Friday, May 19, 2006

Second 9 months


Happy 9 month birthday, Luke!

Luke had a 9 month checkup at the doctor this week and weighed in at a double whopper with cheese size of 21 lbs 11 oz, and measured 29 inches tall, both in the 75th percentiles on the growth charts. What a big boy! Looks like the two-a-day workouts and weight gain drinks are really adding some bulk. Interested college football scouts can contact me, Luke's agent, directly regarding recruitment matters.

This 9 month mark gives me pause as I reflect on the fact that it took 9 months of cooking in my belly for Luke to join us in this world. He popped out after his first 9 months of life at a skinny and wrinkly 7 lbs 10 oz, and now after his second 9 months he has nearly tripled that. And only the nearsighted would refer to him as skinny or wrinkly now. Luke, you've come a long way baby.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

"Mama!"

Well, he really says "dada" but he means "mama", I just know it!

A few weeks ago Luke started babbling up a storm. At first it was "doodoo", and that quickly led to "dada" (so appropriate, right), on which he is stuck and seemingly perfectly content doing so. The constant positive response he gets when he says "dada" has him saying it all the time and to anyone who will listen. The following is a video taken soon after he first started dabbling in babbling...


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To celebrate his new found vocabulary, Louis took Luke for a drive down to Laredo to join the Minutemen gaurding our Mexican border. Once they got home they looked like they must have spent a bit more time in Matamoros drinking tequila because their speech was a bit slurred... I asked Luke how his trip was, and this is how he described how things went down south of the border with Dad (the bit he says about losing our car tires to Pedro in the last poker game is a complete fabrication... )


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Sunday, May 14, 2006

Busy Social Schedule

We've had quite a busy couple of weeks lately. Luke had so many visitors! Our friends flew in from all over the world just to see how big this dude has gotten. Well, they really flew in town for the wedding of our friends Lori and Jimmy, but while they were here they made sure to say hi to Luke.

First, Yogi, Basia and Gabby flew in from Boston. Being the only girl surrounded by three boys, Gabby is quite a sought after cutie pants when she comes to town. Luke tries to vie for her affections, but she told him she likes a man with more to offer, a man of action. You know, one who walks and talks. A man who stays fit and doesn't sport such a round beer belly. Oh well. Maybe next visit.

From left to right: Martin, Luke, Gabby and Zach.

Luke says, "Hey Gabby, wanna see my crib?"

"Or, how about dinner and drinks? I've got Cheerios..."



Also in town, all the way from Norway, was our friend Julie. Luke had a bit more luck with her since she didn't seem to mind advances from a younger man.

"Oh Julie, she's so pretty... and she thinks my pot belly is HOT!"



And arriving from Scotland were more of our good friends, Dana and Reno... and stowing away in Dana's belly was Lil' Lauro! The Lauro bambino will be done cooking in November, right around the same time as the Thanksgiving turkey. Luke can't wait to show him/her the ropes and keep him/her up to date on what's cool and happening here in the States while they finish up their sojourn in the UK.

Reno, Dana and Luke- and Lil' Lauro (not pictured, but present!)



While Louis and I participated in the wedding weekend festivities, Luke's Nana and Grandpa traveled from Houston to stay with us and hang out with Luke. He had a grand ole time showing them his toys, showing off his eating skills and showing them his expansive library of books.

Deeelicious!


Luke reading Grandpa a bedtime story


Besides entertaining our many guests lately Luke has been making great strides in feeding himself. He has been practicing for quite a while with tasty, melt-in-your-mouth Gerber puffs and has gotten so good at feeding himself that he almost refuses for you to put them in his mouth for him. He wants to do it himself. He's not a baby, after all, right? He's gotten so good at this feat and at chewing (well, gumming) that he's moved on to all sorts of delicious texture-ific delights: Cheerios, bread, crackers, Goldfish, shredded chicken, etc. He's also gotten really good at drinking out of a straw and loves to show off his cool skills at restaurants. Luke orders his own drink now- glass of water, neat, no olive, with a straw- and impresses all the ladies as he drinks it down with only minimal dribbles down his shirt.

Luke's Law of Percentages- the greater the number of puffs on the table the greater percentage chance one will make it into his mouth.