Luke Gets Baptized

We baptized Luke this morning. We had a private (semi-private -- another family was baptizing their son) ceremony after the late service at a Lutheran church by our house. (For us, Lutheran seems to be a good mix between Catholic and Methodist). Suzy flew in from Seattle to serve as his godmother, and Adam's brother Eric was there as his godfather.

Luke did great during the service and the ceremony. But, he kept dipping his hands in the holy water, so they're holy now. Overall, it was a great day. Very special for us.

Boys' Birthday Bash

I blog like I read. Sometimes I'll read and read and read, then I'll stop for a long time, then, I'll start back up. Not sure why I do it. But, I'm back! And, I have a lot to blog about!

First order of business -- the boys' birthday! We celebrated Nolan and Luke's birthdays with a barbecue blow out. Two little monkeys turned 1!

Luke's favorite present was probably the firetruck from Grandmother and Grandad. Every day he takes a ride in it. The funniest is that he'll climb in, shut the door and start steering. Not sure where he's going, but he's outta there!

Grandmother made the boys their monkey smash cakes, and if smashing a cake on your first birthday tells you anything about your personality, then Luke's going to be a quiet, reserved kid. Luke really didn't touch his cake until Adam showed him that if he smushed his hand in it, he could smear it everywhere. Nolan, on the other hand, well, let's just say he knew just what to do with his smash cake.

I'm Walking!

He's a walker! Kinda. He'd rather crawl, but he's taking several steps a day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7MIpJbqQmw

I still think it'll be week or two until it's his travel mode of choice. It might help that he's moving into the Lambs Room on Monday. The toddler room. He's no longer a baby! I got a little teared up when they told me that he was moving. They said, "He's ready. He's getting bored in here." I could see it coming. He was like King Kong in the Caterpillar Room (the babies), and he was the oldest baby. One day I saw him step on a little baby. Another day I saw him sit on one. Then, another day, I watched him crawl over to a little boy baby and grab his toy and crawl away with it. Big bully. But, now he'll be the little guy on the block. First day of school is Monday.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

In Seattle, we had to take a ferry to Bainbridge Island, and some days we took it several times. We were pros by the end of the trip, and Luke had the chance to ride on a boat, train (the train/tram at the airport), plane and car, of course. I've mentioned before that he loves all things wheels, including steering wheels. Loves them! He likes to act like he's driving.

He was great on the plane. It was a lot easier this trip since Adam was there, too. And, my parents and Brooke sat on the same row as us so we passed him back and forth. He wasn't too keen on the takeoff because it's so loud, but the landing ... loved it. He just stared out the window watching everything get bigger and bigger.

And, he earned his little wings.

Sister Suzy from Seattle Gets Married!

Suzy Meador is now Suzy Hawkins! We spent about a week in Seattle for Suzy and Michael's wedding. She was so beautiful! And, it so, so, so much fun! They got married on Bainbridge Island in Puget Sound, and the weather was incredible -- about 60 degrees during the day and really cool at night. The flowers they grow up there -- wow! There is no way we could have them here. The rehearsal dinner was at Michael's parents' house, and they have hydrangea bushes that are just beautiful! But, her sisters in law don't agree -- "What?! Hydrangeas are like weeds! Gross!" I couldn't believe it!

The wedding ceremony was outside in front of about 100 people. Everything was great! Suzy did a really good job of planning. I'll post pics once Suzy sends us the photographer link.

Before the wedding, all the Meador girls spent the day at the spa for massages and mani/pedis. It was perfect! Adam was on Dad Duty for a lot of the trip since I was in the wedding and helping Suzy -- he's such a great dad. By the end of the trip, Luke wouldn't come to me because he wanted to stay with Adam. It was a really good bonding trip for them. They haven't spent that much time together since the last time Adam took a vacation, which was when Luke was born.

Happy birthday, sweet Luke!

A year! How did that happen? It went by so fast!

Life is certainly different than it was a year ago, and so much richer! Luke is now:

- drinking from a sippy cup. About 3/4 of it makes it in the tummy.

- drinking whole milk. He hasn't seemed to notice the change from formula to milk.

- eating solid foods well. He's not really showing much interest in letting me feed him anymore at all. He wants to do it!

- sleeping through the night -- 8:30p-7:00a. Waking up once in the night is few and far between at this point.

- using a pacifier, but it's going to disappear soon. We're going to lose it cold turkey!

- saying "dada" when looking at or hearing Adam; "baba" when looking at a bottle, but I have to prompt him; "fogfog" when playing with his favorite toy of all time, the green frog from daycare (we had to borrow it for our trip to Seattle); "buuhh" when pointing at a bird or light (he loves lights by the way). He'll say "mama" but I don't think he associates it with me yet.

- crawling, bear crawling and creeping. He'll stand on his own for several seconds, but it's not usually on purpose, rather he's let go of the side of the table or chair and hasn't realized it. He'll walk if we hold his fingers, but he gets frustrated and sits down.

His favorites are:

- food: mangoes, waffles, yogurt, cheese. I really think he could consist on bread products for the rest of his life if we'd let him.

- song: Itsy Bitsy Spider. It usually calms him down when he's fussy, tired, cranky, etc. I think the hand motions help ... or maybe he just thinks Mom looks crazy making it rain in the car, store, mall ...

- toy at daycare: green frog. They were nice enough to let us use it for the trip to Seattle, and I'm tempted to offer to pay them for it. He loves Frog! Apparently, he bogarts it at daycare and gets really irritated when the other babies try to play with it.

- toy at home: truck. He'll push it around forever. But, he doesn't like stuff in the back of it, so don't fill it up! He'll take it right back out.

- toy that's not a toy: stroller. Again, he'll push it around forever. He's throwing little temper tantrums now and did so at Baby Gap the other day. All because he saw the wheels on the stroller and wanted to get out to push it around. Oh -- he was furious when we had to leave. Stares from everyone! "What?! Your baby's never thrown a fit because he wanted to push his umbrella stroller back and forth?!"

- activity: walks and bathtime. We take a walk every evening, mostly so Max will chill out, but also because Luke really enjoys them. We just walk and walk and look and look. He's so quiet during the walks, taking it all in. For baths, right now he really likes to play with his little sponge letters and numbers that stick on the wall when wet. And, the drain is really interesting!

Luke is definitely our sweet baby boy. If it's this much fun now, I can't imagine how much fun it's going to be! I love you forever, sweet LukeyBear!

Luke, Meet Luke

Babies are funny. You have to wonder what's going through their heads when they're figuring things out for the first time. I watched Luke play with his reflection for a few minutes. I wonder if he knows it's him, or if he thinks it's another baby. I guess it's like a mirror, which he sees all the time ...