first time at the beach

Boulders was the perfect first beach experience for such a small child because it was nearly waveless being sheltered in a bay with boulders.

Aunt Melissa provided this great swimming suit.  The hat is a hand-me-down from Tim who got it from his Great Aunt Cath.  He usually refuses to wear a hat but the African sun changed his mind.

Luke seemed to like the sand and the water in equal parts and spent most of his time at the water's edge.

Yes, we were alone on the beach for a little while.  Then we were joined by another family and then by a penguin.  Luke ignored all.

Luke's second beach was St. James Beach a little closer to Cape Town.  A pool keeps the large waves from knocking him over.  We got there in time to enjoy the pool then watched the tide come in and devour it.  This is a common pose from Luke.  He looks like a general/admiral surveying the troops.

The harder surf breaks the shells into small, pretty pieces and he spent most of his time holding and throwing handfuls into the water.  The beach is a great babysitter.

first jumbo jet

Luke's first time on a jumbo jet went well from our perspective.  I'm not sure how our fellow passengers feel.  The pressure changes didn't seem to bother him at all, but he did cry several times out of frustration and general discomfort.  We were seated in the middle isles, so he had no window view.  I don't think he knew he was in a plane.  He didn't have his own seat, but we were able to put the armrests up on two of our seats and he, Tim and I shared until they went to sleep.  He's technically too heavy for the cot/bassinet that they had for him which sits on a shelf in the bulkhead, but we put him in it after he fell asleep and he did well there for an hour or so.  After that, we took turns holding him while he slept.  The bulkhead is nice because you have all the extra leg room, but you aren't allowed to have any bags on the floor during take off and landing and there were no bins directly overhead.  When traveling with young children, it's really important to be able to reach into your bag at any moment for any number of emergency items: a cup of milk, a book, a toy, a cloth, a change of clothes, etc.  





waiting to board in denver

so big

getting ready for bed on the flight

On the flight to Cape Town, he got his own seat because the flight wasn't full and we were not in the bulkhead. Paul and I sat on either end of the row of four and by again lifting armrests, Tim and Luke were able to stretch out. He slept from take off through our dinner and then was asleep for most of the 11 hour flight.

sleeping on the flight to cape town with brother

peanut butter

Luke has been a great disappointer.  At three months he started sleeping through the night.  We celebrated the child that would sleep through the night.  That lasted about four weeks.  He sleeps through the night so rarely now that I keep track of it in my calendar.  When he started to eat solids, he ate  a lot of anything and everything: humus, avocado, cheese.  We celebrated the child that had a healthy appetite and open pallet.  Now he eats about 8 things.  This video is monumental because he has added peanut butter to his food choices (and he's just so cute playing with Tim's, now his, airplane).  

played out

Luke's all over the place with his nap times these days.  Over the summer he gradually switched from a morning napper to an afternoon napper.  It seems that he may be going back to the morning.  On Wednesday, he was particularly clingy, whiny, and annoying at about 09:30.  When I finally quit working in the kitchen and picked him up, he was asleep before I even had a chance to figure out what was wrong.  Today, he fell asleep on the sofa in the middle of playing with Buzz and Rex.  Fortunately, he's easy to transfer to his bed.

the end of summer

These photos are from the end of September and the end of the hot days of summer.  We're still enjoying the back yard, but we wear more clothes now.

on the trampoline/ball depot

furrowing his brow

inside toys are much more interesting when they are outside

20 months

9 out of 10 toddlers surveyed say that cheerios taste better when eaten off the floor

luke will sit on the car and push the buttons that make noise and play music but he has yet to push it around

developing skills

Luke has discovered that he can put lego pieces together as well as take them apart.

playing alone

People often comment that Luke is very independent or that he is so good at entertaining himself. He is. I don't know if it's because Tim requires so much attention so Luke has learned to take care of himself or if it's just his nature. Either way, it's delightful. However, sometimes, I forget about him. I've never left him at the store or anything like that, but sometimes he'll be playing in the yard while I'm gardening and ten minutes will pass before I look up and think "where's Luke?" If he isn't in the same spot doing the same thing, he's moved a few yards away and is doing something similar.



picking up rocks in the garden is one of his favorite outdoor activities




playing with small things in piles is one of his favorite indoor activities

napping on his own terms

After trying every trick I know to get him to take his nap, he finally fell asleep while climbing on the chair.

napping on his own terms

reading with grand-da

Luke has two favorite books and has just recently started to request that this one be read to him. Grand-da happily obliges.



Luke no longer backs down the stairs; he slides!

hobbit feet

Luke doesn't like socks or shoes. I think they hurt his feet, the shoes anyway. I have a couple of pairs of sandals that fit him strangely, which makes me think he may have odd shaped feet or wide feet or something. Until he can tell me, he'll be a barefoot boy. It doesn't seem to be a problem as his feet are as tough, though baby soft, as hobbit feet. He went barefoot at the cabin where the grass is coarse and the dirt is ground granite. Ouch. He loved it.




a little sandbox time is always enjoyed. the sunscreen base makes for a great adhesive for sand as the bathtub shows each night.

easter

Technically, this is Luke's second Easter, but at three months he didn't participate and didn't even get a taste of candy. What a difference a year makes.



Luke made himself right at home at the condo.

sick boy

Last Monday, Luke slept through the night and didn't wake until 07:30. This is unheard of behavior in the Attridge household. I should have known something was wrong. When I heard him stirring at 07:30, I discovered that he was vomitting in his bed. It went on for three days. He spent most of the time in my arms moaning or falling asleep like in this photo. It's the Sunday after, and he's finally well again, but at least two pounds lighter. He's trying to eat enough to make up for it. Paul had it last week. Fingers crossed that Tim and I can dodge it.

yesterday, no shirt; today, it snowed

Luke took full advantage of summer-like temperatures yesterday.

He's become more interested in throwing and kicking balls since we've been spending more time outside.

after bath, bath

Luke lets me know when he wants out of the tub by standing up and whining. Tim was in the tub with him and I was preoccupied with him so that by the time I got around to getting Luke out, his whine was more of a cry. I was certain he was finished, in other words.

I put bubbles in the tub for Tim; then I dried Luke off and put lotion all over his body. He struggles with the dry climate and has patches of very dry skin that must itch. I diapered him and put these cute pj's on him that were once Dom's. Then I left him to play in his room while I went to help Tim rinse the bubbles off as he'd had enough of his bath as well. While I was getting Tim dressed for bed, I heard what I knew could only be the sound of Luke going head first into the tub. I got to him before he was able to vocalize anything. The bubbles were still deep, but fortunately the water was all gone. My need to make sure he was safe made me wipe the bubble mask from his face. In retrospect, I should have left it on him both for the photo and to make him suffer a little for his antics. He was in the process of righting himself when Tim and I got into the bathroom and never made a noise of complaint. Maybe that's because his mouth was full of bubbles.

I, of course, blame Paul who is on a business trip in Orlando, Florida. He's probably sitting in bed reading his Kindle right now and surfing channels. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

mr. sandman

We got a break from the wind today and spent the afternoon playing outside with Addie, our neighbor down the street. Luke loves the outdoors and moves from grass to dirt to water to plants to rocks in a constant quest of discovery. When we came home, Tim fell asleep on the couch almost immediately, a rare afternoon nap, but Luke just went to the back door and cried for more. He played on his own in the sandbox for thirty minutes before crawling out to throw rocks from the boarder beds into the grass.

where's luke?

Luke has been playing this game for almost six months now, but he never tires of it. I thought you might like to hear his giggles.


checking out the camera

walking often

We think he'd walk most of the time if he knew how to get up to the standing position on his own. I'm sure that will come soon enough.

drawers

Luke has learned how to open drawers. He likes to figure out how things operate and can often be found in the kitchen pulling on the cabinets, which he can't open because they have child proof latches on them, trying to turn the stove dials, and pulling the oven door open. He discovered this week that not only can he open the drawer on the train table that houses all his little cars and farm animals, he can get inside it with them. Tim was so impressed that he did the same on the other side. Unfortunately, the drawer bottoms can't hold their weight, so this is the last time they'll be allowed to do this.

after breakfast giggles

When I sign 'finished' to Luke, he smiles and laughs and usually claps his hands, so meal time almost always ends on a happy note. He may never learn any sign language, but he makes trying to teach it to him fun.

climbing

Luke has discovered that the sofas with slip covers on them provide a way for him to climb up on them that the other sofas do not provide. He smiles like a champion whenever he manages to pull himself up.


almost there


getting closer


success!

happy birthday

not too sure about all of this

Luke was one on Tuesday, but we've been celebrating his birthday in stages ever since early January. Because his Aunt Melissa was here for a visit, we had his party before she left on the 9th. We went to Chuck E Cheese, a restaurant here in town geared to children's parties. We chose this primarily for his brother, whose birthday is the day before Luke's. We celebrated their birthdays together, something that will probably happen more often than not. It does mean that Luke will get to do things for his birthday that Tim didn't get to do until he was older, like going to Chuck E Cheese.

He seemed to enjoy himself. Melissa took him around to look at the muppets and all the games. There is a small play area for kids with equipment for climbing, but he preferred to just crawl around the entire place. He sat in a couple of the cars and ate a little of the pizza.


riding a monster truck with his big brother


looking too cool

Two hours proved the perfect amount of time for all of us and we left without any complaints for cake and presents at Gee Gee and Gramps's house. Luke fell asleep as soon as we arrived and slept through Tim's time with cake and presents, which worked out nicely as Tim got loads of attention.

Luke wasn't interested in the cake, and didn't even get frosting on his fingers. Learning from the anti-climatic cake eating from Tim's first birthday, we didn't expect much. Tim helped him open his presents.

He took his first steps just after Christmas and continues to take a few every day. So far, he doesn't seem to see the advantage of walking to crawling. He mastered going down the stairs around the 3rd of January and now roams the whole house, getting into everything. It's so much fun to watch him grow.

first steps

Luke celebrated the New Year in a very special way by taking his first steps. Paul, Melissa, Tim and I were all gathered in the family room together playing with toys from Melissa when Luke stood and took two steps before falling into Paul. We all congratulated him with claps and cheers. He was very pleased with himself. Shortly after this he did it again and Tim shouted excitedly, "HE'S WALKING!" We didn't manage to get it on camera, but we did catch him standing alone.



well done luke