Our little monkey

Wow, is he cute! I would like him to wear this costume until he graduates from high school, but Steve says Halloween is enough. Okay, okay.

These were taken at a trick or treat even at the university arena. Lots of the athletes were there playing games with kids and handing out candy. Luke got his picture taken by a lot of people, he saw several buddies from story time and music class, and he even got to play a little basketball.

When we got there he immediately zoned in on the decorations and BALLOONS. He tore one off of the bleachers and the players nearby thought it was cute (!) so they told him he could have it...what a charmer. I love the one of him at half court. He looks so big sometimes and then still so little in photos like that one.

Nothing was as cool as the big orange cone or the Brown Dog mascot, though. And by the end, our little monkey just wanted a breather and a couple of cheerios! It was an amazing amount of fun!

Happy Halloween!

Diving in

We have to be careful now when Luke sees a pillow b/c he likes to put it on the floor and dive into it head first! Yikes. It isn't really a practice I want to encourage so we have nixed it but on Monday, I took some couch cushions off and played with him while he practiced his head dives. At one point he got hold of the camera while he was laying down, got it on and took this flattering shot of mama. yikes, again!




Luke and I were very lucky to visit one of the bravest and toughest people I know today! Molly is a fifth grader that had back surgery to correct a curve in her spine two weeks ago. Her entire story can be read here: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mollymorgan She is just an amazing young lady (so is her little sister!) and I am sure that she gets all of her wonderful qualities from her mom and dad. They are a great family that just add positivity and joy wherever they are.

Luke was really great during the visit. He loved petting their dogs (using his 'nice touch' thankfully. Keep healing, Molly! We are all cheering for you :)

After our visit we made our now regular run for chicken and dumplings in Herrin. We thought we might see the newly arrived Gma Susan and Gpa Paul, but hadn't heard from them and didn't want to disturb them if they were sleeping off jetlag. Luke will be really happy to see them after a two week absence, and we will look forward to hearing about their adventure to Sicily!

We took lunch to Daddy which was fun and passed out Halloween cookies from a great new bakery in our neighborhood and by the time we got home, I took Luke's shoes off, took him in his room to rock him and he just lunged towards his crib. I laid him down and he closed his eyes immediately. What a sweetpea. Happy Friday!

Question

Who has a tail and carries a banana around?

Mail

Another dreary day, but no rain, so after storytime today we hooked up the dogs and took a really long walk. We couldn't get out at all yesterday b/c it rained and rained so the fresh air was good for all of us.

As we were leaving, we saw mailman Steve coming up the street. That is always an exciting sighting for Luke, and it is always fun to come home and see what the mailman left for us.

Today was a very exciting day b/c Luke received his first package in the mail! Aunt Rebekah and Uncle Greg sent him nice notes and a squeak ball like the one their adorable pup, Puccini, has.



Luke really enjoyed playing catch with Gma Susan and making the ball squeak last time we saw Puccini so Uncle Greg went out and got Luke his very own. How sweet of them :) Needless to say the package was a big hit, and Steve and I are very thankful that Luke has such a wide circle of love around him. Thanks so much for the thoughtful gesture, Greg and Rebekah!

P.S. Luke and Luna played with this ball for at least 15 minutes after its arrival. Big hit around here!

Pudding + Color = Artsy Dessert

This is just one of the fun things Luke did today, but I am tired so the others will go up later this week. I have a Toddler Activity Book that has some easy and fun ideas in it. Tonight after dinner I used one, and we had a fun time watching Luke experiment with 'finger paints'.

I actually made vanilla pudding, colored it with four different food colors, put some wax paper down in front of Luke, gave him a dollop of each color and let him go to town. He is a really precise kid. I was interested in how he went about experimenting and eating the paints. He doesn't gobble, he doesn't rush and he seems to just enjoy the process (of doing whatever he is doing at the moment).

Here is the progression of this first experience with pudding finger paints. Enjoy!










This picture doesn't look funny, but it is. He was really mad b/c Steve was putting pudding on his finger and letting Luke lick it off. The problem is that our son is eager to get the pudding off of one's finger by biting said finger off of one's hand. Really. When Steve's reaction time was quicker than Luke wanted it to be, he got really upset, really fast. That frown lasted about 12 seconds before he was focused on something else and back to our happy little man.


I am so thankful that I have this blog. Luke is seriously developing, changing, growing at such a rapid pace these days. It is impossible to get everything captured in a picture, but it is sure nice to try! He is a JOY!

What did we do this week?

Sunday, slept in until 8:30, ate two breakfasts since mom and dad eat at different times (great for me!), played, read, went to Vulture Fest dad left for Peoria so mom and I played outside since it was a gorgeous fall sunny day and then had dinner with gma jackie and gpa nick
Monday was a glorious day of sunshine and warm temps. Mom and I played around the house for a while and then she wanted to go to Target, so I went with. It was worth it b/c I got an electric toothbrush that I LOVE and we went to Louie's for lunch afterwards and ate at the park. The best part of the park was making a beeline for the tractor of the maintenance guys...They let me sit on it! Mom said that the wildflowers blooming in the backyard came from seeds and that it is pretty awesome to have them blooming now. Okay, mom... Tuesday we made it to Wiggles and had fun singing and dancing. I don't really dance but I do really love when I have a chance to play the drum or talk into the microphone. I would like to spend the whole class climbing on Teacher Alyce's benches but noone lets me do that? It was another wonderful day with lots of sunshine and warm fall air, so mom took me on a drive through Giant City Park to see all of the leaves and then we saw some friends at Castle Park and I had a lot of fun following them around the park. I also convinced my mom to blow up a bouncy balloon and I think it is pretty much the coolest thing around... I am holding the balloon here and you can see that Luke is saying "GIVE ME THE BALLOON!" Wednesday mom was pretty excited because her friend Amy had her baby. She keeps talking about how excited she is for Amy and how much she is looking forward to meeting the new babe. She told me that I am going to be his buddy, but really I love Amy so much I am not sure I will pay much attention to the baby. Grandpa Nick didn't work today so he brought me a bagel and brought mom some coffee and we had a cun visit. I like to (fake) burp in front of Gpa and then he tries to teach me to say "Excuse me" I have a lot more fun just making noises like I am burping. And then laughing, or course. I woke up too late for us to make it to Storytime today, but by mid-morning, my mom had me in the stroller and we went to my friend Hannah's house for a playdate and brunch. There were a couple other moms and babies there and I had a lot of fun. My favorite thing, today, though has definitely been tossing my crayons around. Mom keeps asking me to pick them up and sometimes I do but it is just so much fun to throw them around. I have been a chowhound this week, too. I love fried macaroni, strawberries and raisins. I just tried raisins last night and don't understand why my mom wouldn't give them to me before. She said something about a choking hazard, but I just looked at her and signed 'more' so I got some. She said I only get to eat them when I am sitting down b/c she is a worrywart! Thursday, we woke up to clouds and cooler air. I guess fall is here for sure now. Mom says I 'Lukify" the house when we are home all morning. I don't know what she is talking about, but I do know that I really like to play with ALL of my toys, I love to be home when the mailman comes by, and I LOVE, LOVE the new police car mom got me today in honor of my 19 month birthday. There is the mail truck and mailman Steve, mom! Have you ever seen anything so cool? (yes, his name really is Steve!) She says she is a big sucker for buying it, but I did get really excited about it and how could she resist. It IS my birthday (kind of). Tonight, my daddy had to be at school for parent teacher conferences and when my mom got home from yoga (she is always so happy when she gets home from yoga!) he left. I don't like my dad to leave once he has been home, but as soon as he left my friend Hannah and her mom Vanessa came over and had dinner with us. It was lots of fun to show Hannah my new car and all of my other toys. Friday was kind of rainy again in the morning so our trip with Addison and her mom to Kinkaid was cancelled, but that is okay b/c they spent the whole morning at our house playing! I really like Addison, and we play really well together. Before they left, our moms put us in our strollers and we went for a walk around the neighborhood. We looked at lots of pretty fall leaves and had fun looking at each other in our strollers :) I think Addison was interested in my dogs because she just kept staring at them and saying doggie. I have cool dogs :) Addison fell asleep by the time we finished the walk, but I was good to go, so we picked Daddy up and headed to Louie's for chicken & dumplings and sandwiches. Yum! They give me a sucker now when my mom pays for our food which is pretty much the best thing ever. I would like to eat at Louie's every day of the week :) Mom gave me my sucker after I had finished my meal and I carried that thing all over Gma Susan's house until I found the shower and got really excited to climb in and look around! I still had part of it left by the time I fell asleep at 2:30 on the way home! Tonight mom is taking me to a pumpkin glow stroll and then to the Terriers last regular season game. I am going to wear my Roethlisberger jersey for Uncle Glenn. Whew...what a week! Life is good, or at least my mom and dad say so!