Where's the puppy's nose?

Jason had the toilet turned off and the back off all day - he had to get a part to fix it. When he went to work on it this evening he saw that a certain somebody decided to drop a toy in there. (It's a bath foam letter O.)

I'm guessing he did this around the same time he unrolled the toilet paper roll. :)

Fridays with Luke

Fridays are my favorite day of the week because I get to spend them with my favorite little boy. As we enter into the toddler stage though, they are also the most exhausting!

Here are a few pictures of our day. Not pictured: lots of playing in the play room, feeding me chicken nuggets (yes - Luke fed me the chicken nuggets instead of the other way around), and pointing out noses on the stuffed animals.

Helping me unload the dishwasher. Luckily he grabbed a spoon and not a knife.


Learning how to take apart the remote - after he learned how to use it to turn on the tv. (We blocked the tv and the xbox from him so he can't actually push the buttons on it. He had to figure out a way around that.)


Pulling the old Nintendo off of the shelf. I think he wanted to get to the old Playstation - he's learned how to turn it on, and then push the button to make the tray come out - in the right order.


Leaving a trail of destruction ...


It was bound to happen sooner or later ...


And finally, bath time!

11 months old!

Luke is 11 months old! He's been changing daily and is so much FUN now! (Not that he wasn't before - but he's interacting and learning so much - everyday is exciting and something new.)

He weighs 23lbs, 9 oz, so an increase of less than a lb. He's still mostly wearing 12 month clothes and size 4 diapers, but we've been buying 18 month clothes as well.

He's been sick and on an antibiotic for the last 2 1/2 weeks, so his appetite has been strange. Some days he'll only have 3 bottles, and not even finish all of those - and other days he'll have his usual 4. He's sort of taken a step back on the table food - some days he hasn't even wanted pureed fruit. On days that he'll try table food, he surprises us. He refushed peaches one day, but came home with a note from school that said he ate a chicken sandwich! (Breaded chicken patty and bread cut up into small pieces.) He'll pretty much never turn down puffs or yogurt melts though.

He's been like a little sponge. In the 2 weeks that we've had the Signing Time DVD he's learned to sign milk. He's learning to flush the toilet (so far he hasn't quite pulled it down - he tries and laughs though.) He's figured out how to turn on the old PS2 and then push another button to get the disc out - in the correct order! Things that he seems to try to do but isn't an always thing is to point out noses, and also to repeat "moooo" after we do when I point out a cow in books/puzzles. He can say mama and dada and seems to associate it with the right person.

He's crawling and crusing along furniture with ease, and has taken a few steps behind his lion walker. Mostly he likes to "walk" behind it on his knees.

He's getting out of the phase where we always have to be in the room with him. We rearranged the baby proofing upstairs so now he can get out of our loft room and get into his bedroom, the bathroom, or his playroom by himself.

I can't believe that we're starting to transition out of the baby stage! How is my little boy going to be 1 in a month??

Children's Museum

My mom and I took Luke to the museum a few weeks ago to kill some time on a Friday. Each time we go he seems to interact more and have more fun. This time he got to play at the water table - and I already know this is going to be a favorite.




It was still Jolly Days when we went so we were able to go down the big slide a few times (the line was so long the first time we were there!)

Ping pong balls

Playing with ping pong balls is one of Luke's favorite past times - they have just the right bounce when dropped from the walker.

An "oops" moment

Due to all of the antibiotics Luke has been on, he has a pretty bad diaper rash. One of the biggest suggestions for treating it is to let him air dry as much as possible. We bought a waterproof mattress pad to lay down in his crib over the sheet so that he can play in there - diaper free - and we don't have to worry about it. Tonight after his bath we put him in there to do just that.

An important lesson that we learned - the waterproof mattress pad does nothing when the little boy stands at the crib rail - and pees out of it.

Milk

Luke can sign "milk"!! He's actually been doing it for a few days - his mommy and daddy were just a little slow to catch on. Honestly, Jason and I thought he was trying to wave. He mostly did it while sitting in his high chair and Jason even commented that he had his hand turned the wrong way to wave.

Then today we were watching Signing Time and I decided to start taping, just to show his reaction to the show. I had no idea he was going to do this!

We don't think he exactly knows what it means, but does seem to associate it with eating/food/hungry/bottle/milk.

I can't wait to see what else he learns - we're so proud of him!

(And pay no attention to how close to the tv he is. We moved the coffee table in front of it to block him from turning the Xbox on and off and that's where he ended up today.)

A fun game

Luke can't stand it when things are stacked up - they are just calling to him to be knocked over. Most of the time I can only get 2 or 3 stacked high before he sees it and wants to demolish it.

Visiting with Grandma and Grandpa

Jason and I had a lot of baby proofing to do around the house (not to mention getting an early start on "spring cleaning") and that was a perfect time for Luke to go down and stay with grandma and grandpa. We met down in Greenwood (about halfway for both of us) and had breakfast at Bob Evans. Then we came back home and Luke went on his way to a fun weekend!


It sounded like he had a great time - he got to go shopping with Grandma, visiting at the library, church on Sunday morning, and then breakfast at Wee Willies - yum!

Our poor little guy hasn't been feeling very well lately. He had a cold, turned long lasting cough, turned sinus infection, turned double ear infection (which actually happened while he was on the first antibiotic!) After switching meds a few times, and several doctors appointments, he finally seems to be feeling better. He ended up having to get an antibiotic shot to get rid of the ear infection, although still has the cough. He was checked for the flu and for pertussis (whooping cough) and both came back negative. So hopefully we are almost back to our healthy little boy! This week was the most pitiful I've ever seen him. He had a fever for a few days and didn't even feel like smiling. It just about broke my heart to see him like that.

And a few have asked about tubes - as of right now we aren't getting them. Their criteria is 5-6 within a year. So far he's had 4 in 7 months, so we'll see what happens.

Shake that booty

We watched Luke do this a few times before taping him. It's not an every time thing, but it's so adorable when he does it!

Signing Time

Luke got an awesome DVD for Christmas called Signing Time. This thing is like Baby crack. As soon as he hears the music he turns towards it mesmerized. He's been sick (more on that later) and one particularly bad night/early morning he was inconsolable until we turned the dvd on. Then he was content snuggling and sniffling (you know, that awful sound when they've been sobbing and are trying to stop) and watch that until he fell asleep.

He hasn't done any of the signs yet, although I swore we got "more" one day, and sometimes when he sees them do "eat" he'll stick his fingers in his mouth.

It's also been good because Jason and I have learned signs this way as well.

Linus and Shroeder

This:


Plus this:


Equals this:

Fun time with daddy

Happy New Year!