Luke

I felt it was time for a generic update on each of the boys. Just as many of my blogging friends will tell you, while I love to keep you all informed of our "goings on," I also hope that the boys can look back on this blog one day as a scrapbook. I love to do the "real" scrapbooking too, but it's easy to get behind and tough to get caught up, so at least they will have this blog. Anyway, I'll update separately and we'll start with Luke...

Oh, where to begin? Luke is nearing 15 months old. I like to say Lukey has two speeds - fast and fast asleep. For awhile he quit walking and just started running everywhere. Thankfully, he has calmed down a bit and has realized that he can still be in the middle of everything, even if he gets there a few seconds later.

I can't get him to sleep much past 7AM right now. This is making me a little crazy. I have no idea how to "fix" it, other than make it autumn/dark later in the mornings, which I clearly have no control over! But it's hard to be upset by such a cute face. He often wakes up and will hang out in his bed and talk for awhile. Then, when one of us goes in to get him up, he jumps to his feet and throws his arms up, as if to say, 'I'm up - let's play!' And it's full speed ahead from then on. Although just this afternoon he destroyed his crib during his quiet talking time - there appear to be major toothmarks on the front rail. He only has 6 teeth, but it appears he used them to their full potential. Maybe I'll serve him steak for dinner!

He's trying to decide whether he really needs the morning nap or not. Or I'm trying to decide. He can live without it, but the whining indicates he really still needs it. If we're out, he usually sleeps in the car en route, but never stays asleep/goes to sleep during an activity. If we're at home I usually put him down, but I don't let him sleep too long (selfishly, I need them both to rest in the afternoon at the same time). He does not appreciate when I wake him!

As for food, usually we fix Luke a plate and then just give him little bits of food at a time off of the plate. One recent Saturday the boys played outside and were too dirty to come inside to eat lunch. So, we stripped them and just gave Luke his plate. He thought he was really big stuff that day.

I think it was seeing this picture that made me decide to give up his last bottle (yes, I cried longer than he did). But he just looks so big sitting here feeding himself from a plate of food that I guess I have to let him be a 'big boy.'

Luke loves his bath and is a great toothbrusher. He actually gets excited about getting his teeth brushed!

This is a look I see A LOT. This look usually means "I hurt myself" or "Seth hurt me." At any rate, it requires being picked up and loved on and him hugging back. It might also mean, "Fix my lunch faster" or "I would really like a drink." I call it the 'open mouth, closed eyes look.' And if it involves an injury, he can get all the way across the room and to me with those eyes mostly closed! He loves his big brother fiercely, and desperately wants to do all the things Seth does. And along with that, he takes a fair amount of abuse from his brother!

Luke loves to be mostly naked. He usually throws his biggest fit when I am attempting to dress him. In fact, I believe that he has figured out that if he makes a big enough mess when he eats, I will take his clothes off, thus allowing him to run around nearly nude until I can get upstairs to get clothes for him. This picture is also significant because it reminds me to mention that he has figured out how to open the interior doors - nothing is off limits now.

His favorite color is yellow. Okay, this is a long shot but Seth has a box of crayons in the office and three times in a row Luke pulled out the yellow to give to me. Or maybe he despises yellow and wants it to go away. Hmmm...

His favorite song is "The Farmer in the Dell" from our Sesame Street CD. It's in our CD player in the family room and he can walk to it, turn it on, and will immediately start dancing.

Luke's favorite food is pretty much anything sugary. Thankfully that includes fruit and I can live with that option. Unfortunately he is less and less interested in vegetables. Although I'm learning that if it is the only thing left on the plate, he'll even eat those sometimes. This particular photo is at Ritter's - definitely not fruit. He devoured the kiddy sized dish and cried when it was gone.

My favorite recent Luke story: I changed his diaper and took the dirty one to the diaper genie in his room. A little later the same morning he was sitting in the floor pulling all the clean diapers out of the drawer in our room where we keep a stash. He got up, with a very determined look on his face, had two diapers in his hand, and took off for his room. He wasn't wandering to his room but rather was definitely on a mission. I gave him a head start and then followed. He had opened the diaper genie and was cramming the clean diaper into it. So funny!! This is just one example of how he wants to do whatever anyone else does. He likes to sweep and dust too.

So, to sum up this crazy long post, Lukey is my little charmer. Given the choice, he pretty much always chooses mommy - which makes me feel special but can also be very tiring! He probably gets away with more than he should because he's the baby and because he can con me easily. He's growing up WAY too fast and I'm trying to find an in-between, somewhere in the middle of babying my baby and letting him exercise his independence.