Update!

Now that Luke is mobile, it's brought keeping me busy to a whole new level. He's super fast at his army crawl now and I'm constantly having to watch out for him. We haven't yet found a baby gate that I like, so we stick to playing in his room and the downstairs living room.

He's all boy- super drawn to cars, wheels, trucks, the garbage truck, the recycle truck, airplanes. It's really interesting to see these traits so early. His new favorite thing to do is to take his pointer finger and spin the wheels on his trucks and on his toys (given this new love, I had to specifically buy more toys that spin...). He's always on the go, always wanting to try new things. I recently discovered the air vent in his bedroom and it's totally fascinating to him.

We've moved into trying to eat some finger foods this week. I gave him some steamed pears and he didn't really want anything to do with them... so I gave him some puffs for the first time on Tuesday. If you aren't familiar with them, these are the ones I started him on. He actually loves them. It's really cute to watch his eye- hand coordination to get those little things in his mouth. We tried some freeze dried fruit today and he's digging those too. I really need to come up with some new baby food recipes now that he's moved past the single solids. If you have any suggestions let me know.

He's still not super verbal, but that's ok. He's constantly doing ohhs, ahhhs, and guuuhhhs. He definitely knows his name, he knows Ella, and come here. We are working on signing 'more' and 'all done'. His teeth are still coming in in full force, which calls for lots of sleepless nights. I'm praying that this round will be over soon.

We took a quick trip to DC this past weekend to visit friends. Luke was a total champ. We had to break a lot of his routine (ie, later nights, later naps, even one skipped morning nap) and he did incredibly well. It was wonderful to see our old friends and catch up. They were all amazed at how huge Luke is. Of course, he was hamming it up. It's cute to see his personality come out more and more. He's super social, not afraid of strangers and trying new things. He's flexible, really calm and laid back. He likes to sit and watch before jumping right in... and of course he loves his daddy.

Well, that's about all the updates I have. Can't wait for this weekend, how about you!?

spinning!

so serious about spinning

I'm coming to get you, mom.

Happy Saturday

1. Luke has all four of his top teeth coming in at the same time. Yes, you read that right... all four.

2. He's crawling like an old pro now. It's more of an army crawl, but he has it down pat.

3. He's almost in 12 month clothes. He still has a few 9 month outfits he can wear, but I'm going to have to clean out his drawer soon.

4. After seeing the price of baby food add up, I was inspired to start making my own. I bought a baby food maker this week and visited our Farmers Market this morning to purchase some winter veggies. So far I've made quite a bit of food, including sweet potato and kale (which Luke ate for lunch and LOVED it!). I've made enough to freeze so our little guy can keep enjoying all week. It's actually really fun and makes me feel really good about the food he's eating.

5. It's about 65 degrees outside, all the windows are up in the house and we're trying to enjoy this warm snap.

That's about all.. happy saturday to you.

Christmas!

Some Christmas recapping. We spent a couple of days near Asheville NC with my family, which was wonderful. We rented a cottage and were able to spend quality time over food, games and lots of coffee. We were even fortunate enough to have a candle light tour of the Biltmore (thanks Nana and Papa Lou for taking care of Luke)!

my new airplane is awesome!

Really interested in the prop.

Learning about airplanes from the pro.

showing off my standing skills.

we saw lots of this over Christmas.

Look at my two bottom teeth!

Reading with Dad.

Then the Hawkins family made the trek over to Chapel Hill. We had a wonderful time hanging out with Grandad, Grammi, Uncle Jeff and Uncle Landon. It was a great first Christmas!

Grammi!

Uncle Landon is funny!

the brothers

Merry Christmas 2012

A couple of updates on Luke. He had a nasty cold leading up until Christmas and a cough that lasted about two weeks. I took him into the Pediatrician on 12/28 just to be sure he didn't have an ear infection and he weighs a whopping 19lbs 1.5oz. Thankfully he didn't have an ear infection, tested negative for RSV (it's going around!) and the Pediatrician said he was definitely on the mend.

We've officially lowered his crib down one placement! He has more teeth making their grand appearance. Actually the next one coming in is his left lateral incisor. I'm guessing his central incisors will be in next....?

He has officially started crawling! Today was the first day he was able to do a mini army crawl about 3 ft in his room. Looks like I'll need to buy that baby gate asap!

Even though 2012 has been tough, we are incredibly grateful for a healthy, thriving baby boy. We look forward to see what 2013 will bring!