Luke loves cheese

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

First Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day, Luke and Ryan took me to Cafe Monet, a paint-your-own-pottery studio in Austin. I picked out a mug and they painted it for me (okay, Ryan did most of the work, and I helped), and put both of their handprints on it.

It was a little harder to get Luke's handprint on it than we thought, but we were pretty successful in the end and I can't wait to see how it turned out. I have to wait until Thursday to pick it up!

More pictures below.  Yes, that does say "The Hands of My Mans" and I love it!

From Valentine's Day Mug

From Valentine's Day Mug

From Valentine's Day Mug

From Valentine's Day Mug

Luke's suit

Someday Luke will really be able to rock a suit. For now, though, we'll stick to diapers and onesies. Also, suits don't hide the drool very well.

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!

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.

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