TWO babies!

I have been getting to know a neighbor who has a 5 month old little girl. It is a gift to have a cool mom just down the street. I would have LOVED it if she had her baby when I had Luke, but we will all enjoy this year together. Little H is precious. The last time we were together, Luke kept trying to throw blocks at her head. He had good intentions of sharing (I think), but the whole idea of gentle or nice is just going over his head right now (ask the dogs if he knows what gentle means - oof) Well, even while trying to dodge blocks, little H was giggling like crazy. Her mom said she had never heard her laugh so hard and afterwards when mom would pretend to hit herself in the head H would just laugh and laugh. So...needless to say, H has a pretty easy going attitude.

H's mom and I had talked about doing a babysitting swap every week or two so that we can have a couple hours to do whatever. She had a meeting today so we started off with H coming over for a couple hours, and it was FUN! I seriously do not know how people - I mean WOMEN - handle multiple kids 24 hours a day, but the morning went really well and really fast.

I was super proud of Luke, too. I held H all but about 10 minutes that she spent in his crib while I changed a poopy diaper and got Luke a snack, and he didn't mind one bit. He was so happy to sit with us and read his books, play with his new barnyard set, bring H toys, etc...It was really sweet and special to see Luke acting like the big boy. It was also wild to hold a little baby again...no maternal cravings kicking in, but it was fun to play with TWO babies for a couple of hours.

There is a baby in my crib - cool!



He is more interested in his books than the baby!



The adorable Miss H



We have his year checkup tomorrow (yeah, we are 5 months late, talk to the scheduling office about that) He will get a couple of shots, get looked over, etc...I am already eager to leave the doc's office :)

Remembering

at the tree farm, a week before our wedding, enjoying some kind of carcass ribs. Trooper in his glory...2 years goes quickly, but we still remember him.

17

Today is Luke's 17 month birthday! It is also Gma Susan and Gpa Paul's 39th wedding anniversary! WOW!

We have had a busy week of fun adventures. Our 17 month old is identifying colors, making animal and machine noises (moo, vroom-vroom, choo choo), putting a lot more sounds together and 'communicating', using the sign for "eat" to tell me when he is hungry, walking quickly everywhere, taking great naps, sleeping 10 hours at night, laughing a lot, sitting in a booster at our bar (bye bye high chair!), chasing the dogs, drinking out of the hose when he gets a chance, eating really well, throwing his dirty diapers away - yes, he follows directions when we ask him to thrown them in the trash, giving big delicious kisses when you ask for one, pointing to every truck that he sees... Lots of other things that I am probably forgetting, but he is just a joy!

Yesterday, he even had fun with our first non-grandma babysitter. No tears, no problems so we will be calling Jamie (a wonderful former student and tennis player) again I am sure!

Some pictures of the week...Luke with his train poster. We went to see the train leave town on Tuesday afternoon and the ticket agent brought out a poster for Luke. The agen, Al, is my parent's neighbor and he was enjoying watching Luke and his first up close visit with a train. They let us get on for a minute, even, although the highlight for Luke with the horn...It made him jump and then just stare in amazement as the giant train pulled away.
Mom, you need a lid if you are going to cook something. He put the lid on the stove exactly like this, helping out in the kitchen :)
I moved his table into the kitchen corner. He will sit pretty well and eat there, but once he is full he wants to climb on the chair, then the table and bang on the windows ;(
Keep up, mom. I should just leave his stroller at home now. He is eager and able to walk with us, even if he doesn't always stay exactly on the trail. These pictures are at a state park in Jonesboro. There was a Lincoln-Douglas debate there so we explored the statues as well. I love the one of him staring at Lincoln. He was intimidated by the statues and wouldn't touch them until I did.


Puddles are a boy's best friend (besides his dog)

This one is a litle blurry, but I just adore the look on his face. It is difficult to get far enough in front of him to get a good picture of his face b/c he goes so fast!
Investigating a leaf.
Let's go, mom. There is no time for PICTURES!
Trying to get the dogs attention.
quick self shot of me and my babe
I like sitting at the bar, and I like programming your phone! This is the look that makes me get a little nervous about what is going on in that head of his!
He is with his daddy right now at the HS scrimmage. We have a dinner tonight so he is going to have some fun with Gma Jackie while we are out. Happy weekend, indeed!

All gone

There was an itty bit of Reddi Whip left in the fridge the other night when I was cleaning it out so I asked Steve to finish it off instead of having one of us (me) really want some for a dessert or quick treat only to realize there isn't enough left. Tough job...

Here is what occurred next - Don't worry every member of the house got a little bit.

Sugar

I went to the dentist today and had a no-cavity check-up. Always a good thing. Until the day that I die, I will give my mom complete credit for my nice teeth. She always made it known that taking care of your teeth are important and luckily she and my dad gave me some good genes. Oral hygiene is key to overall health, and having been raised with this knowledge, I married someone that flosses EVERY night, and I will hopefully pass some teeth tips on to Luke.

Having said all of that, here is Luke this afternoon as I put some roses that I bought for myself into a variety of vases. Let me add that every woman should just buy herself flowers whenever she is able. It is a treat, and you can pick the ones that you like :) It doesn't hurt when a nice lady is selling roses by the dozen out of a truck on the side of the road for $6.99 or 2 dozen for $10 :) Yeah, I picked my mom up a dozen, too! (Thanks for helping me take care of my teeth, mom)

Back to Luke:

I put warm water and a little sugar in the vases for flowers (another trick from my mums) As I was describing to Luke what I was doing, I thought of learning texture and put a little pile of sugar on his tray. He was more interested in the other toys on his tray for a bit, but then eagerly started spreading the grains of sugar around enjoying the activity. Well...after a few minutes of this, he decided to lick his fingers...Game over, folks.

He began to frantically put his hands in his mouth, then back to the sugar pile. Texture, spexture, mom - this stuff tastes good! And that is about the time I decided I needed to take a picture of my happy boy. On the afternoon of the day that I went to the dentist.

As I write this Luke is looking up at the sky for clouds and the moon, some things he learned about today from his lovely Gma Susan.

Life is good, Luke 'gets it' we like to say b/c he is already smarter than the adults in his life, yet he still loves us, and for that we are definitely grateful.

Coolness

Nothing like playing in a puddle outside when a wedding reception is going on inside...
...or rolling around with a soft blanket and some favored reading material...
...or just looking this sweet...

...or cruising around the house with some shades on your head...

...or putting up with this duck towel after a bath...
...yeah, Luke is pretty cool.

Love