10 oz. at this point and could fit in the palm of your hand. Her profile seems to resemble her sister.

Luke went with us to the ultrasound. I spent some time Friday morning talking to him about what to expect. I showed him the photos from his ultrasound so that he wouldn't be so surprised at the black and white images he saw on the screen. The whole way to the doctor's office, he kept saying "I want baby boy! I want baby boy!"

During the ultrasound, when we found out that it was a girl, the technician said, "Now you will have a sister!" I said, "Another sister." She asked Luke how many sisters he had and he said, "One ... two ... three ..."

It took most of the drive home to help Luke see clearly that we are going to have a baby girl, not a boy. When we got home, he was accurately able to report the news to my mom (who had stayed with Emma). But as we sat down to lunch, I asked Luke what we should name the baby girl, and he promptly responded, "Baby Boy!"

Back in the Saddle!

Well, after a very long absence from posting, I hope to be back at it again. In December, we dropped our cable Internet in favor of dial-up, simply because of the cost. We took it as long as we could, but we have now given in and returned to Comcast! Hopefully I will now be able to post more often as posting on dial up was nothing short of a hassle. Here is a quick update on what we have been up to during our blog silence:

Matt has been thoroughly enjoying his job at McKesson Medical Surgical where he is an Inventory Analyst. He has also taken over responsibilities as Treasurer at our church - a lot of work, but a great learning experience. He continues to serve as a Deacon at church as well. At home, Daddy is most famous for the homemade biscuits he makes for us every Saturday morning!

Luke turned two in June. He is growing quickly physically and mentally and is into all kinds of new things. He loves to sing and can recite practically the entire version of "My Milk" from our Silly Songs CD. He has also been learning the Children's Catechism, memorizing Bible verses and learning hymns and Bible stories. If you ask Luke what Sarah said when the three men told Abraham the couple was going to have a baby boy, he will respond, "Ha Ha! I too old have baby boy!"

Emma just had her first birthday in August. She is much slower in her physical development than her brother was, but that's OK with us. She has just recently started crawling regularly (for the past couple of months she has been moblie but has preferred the army cralw). Just within the last couple of weeks she has also started pulling up and standing, holding on to furniture with one hand (Luke was doing this at six months). She is also signing "Please" and "Thank You" and a self-invented sign for "telephone" that involves her holding her fist up to her ear.

Baby number 3 is due at the end of January/early February. Just after Labor Day we have an appointment for another ultrasound at which point we should be able to discover the sex of the baby. Luke says he wants a "baby boy." We don't know if this has anything to do with wanting a brother, or if he is just used to talking about Abraham and Sarah having a baby boy. When I have a doctor appointment, he says, "Mama go doctor? Check new baby?"

Mothering and wifing are my full time occupations at this point in life, and I couldn't be happier. I am so thankful to be able to be home with my little dears during the day. I am still fairly tired at this point in the pregnancy, though at 17 weeks, I keep hoping that any day now things will improve. I also continue to run my on-line Latin program for homeschooling families. And this year, in addition, I will be offering the program as a supplemental review resource in cooperation with a local Classical Christian private school. I am excited about this new way to expand the reach of the program.

So, there you have it - a slice in the life of the Sutherland family. Check back for updates. I hope to post at least once a week, though I suspect posts will more likely be driven by interesting events to report, rather than a regular time frame of checking in. Blessings all!

Two "Wrong" Right Answers

We have been working with Luke on the Children’s Catechism (a series of questions and answers to teach Bible doctrine).  The first question is “Who made you?” and the answer is “God.”  The second question is “What else did God make?” and the answer is “All things.”  We have also been impressing on Luke throughout the day specific things that God made (i.e. “God made Mommy, Daddy and Emma,” “God made the sun and the moon,” etc.)  A few days ago, I asked Luke if he would like some of Nan’s raisin bread to eat (Matt’s mom bakes a loaf of raisin bread for Luke fairly often).  While he was eating, I said, “Luke, who made this raisin bread for you?”  And of course, he answered, “God!”

 

On a slightly less “spiritual” note, later the same day I was showing Luke a puppet I had been given as a gift.  I led a workshop for student teachers from Randolph-Macon (my alma mater) and as a thank you give they gave me a puppet of a Yellow Jacket (our mascot).  I asked Luke, “What does a bee say?”  He responded “buh” (as he has learned from his talking phonics toys).  I didn’t correct him!

Blind Obedience

The children and I had to run an errand today.  When we got back to the house, I got Luke out of his car seat first so that he could run around in the yard a bit while I got Emma out.  After I – with Emma on my hip – headed to the house, I called Luke to come to me.  He immediately began running – but not towards me.  I was surprised to see this.  Yes, I have seen my son disobey before.  Usually when I call him, he runs right to me.  But there are times when he dawdles or just sort of wanders in my direction.  This was the first time, however, that I have seen him running in a different direction.  He wasn’t really running away from me, either.  He was just kind of running parallel to the house, rather than towards it.  Surprise and not sure what to make of it, I called him again.  He changed directions slightly and kept running, though still not quite towards me.  Then I realized the problem.  The sun was shining over the house from behind.  He didn’t want to look into the sunlight and so was doing the best he could to come in my general direction by sound, rather than sight!  Once I realized his dilemma, all that was left was to chuckle at how earnestly he was trying to come to Mommy, though he couldn’t really figure out where she was!