Thanksgiving and Trains

Today we went to the Columbia Gorge Toy Railroad Club to see their toy train layout.

Luke loves trains, like most little boys do.
He had a great time.
It was quite an impressive show and it was packed.
Here is Luke and his Thanksgiving dinner guest, Cameron.

After dinner, Luke and Cameron played chase. They must have run back and forth about 20times.

Luke from a few weeks ago.

School Pictures '09

Here is Luke's "school" picture for the year. Luke wasn't feeling well that week, so this slight smile is the best that they could get.

And here is the Toddlers' Room '09 class photo.Back row: Teacher Brittany with Morgan, Nora, Teacher Rachel with Tom, Jacob, Teacher Yorda with Harlow. Front row: Max, Raife, Lily, Luke, Camille.


And here was his school photo from just a year ago.

All Saints' Day

Today on All Saints' Day we took a short walk through The Grotto, a beautiful Catholic shrine and botanical garden in North Portland.

It was a serene, slow walk. A little chilly. Luke liked the trees and the spiders.

Then we stopped off at Gartner's Meat Market for some meat.

Luke has started showing his affection for Roosevelt by pulling his tail, petting him hard, and full body tackles.

I did not take these photos or else I would have stopped what was happening. Roosevelt is actually very calm through it all, much calmer than I would be.

Halloween

I stole this photo from Silas' blog. Thank you, Alysha! This was a Halloween party at the Sykes' house, our neighbors across the street. I think 15 seconds later Luke jumped off of the couch. He was not very cooperative this day and refused to wear a costume.

The babies and toddlers are from left to right: Clara (3mo.), Silas (16 mo.), Langston (2yrs.), Graham (10 mo.), Luke (19 mo.) and Zane (3 wks.)

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

Mommy's a Bad Blogger

Apparently, I'm Blogger-In-Chief in this family and I have fallen derelict in my duties. Here are some photos from the last few weeks.

Yes, in this family we all put our bare feet up on the dinner table when we eat. Do you have a problem with that?

Screaming like a mad, wet banshee. This is a good one to blow up to really appreciate the facial expression.

He has a secret, but he's not telling you.

On the front porch.

One from last month with Grandpa Presley in Michigan.

Portrait

This weekend, Luke and I got our portrait done by the great portrait artist, Chuck E. Cheese. I really like the way Chuck E. (as he likes to be called) captured our close mother/son bond.