Spin Around and Around and Around...

David taught Luke to do this while I was running errands this week. He finally did it for the camera. Too funny...(It may not look like a big deal, but since he's only been walking for 3 weeks, it's nice to see all he can do in such a short amount of time!)

Enjoy!

Homemade Fingerpaint

Many afternoons we do a fun activity together. Last Thursday, I made green and blue homemade fingerpaint with flour, water, and food coloring. Luke had a great time creating an artistic expression for our fridge. :) I think I am getting the hang of this SAHM thing!

Pupik

'Pupik' pronounced poo-pek is Belly Button in Czech. Grandpa Jim teaches all the grandkids to show their pupik instead of saying belly button. Well, lately Luke has started lifting his shirt to put his finger in his pupik while he sucks on his finger. We don't know why it started, but it's become a comforting habit, I guess. Nice...one more habit to break (hopefully, before school starts). Now, he walks around sucking on his left finger with his right finger in his button. It was cute at first because you can't really tell that his hand is in his button and he looks like an old man toddling around with his hand tucked in his pants. BUT now, when he is tired at dinner, he takes his dirty little hand, lifts his bib, and sticks his finger in his pupik. This is really annoying if we just gave him a bath or if he already has his one piece pj's on. Food gets all over his belly or his pj's...another piece of laundry to clean!
Any ideas on the obsession with the pupik? We'd love to know why it started.

Grandmother's kisses...

Last weekend we went to visit both of my grandmother's. On Saturday, Donna, Haley, Will, Luke, Madison (my cousin's daughter), and I left my dad's mom to see my mom's mother. She's a sweet lady and Luke LOVED her! He just. had. to. give her kisses. He's such a lovey boy! I thought that this was a precious picture!

Luckily, we got a pretty good picture of the 3 great-grandkids with Grandmother. Will is a silly boy! He's always trying to get a laugh out of his audience...as you can see below! It was a fun weekend, but we are glad to be home.

Swimming Lessons

1, 2, 3...UP and UNDER! Luke is doing so well after swimming lessons. He has learned to hold his breath when we say the 'cue'...1, 2, 3...Up and Under! He (We) learned a lot last month. We practice the back float, kicking, and blowing bubbles when we go to the pool. We cannot wait to show Grampa Jim and Nana all that he's learned in swimming lessons! Thank you for the lessons, guys! What a great birthday present!





This is my swim coach. She thought I was handsome.

'E'

Most of you know that Luke had cleft lip surgery at 13 weeks. What you may not know is that we have to massage the scar tissue in his lip with vitamin E oil every night for at least 30 seconds. He loves the bottle of E and holds it most nights before bed. He usually cries when we have to say night, night to the E and put it away.

About 6 months ago, we started singing the ABC's during our little massage routine...30 seconds, right? Anyway, He's pretty good about letting us massage it even now. Sometimes we don't get to the part after Z, but that's OK. Not too long after we started singing the ABCs to him, Luke started calling all letters, 'E'...because of his vitamin E oil, we think. We don't know if the actual letter E or the ABC song is the reason that he equates the oil to letters,
but nonetheless...
it is pretty cute.
This weekend, however,
he started rubbing his baby's lip and saying, 'E, E, E'....
How stinkin' cute is that?

(See the picture above of him holding the bottle of E. Many days he carries it around like a toy.
I think that he tends to like orange because of it, but it might just be me...)

A Long Weekend in Nashville...

Last weekend, David kept Luke and I went to Nashville to visit my Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins. It was a wonderful visit and was great to 'get away' for awhile. It was odd, though, not having any responsibilities...I almost didn't know what to do with myself. Thanks, guys, for a fun visit and for just letting me 'hang' for awhile.

Some of you know that my cousin is a photographer (the picture to the right is one he took of us at Thanksgiving). While I was there last weekend, we took his daughter to the cutest park in Murfreesboro for a photo shoot. Madison did great and Matt taught me some things to get me started taking pictures of Luke. We'll see how well I do once I get a camera. Some of the shots I know for sure were taken by me...see below. (If you ask Matt, he'll claim the good ones because, honestly, we don't know what shots were taken by whom...well...most of them, anyway, some I know for sure that I took!) Thanks, Matt and Madison, for patience with me and for a great afternoon! Thanks, Michelle, for sharing your family with me for a few hours...I love ya'll...

(On a side note...my flight got in at 11 on Monday night because of weather and when I got home there were a dozen beautiful red roses on the kitchen island with a note from Luke and Daddy that said, 'We missed you'. I missed you guys, too...SO much!
I've got some sweet boys...I tell you what!)I was pretty excited about this one b/c Matt went to the car and I just picked up the camera and started shooting without any instruction. It is pretty amateur, but I thought it was OK for a first shot.

This is TOTALLY Madison...I loved her expression in this one.

This was taken by Matt...pretty cute, huh?
He's all about portraits...I'm all about candids!
We are a good pair! :)

Baby

Some kids have a blankie...some kids have a teddy bear...Our kid has a doll! 'Baby' is her name...

A few weeks ago, Luke found my old doll on our guest bed. It's a ratty, old Madame Alexander Baby Victoria from 1978 that I slept with starting at age 2 until...well, that doesn't matter...it's old...you get the point. He will not part with her. Most of the day he is fine without her, but at naps and bed time he inevitably says, 'Baby?'. Neither one of us liked the idea at first...David, because he's a boy and boys.don't.have.dolls...and I didn't like it because she's MY doll...she may be ratty and old, but she's mine. (He's holding her in the picture above.)

Not too long after I realized that he was forming a real attachment to her, I called my mom to tell her that I found a new 2008 Baby Victoria online. After all, she was the one that started the Baby Victoria fetish in the first place...with me! Right, mom? So, after a little discussing...Gramma bought him a new Baby Victoria! Thank you, Gramma...Luke will be proud to take his baby out into the world with him...as was I!
(See new Baby below...he's giving her kisses...mmmm-aa)

June 2008 - Month 16

This month, we went to Ohio for the Goldmeyer family reunion and to the zoo with my playgroup. It's hot, but summer is fun and Luke LOVES to swim!

May 2008 - Month 15

Hermie

I bought this spoon because it is supposed to keep food on it easier. I am not actually sure that it does, but a Lukey story came out of it.

We have a green and yellow one. It looks just like the picture to the left, but it is green where this one is blue. I am sure you can imagine it. Anyway, Luke picked it up this week and said, "Hermie?". David and I cracked up...Hermie is his new word this week. He LOVES Hermie the caterpillar from the book series by Max Lucado. I can completely see why he thinks it looks like Hermie...what do you think?

mmmm-aa

Luke is so funny lately...well, most of the time he's funny...but just recently he's started 'virtually' kissing things he loves. Most of the time he just says, 'mmm-aa', but there are times he throws in an occasional hand to blow the kisses.
Story:
Setting: stuck in traffic near the airport
Luke says his version of airplane with a point and a 'uuu?' then proceeds to say, 'mmm-aa' (which is a kiss).

Story:
Setting: Cheddars for lunch
Luke sees the revolving fans on the ceiling, points, gives a 'uuu?', then a 'mmm-aa'.

Story:
Setting: on a walk in the neighborhood...on the way home...mom stops to get Luke out of the stroller to 'experience nature'.
Mom points out a caterpillar. Luke says, 'uuu? Hermie?' (from his book) then ...you guessed it.... 'mmm-aa'.

And, finally....the kicker...
Setting: in the front yard getting the mail
A trash truck drives by...Luke points, gives a 'uuu? Kluga-vroom-vroom (Luke talk for car)', and then...yup...'mmm-aa'. Mom said, 'yuk-aa'!

Luke is 15 months old

Hey Buddy Boo,
You're 15 months old today and cuter by the minute. You love balloons, "da", and love ALL of your books with balloons in them. You enjoy finding the balloon on all pages of the pages of The Wheels on the Bus and Good Night Gorilla. You also LOVE to read. We sit and read for hours some days. You love to crawl out of my lap and 'pick out a book' and then bounce up and down with excitement when I ask you to sit in my lap. You love trucks, cars, anything with wheels. You call them, 'Klooga-vroom-vroom'. Funny that a clock is a 'klooga', too. Your word for 'cracker' and 'cookie' sound so similar, but are so slightly different that I can tell what you want. You recently picked up the 'W' sound. Water and Mommy's white brush are both 'wa wa'. You've also started recognizing letters. You know the letter 'E' from your vitamin E oil you have to put on your lip. You've actually called it 'E' since 9 months. You recently noticed the letter 'B' and call your Bob the Builder and Baby Beluga book 'B'. You've said and pointed out 'A' and 'G' for several months now. 'A' because of all your ABC books and 'G' because of the 'G' picture on the wall of your room. You are so smart and are learning so much everyday. You can tell us what an elephant says and raise your arm. You know the sounds for cow, snake, chicken (bock-bock when we eat Chick-Fil-A), owl, the dishwasher (pshshsh-BEEP) and the washing machine. We laugh and are loving every minute with you. You love your bed and say 'Night-Night' and point to it or our bed. You mainly like to 'play' night night more than actually go night night. However, you are usually very easy to go to bed. You also call the trash and trash truck 'shu-ee'. You are so proud when you find 'sho-ee' on the floor and bring it to me to throw away. What a helper!! Shoes are also called, 'shoos', but you say, 'shoo-aw' because I ask you about putting your shoes on or taking them off. You LOVE your shoes especially new ones. I guess you are like your Mom in that aspect.
There are only a few words that you say with 100% accuracy. (Baby, Mommy, Ball) Mommy is the very first word that you said perfectly. I love it most days and melt when you say it. There are many days/times that you say it in a whiny voice and want me to pick you up that it can be a very hated word. BUT, mostly, I LOVE it because I am your Mommy and I love you very much!!
You are not walking on your own yet. It seems like you've crawled forever (since 8 months) but you are very cautious and do not want to walk until you are 100% sure that you won't fall. You will walk holding on to our finger with just one hand, but will not stand or walk on your own. One day, soon, I'm sure.
A few weeks ago, you were standing next to me at the sink and tugging on my pj bottoms and calling 'Mommy'. I asked you to wait until I was finished cleaning the strawberries and I would go play with you. You continued to yell at me and then started saying, 'Baby. Baby. Baby'. I asked why you were saying, 'Baby'. You huffed at me and said, 'Staw-baby!' OH...you want a strawberry! You were so cute! I could just eat you up!
You love all fruits and will eat your fruit before anything else on your plate. Berries are your favorite, but you like pears and oranges, too. you still only have 6 teeth, but I think your molars are working their way in.
All cars and trucks are your favorite to push around. Balls and balloons are a hit, as well.
At the end of the day, snuggling with mama and singing/praying are wonderful times. You love to give kisses, 'mmm-a's' and love for me to hold you. I am so thankful for a little boy that loves me, loves to cuddle, snuggle and hug. You are so precious and I am thankful for every minute that I get to spend with you. Thank you, Lord, for such a wonderful gift. Thank you for his personality and thank you for providing so that I can be home to watch him grow. Luke, you are a gift and a treasure to us!
We love you,
Mom and Dad