Walker

Nathan's parents got Luke this lion walker for his birthday. This is the first "test-drive" once the boys got it all assembled. I thought it was so cute how careful Luke was, taking a short little step and then pushing it forward again, etc. Later, he got more aggressive with it, causing Nathan to put some paper next to the wheels to slow it down some so that it wouldn't get away from him. :)

Birthday Cake

This video is long, but it shows Luke's progression from not sure what to think of this chunk of stuff on his tray to playing with the plate (I was looking away at the time - I'm not really a negligent mommy!) to realizing the wonders of sugar and "shoveling" it in as fast as he could! :) Enjoy!

Sliding with Grandma

Mom really enjoyed being a Grandma while she was here visiting!

Playground

Here's another feature on the playground with a different direction of spinning items - and he figured that out, too. :)

Connect Four

My mom brings some of my things with her every time she visits so that eventually I will be in possession of everything that I'd like to keep. :P This time, she brought my travel game of Connect Four that I thought would be good for when our kids are older to play with on car trips. Luke thought it was great! He liked to shake it really hard - and probably wanted to figure out how to get the little pieces out! :)

Giant Abacus

When my mom was visiting, we went to the park and discovered this huge abacus! Luke loved batting at the balls to make them spin. He's really learning how to add and subtract - since he has so many brains in that head of his!

Ring Stacker

We hadn't played with this ring stacker in a month or more, and when I got it out again, Luke seemed to know just what to do with everything! He could only do the large blue ring before - now he could do all of them! And he seems to know that when he finishes the stack is when he gets the biggest applause, so he'll take the top one off and put it back on just to get the praise. :P

Laughing at Kitty

It's not his real hearty laugh, but you can get a peak into our happy boy's day as he enjoys seeing Cinnamon. :)

Music Appreciation

I think Luke understands this song to say, "If you're happy and you know it, bob your head!"

Sliding

Luke seemed to like this slide - he'd reach forward to grab Nathan's fingers and then pull himself forward - Nathan's not pulling him down at all. :)

Blocks

Luke's enjoying the set of blocks he got for Christmas. I kept them put away for awhile and just brought them out - he quickly figured out how to stack them 3 high!

Sunglasses

Here's Luke looking cool in his baby sunglasses! He actually let me keep them on him for more than a second, so I took advantage of that. :) Notice also how he will grab onto my hand and let go of his other support - kinda crazy.

Cruising Around the House

Luke is now a quite accomplished cruiser! He can cruise on just about anything and he is getting more brave and confident every day. Even looking back at this video take 5 days before I actually posted it, he seems a lot slower and more careful than he does now! (I cut out about a minute and a half in the middle because he's just playing with the grate - cute as it is, I had to trim the video somewhere to keep it a more reasonable length!) Enjoy!

Graham Cracker

Another eating one - I tried a graham cracker again. He did MUCH better than the first time I tried it when we was about 7 months old. :)

Toy Basket

We wanted to watch some of the Lakers game while Luke was still awake, but since it was pretty close to his bedtime, he tends to like to be entertained or distracted to stay happy. Well, I got out his toy basket and let him have access to the whole thing! This kept him busy for quite a while. :) (most of the basket had already been emptied at this point) I think it's pretty funny how he'd look at a toy then throw it back in the basket, then go for the next one.

Screw in the Basket

Luke figured out how to put the screw from his tool bench into the hole above the basket on his sports toy. Very clever!

Napping

Here's a sneak peak into one of Luke's naps. I went in to see if he was ready to get up because it was time, only he was sleeping so soundly. Since taking pictures makes noise, I thought it would be fun to take a video since I can set the camera to start (and beep) prior to going in his room in order to preserve his sleep. I hope you enjoy his peaceful little face as much as I do!

Eating a piece of bread

Here's another example of his first time trying something not cut up. He's still got a long way to go! When he's sucking on the bread, with a huge piece hanging out, I crack up EVERY time!

Eating a Whole Banana

This was pretty much my first attempt at giving Luke something "whole" to eat. I'd tried a graham cracker several months back and he just bit off a piece and choked on it. He still very much needs to learn how to moderate his bites, but it was pretty cute watching him try to eat the banana and figure out how it all worked. :)

Playing with Books

I let Luke have free reign over this once shelf of his board books, and he discovered that he can open and turn the pages on this Bible book all by himself! The cover is larger than the pages, so he can open it easier than other board books (which he really can't do at all yet). And then, once it's open, the pages loosen from each other a little easier than on other books. He was quite entertained!

Cruising Around

Luke does a great job cruising from thing to thing. He situates his feet and makes sure he's balanced on the new item before making the move over. Yeah, Luke!