You're Cool Dad!

Halloween is a really big deal at Troy's office. Each year the different groups in the office come up with a theme for everyone to get their costume ideas from. This year the geologists, Troy's group if you didn't know, chose Saturday Night Live. Troy picked Gene Frenkle played by Will Ferrell, the guy who plays a cowbell. I'm not a huge SNL fan but Troy showed me the skit and it was pretty funny and definitely annoying with the cowbell. I decided a while back that we would go visit the office to see all of the costumes and I would dress Luke up in his dinosaur costume as well. Luke didn't recognize Troy at first but once he heard him speak everything was okay. One of Troy's co-workers took this picture of the two of them and I think it is absolutely awesome! You can see the love in Luke's eyes for his Daddy!

As it turns out Troy's group won the theme part of the contest for which each member got a $50 gift card to the mall. In addition, Troy was voted #1 for individual costume and so he won an additional $100 gift card. Way to go Troy!

So this is the vice president of the office and the two secretaries. Luke really wasn't too sure about the blue hair.

Walking!

It took me a while to figure out how to get a video posted on here. Turns out you have to prepare it for sharing before uploading it- who knew! Anyway, this is Luke walking around last night. He has continued to walk a bunch today and even walked to his highchair when I told him it was time for lunch!

Baby No More

As much as I hate to admit it, Luke is not a baby anymore :( He is no longer drinking from a bottle; he had his last one on Sunday night. And my prediction of walking within 2 weeks will definitely be an over estimate. Luke has been walking a bunch the last 2 days. After dinner tonight he was walking all over the family room and kitchen- taking off all by himself without us even realizing it. He did 2 1/2 laps around the kitchen before he plopped down. The best part is his huge smile and the look of accomplishment in his eyes. He is so proud of himself. Troy and I are also so excited for him- it is such fun to watch him.

So Close!

This past weekend we all went to Topeka to visit Troy's parents and attend a K-State football game. We would have loved to have taken Luke with us to the game but he's still coughing and it was better that he stayed home with Grandma and Grandpa (not that they minded in the least).

On Friday afternoon, Luke didn't take a great nap so he was up playing around while Grandma and I looked on. He had a plastic pumpkin in his mouth that he was holding onto with both hands (which is why I think he walked) and all the sudden he walked by himself all the way across the room- about 15 steps! I was so excited and so was Luke. He did it a couple more times right then and later in the evening to show Dad and Grandpa. Each day for the rest of the weekend he would take about 8-10 steps about 3 times in a row. You could tell how excited and proud Luke was along with those of us watching him.

Last night after we got home, Troy and I were playing with him on the floor and he started walking back and forth between us and we managed to get some pictures. Again, you can see the excitement in his face. I don't think it's going to be too much longer before he's walking everywhere.

In fact, today after lunch he was holding onto a kitchen chair and he just took off. He got about 5 steps before he plopped down but that's the first time he has walked without someone helping him stand beforehand. I'm going to guess that within the next 2 weeks he'll be walking all over. I'll keep you posted :)

Sick Time

So, the last six days have not been great for the Johnson household. Last Wednesday I started feeling bad and quickly came down with the flu. Luke seemed okay until late on Friday when he developed a fever and cough. In an effort to be extremely cautious parents we took him to the doctor on Saturday morning to rule out swine flu. The doctor did run the quick nose swab test on him (boy was that fun) and it came back negative for Strain A flu but I wasn't totally convinced. I had all the symptoms on the CDC website except for vomiting (thank goodness) and fever. Luke had all except vomiting (very thankful for that). The doctor mentioned that they had been seeing false negatives in cases that were still in the early stages of development and I've heard on the news that the test may only be as accurate as 50%. So, even though Luke tested negative and I never went to the doctor, I believe there is a chance that we had swine flu. This is the first time that Luke has truly been sick to the point of being really fussy and whiny (who wouldn't be with a temp of 102.5) and even then Troy and I were amazed at how cute and adorable he was. Today is the first day we have felt better although we still didn't leave the house. I actually hope that we did have swine flu and now don't have to worry about getting it for the rest of the season; however, I wouldn't wish it on anyone and definitely not having it simulatenously with your 15 month old child. I know it could have been much worse but it still was absolutely no fun. Healthy wishes for you all!

New Chair

This is Luke's new chair. We ordered it for him for Christmas but as you can see he got a very early present from Santa. He loves it! It took a little while for him to warm up to it but now he's a pro at climbing in and the method of choice for getting out is throwing himself forward. That would definitely not be my choice but he squeals with delight so I guess he's not hurting himself. Don't you think he looks like a big boy sitting all by himself?!?! What a cutie!

15 Month Check-Up

Can you believe that Luke is already 15 months old? It seems like time just keeps speeding up. This morning we went for his 15 month check-up at the doctor and it seems like yesterday that we were there for his 1 year.

I won't start on doctors being on time- we didn't get to see the doctor until an hour past our appointment time. So aggravating!! Luke was a trouper though. In fact another mom in the waiting room commented on how nicely he was sitting in my lap. I mentioned we had been waiting for 30 minutes and she was really impressed. Yes, I can brag about how awesome my child is! That's part of being a mom.

Anyway, back to his appointment. Luke weighs 24 lb and 3 oz and is 30 1/2 inches long. I know the nurse told me what percentages those were but I can not remember now. The doctor was not at all concerned about Luke not walking much yet. In fact she said that children who have advanced verbal skills at this age typically walk later. If you've been around Luke lately, you know that he talks and jabbers up a storm. The doctor was quite surprised when I told her that he was saying at least 10 words already (it's more like 15 I figured out on the way home- bragging again, I know) :)

One of my biggest concerns was flu shots- both the seasonal flu and H1N1. The office was currently out of the seasonal shots and they are not going to get the H1N1 in their office. Luke's doctor said she has been undecided about the H1N1 vaccine which is how I was feeling about it before we talked. I don't much like the idea that it's brand new and the long term affects haven't been discovered yet. The doctor strongly encouraged me to get Luke vaccinated for the seasonal flu which I was planning on already and she said that since Luke is not exposed to many other children if we didn't get the H1N1 vaccine we would probably be okay. So, I'm not going to stress over it. I have a feeling it would be very difficult to find a location that actually had the shots for his age anyway. We'll just be extra careful about when we go out and I'll make sure that I clean off any shopping cart Luke sits in. It's seems like a blessing now that I wasn't able to get him enrolled in a mother's day out program.

One last note and I only have to say something because I myself hate needles. Luke had a terrible nurse (I think she may have been new). Poor guy had to get 3 shots today but it was a much more agonizing ordeal than necessary. During previous rounds of shots, nurses give them to him super fast and it's done in about 15 seconds. Today it was about a minute. The nurse would let go of his legs after each shot rather than holding him for all 3. Of course this made it much harder because he was mad (as I would be about shots) and flailing his legs which she then had to grab again making Luke that much more upset. I felt really horrible for my little guy- I wanted to give the nurse a shot to see how she liked it! Hopefully next time we have a different nurse and if not, I may ask for a different one.

Trip to KC

Luke and I took a road trip last week. We went to KC to visit family and friends. We arrived on Wednesday and got back yesterday. It was a fun-filled trip despite the cold and rainy weather. Luke had many adventures: bumping down the stairs with Grammy, playing peek-a-boo with Grandpa, hanging out with Aunt Sarah, making music with Paw Paw, eating a whole container of cheese puffs with Becca (my friend Jen's daughter who is 14 months old) and generally wearing himself and the rest of us out. Here are a few pics to enjoy!

We were glad to be home yesterday and Troy was even happier to have us back. Luke was thrilled to see Dad after 5 days and almost as happy to see Maggie and Daisy.

Tasty Weekend

We had a rather chill weekend. It was what I would consider the first true fall weekend with crisp, cool air, some drizzle and watching lots of football while wearing sweats. Luke enjoyed the down time with both of us on the couch. He seems to be getting a slight cold so he was ever so slightly less happy than normal. His taste buds did enjoy a variety of new treats though.

On Friday night we went to a shrimp boil for Troy's work. I was fully expecting Luke to spit out the bite of shrimp I gave him but he looked at me with a big smile and wanted more. He had a few more bites and then moved on to his chicken. On Saturday, Troy played golf with one of our neighbors. I decided to bake a pizza for lunch and thought Luke should try some. I was thinking he would really enjoy it. I think maybe it was too much bread but he only ate about 8 bites which for his appetite is nothing. Then yesterday, going along with the fall feeling, I fixed grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for lunch. Big hit! Luke ate almost half a sandwich and he had several sips from my bowl of soup. It is good to have easy meals to fix for him other than the pre-made meals from Gerber (they sort of gross me out). He is still very picky about which solid fruits and vegetables he will eat so trying 3 new things and for the most part liking them is a big deal for him. Just for the record, he only likes cantaloupe, bananas, carrots and green beans (if they are hidden well enough). I am very ready to stop buying pureed fruit and veggies for him.

A funny side story. Last week, maybe Thursday night, Luke had a dirty diaper about 20 minutes before bath time and it wasn't worth it to change him before his bath. Troy and I kept holding our noses and saying "peeyou" or telling Luke he was stinky. He caught on very quickly and now any time we say either of those he holds his nose. It is absolutely adorable.