Dear Lucas (92 Weeks),

We've been keeping up with our morning walks and for the most part you just sit back and enjoy them and check everything out. I always bring a snack along and afterwards let you do something fun like go to the park. Today I brought our scrap bread and you fed the birds (and yourself.) It was really smokey outside from fires burning in south Georgia and I was a little worried that the smoke might bother you but you seemed okay. I didn't realize just how smokey it was until we had walked halfway around the lake and when I looked in front of us I saw smoke and when I looked behind us there was smoke. I can only imagine how bad it is where the actual fire is coming from.

Surprisingly, your flowers are still alive. I say surprisingly because you don't quite get the whole watering thing down (you water the table) so I have to remember to water them everyday and my history with plants is not good. Let's just say I've been told I have a black thumb. Everyday we check on your flowers and you always blow on them like they are hot. When I remind you we smell flowers not blow on them you always try to smell the one that doesn't have any flowers on it.

You are in love with anything that has wheels and anything with wheels is a "car." You love to push, pull, and ride in and on your "cars." Today you were pushing all of your babies around and every once in a while you would try to tip them over and say "uh oh" and then reassure them that everything is okay.

Your other love is the TV. I am starting to think we have it on WAY too much. We now have a "no TV during dinner" rule that has really improved your table manners. The second you get down from dinner you run to the TV and try to turn it back on. It isn't even like you watch it all the time because once it is back on you run to your room and go play. I guess you miss the background noise.

Our biggest struggle this week has been discipline. For the most part timeouts still work but I'm not sure what to do when we are out somewhere and we can't do a timeout. Also I never thought I would be a parent that spanked but this week I've got in a hand pop or two because you were pulling the drywall out of a hole in our bedroom wall that we haven't had the chance to fix yet. The hand pop didn't phase you and it just made you laugh. I tried popping you on the thigh and that made you laugh harder. I was getting so frustrated I didn't like how I was feeling. I feel so lost when it comes to disciplining you sometimes. I worry that I'm not strict enough and that we're not doing a good enough job.
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We are trying so hard to be consistent but not really sure what we want to be consistent with. Our other big struggle has been over your paci. even though we have been CONSISTENTLY only giving you your paci at bedtimes and nap time for over a year now for some reason you think you should have it 24/7. I'm seriously thinking of trying to phase it out AGAIN. I still don't know what it is about that stupid thing but I cannot stand to see it in your mouth. You now call your paci "baby." so when you are tired and ask for your baby you mean you want your paci AND your blanket. I just wish there was a magic parenting book that gave us all the right answers and only had one solution for each problem... that would make things so much easier.

Lately you've been throwing food more and more at dinner. Tonight your Daddy told you for the millionth time not to throw your food and you waited until he wasn't looking at you and then you threw a tomato at him. I had to try VERY HARD not to laugh. I'm just glad your not really pouring out your drinks all over the place like you used to do or putting food in your drink and then playing in it. You are drinking really well out of a normal cup. When you do the sign for "milk" it doesn't mean milk but any beverage that isn't in a sippy.

You are the only kid I know that tries to climb into their crib instead of out. I think you will be sleeping in your crib until you move out (which is fine by me.) You really seem to love your crib and you have always been an awesome sleeper. For some reason you've been taking your nap earlier. Today you were down by 11:30. It isn't like you are getting up early in the morning (8:30ish) and when we are out of the house you are still flexible when you can't nap at the time you do at home.

You crack me up like nobody else in the world. You love to perform and more then anything you love to make us laugh. You have this bear that makes a laughing sound when you push his tummy and today when he would laugh you would fake laugh copying him just to try and get us to laugh.

Bugga, I love you to the moon and back,

Mommy