Weekly Wrap-up

This was a busy week for us. Here are the highlights:

• Lukas had an eye checkup at Duke on Monday morning. It went very well…well, as well as it can when you have to keep a 2.5 year old contained and occupied. He does have to start wearing a patch for an hour a day to strengthen the muscles in his left eye. We had lunch and did some shopping afterwards, but headed home early since a no-nap day usually ends up being quite torturous for all 3 of us!
• Last weekend we finally bought a potty for Lukas-a Lightning McQueen one, of course. I still don’t think he’s ready for heavy-duty potty training but I felt like we at least needed to have a potty so he has a way to go. He loved it, especially since it has a little button on it that makes a racing sound. The first night we tried it I had to take some pictures. The funny thing was he was convinced he had to have a magazine to look at while he was sitting on it. He kept saying, “me like Daddy!”, which was hilarious!! Every time we would ask him if he was finished he would say “not yet.” There was no action the first couple of times but finally on Tuesday it happened. We made a huge deal of it, hoping maybe this is the beginning of him getting the hang of it.
• On Wednesday morning, Lukas and I had a playdate with our friends Kendra and Dax. Lukas was in heaven since they had a huge box of Thomas trains for him to play with. He had such a ball pushing the trains all over the tracks.
• For me, this week has been a rough week, the complete opposite of last week. Last week was so good and I had hoped I was turning a corner and starting to heal but I’m afraid not. It’s so discouraging since I’m being so careful about what I eat.
• Yesterday I had an afternoon off by myself. It was wonderful! I had a treat at Starbucks, returned some Christmas gifts, and just enjoyed leisurely walking around stores and looking at whatever I wanted. It was exactly what I needed. I’m so thankful that Mitchell doesn’t mind me having afternoons away occasionally.
• This week I started something new with Lukas. Room Time. We each spend time in our rooms for a little while. He can play or look at books but he cannot come out of his room until I tell him. I go to my room and have a little quiet time reading. It’s worked extremely well so far. Because of the layout of our house, I can sit on my bed and see into L’s room so it helps that I can keep an eye on him and he can see me if he needs to. I was only going to start with 10 minutes but on the first day he was playing so well I decided to see how long he could last. Most mornings he has stayed occupied for close to 30 minutes, which I think is awesome. He usually doesn’t play much independently but seems to be getting a little better at it. I think playing in his room quietly for 30 minutes is a huge accomplishment. And it has been so nice for me to have that quiet time.
• What I’ve been reading this week? I finished Anything, which was so good! I’m still working through Shepherding a Child’s Heart and The Do What You Can Plan. I’m also now working on Castaway Kid, The 1000 Gifts Devotional, and Don’t Make Me Count to Three!.