Long overdue!

Pidek Family Vacation:
We recently returned from a week long vacation in Gulfport, MS to visit Eric's Dad and his wife, Debbie. We caravaned with Eric's 2 brothers and their families who first drove to OK from CO to meet us, then we all made the trek together. It was quite interesting traveling with 6 adults and 6 kids!! Needless to say there were LOTS of stops! We still made pretty good time and stayed in an awesome 3 bedroom condo that Eric found! It was right on the beach! While there, we swam at the pool a lot, went to the beach there and drove to the beach in Ft. Walton where we also went on a dolphin cruise, visited New Orleans, and saw the Stennis Space Museum! It was a lot of fun! Luke had a little too much fun! He really started to take to the pool and by the end of our vacation was doing canon balls off the side!! He was so exhausted that a good portion of our time was spent dealing with temper tantrums! Collin, on the other hand, kept his normal schedule and was pretty easy! Even after sleeping the whole way in the car, he still slept that night!! He also slept completely through the night for the first time while we were there as well as turned 2 months old!!

Collin:
Collin is growing like crazy!! A couple days after getting back from vacation, he had his 2 month check up. Our jaws dropped as we read the scale after weighing him. 11 lbs 1 oz!! Almost 3 lbs heavier than Luke was at that age! He is also cooing and smiling like CRAZY now!! He's such a happy baby! He's also recently started batting at and grabbing toys. I would love to say that he likes to smile, laugh, and play with his brother, but unfortunately, he gets a huge look of concern on his face every time he hears Luke's voice. It doesn't help that Luke has no volume control! I wonder if Collin is just waiting for the impending doom that is sure to meet him following that toddler voice. Luke hasn't completely grasped the concept that Collin is not as tough as him just yet! The poor guy's been sat on, hit, and kicked(not all intentional)! I did catch Luke gently putting the binky in Collin's mouth this morning though! He can be a good helper and gentle when he wants to!

Luke:
Luke started school a couple weeks ago. It's a Mother's Day Out program at a local church where he goes 2 Xs a week. The first day, he just walked right in, started playing with toys, and didn't even look back! The next day, he took one look at the screaming kids already in the classroom and started whimpering himself. It has progressed now though to where he starts crying just driving up to the place!! I do think he really enjoys it, seeing as he is pretty happy when I pick him up! I'm hoping he gets a lot out of it and learns a lot so he is well prepared for when school really starts! Luke's terrible 2's are still in full swing although he is getting a little, and I emphasize LITTLE, easier to snap out of. He is starting to listen more and communicate a little better so that everyone is a little less frustrated! As long as he is well fed and rested, he's usually more complacent, but when he throws a tantrum, it is BAD! I know it's just pay back for what Eric and I did to our parents, but come on!! I do miss the days when I wasn't constantly worried about what was going to set him off, but I know it WILL get better and, in between those tantrums, he is the funniest, craziest, most lovable little guy! On the potty training front, LUKE WENT PEE PEE IN THE POTTY!! I haven't been pushing anything with him, but simply put him in pull ups now and then and have him sit on the potty before his bath every night. He really enjoys sitting on the potty, turning around while still sitting, and flushing it over and over. Last night, I'm sure it was completely accidental, but he peed while on it!! I got so excited and praised him like crazy! He just got a huge grin on his face as if realizing he did something really good! Now if we can only get him to do it again . . .

Eric:
This past weekend, Eric flew co-pilot with my Dad in the Okie Derby. Not only did they hit the fuel estimate right on, but did really well on the time and won the whole thing!! It's the first time Eric's gotten first place with my Dad although they came close a few years back and got second. I think it's a fun annual tradition that they really enjoy and is fun to watch. Luke enjoyed watching all the planes fly by and even got to ride in Papa's plane as he taxied it to the hangar.