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.

So Far, So Good

Well, 8 days is definitely better than 2 months. I'm making progress. Luke, however, seems to have stalled in the walking department. After taking 5 steps on the 20th, he has only taken a total of about 10 steps since. As I said before, he knows he can get there faster if he crawls. I'm not worried though; I know he'll get there and for now my life is easier with a crawler rather than a walker (or at least that's what everyone keeps telling me).

Last week, my mom was here to see Luke and help me celebrate my birthday but who are we kidding we all know where parents rank when a grandparent is around. We had a good time and Luke loved having Grammy around for a few days. The first afternoon she was here Luke refused to take a nap because he slept in the car on the way to the airport so as it was a nice fall day we went for a walk and stopped at the neighborhood park. Luke loves to swing (as apparent in the photo) and he thought the slide was pretty cool too.

Hello Again

Okay so I said I would try to be more regular about posting. I'm getting better- it's only been 2 months this time :) Writing is not one of my favorite past times so maybe that's the problem or maybe I'm just lazy or maybe being a mom of a 14 month old is busy. I'll let you decide.

It's hard to believe that my birthday is almost here again. What a difference a year makes! So cliche but it's true. Another cliche- how fast the time goes! Luke is 14 1/2 months old already. I miss my baby (he'll always be my baby but he's not really an actual baby any more).

Last night for the first time Luke took 5 steps! My baby is WALKING! He has been working on it so hard the last few weeks. Troy and I have been encouraging him a ton but he always would get an attitude about it- almost like he didn't want to because he could get there faster if he crawled (he is a super speedy crawler). So far today he hasn't taken any more steps but Troy has been at work so maybe he's waiting for Daddy to get home to show off some more skills.

Just fyi I've given up on updating from where I left off. I figure it will be good if I can get one post a week going. However, I do have to put some pictures from Luke's birthday party up because they are so stinking cute!

Yes, we are still here!

Okay, so a six month absence isn't that long really (at least to an adult). Luke on the other hand has obviously changed quite a bit in that time. I'm not quite sure why I stopped blogging but I'm going to make an effort to keep up with it from now on. There is no way that I can go back and write about everything that has happened in the last six months but I'll do a brief written summary followed up with some pics.

January

It was quite an eventful month for Luke. He started eating many more solid foods and he enjoyed all of them. At his 6 month check-up Luke weighed 18 lbs 13 oz (75%) and he was 27 1/2 in long (85%). Toward the end of the month he started sitting up on his own and his first tooth started to come in.

Luke got this horse jumper for Christmas and absolutely loved it! He would jump for hours and if he was fussy all we needed was a ride in the horse. Luke had his first "real" bath in January and loved the water- still does in fact. And just a cute, happy pic to round things out.

February

We had a low key month in February. Valentine's Day was fun for us all- we went to lunch and then to the toy store to get Luke his first phone so he would quit wanting Mom's. In the middle of the month, Luke started rolling over both ways consistently. He was very excited with his new moves.

We had some nice weather for February and we had our first visit to the park. Luke loved the slide. My aunt and mom came for a visit. And probably the highlight of the month was getting a cowboy hat to go with the horse. This is a favorite picture of ours!

March

What a roller coaster ride March was for us! Unfortunately, Troy lost his job on March 5. Thankfully, he found a new job by March 27 but it meant moving to Oklahoma City. I was less than excited about moving but Troy was employed and we all know how important that is and how fortunate we were that he found a new job so quickly in this economy. During the month, all the grandparents came for visits- separately of course. They all wanted to give us their love and support. Luke enjoyed all the extra attention and spoiling. Luke also started sleeping without his bouncer which was a major milestone. His acid reflux was getting better plus he was outgrowing the weight limit on the bouncer. Along with this, he also finally stopped wearing a bib all the time (no more spit up!). At the end of the month, Luke's second tooth appeared and he started reaching for me (so amazing!).

You wouldn't think so but these pictures are in chronological order. We were going to enjoy a day at the park in the first one but just after this pic I tripped on some concrete stairs while holding Luke and we both got scraped up a bit so that ended our outing rather quickly. Just playing with Mom in the second one. The last one speaks for itself I think. This was a freak snow storm on March 28. Troy and his dad built this snowman for Luke and we were outside long enough to take a few pictures and that was it. Luke didn't mind the cold and tried to catch the snowflakes.