friends & pumpkins

Mere took Luke to the Arboretum here in Dallas, and he had a BLAST!!! Apparently he feels too cooped up at home or something because he took off running from the minute they got there and never stopped! What a day they had!

friends

Mere went with another seminary wife and her two kids…and Luke made a new friend.

what's this??

Don’t be fooled by the innocent expression…that is all it is. Immediately after this, Luke threw the pumpkin into the pile…then he picked up another one and threw it…then he did it again. Then, other kids decided that it looked fun and joined in…ours was the instigator!

i really touch this thing??

heart melter

Luke is old enough now (14 months) that we have developed a bit of a night-time routine. Meredith allows me to enjoy the ending part – taking Luke and putting him in his bed. I carry him into his room, turn on the nightlight, then hand him his snuggie blankie. I hug him close while whispering to him that we love him and a short prayer. At some point in the past few weeks, he has started “whispering” back to me. It is awesome!!! And adorably cute! Who knows what he is saying, but he does a great job of mimicking me   Well, last night he trumped this a million-fold…without the whispers. I was hugging him close and started gently patting his back while whispering to him. He cuddled his blankie with one arm, gently laid his head on my shoulder, and started patting my back…

I cannot even describe how my heart became absolute mush…I didn’t want to put him down…

Vintage Merriment

Mere’s mom found her old radio flyer wagon, which I think at this point is classified as vintage. Just in time, too, because we have been wanting to get a wagon for Luke! And what better than an original?? Yeah, originals need a bit of work these days, but what fun! This is project #1 for papa and son…okay for papa while son “helps.”

Time of Birth

6:11 PM

Today in history…

…God blessed us with a precious baby boy. One year ago today we held him for the very first time! (and we thought he was big then!) We praise God for a happy, healthy, smiley lil’ boy, and we give Him thanks for friends and family who are a part of raising and caring for him.

Happy Birthday Luke!!!

Check out pics from his first birthday party!!

10 months

The days are flying by, and so is Luke! He has become quite the speedster crawler, often chasing us as we move about the house, and sometimes we chase after him.

more pics below

weekend affairs

…mere’s mom and step-dad came through town, taking mere and luke to a wedding on saturday. overnight, their car was broken into and a few items stolen: GPS system and cell phones…and car jack. yeah, why steal a car jack?  this is the standard-issue car jack that they had to open a panel in the back to remove…didn’t know there was a black market for factory car jacks

…i had my final exam for my saturday class. it’s never encouraging when the prof opens the class with, “well yes, you guys are all just concerned with the exam we are taking at the end of the day…yes, well…it isa difficult one…hmmm…well enough of that, you will have time to see for yourself.” uh, thanks? it was just as difficult as the prof built it up to be…but this is, after all, grad school. the test centered around synthesizing what we had discussed and responding in essay form to case study type situations…the challenge being the length of the exam in the short time allotted.

…luke pulled to a stand on his own!! and mama and papa missed it!! he was on his knees looking out the window as I fed mallory. in the time i turned around and entered the house through the door that is 1 foot away, he stood up. at first i thought nothing of it because we often stand him up at the window and let him hang out there for a bit…but then i realized that i was outside and mere was on the couch on the other side of the room! here are some pics of the after-celebration:

       

developments

kids’ minds are GENIUS!! It is truly amazing to watch Luke develop…at times I think I can see those neurons racing around in his head, synapses firing like pistons on a dragster…just beautiful! So, as you can see in the vid below, Luke has become motivated to go after things. This “going after” involves physical moves as well as emotional/cognitive. We have noticed this increasing cough/cry act when he wants something but doesn’t get it, or if we set him down and he doesn’t want to be left there – cute but conniving.

What else…
…seemingly every time, when one of us opens his diaper to find poop, there comes a quiet (though sometimes not quiet) little chuckle
…he has figured out that he can pull the crib bumper down and see out (we recently lowered the mattress level to thwart his attempts at looking out). Because of this, he has discovered the neighboring stand that has cd’s and player on top. He can reach between the rails and flip through the cd’s making a clicking sound – this in opposition to sleeping.
…luke has discovered how to turn his jumper (a seat and spring that hangs from a door frame) into a jumping swing…i hope to catch this on video and post for you to see, lots of fun
…strangers/less familiar people than mama & papa are now scary and reason for the cutest pouty lip and tears; it takes a little bit to warm up and then he is back to his normal carefree self
…the first tooth has FINALLY pushed through! Just one and Luke is not a fan of letting you touch or see it, but it’s there.

tootling around

here we go…we’re going mobile! what a treat at the end of our saturday

8 months

I know, I know…I’m slow getting this up. Luke is now 8 months! He weighed in at almost 23 lbs and 29 inches long.