10-Month Update

Luke is 10 months old! Some of his favorite things to do are:

Take long, hot baths
Travel all around the crib when he sleeps
Hold his own bottle

And hang out with Papa
Today we went to the Edelweiss Deli to buy some German groceries. We bought some chocolate.
And Knoedel. Yum!

Today we also went to a Welcome Home/Birthday party for Pearl Groff. Her mommy and daddy and big sister just brought her home to Portland from Vietnam. Luke was fascinated with Pearls' long, dark hair and touched it gently a few times.

Random January Pictures

Today we went across the street to meet the newest addition to the Sykes family-- Graham Walter Sykes. While we were there, Langston let Luke try on his cowboy hat. Here is Luke with Langston and Graham's Daddy.

Luke was tormenting Roosevelt while the poor cat was trying to take a nap. Watch Roosevelt's paw here ready to strike . . .

. . . and bam. Look at Luke's face.
Don't worry. Luke was fine. Roosevelt is careful with his claws.

Last weekend we got Luke a big boy car seat. Although he's not a year old yet, he's 5 pounds over the 20-pound requirement for a front-facing car seat. He was HATING his rear-facing, infant car seat, and we were tired of the daily meltdowns on the way home from work. You can't tell in this picture, but he LOVES his big car seat so much. When we turn around to look at him he just grins from ear to ear and looks so proud.

Luke is eating a lot of finger foods now and often won't take food on a spoon. He loves bananas, cheddar cheese, saltines and applesauce! This is not a great picture, but it shows how huge his hands are.
Here is Luke wearing his choo-choo train sweater from Anita and Steve, Zoe's parents. It seemed so big when we first got it!
See you next week!

Two Thousand Nine

Happy New Year, Everybody!

Luke playing in his pot and bowl cupboard in the kitchen.
It's loud, but at least it keeps him occupied for a bit.
Luke going to the pub with dad to meet some friends.
A couple days ago I left Luke alone in the living room for a minute and when I came back he was standing and looking out the window like he is here. It was so darn cute, but made me feel nostalgic already because he is growing so fast. (There's the Wrigley Field hockey match Chicago vs. Detroit on the TV.)
Luke pondering what 2009 has in store for him.
How Luke got there.

First Christmas

Luke had a great first Christmas! Thanks to all of Luke's grandparents and aunts and uncles for their generosity and making Luke a very lucky boy.

Luke's first look at the tree on Christmas morning. He still had no idea what he was in for.

Going through his stocking.

Displaying the loot from his stocking. Notice the frog. He'll play a major role in the video at the end of this blog entry.
Puzzles from Aunt Tara.
A phone from Grandma and Grandpa Presley.

An electronic pony from Grandma and Grandpa Siorek.

Uncle Matt made Luke a beautiful truck!

Luke's two-tooth smile.
Luke and Uncle Matt
Luke just a couple of seconds before he grabbed Langston's Santa hat.
Even Luke can't resist pinching Langston's cheeks.

And finally, here is a two-minute video I made from the various video clips of Luke's first Christmas.

Time to Get Serious

It's Christmas Eve Eve.
Have you done all your Christmas shopping?

Luke is taking stock and making room for new toys.

Hey everybody! Let's crawl!
Peek-a-boo

The little professor wearing Mama's glasses.

Nine Months

Today Luke had his 9-month check-up. He weighs 24lbs 5oz (11.1kg) and is 31" (78.74cm) long! He continues to be in the 95th percentile for both weight and height.

Here's the big boy showing us what boys do.

Portland Blizzard

Portland got about 5 inches of snow this weekend coupled with an arctic windchill. On Sunday we bundled Luke up and took him outside for his first breath of snow.

Here's the little joey hanging out in Mama's Ergo carrier.

Yeah, this whole being outside thing lasted for about 10 minutes. It was cold!

We put up the Christmas tree last Sunday. Luke is used to it now, but at first he was very confused. Why would we bring a tree in the house and put lights on it?

Luke will stick his tongue out once in awhile on his left side.

Luke can pull himself up to stand pretty easily now.

Poor Roosevelt gets grabbed, pinched, and pulled a lot now. He's pretty good about it.

Luke got a second bottom tooth in. You can kind of see them in this picture.

Apples!
Daddy's boy

The Latest in Crawling

Here are videos of Luke's latest crawling style.

From the back.


And the front.

Friends and Family

Here are some more pictures from St. Louis.

Luke with Uncle Mark.

Luke with Uncle Andy.

Luke with his cousins, John, Annie, and Leo.

Luke meeting some of Papa's friends.

Luke in the sink.

And from today, Luke eating an apple.