Talking

I still have lots of pictures to show you, but I needed to just post some fun tidbits before I forget them altogether.

Luke is talking quite a bit more these days. Almost every day, we notice a new word that actually sounds like something in English. :) He's even saying a couple sentences! Here are some of his favorite words/sayings:

- "I don't know" (when looking for a lost toy - I ask "Where is it?" and he now says "I don't know", which is what I usually have said")
- "Where did the keys go?" (I heard him actually say something like this including the word "keys" the other day. Today, he just said "Where did it go?" when he lost a raisin in his bib at snack time)
- "paws" (Lately he'd been insisting that his kitties (stuffed, lego, real or otherwise) have "shoes", so after correcting him, now he'll say "kitty, shoes" (while pointing to their feet) and I'll say "no, kitties don't have shoes" and he says "paws")
- "pea", "carrot", and "corn" (the veggies in the medley I give him at lunchtime - he's learned to say and identify each one, including the fact that "corn" is daddy's favorite. Often now, he'll hold out a piece of corn and say "da-da")
- "go-go, door-door, keys, glasses, bus" (etc. He will either just string all of his favorite words together in long rambling sentences (most often in the car) or he'll conduct a conversation with me by saying one of these words, waiting for my response, then saying the next word that fits the conversation, etc. For example, the above words would go like this:
L - "da-da"
S - "Daddy went to work"
L - "go-go"
S - "Yes, Daddy went to work in his car"
L - "door-door"
S - "He went out the door, remember us waving to him" or "Yes, there's a door on his car"
L - "keys"
S - "Yes, he has his keys"
L - "glasses"
S - "Yes, he's probably wearing his sunglasses"
L - "bus"
S - "No, Daddy doesn't ride the bus"
L - "door-door"
S - "Yes, there is a door on the bus, to let all the people on"
etc., etc., etc...

He's also doing a lot of clapping these days. He'll clap when he notices a song ending, in any context. Whether that be on the CD player, or when I sing the ABC song, or if his violin toy finishes playing one of it's songs, etc. He has a play microphone that has a simulated clapping sound on it, so he'll press that button, put down the microphone and clap along - making sure Nathan and I are also clapping. :)

Oh! And he can walk down the stairs all by himself now! He holds onto the railing, and I am several steps in front of him with a hand ready "just in case", but so far, he's doing really well.

And, he is helping set the table now, too! He can take the bowls and plates, one at a time, to the table and sets them at each place. Along with the silverware and glasses and maybe the juice container - one time it was completely full and in his effort to lift it up to set it on the table, he almost fell backwards if Nathan hadn't caught him. :P He'll also add any extra little things we might need - like the honey bottle recently when we've had cornbread, etc. Very cute! And fun to start to have a routine to help him wait until dinner is ready to eat - along with washing his hands in the bathroom sink while standing on the step stool. Such a big boy!

If I remember anything else cute/interesting that Luke's doing recently that's not associated with a picture, I'll try to write it down to remember to catalog here. Gotta go now, though - Nathan is about to assemble Luke's new birthday toddler bike! I'm so excited!!!

Disneyland

On Friday, we got the treat of going to Disneyland for free! Our friend's dad works for them, so our whole group got to enjoy the day for free. It was in honor of our nieces, Emma & Felicity's birthdays (their birthdays are a week apart, turning 5 and 4, respectively). I didn't take as many pictures as I might have if MY children were there, but I did get one of Nathan and I at the front, and of Sleeping Beauty castle just to prove that we were there. :) It was a LONG day - we arrived at the parking structure at 7:30am, then were on the freeway again at 12:00 midnight. Very fun, though. I hadn't been there since our California trip the summer before my 8th grade year - 15 years ago! We left the 2 yr olds (Luke and Sophia) behind to spend the day with Grandma and Grandpa. Maybe when Luke turns 5, we can take him, too. :)

First Popsicle

He got pretty sweaty playing outside before family dinner last week. So when Grandma brought out these cute kid-sized popsicles for dessert, I thought I'd let Luke try one. I think it was a success! He does like all things frozen - when we're grocery shopping, he LOVES to hold anything that I get in the freezer aisle. He'll put his hands on it, say "coh" (cold), then take his hands off to rub them together, then put them back on the cold object. So cute.

Pictures!

Fun in the tube at the park.

Some sort of miracle happened that Luke actually cooperated for a photo shoot last week! I don't even remember exactly what happened (and it's only the day after our previous talk about pictures, so maybe that helped), but he was in his tree, leaning against one of the trunks, and was just smiling and hamming it up for me. We talked about being "two" and the "keys" he was holding, etc. Very fun!

Proof that he can now show "two" on his fingers! Now, if we ask him "How old are you going to be on your birthday?", he will say "Two" and hold up his fingers! Yeah! Such fun!

Camera Shy

Last week, I was trying to get a picture of Luke pulling his blocks wagon, but of course, he got upset and refused to cooperate. I know he likes to look at himself in the camera, so I talked with him about how I take pictures of things. I took a few test pictures of his hands and feet, etc. while he was sitting with me. And I FINALLY convinced him to pull the wagon for me so that I could get a picture of him. This is the result of that - not a smile or anything, but I think his expression is cute. It's like he's very intent on doing his activity for the camera - very aware of the camera being there, but determined to be photographed anyway so he can look at the picture later.

Recycling

Such a good little helper taking out the recycling with me!

Buttons

If you see my son on certain days, you might think I make him dress all formal on purpose. But that is not the case. Up until recently, I have reserved "collared shirts" for Sundays only because we go to church. That includes polos and button-up shirts. Well, a couple Friday's ago, Luke indicated that he wanted to wear this red, collared, button-up shirt. I decided to let him, since he's not a particularly dirty child. :P He just really likes the buttons! He's fascinated with snaps and buttons. One of his favorite activities is to go through his too-big pants drawer, bring each item out to unsnap the snap, lay it on my lap and go back to the drawer for another pair to unsnap. Silly boy. He has this shirt and another button-up shirt that both look pretty casual still if I pair them with jeans/jean shorts, so I figure, why not? He looks sharp without even realizing it! Maybe I should get a few more of these? I'd been stocking up on play t-shirts, but I guess I should have been getting play button-ups. :P

Belated Birthday

Since Nathan's parents were out of town during his birthday, we celebrated it at the first family dinner after they returned.

Here's Luke running off with some of Daddy's new loot! (many more pictures will be posted on the Hughes' site)

King Kong and Boxes

Luke decided (all by himself) to put his little stuffed monkey on top of this small stack of blocks. I just had to get this "king kong" picture before he knocked it over. :) For the record, Luke has built a block tower 6 blocks tall all by himself. Of course, he knocked it over before I could get my camera and wouldn't repeat his feat for me, but I witnessed him do it!

And here is Luke enjoying the big box that was out for playing in at Vijay's house two weeks ago. Gotta love a cardboard box!

Making Scones

Still doing catch-up. This is from almost two weeks ago! :P

Here is Luke's first time helping me bake! I let him dump in the dry ingredients after I measured them. Then, he got to stir for a bit. It got more complicated when it was time for wet ingredients, so he decided he was done helping and wanted to get down. To my surprise, he voluntarily pushed the kitchen chair he had been standing on back to the table! Very good little helper!

The Hat

Luke indicated to me that he needed a "helmet" to ride the tricycle (one he saw in a toy catalog), since he had seen a helmet with that tricycle at the park the other day. So, I got out one of his sun hats and called it a "tricycle hat", which totally made his day. What he HATED, though, was getting his picture taken in it. The second he heard the camera make any noise, he had that hat ripped off as quick as a wink - as evidenced by this picture in the tree. I even managed to catch one where he was too traumatized to take it off, but was CLEARLY unhappy about the whole thing. Poor guy - doesn't he know he looks adorable? He has an khaki colored hat that's not quite as big on him that he's been wearing sometimes lately, but I haven't managed to get any pictures of him in it. I think I'll take a break from trying for awhile, so he will get more comfortable wearing it first.

Like Mommy & Daddy

Here, Luke is enjoying putting his legs under the covers so that he can be like us. He gets such a kick out of this. Put a blanket on him when he's in his crib, though, and he freaks out. Mmmm.

Copying Daddy by putting the comb in the water then combing his hair with a wet comb.

Love

My current desktop picture - such a happy boy! There's this one part of the block wall that is half torn down where Luke likes to stop and sit down for about 10 seconds before getting up and continuing our walk back home from getting the mail in the afternoon. I had to get a picture of him there, but he doesn't stay put very long!

Warms my heart to see my boys together!

Tricycle

When we went to the church's park playgroup day two weeks ago, one of the other mom's had walked to the park with her kids, and her son rode this tricycle there. Luke is completely and utterly FASCINATED with anything "cycle": motorcycle, bicycle, tricycle, etc. Even more so than other motorized things like trucks, cars, airplanes & trains, etc, which he also likes. So, when he saw this tricycle, he was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. When we figured out that it did indeed belong to a mom from our group who let us take a ride on it, Luke was in toddler heaven. :P Needless to say, we had quite the attitude check when it came time to give it back. :P I just bought him a toddler bicycle last night, so when he gets that on his birthday, I hope to share with you some more pictures of him riding in style!

23 Months Old!

June 2nd means Luke is one month away from turning 2! I finally managed to remember to take pictures on his "milestone" day - I'd been forgetting the past few months. We're teaching him how to say "two" and to hold up two fingers. I don't think he's physically capable of doing the latter quite yet, although he tries really hard! When this second picture was taken, he was doing the best he could at folding in his fingers, so even though you see four fingers, he's meaning to show you "two". :) Now (two weeks later), when asked how old he's going to be on his birthday, he'll concentrate on his fingers and try to get them to work, but eventually, he'll come over to me and have me help him get his fingers in line. Maybe he'll have it mastered by his birthday. :)

Nathan's Birthday

With June arriving comes Nathan's birthday (and my sister, Jennifer's!)! This year, Nathan wanted to buy an acoustic guitar to try his hand at learning how to play one. So, we combined his birthday and Father's Day present to be the guitar. Luke "signed" a card for him, too. Since Nathan's parents were out of the country during this time, I made him a cake and we just celebrated at home. Kind of wierd being the only one singing "Happy Birthday"!

Tennis

We had another "family tennis" time at the courts by our house. Luke gets so excited to be "keeper of the keys" since they're on a lanyard that he can wear. He has fun walking around the courts, picking up the wandering balls and throwing them back over the net. :)

Check out this fun flower close-up I got, too - those flowers are super tiny, but such a pretty color!

Disc Golf

This one's for you, Heidi! Once we'd returned home from visiting for your wedding, Luke enjoyed throwing those little discs we got at the reception. He even had a swing movement that was quite like a frisbee throw! HILARIOUS! I think he was watching closely during the Ring of Fire contest. I got it on video, too, but since I'm several months behind in posting those, this still picture will have to do. Just imagine his follow-through...

Smiley Vineetha

We enjoy our weekly visits with Joanna and her kids. Vineetha is such a smiley little girl - how can you help not smiling back at her? And she's learned how to sit up all by herself!

Making up for Lost Time

I'm 3 weeks behind in posting photos, so I know some of you are having serious Luke withdrawal, and I'm genuinely sorry about that! I'll just post a few quick images per post, since I'm struggling with how to make blogger do pictures nicely. How I'd been doing it for the past 3 years isn't working any more. :( Any technical suggestions would be most appreciated! I'll also be uploading all pictures to the Hughes site still, so there will be many more there than I'll get to here. :)

May 27th - playing with his new motorcycle toy on the porch. Evenings are so nice on our porch, even when it's hot during the day. And that toy is his new FAVORITE! Thanks, Mom!

Oregon Day 6 - Portland Rose Gardens

We went to the Portland Rose Gardens on our way to the airport our last day there. I had actually never been there, and I had read that Memorial Day weekend was the beginning of their blooming season. It was still a bit early for roses - lots of buds! - but we enjoyed it anyway.

Luke liked running in the grass...

holding hands with Grandpa & Grandma...

playing in the fountain...

climbing the stairs all by himself...

drinking from the water fountain...

and chasing squirrels.

I got lots of pictures of the roses we did see in bloom...

and a few pictures of some other flowers we saw on our way back to the car.

Last pictures with Grandma and Grandpa before we head back home. We miss you already!