Lila was born July 8, 2008. Her sign is Cancer, and she likes to drool. Luke was born on August 18, 2005. He is a Leo and enjoys playgrounds, mealtime and the Beatles. This is their story...
This weekend the weather was superb- cooler, sunny and not a cloud in the sky. It was a perfect day for gallivanting around outside and around town. We took a short trip right up the road to acknowledge Veteran's Day by visiting the Texas State Capitol. Turns out, to our delight, that the Capitol is a GREAT place for a kid in dire need of burning off some excess energy. There are lots of wide open spaces indoors and out, ideal for running around and tuckering yourself out. And its free!
Feel the burn
Luke decided he didn't want to ride around in his stroller that day, and instead pushed it around, empty, all over the place, up hills and all. That's him in the orange sweatshirt in the picture above. We didn't object. Go on ahead and wear yourself out kiddo, ok by us.
If you stand in the center of the rotunda and look up there is a beautiful view up to the top. It makes for some pretty dizzy moments after spinning around while looking up. And it also makes for some fabulous echoes, which can be louder than you'd ever guess should your kid decide to screech at the top of his lungs. Just a warning.
A long way up...
...a long way down
For dinner tonight Luke had some leftover long linguine noodles from our dinner from the night before. I had the clever idea of not cutting them into more manageable sized pieces, thinking it could make for a funny photo op. I was right. Long noodles can be pretty funny.
Luke got to hang with his little bud Vince this weekend and partake in the right of passage of experiencing delicious Salt Lick BBQ for the first time. Luke showed us how well he can eat with a fork if he wants to (but only if he wants to. )
Mmm, this BBQ would be complemented nicely by a good 2006 Shiner Bock
Vince showed us how comfy a Bumbo seat can be and decided to take a nap right there at the table. BBQ and a nap, what a good life.
Hey dude, so does that mean you aren't going to eat that?
Afterward we spent the afternoon at the park and tried to keep up with Luke as he climbed up down and all around the playscapes. We secretly are thrilled he loves the park because it gives us the chance to climb the monkeybars and swing on the swings without looking like creepy adult weirdos.
Slide Away
98...99... 100 pullups!
Today Luke had his 15 month checkup, ten days shy of actually being 15 months old but at the right time to get a second booster flu shot. Big guy weighed in at 27 lbs 4 oz and measured 32 inches tall, both between the 80-85th percentiles. But in addition to the flu shot he got three other vaccinations, for a total of 4 shots this visit. Luke is totally wising up to the fact that this particular nurse always wields her body stabbing death sticks and he freaked out as soon as he saw her. She said she didn't take it personally, that right around this age most kids start to remember her and her evil ways. But a good rummage through the nurses' toy chest after the shots were over dried the tears right up, as always. Who knew a 1 cent red plastic hippo and a Snoopy bandaid could make a kid so happy?
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... well, not too long ago and not too far, far away. In my belly actually. There lived a little bitty baby that came to be known as Luke. But we didn't know he was a "Luke" until he joined us in this world on August 18, 2005. Before that we referred to the growing girl or boy alien in my belly as Yoda- Yoda Svoboda.
When 900 years you reach look as good you will not
When I ran across this Yoda costume this year I immediately knew it was perfect for Luke. He won't stay Yoda-sized for long, so I had to jump at the chance to dress him up as his former namesake this Halloween.
Darnit, I left my light saber on Dagobah
The pictures are from our visit to Louis' office where he scored some yummy Halloween candy and lots of attention from the ladies. Notice the authentic Yoda swagger in the video.
Luke ditches the light saber for a lollipop and makes a run for it
This has been a pretty busy month for all of us but mostly for Luke. He's walking now! About a week or so ago he started taking two, three... ten steps around the house, and now he's walking all the way up and down our street and all around Target and Toys R Us. Here's a video of him on his second day of walking (sorry it is so dark):
He is walking really well now, although I wouldn't have him carry a trayful of mugs of hot tea just yet. The only problem now is that he sometimes will INSIST on walking- and no, I don't want to hold your hand, I want to do it all by myself, thankyouverymuch! Take the Target trip, for example. He wanted to walk around the store as opposed to riding in the cart or having us carry him. We let him walk for a while, but him walking up and down the aisles, while cute, is neither efficient nor safe. We felt like we were watching a Frogger video game as he crossed an aisle, narrowing avoiding cart collisions. After we tired of his slow pace and just wanted to finish up and get out of the store, we picked him up and what transpired can, I think, be described as his first tantrum. He desperately flailed and squirmed to get out of the cart or our arms so that he could walk on his own, and he screamed and cried for at least 10 minutes when he did not get his way. Of course, we got "the eye" from our fellow shoppers, some of knowing pity and some of the "are you kidnapping him" variety. Eventually he calmed down, or just gave up, but not before we got a glimpse of the future Terrible Twos to come.
This is what it looks like when you bump into a camera
There are unfortunate consequences to walking though, we soon learned. The fall down to the ground can be a rough one. The other day Luke slipped and landed mouth first onto a table, busting his top lip and the gums under it. His mouth was swollen out like two inches and he looked very much like Daffy Duck. His gums turned all black and he had a big scab on his lip. The pic below just doesn't do it justice. It looked much worse in person. Then two days later he face planted onto the carpet and sported carpet burn scratches up his nose and forehead. This walking thing is not for wussies!
You shoulda seen the other guy
To complement his new big man walking we decided it was time to get him a big man haircut as well. No more Flying Nun-like long curls flowing from the sides of his head. Time to dress the part, son. So, we took him to a kiddy haircut joint with cool race car chairs and cartoons showing on the tv. But he wasn't impressed. He didn't like this idea at all! How the hair cutter managed to cut his hair evenly and without slicing an ear is beyond me. She had magic squirmy kid skills. He eventually chilled out and went into an Elmo tv watching trance and she finished up his haircut without incident.
Samson is defeated
Let me outta this race car chair!
Hmm, I guess I do look pretty good now
Afterward Luke wanted to parade around at Toys R Us and show off his dapper new do. He eyed these sweet kid sized automobiles and made a bee line for them and climbed on in.
Firetrucks are so cool! (But the boy is not for sale)
In retrospect, this probably wasn't very safe at all...
Wow! Luke turned a big ONE while we were on vacation abroad. At his 12 month doctor checkup he weighed in at 25 lbs 7 oz- the 85th percentile, and measured 31 inches long- the 90th percentile! He's huge! And the primary source of all of our backaches. He's also busy growing lots and lots of teeth, with 8 front toofs in and one slowly poking through, and back molars burrowing their way out. This has made for lots of drooling, finger chewing, and pain for the little big guy. It's tough being one.
We have lots of pictures from his birthday celebrations and from our vacation and we promise to post them as soon as we can.
But for now Luke would like to welcome his newest baby cousin to this world, Mr. Henry Gray (middle name to be determined) of Canberra, Australia. Congratulations parents Yasmine and Matthew! Luke has many clever and naughty older-cousin-tricks to pass along, so watch out!
Well folks, we're off on vacation and Luke's first tour of lands across the pond, France and Scotland. We are leaving this Friday and will be gone for two weeks and will be incommunicado for that time. We will update you once we return to the US Central time zone. Au revoir!
Here is a quick rundown of Luke's days these past couple of weeks:
On Cruise Control
Luke spends much of his days cruising around anything he can hold on to. He laps the coffee table countless times a day. He has yet to brave the open range sans handrail, but give him a couch to hold onto and he can run like the wind!
Hardhat required
He also insists on knocking down any pile of blocks that dare to stand tall. A sure way to get him to come over to your side of the room is to stack some blocks there. Get outta his way quick! He'll be on demolition detail.
Puppy Love
Luke and Cactus get along splendidly so far. Luke gets very excited when Cactus comes near, and Cactus does a good job feigning interest in the short human. She sits there very calmly while Luke attempts to pet her (mostly smacking her on the nose) and she is always nearby for mealtime to help me clean up the floor. Luke does this really fun trick where he throws his food on the floor, especially if he doesn't like the particular item. (I just love that trick, almost as much as I love the one where he smears food in his hair.) Cactus is always there for all my floor cleaning needs. Good girl.
While we are on the subject of eating, I'll tell you about another one of Luke's great tricks. This isn't new, but has become more prevelant. He picks up a chunk of food and chews it for a while, then spits it out. Then he picks up another chunk of the same food, chews for a bit, then spits it out. A big grin on his face follows, and why not, it's a good trick. Repeat ad nauseum. I try very hard not to encourage him by smiling or laughing, but sometimes I just can't help it. It is pretty humurous to watch. We have a few theories as to why he does it. One is that he is teething and the cold or tough food feels good on his gums while it is still cold or has texture. Then he spits the warm and smushy bite out to exchange it for another cold piece of food. My guess, however, is that the most probable reason he does it is that he thinks he needs to slim down his chubbles a bit, so he emplores one of the Hollywood diets of chewing food but not swallowing it, and instead spitting into a napkin. Well Luke doesn't use a napkin, but he is plentiful in the chubbles, so maybe this is why. Regardless, again, Cactus enjoys the fallout.
Atlas imitation
Luke loves to play catch with his bouncy ball. He is surprisingly good at throwing the ball, and very good at catching it as well. (By "catching it" I mean as it is rolled into or nearby his lap.) He also loves chasing the ball around the house, like a neverending game of fetch, minus the ball return. He must have learned that particular little "only fetch, no ball return" trick from Cactus. For any college recruiters reading this, let us know when you'd like to set up a time to watch Luke run drills.
I'm so confused...
Sometimes we play seemingly sneaky tricks on Luke, like putting his toys on top of the glass table while he tries to get them from under the table. It's my secret revenge for all the food throwing and smearing.
Earlier this week, Louis left for work giving Luke an assignment to successfully drop a colored peg into a hole in the hood of his toy car. He has a walker that looks like a pretty cool car and talks to you when you play with it. When he came home that afternoon he saw him slamming the pegs through the hood of the car a couple of times in a row. Friggin amazing. He dared us to try and get it on video so we did.
I must say we were amazed. The next day Louis gave him an assignment to construct an 20-sided regular polygon using only a ruler and compass. We haven't heard back from him on that one yet. That oughta keep him busy for a few days.
Zoom in and check out the two Chicklets in my mouth!
This week marked Luke's 11 month birthday! He has been very busy this month doing all sorts of exciting things. He has grown lots of hair on his head, and we now discuss when he'll need his first haircut. (I think we should grow it out so I can braid it into cornrows.) Also, he has sprouted three more teeth for a total of 5, and I am pretty sure one or two more are just waiting to pop out. He won't always let us in his mouth to feel around, but sometimes we can count the tooth impressions from the bite marks he leaves on our legs or shoulders. Unfortunately for us, that wasn't a joke. Here he is chomping down on a teething biscuit, dripping in its gooey goodness.
Mmm yummy! But not as yummy as mom's finger... In medical news, his hives have all faded away, although it took almost a week for them to do so. Here is a picture of the hives at their scary, fiery crescendo:
Dermatology textbook page 236 (this picture makes me itch)
Yeah, they look bad. But he never seemed to act as if they bothered him, thank goodness. This picture may be a bit misleading since it was taken after two ill timed activities. First, Luke and I had just finished up a long walk, with him strapped in the Baby Bjorn, in the hot as all heck heat. Then, I gave him a bath. I thought I was being oh so smart by not using soap, thinking I wouldn't chance it adding to his skin irritation. But afterward Louis got home and mentioned how the heat from the walk and the bath probably made the hives worse. Oh yeah. The heat. Oops. Sorry Luke. I suck at this sometimes...
One good thing that came from the bumps was that when we were out in public everyone kept their distance. Usually all sorts of people like to touch him and poke him and try to get a smile out of him. But the bumps sure took care of that. They were like our own private bodyguard. I got a few slyly dirty looks from people, as if they wanted to say for me to keep my funky kid at home and away from their kid. I don't blame them, I don't want their kid's cooties either. Everyone should just keep their own cooties to themselves. I could have volunteered the fact that he wasn't contagious, that they were just hives, but I didn't. And it was great...
Until the bumps started to fade. They unfortunately began to turn a light purplish tan color and looked like fading bruises all over his body. And then we started to get dirty looks from strangers for entirely different reasons... We wanted to tell them that Luke just performed really poorly in a recent paintball game, but we didn't think they'd buy that excuse.
Here is a picture Louis likes so much because the two hives near Luke's eye resemble a gangster's teardrop tattoos. Luke likes them because it ups his street cred.
Yo, what you lookin' at?
In this last month Luke's crawling has improved a lot. For months he got around by army crawling on his belly, and we always felt bad for him because 1.) we have wood floors and it looked like it hurt, and 2.) he looked like he was paralyzed. (It sounds terrible, but it looked just as terrible.) And 3.) it wasn't very efficient. He could get to about 50% of the places he wanted to go and would often get stuck and frustrated that he couldn't go further. Now his crawl looks like a more traditional 4 limbed crawl, but, again, with gansta style. He sometimes pulls one leg under him and drags it along, like a strut. It doesn't slow him down at all though. He can be lightning fast. And now he can get to almost anywhere, and 100% of the places we don't want him to go. Like into Cactus' food bowl and doggie door. And the bathroom trash (ewww). And the toilet, especially useful to pull up on (double ewwww). And the ever irresistible kitchen cabinets. Oh, and let's not forget the stairs!
Luke also spends lots of time chasing balls and our mini radio controlled car around the house. See this pic below. He gets very determined when he chases the car, hence the serious look of concentration and the pursed mouth. This picture also shows how he tucks his leg under him when he's locomoting around the house. All in all it's been an exciting month in the life of little Luke, and the fun is sure to continue. Hopefully the hives don't.
Fee fi fo fum, I smell the blood of a... oooh hey, is that a Cheerio?!
Today we woke up and noticed Luke had a mosquito bite on his face. And one on his arm. And another one on his arm... and on his leg... and a bunch on the other leg... Hmmm. I don't think that could be mosquito bites. Fleas? No... we'd all have some bites, and these bumps are much bigger than any flea bite I've ever had.
Is this a rash?
Well, let's just wait and see if it gets any worse.
Tick tock, a couple of hours pass by.
5o or so bumps later, we're calling the pediatrician's office. They say we'd better bring him in, let the doctor take a look at it. Oh, and by the way, can you use the side entrance please?
Um, there's a side entrance?
Yes, it's around the left side of the building, around the brick wall, up the stairs.
Uh, ok, sure...
My first thought is, "Oh, a side entrance, that's cool. Like for celebrities."
Then a half second later I realize they want me to take my baby through the side entrance. Of a pediatrician's office. As in they want me to avoid the regular waiting area, itself a veritable petri dish of childhood communicable diseases. Oh no, this can't be good... your kid has to have a special kind of funk to make you go through the side entrance. Yikes.
So we go, and by this time there must be 100 or more bumps all over his body. I'm praying it's not chicken pox... and I rack my brain for any stored away rash knowledge, to no avail... and what exactly is ringworm again? 'Cause I don't think it is really worms...
The doctor takes a look and says it is just hives. Just hives. I couldn't think of any new foods he'd had, or new detergent I'd used... (Although I neglected to tell her about the spider I think he may have chased down and eaten the other day. I hang my head in shame as I write this.) The doctor said it is probably a reaction to the antibiotics he just finished for the ear infection he had last week, not an uncommon occurrence, I learn.
Well, that's good right? No chicken pox. No ringworm. No contagious funk? Everything is fine, she says. Give him some antihistamines for a few days and it'll be ok.
He doesn't seem itchy at all, and the only people the bumps seem to have bothered are me and Louis. So the day turned out ok. Just an average, harmless, scare the hell out of your parents and turn our few remaining brown hairs to gray kind of day.
Luke turned 10 months old on Father's Day, and that made for a double fun day. (Well, if you consider painting the living room fun.) Luke commisioned a personalized coozie especially for his dad. What a thoughtful boy, he knows just what his father would love- something to keep his beer cold.
#1 Dad and son. Pickle eating contest... Round 12
We spent the day painting the living room and Luke was a big helper. He pulled himself up and back down his Luke-sized ladder while Louis worked on the bigger boy ladder.
Ladder Day Paint
Later that day we took Luke swimming in a big kids pool for the very first time. We bought a floatie for him and lubed him up good with gobs of sunscreen. He enjoyed the water, although he held on pretty tight at first as we floated around while holding him. Then we put him in his new floatie and he seemed to enjoy that as well for a while. But it went all down hill from there after the first time he lost sight of either of us if we went under water. He didn't enjoy that at all. I'm pretty sure my Jaws shark imitation didn't help matters either.
This last picture was taken last week when Luke first discovered that the kitchen cabinet doors open, and all sorts of treasures are waiting inside. The first time he opened the cabinet his eyes got really wide and sparkled as all sorts of naughty thoughts entered his mind. What else is there to do at that point than to pull everything out and bang it around? The metal mixing bowls are his favorites, of course, as they make the loudest racket.
Luke has started pulling himself up to a standing position all on his own lately. He first did it on a step ladder I was using to change a battery in a wall clock. He was sitting near the ladder while I was on it, and after I finished up and walked off I turned back and he had pulled himself up to standing on it all by himself. I was so shocked. He does it all the time with us helping him, but this is the first time he'd done it alone. Later in the week he pulled himself up on his big bear chair- see the pic below. I guess we really need to get on that babyproofing thing...
Don't worry Mom, I'll save you from this big, scary bear!
In other news, Luke has yet to say "Mama" after mastering his first word, "Dada". He has completely skipped over me, alphabetically speaking, and instead says "yaya" and "zhaa zhaa". Come on, Luke- come play in the middle of the alphabet! That's where all the cool letters hang out.
This weekend we hung out with our friends, the D'Andreas, to try and beat the heat at a super fun pool party. Their kiddo pool is the coolest pool you've ever seen. It's not even really a pool, so much as a wading wonderland, perfect for tot sized splishing and splashing. The pool is about 4 inches deep and has something cool at every turn. There is a ring toss with inflatable rings, a dolphin just waiting to be ridden, a palm tree with three silly monkeys climbing it, a slide, a rainbow cave area I termed "the grotto", and water fountains shooting out from all over the place. So sweet!
Good times swimming with the dolphins
Luke spent lots of time toiling away at trying to catch the water shooting out of the fountains. This is a really hard job- the water just keeps coming! In this picture Martin is dining al fresco, poolside, under the shade of an umbrella. Why go all the way to Disneyland when paradise is right here in the backyard!?
Pesky water! I just can't seem to catch it!
Once the party was in full swing things got a little crazy and Luke decided to ditch the swimsuit and diaper and go skinny dipping! What a wild guy.
We made the trip to Houston for Memorial Day weekend to spend with Luke's Nana and Grandpa, Aunt Kim and Uncle Scott. Luke had lots of fun, as usual, soaking up the attention and adoration of his devoted fans/family.
Tummy tickles!
Luke and Grandpa
While we were in town we visited some friends to meet their newborn son, and Luke's newest friend, Vincent Jumalon, barely two weeks old at the time. Although Luke currently outweighs and outmaneuvers the little guy, Vince by far has Luke beat in the luxuriant hair category.
We spent the following weekend enjoying a fun trip to Wimberley, TX. http://www.wimberley.org/ Wimberley is about a 45 minute drive away from Austin through gorgeous, scenic hill country. The drive alone is worth the trip. But we chose this day to go because every first Saturday of the month they host a Wimberley Market Day. There we found hundreds of vendor booths selling antiques, local homegrown goodies, and crafts, as well as live music, BBQ, and Louis' favorite- meat on a stick. Mmmm.
Entertaining his lunchtime audience
Luke had an absolute blast taking in all the sights and sounds and helped us negotiate the crowds by honking the horn on his stroller's steering wheel console anytime they slowed us up. He loves to honk that horn and does it all the time when we walk around our neighborhood. When we are in a more enclosed atmosphere we especially enjoy the horn honking when it grabs the attention of a slowpoke in our path. "Move- get out the way, get out the way- Move!" (Credit Ludacris lyrics)
We took a break for lunch where Luke chowed down on a mishmash of baby food and our BBQ sandwiches and hammed it up for the nice folks sitting around us. Since it was pretty warm that day, Louis ordered a refreshing lemon-lime shaved ice delight and gave Luke his first taste of lip puckering sweet-and-sour. Luke sipped it up and made the most hilarious face ever in the history of hilarious faces. His face scrunched up and his body shuddered as the sour flavor coated his taste buds. His eyes watered and he stuck his tongue out as he seemingly rejected this new tart taste, only to quickly recover and open his mouth again for another swallow. Another bite, painful yet hilarious face, repeat repeat repeat... so funny. The following pictures capture many of the faces he made, and makes you wonder why he kept coming back for more.
Perhaps Master Luke's young mind is pondering themes from the writings of Socrates regarding the interweaving of pleasure and pain. Hmm, ah yes... that must be it... Such educational lessons are why we set out on our journey that day... or was it the meat on a stick?
Feel the burn
A long way up...
...a long way down
The neverending noodle
These noodles are hilarious!
Let me outta this race car chair!
Firetrucks are so cool! (But the boy is not for sale)
Mascot- Firemen of Austin Calendar 2006
