He's back

Oh yeah, Luke slept for 12 hours on Friday night (even as C'dale put a beatdown on M'boro!) and woke up Saturday a happy, excited and very mobile fella. The picture above is of him thwarting my progress with a super cute grin on his face as I tried to get all of his bedding and bed buddies to the laundry room. I am a bleiever and washing the fever out of a room/bed, etc...

Daddy took him the the freshman football game while mom cooked all morning. I made Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon which turned out really delicious :)

The weekend was beautiful, and we enjoyed family time. We went to the fair and saw some cows and tractors up close. Does life get better than cows and tractors up close?

Listening to one of his favorites read by gpa Nick. This is Fri. night when he was still feverish and not quite himself. Books were still a hit, though! So was a visit from Gma and Gpa. They brought homemade pizza, and we enjoyed dinner together.

The large Suburban in the window is being driven by its owner, Frank. He is 90 and lives across the street, and Luke loves him. We wave good morning and good night to his truck as it leaves and gets home most days.

Sunday morning we went to Kinkaid since Daddy hasn't been there in a while. Luke practiced rolling down hills and going the opposite way that his mom and dad are going. We didn't take a stroller with us b/c he is walking so much of the visit now, but strollers are still definitely handy to have when you JUST WANT TO WALK...we all had fun and it was glorious outside.
Eyeing a hill to walk down...

I mean roll down...

back up with Daddy. Thanks, Dad!


This morning, Vanessa and H came over to watch Luke while I went to a new yoga class. When I got home, Vanessa told me that Luke is super sweet and was impressed that a 1 yr. old shares :) and that he is such a happy boy! I loved getting a good report. She also loved the ball pit and said that they all spent some time in there this morning - I guess is it kind of a novelty to have a ball pit of one's own.

Last night, it got really chilly and I had all of the windows open so at about 4 I head Luke cry a little and I took his cool little body with me to the futon, got under a couple of heavy blankets (is it really August?) and knocked out until 7. He is still a bed hog, and I still love it!

and...he wakes up hungry, does the 'eat' sign and heads to the kitchen

Switching gears for a bit, I have been thinking lately about why we are here, as in, what is the meaning of life. The answers that go through my head all seem to have a theme in common which is to find joy/contentment in simple tasks/things. So, I am working to try and find more joy (can't you always find a little more joy) in daily living and here is my first recorded attempt. This part of the post has nothing to do with Luke so feel free to just move along, no offense taken!

I took our kitchen curtains down a few months ago and put some shelves up so that I could house some violets and herbs in the corner window. The herbs met a quick death, but I am pretty fortunate with the violets in my life. I added a few more recently and now I have this amazing and beautiful corner of purple blossoms that makes me smile every time I am in the kitchen (which is a LOT) There is one picture included of a plant with buds coming on strong. That one is for my dear friend Lesley. She gave me that plant 4 years ago and it has NEVER bloomed. Finally, I have found a spot that makes it happy, and, in return, I will enjoy its blossoms when they arrive. This is such a happy corner of the house.









Life is good and there is joy all around. LOOK FOR IT!

Fighter

The shots that Luke got yesterday have kicked his butt. Poor guy. He was kind of puny last night but still really enjoyed visiting with Gma Susan and Gpa Paul (so did Steve and I), slept really poorly last night due to a fever. I slept with him and was almost pushed out of bed at least three times :) I told him he is a bed hog when he woke up this morning and he just looked at me and chuckled (really!)

Cuddled, sang and read for over two hours this morning. Got out for a walk, more snuggles, a snack, a bath with me then rocked him to sleep for a three hour nap. I checked on him about 15 times during the nap and he did not move the entire time. I told his dad today (when he heroically brought home a good and easy thermometer) that even when he is feeling like crap, he is still a good kiddo. I was worried about a fever frying his brain so I kept asking him what a truck sounds like and he would give me a precious and pitiful Vroom Vroom. Somehow, that helped me relax a little.

He got to visit with Daddy for a while this afternoon while I ran out for some groceries, then Gma Jackie and Gpa Nick brought dinner and love over for me and Luke. Dad made great pizzas and it was fun to spend some time with them.

After reading six books and some backscratching, I put him peacefully to bed about a half hour ago (it is 8:30) and now I am just reading a little while I listen to the Terrier game on the radio. We were planning to go, but he just wasn't up for a night out so he is sleeping in his terrier shirt and hopefully will wake up in the morning closer to his happy active self. What a sweet, sweet boy.

Luke, if you ever read this, I hate it when you feel lousy, but I so enjoyed cuddling with you and singing "You are my sunshine" over and over. You ARE my sunshine and I love you.

Feed me

Luke really can't stand to BE fed anymore. He likes his own utensils, he would really prefer to use your utensils because they just look like they work better, and he is getting good at feeding himself. Go, Luke. Here are a couple of pictures from last night of us during yogurt time. Mr. Independent, indeed.




I love Luna's patience. She just sat there until the cup was done and enjoyed cleaning it out. She also really loved it when he dropped his spoon for her to clean which signalled that yogurt time was over :)

The doctor's visit was great today. We got caught up from the 15 month shots that we missed when he was teething. I don't think he felt a thing because he was screaming so loudly and just so angry at being restrained on the table. That examining table has certainly become his mortal enemy. But...the doctor was very happy with his development. He has grown THREE INCHES since the beginning of May (32 inches/51%) and gained 3 pounds (25 lbs/35%) so he is doing his job and doing it well.

Health and Happiness, LukeStar, that is what your daddy and I wish for you...We just adore everything about you, and we are thankful EVERY DAY to be your parents.

Steve is wonderful and he came home to see Luke after the appt. He was excited to cuddle him a little, but Luke wanted mama after a few minutes of loving from daddy. I took him and he snuggled into my chest and fell right asleep. All of that crying and being mad can really wear a kiddo out. I love having him snuggle up to me. NOTHING like it in the world.

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