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.

Puzzle

Luke got a new puzzle from Grandpa Presley. He does really well with naming the puzzle pieces and putting them where they are supposed to go!

Michigan

Luke and Mama went to Michigan last week. Dada came a few days later. Here is Luke on the plane. He was a little gentleman reading his books. He really wasn't too bad on the plane.

Luke got to visit with his Grandpa and Grandma Presley.

And his Grandma Stewart.

And his many cousins. Here is Luke with Anya.

Cousin Gabi and Luke had the best time together.

Gabi was Luke's partner in crime the whole time.

One day we went to Grandma Stewart's house and Gabi and Luke played with the hose.

Here's a video that will make you smile.

Garden Fun

Here is Luke enjoying a home-grown tomato fresh off of the vine.

He was just being silly here. He didn't actually seem to like the tomato that much.
The little gardener tending his crops.
He just can't get enough of anything having to do with water.

Portland Children's Museum

One Sunday morning in July Luke woke up and said, take me somewhere fun today, some place that I've never been.

So we took him to the Portland Children's Museum over by the Zoo.

The water room was the first stop and as you can imagine, Luke had a great time.

He would have kept playing but mom and dad were ready to move on.

The Train Room was next and at first it was great. Luke was very very excited about the trains.

But then he started to get frustrated when they wouldn't stay on the track, and we had a screaming meltdown.

We whisked him away to the Digger Room, to try to lift his spirits and take his mind off of the trains.

But very soon his heart wasn't in it anymore and his mind wandered back to those darn trains.

So we moved on again and Luke had a great time pushing the mini shopping carts all around the museum, even into rooms where they probably weren't expecting the shopping carts to go.

The Tree House room was fun. Luke likes to climb.

Finally, we climbed into the old Logger Train outside of the World Forestry Center.