Dinner out

Matt and Alli also came into town but didn't make the parade. Afterwards we went out to Red Robin for dinner. Luke enjoyed some wonderful mac & cheese - and wore most of it home I think.



Then we went and spent some time at the playground across the street.


He's become so independent and wants to climb up and then go down the slide all by himself.

Fishers Freedom Festival

This weekend was the annual Fishers Freedom Festival. Last year this was the weekend that Luke had his very first ear infection, so it wasn't really all that memorable. Luckily this year we had a great time!

Karen and I took Luke on the 2 mile family walk on Saturday morning. He did a great job, until the 1.5 mile mark when he decided that he wanted to walk too - only not in the same direction as everyone else. Due to that, we may have been some of the last to finish ...



On Sunday afternoon we went to the parade with Mamaw and Papaw. Luke LOVED it. I was a little worried that he'd be scared by the loud firetrucks, but he just kept peering around people to see if more were coming. He clapped when people clapped and waved at everyone and loved getting the candy from people. One of the floats was from his daycare so he got to see Miss Stephanie (the other toddler room teacher) and Miss Krista (the director.)

Our setup - we went over a little early to put our chairs out and then got there about an hour early to hang out.


Luke thought that he could help kick the parade off while we were waiting.


Our family!


Sitting with papaw


Watching the fire trucks go by


One group on the parade handed out stuffed dogs instead of candy - just what Luke wanted!


Clapping

Luke's second chore

Soon he'll be washing dishes and folding laundry.

Helping daddy out

Luke is all about helping right now - helping me cook, helping me clean, and today - helping daddy fix the toilet. He even learned how to turn the screw driver by himself!

Camping!

We went on our first family camping trip for Father's Day weekend! We went down to McCormick's Creek State Park with our friends Anne, Kyle, Molly (3 years old) and Eleanor (1 year old.) We picked McCormick's Creek because it's 12 minutes from Jason's parents house - and when you're camping with 3 little ones a backup plan is a good idea. Luckily we didn't need it!

The weather forecast wasn't promising, but we got there at 12:30 on Saturday and it didn't rain until 7:30am Sunday.

We had lots of camping food (hot dogs, s'mores), went on walks, saw a waterfall, threw rocks in the water, played a lot, slept in the tents, listened to raccoons eat our oreo cookies ... all typical camping stuff!

The 3 kids! Molly, Luke, and Eleanor ...


I'm pretty sure this is when I noticed Luke signing "bird" for the first time


Anne and her almost-1-year-old Eleanor.


Luke's favorite thing was to run around and throw the various balls we brought - luckily he stayed away from the campfire!


Eating a snack in his little camp chair


Having a toast (yes, champagne is solo cups) to celebrate Anne and Kyle's 6 year wedding anniversary.


Down at the waterfall




Getting ready to throw rocks in the creek




A very very tired and dirty little boy right before bed

Luke's first chore

Luke loves to help feed the kitties. Aside from getting the actual container open, he can pretty much do it all by himself! (Sometimes the food doesn't quite get in the bowls, but close enough ...) I fear he's going to start asking for an allowance soon.

Trip to Kentucky

My mom, sister, and I took Luke on a trip to Kentucky a few weekends ago and we all had a great time!

On the way there we realized that we might want to invest in a portable dvd player for car trips - although he made the laptop work!


Luke seemed to have a great time playing with his great uncles. This is his Great Uncle Kent.


And reading books with his great uncle Danny. It was so funny - Luke would scowl at him and then demand to be picked up - over and over again.


Taking a picture of his Great Grandpa Sonny.


We also stayed at Great Grandma Rae's house for a day. I think it looks like they're playing "Rock Paper Scissors" here.


And played in water there!


We also saw Great Grandma Barbara, Great Aunt Lesa, and Great Aunt/Uncle Denise and Chip - somehow I didn't get pictures though!

DAD

For Father's Day, we gave Jason a frame holding some D-A-D pictures. It was a frame that held 3 4x6 pictures, so it ended up looking like this:


I actually tried this last year, but then instead we went with pictures of him dressed up in daddy's work clothes. Here was the DAD attempt then though. Maybe we'll do it every year!

Happy Father's Day!

Luke wants to wish his daddy a great Father's Day!

Getting ready for bed

He likes to try brushing his teeth by himself now - and looks pretty excited about it!


He's just practicing for when he's older and can read the paper while on the toilet.

16 months old

Age: 16 months

Weight: I'd guess between 27 and 28 lbs

Length: Something taller than 32 1/4 inches

Size: Same as last month - Size 5 diapers, and 18 month clothes. Carters 1 piece rompers and overalls seem to need to be 24 mos. Shoes are 4 1/2 (little guy has small feet.)

Hair: blondish brown but general consensus is that it's getting blonder by the day. He's had 3 haircuts so far.

Teeth: That awful last molar is through! Now we're working on the last canine - so he's almost got 16 teeth. I'm praying for a break until the 2 year molars.

Sleeping: Great, at night, like always! We've pushed him a bit closer to 7:30 to give us more time together in the evenings. He wakes up anywhere between 6 and 7am. Naps still suck. He typically gets one a day, for anywhere between 1 and 2 hours. There have been days at school when he only gets 45 min. Some weekend days he'll have 2 good naps, and other ones (Fridays it seems) he fights even one nap with all he's got. He sleeps with a pillow in his crib now and 2 blankets that he loves.

Eating: Still picky picky picky. He will always eat yogurt, granola bars, and cheerios. He hates all fruit. He loves soup. He's at least willing to try more now - I'll ask him to "just try and put a small piece in your mouth" and he does. Most of the time he spits it back out, but he actually ate some ham this weekend.

Movement: He is all over the place! He can climb on top of the coffee table now. He no longer likes to go down the steps on his belly, but wants to sit and scoot down them. Luckily he'll wait for me to go down with him.


Talking: mama, dada, and ball are the biggest ones. He has quit saying his version of book, he says "aa" for cat, and "pu" for dog. I've been worried about about his speaking abilities, but his pediatrician said it's fine and he'll have a word explosion soon. I've asked several mommy friends and had the same response. The biggest thing is that his comprehension is great and he communications wonderfully - he's just quiet. We asked him the other day if he could say cat and he looked at us, grinned, shook his head yes, then went back to playing. He'll watch us say words, really paying attention, and then just sort of nod his head and turn away like "ok, I've got it now."

He's been signing more lately too, which is funny to me because we don't watch signing time all that often anymore. Some of the things he "signs" like "all done" aren't the correct signs - but the biggest point is that he has something he does everytime he means that. He signs more, milk, eat, sleep, water, please, mom, dad, yes, no, uh oh, all done, wash hands, and bird - which is just about the cutest thing I've ever seen. I had no idea he could do it until this weekend. He was playing with a ball that had a picture of a penguin on it and we realized he was signing bird!


Milestones: Isn't everything?

Favorite toys/activities: Playing outside, playing in water, playing with balls - he loves to throw them, kick them, shoot them into the basket, hit them with a bat - I think he's going to love sports.

His other favorite past time is playing with the flashcards, or his "First 100 Words" book. He amazes me everyday with what he points out. When you're on a particular 2 page layout you can see 18 pictures. We'll randomly ask him to show us the "X" and he knows so many of them! Right now he knows baby, duck, chair/seat/sofa, cat, dog, cup, flower, teddy bear, ball, car, shoes, fish, hair brush, bathtub, boat, pillow, lamp/light, book, clock, keys, phone, TV, table, flower, leaf, socks, and bird. He understands lots of other words too, but those are ones from the book. :)

I'm just amazed daily with how much he picks up. He's started doing his puzzles (the ones where you take the piece out and you put it back into the same place that shows the picture) and gets pieces put back. He's started to learn how his big lego blocks work.

Dislikes: diaper changes

Disposition: He's such a happy little guy!

Other cute things about him:
*He is getting better and better with the kitties. He's so sweet with them and loves to give them hugs.

*he loves when daddy gets home. We can hear his car coming down the street and I'll say , "Luke! I hear daddy's car!" and he runs to the door. We also go outside to meet him so that Luke can sit in daddy's car for a few minutes.
*He loves balls so much that I think he dreams about them. I heard him talking last night and thought he was awake - but no - he was just saying ball in his sleep.
*He knows so many body parts! Head/hair, eyes, nose, ears, mouth, hands, belly button, feet/toes. One day he seemed to know knees but hasn't done it since.
*He has a toy vaccuum that he loves. If he sees me vacuuming he goes to get it. Once we were sitting on the couch and he had to make sure that it sat with us.


I said it last month but it's so much fun having a toddler!

Product rave: Touch and Feel Picture Flashcards

We have these flashcards and LOVE them:


It started out with Luke just carrying around the ball card - as that was (and still is) his favorite word. Now we play games and so far he can point out the ball, dog, cat, shoes, bear, keys, car, mirror, and baby. It's a lot like his picture books, but these he can actually find and then hand to me. They make other sets that I think we'll be ordering soon. I highly recommend them!

A new playground

A park near our house had their grand re-opening this weekend with a brand new playground. Luke and I invited grandma and went over there Saturday morning.

They had some cool musical instruments to play.



After he goes down the slide, Luke wants so badly to climb back up. He just keeps sliding down though.

Belly button

Luke found a new body part this week - his belly button!

Saying yes

While it seems that he tells us no 90% of the time, sometimes we get a big yes out of him. (All by shaking his head - he doesn't say either yet.)