Sunday with Lucas

Today was a pretty representative Sunday for Lucas. Feel free to take a 1 1/2 hour nap at any time while reading if you feel it's necessary.

7:00am Rise and shine! Sleep in an extra 1/2 hour today, to make Jill extremely happy. Good boy!

7:45am Jill and Lucas are off to the IHOP while David sleeps in (Jill got to sleep in on Saturday, while D & L went out to breakfast and the farmer's market). Eat a half a largeish pancake, a slice of french toast, and TWO breakfast sausage links. It's the first time we've eaten here (we go to a different diner every Sunday morning), and Jill thinks the magic may be in the amount of butter they slather on top of everything. Works for her, at least.

8:45am Breakfast is done, so wander next door to Meijer. For anyone who hasn't experienced it, Meijer (or Thrifty's as Jill grew up calling it, after "Meijer Thrifty Acres") sells everything from shotguns to swimming pools. Really. Luke arrives and rides the penny horse three times, enjoys the fish tanks, picks out a couple of board books to buy ("Trucks", "Where is Spot?"), is enthralled by a decorative halloween cat that he convinces mom to buy (see photo), then rides the penny horse four more times on the way out.

9:45am Drive back home to see if David is awake. Hooray! He is. Show him the new kitty. Show the new kitty to Jackson. Jackson is not impressed. Try to pick up Jackson while saying "up! up! up!" Jackson is annoyed.

10:15am See Otis (age 20 months) and his parents walking by. Invite them in for coffee. Lucas shrieks with delight when he sees Otis. Show Otis the new kitty and many toy cars. (Otis likes cars -- a lot.) Have a snack. Play together until 11:45am.

Noon Lunch.

12:30pm Nap.

2:00pm Wake up crying and get rocked by daddy. Snap out of it and ask for mama. "You want to go find mama?" "Yes!" (He doesn't say "yes" much.) Play play play play play play play. Play with the new kitty. Have a smoothie for a snack. "Num num!"

3:30pm The three of us drive to the Dexter Cider Mill. Stand in line for yummy doughnuts for 15 minutes. Eat a cinnamon doughnut and hot cider while doing a happy dance. Look at the kayakers on the river. Demand more doughnuts. Mean parents refuse. Spot someone else's doughnut on a log; lunge for it. Foiled by parents.

4:30pm Drive a mile to Jenny's Farm Stand. Pet the ponies and donkeys and admire the draft horses. Look at the big kids on the pony rides (not, alas, the kind of pony that Luke is big enough for). Watch the ducks. Run around on the giant straw mountain, saying "hi!" to random strangers. Pick out a pumpkin.

5:30pm Drive home again, stopping at the grocery store. Run into "uncle" Tony and give him big smiles.

6:00pm Dinner time! Eat some chicken, green beans, and steamed bun. Play play play. Bite mama; get in trouble.

6:30pm Bath time. Jill puts conditioner on Luke's hair for the first time. We'll see if he has those baby curls back tomorrow. Runs around the house in his birthday suit for a while.

7:00pm Jammies; books.

7:30pm Bedtime with David. Books aplenty; it's hard to make up a little boy's mind. Talk about how we got in trouble for biting mama. (Lucas does this, not David, saying "no!" as he falls to sleep.) Hug stuffed animal and doze off. Whew.

8:00pm Big people do everything else they need to accomplish in a day, like downloading photos, composing blog posts, dishing, picking up, etc.