STL Day One

Reading stories with Annie.

Slip and Slide!

Luke in St. Louis

Luke and Daddy flew to St. Louis yesterday. Here are some photos from Grandma and Grandpa Siorek's house. I'm sure Luke is thrilled to see his cousin Annie again. He couldn't stop talking about her from the last trip he made in May.

Here is Luke with his cousin John.

August, So Far

Cousin Fran came to visit us! We went to Multnomah Falls.
The iconic picture of the Falls.

Luke was impressed.

Luke wanted to climb the trail to the top of the Falls, but he did not want to hold hands. No railing, steep drop-off, independent Toddler-- means that Mama and Luke stayed at the bottom while Fran and Daddy went to the top.

That's OK. There was still plenty to see.

In the gift shop, we tried to get him to model a coon skin hat.
No go, but he had a sense of humor about it.

The next day, Fran, Daddy and Luke went to the Japanese Gardens in Forest Park.

Earlier in the month, we got a wonderful butcher block kitchen island from Grandma and Grandpa Siorek.

A fun place to sit.

Hanging out before bed.

Hanging out in the backyard. The dog days of summer.

Baby Beluga

Luke loves to sing "Baby Beluga," a Raffi song that they sing at day care. The other day I caught him singing it in the bathtub and I ran to take a video before he stopped.

Luke at Oaks Bottom Amusement Park

Luke and Uncle Matt

Big Boy Bed

When Luke was in St. Louis, we converted his crib into a toddler bed. We wanted to surprise him.
He loves his "new" bed. One day last week when I tucked him in for the night he threw his arms up over his head and said, "This feels really good, Mama!"

Rainy Day Sugar Cookies

Another rainy Sunday afternoon. How to keep Luke entertained until bedtime? Cookie decorating!

Luke has been really into Play-doh lately, so we built on the same concept. And even used some of the Play-doh tools as cookie cutters.
After we cut them out, we painted the cookies with a wash made from egg-yolk and food coloring.

Luke had a great time and we made a huge mess.

Here are the cookies before they went into the oven. I think this is probably what it would look like if a unicorn threw up.

They tasted better than they looked. And Luke had so much fun and was so affectionate and sweet the rest of the night, sweet as sugar.

Playing in the Park with Johnny

I can't believe how old Luke looks in these pictures. He's only been gone a week and he's more boy than baby.

Being stalked by the paparazzi.

Red, Blue, Yellow

Grandma encourages artistic expression and does not mind a little mess.