A day at the park

We had some beautiful Texas winter weather and decided to stop by a park for a while so Luke could run around. He has been on a slide before, but wasn't really confident about going down by himself... until now. He went up the playscape and down the slide like a CHAMP!

Luke walks!

Luke is taking off on his own two feet! He has taken a few steps at a time already, but tonight he was really walking. He walked across the kitchen, and as you see here, walked from our bedroom to the dining room where Ryan was bribing him with an iPod. (Ahh, shiny gadgets, works every time.)

Luke sneaks a drink

Luke has taken to drinking from our glasses when we're not looking, so we have to be careful what we leave on the table!

Luke the mimic

Luke is starting to mimic sounds or motions that we make... tonight he was trying to imitate Ryan's growly-snarly noise.

Luke and his grandpa

Luke got to spend some quality time with Grandpa John while Sarah's parents were in town for portraits. Grandpa reminded everyone why they call them "bouncing baby boys."

Luke's first swim in the pool

Luke had his first swim in the pool... it was a little rough in the water at first, but once he discovered he could splash and play water peek-a-boo, he really had a great time!

Luke's fishy face

 

Luke is learning to make lots of interesting faces... he particularly enjoys smacking his lips and making fishy faces.

Luke claps his hands

Luke showing off his hand-clapping skills! First time I was able to catch it on video.

Luke goes shopping

We didn't buy this... just took it for a test drive.

Luke is on the move!

Our baby is crawling - almost! He hasn't quite gotten the hang of a full-blown "official" crawl, but is getting quite proficient at the army crawl - pulling/pushing himself along with his arms and using his toes to give himself a little oomph. He particularly enjoys crawling under the table and going after the dogs. He even crawled over and untied my shoes while I was making dinner one night.

Look at him go!

Luke loves cheese

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

Luke's belly laugh

Luke and Ryan played peek-a-boo together and it had them both in stitches! Watch:

Luke on hands and knees

Luke turned 7 months old on January 26th and by this time was getting pretty good at pushing himself up on his hands and knees, and even getting his toes underneath him and pushing himself into a "downward-facing dog" position.  He was turning himself around in a circle and sort of inching along, but wasn't very mobile yet.  He was also sitting up by himself very well and grinning a lot. No teeth yet though!

Happy New Year!

We rang in 2010 at home, just like we rang in 2009. But this time, Luke was on the outside, so I got to enjoy some grown-up beverages. Hooray!

Our friend Adolfo came over for our impromptu New Year's Eve party. I made barbecue meatballs, bacon-wrapped brie-stuffed dates, bacon-wrapped pineapple, and bread pudding. We also had a cheese plate with brie, gouda, and some very stinky and strong goat cheese. And of course, some Asti Spumante and other beer and cidery things.

We watched Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin (that naughty lady!) until 11pm, then switched over to watch Ryan Seacrest (only because he wasn't Carson Daly) until midnight. Then we rang in the New Year very quietly:

It worked, because Luke stayed asleep. Happy New year!

From New Year's 2010

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-powered playtime

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:

Dance, dance, dance

Luke was wide awake Sunday evening, so to wear him out a little bit I put some toys on his wrists and let him flail around in his crib for a few minutes.