go, go, go

It's still cold here,  but warm enough for little boys to play outside.  Luke has recently discovered the fun of this 'dinosaur'.  The comb on its head lights up and, when pushed, a song plays.  For a year, he's been happy with that function and nothing else.  But when spring made a brief visit last week, we took it outside and he discovered the joy of pushing and riding it along with songs and lights.   He likes to push or ride-and-push (the back section can be put together to make a seat) it from our driveway over to our neighbor's driveway. 

He loves it so much that he's developed a sense for determining when the door from the house to the garage is open.  Sometimes it doesn't close firmly and he can pull it open or I leave it open when I'm taking out the trash or bringing things in from the car.  When I can't find him in the house, I know to look in the garage and he'll be there sitting on his dinosaur and waiting for the big garage door to open so he can go, go, go.

two years old

Luke's birthday was a low-key affair: no balloons, no cake, no wrapped gifts.  Well sort of.  We had balloons still from Tim's birthday - not interested.  We had cake from Tim's birthday - not interested.  And while he loved all his gifts, he completely ignores anything wrapped in a package or put in a bag.  Methinks 2 will be the last such birthday.

curls

01/01/2012

I love Luke's curls, but they are fleeting.  If I tease them up after a bath, they will stay like this until bed time.  By morning they are flat against his head.

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.