Pumpkin Picking

Today we went to one of the pumpkin patches on Sauvie Island to pick out a pumpkin. Here is Luke posing at the end of the expedition with the little pumpkin we picked.

But first, we had to ride the haywagon out to the pumpkin patch. Luke was not sure he was into it.
Sauvie Island is really beautiful any time of year.

We checked out a few pumpkins.

Luke inspected them closely.

We chose a little one that was just Luke-sized. Here we are on the haywagon going back to the Farmer's Market.

The best smile we got from the day.

Family time at the pumpkin patch.

7 Months

Luke turned 7-months old last week!

We are so privileged to be able to watch him grow and change, and it's so fun to look back at how he used to be. Here he was at 11-weeks.
And here he is now. The faux hawk is sooo last spring. It's all about the wispy bangs now.
Luke continues to get lots of kisses daily. From Daddy.

And from Mommy.

New toys from Grandma Siorek! Teaching Luke to love pizza.

And corn on the cob of course.
Cheese and jalepenos? You might be on to something, Luke.

Hello, Grandma!

We wish we could be in Michigan visiting Grandma Stewart. Since we can't, here are some old photos of Luke with his Grandma when we went to Michigan in May. He was only two months old.

School Picture Day

Here is Luke's first school picture.

And here is his class picture.

The Artistic Gene

Here are some photos of Luke taken by Grandma Siorek on her recent visit.

A portrait of the artist as a young man.
I must create in greens and blues!
A serious artist consumes his own work.

Walrus Swing

Here's Luke in his new, fleece, walrus PJs from Grandma Stewart.

He's sitting on his Daddy's lap.
I can't believe how old he looks here. Does he even look 6 months old?
Mama and Luke do not want their pictures taken.
Grandma and Grandpa Siorek arrived today! Daddy bought a swing at Lowes. We hung it from the pergola. Here is Luke being very amused by Grandpa Siorek.Luke likes the new swing!

Luke and Grandpa.

6-month Check-up

Luke had his 6-month check-up on Friday. He weighs 21pounds 6 ounces (9.75 kg) and is 28.75 inches (73 cm) long. That puts him once again in the 98th percentile for both weight and height. The doctor gave him a glowing review of health and then Luke got 4 immunization shots. That's always the worst part of these visits, and I'm a total wimp and make Matt do the dirty work of holding Luke down for his shots.

We didn't take any photos this week, so here are random photos from the previous 4 weeks.

Luke moves around a lot in his sleep now and we never know how or where he's going to be lying in his crib when he wakes up.

Luke can briefly sit up straight unsupported, but he tends to flop forward.
His mode of self-transportation at the moment is the roll maneuver. He'll roll back and forth until he is approximately where he wants to be. He doesn't seem interested in crawling, but is very keen on standing with the support of a table or a parent.

Luke continues to eat very well!

Hygiene is very important. Luke takes a bath every night as part of his bed-time routine.

We waited 5 months, but we finally took Luke to a restaurant. Luke made his debut at the Kennedy School McMenamins. Here we are seated in their beautiful courtyard. Luke did OK, but mom and dad had to take turns walking him around to look at the plants.

Luke continues to be a delightful boy with a very easy-going personality. He smiles a lot and mostly only has a meltdown when he is very hungry. He whines when he is tired or bored.

Who does he look like? In the first few months, people thought he was the spitting image of Matt. As he is getting older he is looking a bit more like his ma. But mostly people exclaim over what a neat composite he is of both me and Matt. And his face continues to change, of course, with each day and each new expression.

Sweet Potato Elephant

Sweet potatoes!

Luke is doing well with solid foods. After the ladies at Day Care said we should be feeding him solids 3 times a day instead of once, we stepped it up. And boy, now do I feel like I was starving him. He's eating oatmeal (yum), peaches (ok), pears (ok), prunes (yum yum), bananas (ok), green beans (yum) and sweet potatoes (yum yum yum).

We decided to try on the Halloween costume that Aunt Ronny gave us before Luke was even 4 months in my belly. An elephant! Luke was surprisingly game.
I think he was so into trying out the costume because Matt and I were laughing so hard. (He really studies us and reacts to what we do. Today as he was lying on his changing table I was blowing on his mobile to make the animals move and I looked down and he put his little lips together and blew. It was too cute.)
He doesn't quite fill it out.

And now some random pictures.

Luke on the go with Daddy.
Luke with invisible hands!

Are you ready for some Football?

Go Rams.

Brothers

Roosevelt and Luke playing together.

"Hey, what are you playing with? Maybe I want it."

"OK, we can share."

Yeah, I know it's kind of weird to refer to pets as if they were human, but Roosevelt really was my baby before Luke came. At first Roosevelt would flee the room when this new thing started to bawl, but now when Luke cries Roosevelt comes right up to Luke and rubs his head with his head, as if to tell him it's going to be alright.

Luke playing and Roosevelt being very "Zen."