Luke and Delaney

Luke got to hang out with his friend Delaney during the Mothers of Young Children meeting tonight! They stayed on their respective blankets but smiled and laughed at each other as they recognized that there was another baby in front of them. Luke showed off some of his new upper body strength and did some baby push-ups. He must have been trying to impress Miss Delaney!

Meanwhile, the moms swapped cookies and may have sampled a few. We're so glad Kari and Delaney got to stay and visit today!

Luke meets Santa

Luke got to be a part of the Santa Claus special that will air on Christmas Eve on KVUE! He enjoyed listening to the music and watching all the big kids dance, and was totally fascinated when Santa Claus walked in, ringing his jingle bells. He listened to Santa read "'Twas The Night Before Christmas" and even got a Christmas present!

After the show taping, Luke got to meet the man in red, and couldn't take his eyes off of him. He even got a fistful of beard and determined it was real!

Luckily Luke has been a good boy for the almost-half-year he's been with us, so we think this won't be the last time Santa visits!

Sitting up!

Luke has started sitting up on his own, although it's usually only for a few seconds at a time. He is getting better and better at holding himself up, but he slowly starts leaning forward until he is sucking on his socks. He's learning to enjoy holding a toy and chewing on it while he sits in place. The Bumbo and the high chair are still getting a lot of use, though!

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:

Wurstfest 2009

While Darin was in town, we took him to New Braunfels' 10 Day Salute to Sausage, better known as Wurstfest! We went on the last Saturday night of the whole shebang, which meant it was beyond packed with sausage and beer lovers. We braved the lines and the crowds to get our fix of overpriced (but delicious and cold) Shiner Bock, our annual Wurstkabob from New Braunfels Smokehouse (that's five kinds of wurst on a stick), and Ryan's Wurstfest hat got to make an appearance as well. Luke wore the baby lederhosen I crocheted for him (which I guess makes it NOT lederhosen, but yarn-hosen or something) and a great time was had by all.

From Wurstfest 2009 (with Darin!)

It was also nice and warm this year, as opposed to last year when I was pregnant and it was freezing cold and I didn't get to have any beer. It was just better all around this year!

Luke Visits the Capitol

On November 7th, we visited the Texas State Capitol in downtown Austin with Sarah's cousin Darin. Darin was in Texas for some training and managed to get to Austin from San Angelo to see us!

We took him to see the State Capitol, and it was Luke's first visit as a new Texan also. We explored the House and Senate chambers (we are in the Senate chamber here), peeked down into the legislative library, and checked out all the floors of the Capitol building itself. Luke even had an Official Diaper Change in an out-of-the-way corner outside of the Governor's press room. (I found it somewhat fitting.)

We also went underground to the Capitol Annex, where Ryan told us all about getting to work inside the Capitol when he covers events there. We marveled at all the pink granite and strolled through the gift shop, of course.

Luke has now made his pilgrimage, and we're glad that Darin got to visit the Capitol with us too!