Big boys & Birthdays

A lot of changes have been going on around our house lately. The biggest one being in Luke's room. He is no longer in his crib! We have converted it into its toddler bed mode. It is very exciting for him. The change has been a big adjustment, mostly evident in the length of time it takes him to fall asleep. I think that he just gets so excited to be in his big boy bed that it is hard for him to fall asleep. He lays in there and plays for HOURS! Bedtime is 8:00 pm and sometimes he will play until almost 11! I am thankful that we are not fighting him to stay in bed. At first he didn't want us to leave the room, but we edged our way out and now he will stay in there alone without crying. I have had to use my scary mom voice a few times when the play started to get a little out of control.
He is really working his way into being a big 2 year old. Lately he has been so hyper. It's funny to watch him because sometimes he has so much energy he just literally stands in the living room and spins in circles until he falls. There have been days lately where he has just been pushing my buttons to see where it gets him. Grrrrr! Being so big though, comes with its privelages. Luke's been working on getting his driver's permit.


He's been practicing doing donuts in the driveway in his little tikes car. It is so funny to watch him. He LOVES that thing, LOVES it! Everytime we go to the garage he has to get in it and wave bye-bye. It doesn't matter if we are in a hurry or not. I have learned to just plan an extra five minutes to get out the door.







Like I said in my last post, I got a new camera for Christmas. We've been snapping a lot of photos but I hadn't figured out how to upload them until last night. Luke has been receiving most of the attention from the camera as we figure out how to use all its new functions. Along the way we have gotten a few good snaps here and there. These are some of my favorite:

Looking a lot like his daddy in this photo:

Not sure why I like this one so much. He just looks so hard at work with that Play-doh that I think its cute.

We've had some beautiful weather lately. The other day I sent all the boys outside to play so that I could mop the kitchen floor in peace. As I finished up I looked outside the window and saw this. I have no idea what was going on. Must be a boy thing. . .

Luke is talking up a storm these days. His list of words is nearing 25! He gets a new word every few days. He's getting very good at imitating words and sounds. Once he says a word spontaneously it goes on our word list. Our word today is "bear" after seeing bear on the Baby Einstein video. He doesn't have to many words for animals other than dog, but he has lots of animal sounds down. He can make sounds for cat, cow, duck, dog, lion, bear, dinosaur. His default sound is "grrrr" so any animal that might growl--Luke can imitate it. It's so exciting to hear him say real words. It feels like we've waited so long for this. He is also using sign language for "more", "thank-you," and "please." We helped throw a baby shower for one of our friends this past weekend. After cleaning up, Luke and Gene came to pick me up and Luke started showing off his sign language skills. The ladies were so impressed with him that Ashley fed him all her cake for politely using his signs for "more" and "thank-you." What a ladies man--talking a pregnant girl out of her cake!

Lastly, Uncle Mike came by to visit with us last week. Luke loves Uncle Mike. Here they are snuggling. Before he left, Luke talked Uncle Mike out of his hat. They had so much fun together. Luke was real impressed with Uncle Mikes big truck. He walked all around it, checking out the tires, all the toys in the bed. He got his little car out and parked it in between daddy's car and Uncle Mike's truck. He doesn't care much for mama's car. Whenever we are in a parking lot he is always trying to talk me into leaving in another car. He is constantly picking out big trucks and big SUV's. What a boy!

Oh, and the birthday part--Gene is now the big 32 yesterday, and today I am 29!