Another James in the making?

Does he have some of those "techie" genes from his Uncle James? Let's hope so because we could really use someone like him around our house.

Just updating his own blog:

...not to forget the infamous 1-finger typing skill

Body parts and blowing kisses....

I know, I know ... he IS brilliant!

A time to give thanks

Luke is thankful for:
* Mommy, Daddy, Grammy, Poppy, Satya, and all of my other family members
* those furry, fun creatures that live with us and let me pull their tails and give them "pets"
* Maria, who comes to play with me while Mommy & Daddy go to work and who is simply the BEST (Mommy loves her a lot too!)
* Thomas the Train & Elmo (my two current obsessions)
* French fries - while Wendy's still seem to be my favorite, I don't discriminate and will happily take McDonald's
* this just in - Chicken nuggets (Mommy is REALLY excited because I've added one more thing to my short list of Luke-approved foods)
* the park
* walks in my stroller
* my portable DVD player from Grandma & Grandpa that helped us all survive the car ride to SB
* my binky and blankie
* my home and bed ... I really LOVE to be in my own place, in my own bed (made evident by the 15 hours that I slept the night we arrived back home after Thanksgiving weekend)
* for other things I'm super thankful for, see the my favorite things list on the right hand side - that pretty much sums it up!

Mommy & Daddy are thankful for:
* Luke, who is absolutely the light of our lives
* our families, who are so unconditionally loving and supportive and who we enjoy not only as family but also as some of our best friends
* our pets, who are some of the best teachers of unconditional love
* our friends, near and far, who we couldn't do without
* our beautiful home, which we often don't remember how lucky we are to have because we are only thinking of what more we want to do to or changes to make to it
* our country, where we live safely and freely
* food, which we ate too much of over the last few days
* jobs, which we often complain about, but are so lucky and grateful to have
...and honestly, the list could go on and on...we have so very much to be thankful for.

We spent Thanksgiving weekend this year in Santa Barbara. We had a wonderful weekend surrounded by lots of food, family, fun conversation, and beautiful weather.

Mommy is disappointed in how few pictures she took of the weekend (and just in general lately). She says that she is going to really make an effort to take more pictures in the coming weeks and over the Christmas holiday. At any rate, here are a few from our weekend.

All of us at great -Grandma & Papa's beautiful Thanksgiving dinner table (that's Uncle Ken whose head is blocked by Uncle Todd ... and Mommy is obviously taking the picture):


Satya really enjoying the meal:


Happy Thanksgiving, little boy:


Satya opens a few early birthday presents - and she just loves her fairy princess dress up outfit from Aunt Kathi & Uncle Mike - what a beauty!


Our immediate family (obviously missing our sweet Brooklyn & Linus):

Our other family members

Linus & Brooklyn:

We love them

(and they love each other!)

Luke-isms

A day in the life of Luke

(well, not ALL of these things happened in ONE day, but it gives you a taste of what life is like right now)

Giddy-up, Kitty:

Climbing, climbing, climbing ....

...onto the toybox:

...onto the desk:

...onto the kitchen table (Mommy hasn't caught this on film because it is so completely dangerous that she must immediately remove me from my perch)

Patiently waiting for Daddy's arrival home:

Lollipop love - for a special treat

(this one after enduring a 2nd haircut)

Hard at work inspecting binks

Making his way out to the garage and helping himself into his stroller ... as if to say, "c'mon Mommy, let's go!"

Speaking of being in the garage ... it's a good thing we have a hidden key because Luke locked me out of the house the other day when I went into the garage to give Brooklyn some water. Yep, he now can lock doors - just GREAT!

Blowing kisses

(video to come)

Moving decor from one part of the house to another

(again, video to come)

Grammy, oh Grammy

Thank you, Grammy! You did a wonderful thing this week for me (and for Mommy & Daddy). Just because you love me, you drove ALL THE WAY home from Tahoe EARLY to take care of me so that I didn't have to wake up super early and go to daycare two days in a row.

And then, on top of that super wonderful deed, you took me for my first visit to McDonald's. I loved eating fries and waving to all of the big trucks as they drove by.

Thank you, Grammy, thank you! I love you!

What I love about my 16 month old

Is it possible that tomorrow Luke will be 16 months old?  I saw this done on another blog and decided that it is a great way to not only share with all of you what Luke is up to, but also for me to document his toddlerhood (speaking of documenting, if you are a fellow blogger, check out blurb.com where you can create a blog book, or permanent record of your blog .... all the more reason to blog often!).

The Top 10 things I love about Luke at 16 months: 

1) I love how he started walking this month and just toddles around everywhere.  He is so proud of himself.  Seriously, his "walk" is the cutest I've ever seen.  More video of this to come soon because I just can't get enough.

2) I love how he's such a sponge right now - I can do something, even just once, and he'll try to imitate me.

3) I love how he will stand by the front window EVERY SINGLE night and wait for Michael to come home.  Repeating over and over again "hi-dad, hi-dad" and then squealing when Michael approaches.

4)  I love how much he loves books - his favorite is "Goodnight Moon," we read it every night, but he likes others too (namely "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," "Five Little Monkeys," and anything train related).  AND, he knows how to turn the pages and loves to take his time and point out stuff that he knows or wants to learn the name of.

5)  I love how much he understands, even if he can't say the words himself.  He can follow instructions, nod his head 'yes' or 'no,' or just show us in a variety of ways that he knows EXACTLY what we are talking about.

6)  I love how as soon as I say the word "monkey," he starts wagging his finger like I do when the "Dr. said, 'No more monkey's jumping on the bed!'"  And, when I say "this little piggy," he starts tickling himself on his tummy and laughing just like I do to him after the last piggy goes "wee, wee, wee, wee all the way home!"

7)  I love how wherever we go and whoever we interact with they always end up describing Luke as such a kind, sweet, shy, and gentle boy.  He SO is ... and I am enjoying EVERY SINGLE MINUTE of him because who knows if I'll ever have another baby like this.

8)  I love how sometimes Luke allows and wants me to rock him to sleep.  He lays his head on my chest and sits so quietly ... and I remember all those baby/parenting books that I bought as a first-time mom that tell you not to rock your toddlers to sleep.  Well, those books now sit on a shelf gathering dust because I  know that there is only a limited amount of time when Luke will fit so perfectly, so comfortably, and so contentedly into my lap, so I'm taking advantage of every single second.

9)  I love how when I put on a DVD for Luke to watch, he is most in heaven if I watch it with him - both of us snuggled on the couch, him in my lap, talking and pointing (and sometimes dancing) at the TV.

10)  I love how his pretend play is blossoming - he loves to take his toy trains and say "zoom, zoom," and if no toy trains are handy he'll use anything he can as a substitute.  He also pretends to cook for us, and loves to pretend to taste his fabulous concoctions!

11)  I was only going to post my top 10 things, but I just can't stop there ... so, here's one more:  I love how much he loves Brooklyn and Linus.  He is constantly talking about them, loves to laugh and play with Linus by throwing his toys for him, and has recently taken to just sitting next to one or the other and giving them "gentle" pets - too cute!

What Saturdays are made of...

Park time with Mommy, Daddy, and Brooklyn ...

...and chocolate pudding for a special treat after dinner.

I should mention that pudding is a new favorite of Luke's (thanks to Grammy & Poppy).  His pudding intake has increased in the past few days since he started taking amoxycillin for his ear infection because we've had trouble getting him to eat much at all.  Tonight he ate a big dinner, so was rewarded with this special treat.

Sick Little Boy :(

After several days of running a fever (which I attributed to teeth and a cold, as you will see in my previous post), Luke had a terrible night last night and woke up with a fever of 103.6.  I ended up taking him to the pediatrician's first thing this morning ... and he has his first ear infection.  Poor little boy.

With Tylenol and antibiotics now in his system he is on the mend and should be better in no time.

Teeth

My mom and I were just talking tonight about Luke's teeth trouble, so I decided to include a posting about his tooth progress ... mainly for documentation's sake.

Right now, he is getting his top right eye tooth, which seems to be giving him more trouble than his top left eye tooth that came in about a week and a half ago.  He's had a cold along with this most recent tooth development, as well as a fever (either due to the cold, tooth, or both) for the past few days ... poor little guy!

Luke got one of his 1-year molars in late August, the other three came in simultaneously in September.

All in all, including the most recent tooth, he has 14 teeth ... quite a mouthful!

I love my cat

Nothing more to say...

Thanksgiving soiree

This past weekend we celebrated Thanksgiving a little early with friends. This is a yearly gathering that Gina and Brian started hosting a few years back. It's amazing how much it has changed over the past few years - from an adult evening 3 years ago, to a fun & busy evening this year surrounded by 5 kids!

As an added bonus, our beloved Joanna was here this year to join in our THANKSgiving (that's Joanna's pronounciation) soiree.

Here are some photos from our festivities (I'm sure Brian & Joanna documented the evening much more completely than I ... so stay tuned for some more great photos):

Our walking boy

Luke with his new-found buddy, Toby:

Jess and Michael enjoy snuggling with Jack:

Big Boy Brushing

Luke brushes his teeth each night before bed. Usually he sits on the bathroom countertop and we take turns brushing his teeth - he brushes with his toothbrush, and then I brush with mine. Last night we waited a bit too long before bedtime and Luke was a wreck. Tantrums were being thrown left and right. Luke insisted upon NOT sitting down to brush his teeth (he also refused to put on pajamas, as you will see), so I pulled his step stool over to the sink and let him get to work. I couldn't help but take a picture of him there!

Welcome, Mr. President

What an historic night it was! Regardless of where you stand on the political spectrum, who you voted for, or which candidate took the majority vote, we were destined to make history ... either with our first African American President, or our first woman Vice President. We spent quite a lot of time in my 3rd grade classroom over the past week discussing (and celebrating) our right to vote and make our voices heard in this country. What an incredible right that is! We talked about how at one time only white land-owning men could vote. How minorities were given the right in the 1800’s, but it took longer to make it safe and easy. How it took even more years before women, represented by half of our classroom, could have a voice. I almost got teary thinking about how those 8 year old girls will find it amazing to think that anyone would have denied them that right.

As we watched both McCain's concession speech (and what an incredible speech it was - a sign of his character and the kind of leader he is. Even the media seemed stunned by the eloquence and grace he displayed), and then Obama's acceptance, I felt emotional about his win. Witnessing this huge step that our country has taken - it is something that I will probably remember for the rest of my life, and I'm so grateful to have watched it happen in my lifetime. This made me think of Luke, 15 months old and snuggled into bed fast asleep: he will not remember the night. He will simply believe that our country has always been this way.

And THAT is so amazing and makes me proud to be an American!

HALLOWEEN!

Daddy is not a big fan of Halloween ... he is a Halloween Scrooge! I, on the other hand, have come the conclusion that Halloween is TONS of fun! Here are some pictures of my big night out.

The cutest shark EVER:

The cute shark with his very-tired-and-worn-out-from-the-crazy-kids-at-work mommy:

Ready to head out with buddy Jack, the JACK-o-lantern!

Hitting the streets:

Checking out the goods after the first house:

Back at home-base, I hang out with Mr. & Mrs. D and hand out candy. I loved seeing all the kids in costume.

"Trick-or-treat!"

Waiting for the next round:

Many thanks to the D's for having us over - we loved hanging out with you, the fabulous minestrone soup, the trick-or-treating in your friendly neighborhood, and as always, your assortment of Legos!

Also, we must pay a big "thank you" to Auntie Sarah for providing the Halloween costume. We will get some photos up of the shark with his "bait" (aka Uncle Todd) soon!