Swimming Lessons

Luke has been taking swimming lessons through the Portland Parks and Recreation program.

He loves the water so much that we thought it would be good to teach him early how to swim.

But right now there's not actually a lot of "swimming."

It's more about making him feel comfortable in a pool.

Reading and Counting

Luke really loves books. He surprised me one night a couple of months ago by asking for a book when I put him into his crib for the night. Since then, it's become part of the bedtime ritual; he gets a book or two to read in bed. When I told the pediatrician this at Luke's 18-month appointment he was very amused and said that he didn't think he'd ever heard of a child this young asking for books to read in bed, but that he didn't think it would hurt.

Here's a video of Luke reading Sheep in a Jeep, a story about sheep who get their Jeep stuck in the mud and then crash it into a tree.
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When Luke is in the right mood, he can count without any help. One time he counted all the way up to 12 while I was changing his diaper! But it's a little like that dancing/singing frog in the old Looney Tunes cartoon. That is, when we try to capture it on video he won't do it. Here's the best we've been able to capture. You can hear Matt cheating at the end by feeding Luke "6."

The Patch

Every October, the pre-Halloween ritual

Families descend upon the Portland area pumpkin patches.

Luke picked out this little green one.

We took the three best pumpkins back with us on the hay wagon.

Luke was very still and contemplative on the hay ride.

He really like being pulled by the tractor.

Video of Luke surveying the carnage.

Luke at 18.5 months

Luke got his third haircut this weekend. School pictures are on Wednesday, so we wanted to get him ready.
He always looks so much older after his haircuts.He's playing with a new truck and motorcycle trailer that I got him at Fred Meyer. He is such a boy. He loves momos and trucks.

Here is Luke pre-haircut, snuggling with Daddy and watching himself on the video camera.

Elmo shirt

The Whiny Face