Best Burgers Tour

This fall, Ryan embarked on a quest to find 7 of the best burgers in Central Texas. He went all over Austin and even way out to Copperas Cove to check out all kinds of burgers!

Luke likes to go out to eat, and will usually try new foods.

On our trip to Cafe Canela, Ryan and Sarah enjoyed burgers and Luke mostly stuck to black beans.

Yep... this one made the list. Maybe when Luke has more teeth, he can enjoy sinking them into a Cafe Canela burger, too!

Sarah turns 30!

What?! Sarah is 30??

Yep, Ryan invited some of our good friends in Austin to come out to Polvo's for some tasty Mexican food, margaritas, and hanging out to celebrate! Luke got to meet Carl and Katrina's daughter, Laura, and they enjoyed showing each other their eating skills.

We had a good (and diverse!) group, including Carl and Katrina (from TLU), John and Jose (from the local TV scene), Pastor June and Carey (from church), and Sara (one of Sarah's high school classmates). And Ryan and Luke, of course!

We ended up staying out very, very late and Luke ended up falling asleep at the table.

But we had a great time, and we're so glad everyone could come!

Luke's 1st Birthday

Luke turned 1 on June 26! He had a lot of presents to contend with...

...including some that weren't wrapped. (Whoops!)

He got the hang of opening gifts a lot better than he did at Christmas.

Oh look, a Corn Popper! (As seen in church nurseries across the country!)

He also got to try chocolate cake for the first time! He wasn't really sure what to do with it... but he had some help.

Happy birthday, Luke!

Luke's early birthday cake

Luke is almost one year old! We decided to have a little mini-party/cake tasting while Grandma and Grandpa Lonnevik were in town. Luke wasn't too sure about the cake at first...

...but he quickly got the hang of it and started shoving it in his face by the handful.

He managed to eat most of it, except for what he decided to rub into his eyebrows. Yum, yum... why can't we have cake all the time?

Pretzels and wine

We took a trip out to Driftwood (okay, it's pretty much South Austin) to Mandola Estate Winery. Ryan and I sampled some wine, and Ryan and Luke sampled some pretzel sticks. I think they're both enjoying themselves.

From Mandola Winery

9 months old

At 9 months old, Luke can say "Da-da," and "ba-ba," though we're not sure what that means yet. He can pull himself up to standing (and does, often). Most mornings, we go in to find him standing up in his crib ready to greet the day. He's also getting pretty good at waving if someone waves at him first.

He has two bottom teeth now, and at his 9-month checkup his pediatrician said he has four top teeth on the way in. He weighed in at 17 lbs 3 oz and was 28 inches tall.

Luke's favorite things right now: he loves to eat cheese and Cheerios, but will generally try just about anything he can pick up by himself (chicken, chunks of vegetables, etc.). He likes to play peekaboo and run in circles on his exersaucer.

Luke is still pretty good at sitting through church, although he does like to try to make the people behind us laugh with his silly faces and smiles. He is starting to make noise during the hymns, like he wants to sing! He also likes to go places with us, like wineries (here he is at Georgetown Winery).

Luke feeds himself

The night before Luke turned 9 months old, he decided it was time to feed himself! He took the bowl and just started going to town.

The way I see it, a messy baby will turn into a great independent eater. Someday. Right now, he's just funny to watch.

Green stuff for dinner

Luke is getting more and more independent, and likes to hold a spoon while I feed him dinner. Sometimes he likes to grab the spoon I'm feeding him with, which already has food on it, and smear whatever he's eating all over. I don't get upset, because I know he's learning to feed himself (some of that food does get into his mouth).

On this particular evening, Luke was eating pears with some avocado mixed in, and little chunks of cheese. Of course, the fruit/veggie combo (well really, all fruit, right?) was an amazing shade of green, perfect for getting all over the place.

Luke loves cheese

Luke is getting pretty good at feeding himself things like Cheerios and little chunks of cheese. Mmmm, he really loves cheese.

Butternut squash!

Luke has tried several new foods! He's had applesauce, acorn squash, bananas, avocados and now butternut squash. He's really loving the bright orange, sweet squash. Combined with his new enthusiasm for eating, he is starting to make quite a mess when he eats. But it doesn't bother him a bit! And more frequent baths just make it easier for him to fall asleep at night, so no complaints here.

Luke eats applesauce

Luke has been eating applesauce for about a week now!  He is also picking up on acorn squash and bananas.  He's a pretty neat eater so far, but Mommy and Daddy are doing the feeding.  Things will probably change when he gets a hold of the spoon himself.

Luke's first spoon feeding

Luke tried rice cereal for the first time on November 12, 2009. We mixed about a tablespoon of cereal with about a quarter-cup of formula, and he seemed to enjoy it for the most part. He got the hang of opening his mouth for the spoon and closing his mouth around it, but couldn't seem to keep it in his mouth. Of course, he got it all over himself and his high chair, and I had it on myself as well. It was mostly just for practice (for all of us!).

Check out the video of his first few bites below: