First "Walking" Walk

On Sunday, we decided to take a walk up the hill by our house.  This is not an unusual occurance, however, this time Luke got to walk also.  Ever since he was born and we took our first walk up the hill with him when he was a week old, he has only been allowed to ride in the stroller when we go on this walk, since we go along a busy street for part of it.  The whole time we were along the streets, he needed to hold at least one of our hands (sometimes he wanted to hold both of our hands!), and he did such a good job!  My little baby is growing up!

We played at the top for a bit.  Luke had a blast collecting rocks to throw over the edge of the hill or in a small hole in the ground.  Always something to occupy a toddler when there's rocks around!

Family Day

We had a fun time together on Saturday, just the three of us!  We went to the mall in the morning and got a few things, had lunch at Hot Dog on a Stick, and let Luke ride the carousel again.  This time, I rode with him and Nathan took pictures and waved from the outside.

After Luke's nap, we took him and his bike to the tennis courts on our street and let him ride around on the flat surface.  He can pedal, but doesn't always have the motivation to push hard enough to keep going.  He still had a blast, though - especially when chasing Mommy and Daddy around the court while riding his bicycle!  We eventually had to just say it was time to go inside for dinner, cuz he didn't want to stop!

A fun picture of a flower that was growing out of the crack by the tennis net.

Friends and Valentines

I got some fun pictures of Joanna's kids this past Thursday. Luke is in love with her baby, Tirzah! He's constantly talking about her and asking to see her when we're over there. However, when I offered to let him hold her, he was actually not too crazy about that idea - you can see him kind of shifting away from her on the couch. But, when Joanna took Tirzah back, he almost immediately asked if the baby could sit next to him again. :P

I got some cute pictures of all her kids, too, while I had my camera out. (more on the gallery) :)

When we went to get the mail that afternoon, Luke wanted to stand on this big rock, but didn't want me to take his picture - I think he might have been a bit nervous about standing there without me close by. But, I made some silly sounds, and got a couple grins out of him. :)

Valentine's cousins - lined up in the shirts Phyllis got them all for Valentine's Day.

Banana Crumb Muffins

I made two batches of these muffins yesterday - YUM!!!  I thought it would be fun to share my recipe, since I made several adjustments to the original recipe.  I've posted the actual recipe over on this recipe blog that I contribute to.  It's not often I end up familiar and confident enough with a recipe to make it my own.  There were several things suggested by other commenters on the original recipe's website that I adopted, as well as sneaking in part of the flour as whole wheat (I do this to my chocolate chip cookies, too, and you can't even tell!).  This picture turned out good - I'll have to take a picture and post the recipe of my chocolate chip cookies, too, next time I make them.  I've made several adjustments to those also over the years, and now they're fool-proof and yummy!  I make them regularly since Nathan likes to have one in his lunch every day.  :)

And, with that, I am officially caught up!!!  After months of being behind!  Woot!  No more pictures waiting on my camera.  I'm sure that won't last long, but it's a nice feeling for now.  Maybe I should start working on getting caught up on videos before my pictures pile up again.  :)

Super Bowl Sunday

In honor of the Super Bowl, Nathan barbecued hot links for lunch, and Luke enjoyed being out on the porch with Daddy "cooking".

Since the game started right when Luke wakes up from his nap, we had to figure out what Luke was going to do while we watched the game & commercials.  Luke usually watches some TV after he wakes up to help him wake up, and just as a regular activity for our daily routine.  So, since there was no way the Super Bowl was moving to the small TV, Luke got to watch his shows on the small TV.  At first, he didn't want to sit (not sure why - kind of strange), but eventually, he climbed up into Daddy's desk chair to watch.  Oh, and notice all the little cars and trucks that he wanted to come watch TV with him.  :)

Thankfulness

Nathan found this police car (or "siren go-go") for Luke - it has doors that open, and makes a few different siren noises.  Luke's thankfulness is written all over his face!

Friends with Cinnamon

So, Luke and Cinnamon have had a truce for quite some time now.  Luke doesn't constantly harass Cinnamon and Cinnamon doesn't attack Luke.  But lately, Luke has started to really enjoy having a cat around.  Besides occasionally giving her his toys (which he's done for awhile), he'll now sometimes walk up to her when she's sitting on the back of the couch, and get his face close so she can touch noses with him.  :)  It's very fleeting and often doesn't work, so I haven't ever gotten a picture of it - I've barely witnessed it.  This picture though, represents him trying to get her to stiff his toes.  She cooperated and touched her nose to his foot before I got my camera out.  At least you get the idea of Luke's initiative at being friends with her.  Maybe one of these days, I'll be able to get a nose-touching picture.  :)

Another cute kitty thing, is sometimes Cinnamon will crawl underneath Luke's comforter on his bed and take a nap there.  Then, when we go in to play, there's the tell-tale bump under the covers.  I lift up the covers so we can see her under there, and Luke will say "Come out, kitty!"  He never lets her stay.  But, if he's inclined to play on his bed, I don't want to leave her there, since she might get squished by a happy, unassuming 2-1/2 year old "crashing" onto his bed.  :P

First Carousel Ride

About a week and a half ago, we went to the mall with Nathan's parents and some cousins.  We ate dinner there, walked around a bit, and let the kids ride the carousel!  Luke had never been before, so I stayed off to take some pictures.  :)  He loved it!

Fun Outside

Some fun pictures from a quick trip outside to get the mail.  Light is fleeting at this time of day, but I still try sometimes.  The first picture is a little over-exposed and blurry, but his expression is so happy.  And the second one turned out pretty cool, with most of the picture blurry except for Luke - not sure how that happened, but it's fun.  :)

Silly Photo Shoot

Luke and I were hanging out on our bed, and the lighting was pretty decent, so I decided to get my camera.  My little guy is so handsome and doesn't completely reject picture-taking anymore, so I got a few cute ones.  None are absolutely perfect, but they're all fun - lots more on the Hughes gallery.  :)

Crackers & Chips

Luke loves to crunch up crackers in his soup, just like I do.  Lately, he's requested goldfish to crumble into his soup (mostly noodles with minimal broth) instead of regular saltines.  I love this face of fierce effort!

My mom sent a welcome package of Juanita's tortilla chips!!!  I mentioned these before, and how I fell in love with these chips when visiting at Christmas.  Since they don't yet sell them down here, I asked my mom to mail me a few bags!  When we opened the box, he went right to work: he pulled the bags out of the box and put them on the table.  I didn't ask him to do any of this - he must have remembered helping Grandpa by pulling the bags out of the box at the store.  Very cute.  :)

My mom included this goldfish container as a little treat for Luke, too.  He insisted on eating some "small goldfish" out of his "big goldfish" that evening.  :)

Ice Cream!

Once again, Nathan suggested a snack while running errands on the weekend.  This time it was to Foster's Freeze - which is kind of like Dairy Queen.  We each got an ice cream treat and we split an order of crisscut french fries.  Nathan got his usual chocolate-dipped vanilla cone, I got a yummy Twister/Blizzard type concoction, and I ordered a little cup of vanilla for Luke.  He liked it okay... until he realized what we were eating!  Then, he wanted some of ours.  (this first picture is probably of him coveting Nathan's cone)  :P  So, he ended up getting a piece of Nathan's chocolate shell, and a couple spoonfuls of my chocolate-y ice cream along with his vanilla.  Lesson learned: Luke likes chocolate!  :)

I gotta tell ya, though... it is nice to have another slow eater on these outings!  By the time Luke finished his ice cream, I was *almost* done with mine, so I was able to quickly finish it up and throw it away while Nathan strapped Luke into his carseat.  No more finishing most of my ice cream in the car.  :)

Enjoying Tirzah

I got some more cute pictures of Tirzah a few weeks ago.  There are lots more on the Hughes gallery, Jo, if you want to go see all of them.  :)

Making Muffins

A few weeks ago, we hosted playgroup at our house because of the rain.  Since we didn't have to drive anywhere, when our visitors left, we had some extra time before lunch.  It was cold and REALLY rainy that day, so what better activity than baking?  Also, the previous evening, Luke had asked for muffins at dinner and I told him we didn't have any.  He then said "make fum-mums Mommy".  :P

So, here we are, making "fum-mums".  Luke did a very good job helping this time!  He successfully added most of the dry ingredients that I measured out for him and helped add the wet ingredients.  He "helped" me stir (by having his hand underneath mine on the spoon).  Then, he pointed to each muffin cup that needed to be filled next as I spooned in the batter.  And he helped sprinkle on the streusel!  That's what these pictures are of - I just kept setting the 10-second timer on the camera in hopes of getting some cute ones.  :)

Smoothie

When we're out running errands as a family, Nathan will often suggest we go somewhere to get a snack of some kind.  Smoothies are a favorite for us all.  :)

Siren Go-Go

This is Luke's favorite outside toy at his cousin's house - the "siren go-go" (aka: police car).  While inside, he is plenty entertained by all the cars and trucks that cousins Owen & BJ have, but once outside, it's this car or nothing.  If he wasn't riding it, he was following around whoever else was currently riding it, "waiting" for his turn to get back in.  :P

Sampler & Laptop

I finished the cross stitched birth record that I made for Tirzah just in time to take it with me when we went to visit a few weeks ago.  I think I framed it that morning before we left.  :)  It's the same design as the ones I did for Vijay and Vineetha, but Cameron, Joanna and I collaborated on changing the colors so that it would be a bit unique - and the new colors reflect the fact that she was born so close to Christmas!

That evening, we received a large package on our porch from my Uncle Doug & Aunt Kathy!  They got sick the week we visited Oregon, so were unable to visit with us, and decided to mail us some presents!  Luke is VERY excited about his new laptop!  Thank you so much for going out of your way to share these gifts with us!

Toe Fuzz

Lately, Luke likes to pull his socks off and inspect himself for toe fuzz.  :P  He even inspected MY toes for toe fuzz one time I didn't have my socks on.  Silly boy!

He also REALLY likes to play on Mommy & Daddy's bed!

Playing!

Playing with the little bags my grandma made him for Christmas by filling them with his cars and trucks and carrying them around.  His expression here is hilarious! (click to enlarge)

Happy outside - although maybe a little cold.  :)

Towsley Canyon Hike

We went on a hike in a new location than Nathan and I had ever been.  The first half of the trail was pretty much all uphill.  But, Luke was a trooper and walked the whole way up!  He held onto someone's hand the whole time, and only got tired towards the very end of the climb.  We encouraged him to press on until we reached the top, then we rested and had a snack together.

King of the hill!

Snack with Grandpa.

The family picture we took would have turned out great if my eyes were open.  :P  Here is a cropped version of us from a picture on my mother-in-law's camera where my eyes ARE open.  :)

Since he was tuckered out at this point, he rode in the backpack for the downhill trek back to the car.  :)