2 months until he's 2!

Today Luke is 22 months old. I simply cannot believe that my little baby is almost 2 years old. Where has the time gone?

Luke, every month you are cuter, more fun, and more full of life than the previous. And, each month we seem to fall more and more in love with you. Here are just some of the things that I love about you right now:

1) I LOVE your conversation. Since the tubes were put in your ears, your vocabulary has exploded. You are now talking in 3 and 4 word sentences, and some of the stuff that comes out of you amazes us.

2) I love how you now refer to yourself at "Ruke." You spend a lot of time telling me what "Ruke" should be doing ... "Ruke swing," "Ruke drive," "Ruke choc-choc milk," "Ruke Daddy gui-tar" (Luke & Daddy play guitar together), "Ruke, Ma play choo-choo" (Luke and Mom play with trains), "Ruke shaow" (Luke take a shower).

3) I love that you can repeat just about anything and everything. Last week I was asking Daddy why it was so important that he got his hair cut that day. He said it was because he wanted to look hot for me. You heard this and instantly looked at me and said so matter of factly, "To look hot for you!" We definitely need to watch what we say from now on!

4) I love that you are getting very good at going to sleep in your big boy bed. You can now really understand when Mommy asks you to stay in bed, and you try SO hard most of the time to resist the ultimate temptation of getting up and playing in your room.

5) I love that you see things that I don't even notice. For instance, when we drive anywhere in the car, you look out the window and notice the sky, trees, airplanes, trucks, cars, train tracks, etc.

6) I love that you are able to describe things now. Instead of just saying that you see a truck, you tell us that it is a "white truck," or a "red car." So smart!

7) I love that you have some incredible sense of direction that most certainly did NOT come from me! If we say that we are going to Grammy and Poppy's and we take a different route, you make sure to let us know that we are going the WRONG way! You also know exactly where the light rail train tracks are, and if we approach that street, you start talking about the train before we even get there. It amazes me that you know where you are!

8) I love your hand motions that go with songs. You love to do "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," "The Wheels on the Bus," and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."

9) I love that you love when Mommy sings to you. Sometimes, if you are upset about going to sleep you will cry, then settle in my arms and in your most sad voice ask Mommy to "siiiing peez." Just to make it better, you sing along with me, but usually only making sure to hit the high notes along the way. Listening to you sing while we rock is one of the best parts of my day.

10) I love what a little musician you are. I know that I've said it before, but I'll say it again - you are destined for great things musically! You love to sing, dance, clap, drum, bop, watch concerts on TV, and sometimes just listen. This month the guitar was your highlight ... and I love to watch you hold it (the "right" way without even being shown how) and strum and dance away. Daddy is going to make you a strap so that you can move around with it more easily :)

11) I love that you seem to love books and reading together more and more all the time. You can even remember and repeat lines from books as a way of telling me which one I should pull off the bookshelf.

12) I love how you come into our room on weekend mornings very quietly. Sometimes you just sit on the floor next to the bed and watch us sleep. And then, out of nowhere (and usually quite loud) you either announce that you have "poo-poo" so that we will get up and change you, or you start singing your version of the Elmo song "La la LA ELMO!"

13) I love how you "swim" on your tummy in the bathtub!