Taking a stand

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.

Pool Party at Casa D'Andrea

Luke models the latest in French summer

fashion from Granny Svoboda

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.

Livin' the good life, au naturale

Memorial, and Wimberley, Days

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?

One tuckered out little guy on the drive home