Sword Fight

Luke & Jonathan having a cute sword fight with their plastic swords.

Jonathan's First Steps

During one of our family get-togethers during the holidays, I notice a bunch of cheering going on and see Jonathan trying to take his first steps with Grandpa.  Sure enough I caught a few on camera!

Super Slide

Another group gift we got to participate in this year was a group outing to Scooter's Jungle!  This is an indoor play room filled with bounce houses, slides, play stations, air hockey, etc.  A little something for everyone.  The crowd favorite was this super slide which everyone went down at least once (except pregnant Jennifer!).  Here are a couple clips of Jonathan, then Luke, going down the slide with Nathan.  Luke eventually got so comfortable with the slide that he went down several times all by himself, too, but I didn't get a video of that.  Enjoy!

Luke Ramp

We got Luke this Hot Wheels ramp for Christmas, and he enjoyed it!  Take note of the cars the racing car is jumping over.  :)

Jonathan Ramp

Someone got this for Jonathan at the Hughes Christmas, but this is really the first time Jonathan had a chance to play with it.  I was impressed how he knew pretty much how it worked right away!  I also love his little dance moves to indicate that he wants the music to play again.  :)

Cousin Airplane

The group gift teeter-totter airplane with almost all the cousins riding it.  It holds 8 kids, but when the grandkid count is at 11, going on 12, they'll still need to take turns.  :)

New Bike

Here's Luke getting his new bike out to show all the cousins on Christmas Eve.  Grandpa had it hidden in the garage, so he opened a "clue" present that said to look out there for it.

Christmas Program

Here's some footage of Luke in his preschool Christmas program.  First, he's singing "Go Tell it on the Mountain", then there's a few seconds of the end of "Jingle Bells".

Laughing with Duck

This video started out mainly to capture Jonathan's laugh, as it tends to evolve over time as he gets older.  Then, Luke wanted to try to make him laugh, so the second part of the video is his attempt to play with Jonathan, too.

Singing Snowman

Jonathan's first real introduction to the singing snowmen at Grandma Hughes' house!  I think he likes them.  :)

2011 Hughes Family Film Festival

This year, Luke could finally act a little bit, so we came up with a plot that he enjoyed and I fed him each line.  We got all the filming done in one morning, and I think it turned out pretty cute!

Playing the Piano

Jonathan got his first taste of playing a real piano the day before Thanksgiving - and he LOVED it!  I thought it was great that he usually pressed the keys very nicely - not just banging. 

Driving the Car

Jonathan has only figured out how to push this car backwards - but he still thinks it's great fun!

Lion Walking

Here's a cute video of Jonathan walking with the help of his lion toy.  I love the little laughs of accomplishment - you can tell he's very proud of himself!

Riding the Pony

After Luke refused to ride a pony at Lombardi's last year, it was nice that he had no reservations about riding on this year.  Our boy is growing up!

Boys Wrestling

Jonathan likes to "wrestle" with Luke - which basically just involves throwing himself headfirst at his older brother.  He'll even do this to me or Nathan when we're down on the floor with him.  Silly boy!

Mastered Crawling

Here's a confident little Jonathan having mastered the art of crawling!  And babies crawling in jeans is just too cute to resist.  :)

Real Crawling!

This is the first day Jonathan started to crawl for real (a few days after he turned 1) - on his hands and knees.  He eventually falls and slips back into army crawling, but he's starting to figure it out!

Somersaulting

Here's Luke doing some somersaults in the backyard.  I love how he is so serious about getting started on the second one.  Nice job!

Sitting Up

He's been doing this for 2 weeks (since the day he turned 11 months), but this is the first time I've managed to capture the skill on video - enjoy!

Playing Ball

Jonathan has done this a few times recently, and while his aim still leaves much to be desired, it's still fun that he enjoys throwing and receiving the ball (and he seems to favor his right hand).  :)  Enjoy the giggles towards the end, too!

Army Crawling on the Tile

It's a bit easier for Jonathan to army crawl on the tile since he has less friction to drag his body along.  Here, he's going one of the longest tile stretches in our house - still a lot of work!

Army Crawling!

He's mobile now!  Jonathan kind of has a movement more like army crawling or inch-worming, but it works.  :)

Truck Fun

Jonathan was apparently putting this truck in and out and in and out of this cup holder - so cute!  And here's a small clip of his clapping skills, too.  He can clap "regularly" now - not just up and down, like Luke did for a long time.

Laughing at Animals

Jonathan got such a kick out of the block flying through the air on this toy - just like Luke did.  :)  He almost forgets to breathe, he's laughing so hard.  :P

Clapping

Jonathan is finally interested in trying to clap!  It's so cute!  Here, he finally gets a good up & down clap, which is how Luke clapped for quite a while before learning how to do it properly.

Waterslide

This has two clips - one where Luke tried the waterslide by himself (and had a meltdown afterwards).  Then, later in the day, when he was motivated to try again when Daddy went with him.  :)

Luke's Birthday Clue

Here's Luke on his second time through reading the clue I wrote in his birthday card (his first time through was very choppy as he sounded out the words), and off on the hunt to find his big present!

Lion Laughing

Such a generous chuckle when the lion roars!  :)

Playing Tag

An early version of "tag" between Jonathan and Luke.  :)

Anticipation

Sheer joy!

Bounce House Slide

Luke loved going down the slide off of the bounce house, too.  :)

Bounce House Jumping

Luke has overcome his fear of the bounce house and is at least willing to bounce in it with Daddy.  :)

Car Silliness

I love that Luke will continue doing something that makes Jonathan laugh - even if it takes a few tries to get him to laugh again.  :)  Such happy brothers!

Trying Puffs

Jonathan's still figuring out how to get those little puffs all the way to his mouth.  It's cute watching him try.

Chair Dancing

Here's more of that cute head bopping Jonathan was doing a lot.  :)

Elephant Exercise

I had never seen something like this before - those guys are strong!

Running with the Cousins

I thought it would be fun to capture this "race" on camera, then laughed when Luke decided, since the other cousins were turning around to run back, he would, too!  Gotta work on following the rules of the game...  (Oh, and at the end, he was concerned because a band-aid was falling off of his knee.)

Jonathan Bopping

Jonathan started doing this cute bopping motion with his head.  :)

Squeaky Kitty Laugh

This was on the tail end of Jonathan's interest in Squeaky Kitty, but it's very special to my heart to see Luke excited about playing with Jonathan.  :)

Luke Laughing

For a change, here's Luke laughing!  He loved having Aunt Jennifer being silly while pushing him on the swing.

Grandparent Giggles

Jonathan laughing at Grandpa's beard, tickles & silly noises!

Curvy Slide

I thought this looked cute with him all crouched down working his way along this silly playground piece.

Laughing at Bracelets

Can't resist a hearty, from-the-gut baby laugh!

Bowling

I think Luke needs to practice his bowling aim.  :)  He was having fun with Grandpa, though!

Jonathan Watching the Ducks

This was super cute to see him so interested in all the ducks and pigeons - he would burst out in vocal appreciation at times.  :)

Feeding the Ducks

Luke was enjoying feeding the ducks during our trip to Oregon, but was very nervous about having his fingers bit - and it looks like they got a little nibbled on at the end after all!

Making Jonathan Laugh

Jonathan thought this "unga-bunga" word Luke was making was hilarious!  Luke was pretending to be Cookie Monster eating the letter of the day.  Some of the time, Jonathan's noises sound painful, but it's really a happy sound - kind of strange, and definitely something I'll want to remember when he stops doing it.  :P

Dinner Excitement

Jonathan is such a happy guy - especially when dinner is imminent!

Hummingbird Talk

We recently got a hummingbird feeder, and Luke saw one while I was not in the room.  He started to tell me all about it, and I thought his explanations were so cute it was video-worthy.  He's a little slow in the beginning because he's conscious of the camera, but it's still cute.  :)

Jumping Happy!

He's got the hang of this jumping thing!  Such a cutie - and Luke's helpfulness and commentary in the background is fun, too.  :)

Thrilled to be Sitting!

Jonathan was so excited to be sitting up!  He seemed to enjoy being a part of the action - and he had a lot to say about it!

First Apples

Jonathan's 6 months old now, so we can start feeding him foods beyond cereals.  I started with apples because I have some baby cereal in the pantry that has apples and bananas in it, and I wanted to start working on the first "foreign" ingredient so that he can start eating that cereal when his single-grain barley cereal runs out.  I will promptly move onto vegetables after the bananas.  :)  He's a little distracted here because Luke is being all boy in the background, blowing up the bad guys while watching "The Incredibles", but he likes apples okay.  He eats it even better when it's mixed with his cereal.

Rattle Laughing

Here's an honest-to-goodness capture of Luke making Jonathan laugh!  I was working in the kitchen and saw this - apparently Jonathan thinks those rattles are HILARIOUS!!!  His laugh is pretty funny in and of itself - he gets these guttural sounds going a lot of the time - pretty silly boys!

Luke Making Jonathan Laugh

Luke was "tripping" over Jonathan's playmat, making him laugh, so I set it up to capture it for you.  Not super impressive, since Luke tends to be less than cooperative for these videos, but a little taste of joy!

Jumper Entertainment

You can see Jonathan is much more comfortable with the jumper a week later.  And Luke is unsuccessfully trying to entertain him, but it doesn't help that Luke's attention span isn't all that long, either - he kept romping off to do silly things far out of Jonathan's field of vision.  :P

Jumper

This is Jonathan's first experience with the jumper.  He's a little less than impressed right now.  As I look at it now, he probably could have been sitting up straighter, which would have given him a better angle to push off on the floor.  But, it's a good start!

Exercise Bike

Here's Luke being goofy on our new exercise bike.  It's pretty funny, though, how he can actually ride the bike when sitting on the front part.  :P

Rolling Over!

Yippee!  Jonathan rolled over back-to-tummy twice in once day a few weeks ago, and hadn't done it since.  Both times, I wasn't able to witness it, but I knew it happened.  Then, here he goes tummy-to-back for the second time this morning!  I missed the first one, too, but now I have proof!  He hasn't rolled since this one - maybe he figures, "Well, now I can do that.  What should I work on now?"  :P

P.S. This is light years ahead of Luke's rolling over milestones - I think Jonathan will be more on track with the "average" baby with some of these physical milestones.

Eating Rice Cereal

It took him about a week, but Jonathan finally figured out how to swallow his rice cereal.  :)  This was really the first day of "good" eating - he keeps getting better, too!  :)

Laughing with Lauren

Lauren is the resident "baby-lover" in the Hughes family.  Here, she's willing to be super silly to get Jonathan to laugh - such a happy sound!  :)

Getting His Feet

Sitting practice is kind of futile right now... since Jonathan discovered his toes!

Brothers Playing

Luke was being a lot more interested in playing with Jonathan before I got the camera out - so it's a bit forced here, but you get the idea.  I love how Jonathan just *watches* Luke all the time - he's fascinated!

First Bites of Cereal

Jonathan is 4 months old now, so he's starting to try some rice cereal once a day.  Here are his first "bites", complete with funny faces and lots of drool.  He's not too sure about the whole thing.  :)

Dizzy

Proof that Luke is still super silly... especially when company or a video camera is involved.  :P

Baseball

A week before this, Nathan told me that Luke had hit a ball he threw with a bat!  I was so impressed that Luke was big enough to accomplish that!  So, when I saw them getting the ball and bat out this week, I quick grabbed my camera and stepped outside to capture the action.  The first clip would have been perfect if I had kept rolling because Nathan had a second ball in his hands I didn't know about which Luke also hit - 2 for 2!  I took some more video, which is also good, but a little more distracted.  Go Luke!

Saucer Play

Jonathan is starting to get the hang of playing in the saucer - he'll bat at things and stays pretty happy for awhile - enjoy!

Riding a Tricycle

Luke rode his friend's tricycle at the park and did REALLY well!  I was impressed with his ability to start with ease and steer accurately.  The super-flat basketball court might have helped, but it could have also been the interaction with other kids motivating him to try.  :)

Laughing

Since the camera was distracting him so much, I set it on my chair and let him focus on me to get some laughs for you.  Such a happy guy!

Dinnertime Talking

Often, Jonathan would sit next to us at the table in his little seat during dinnertime.  He loved to talk to us to get our attention - so I had to get some of that on video.  Also, Luke was itching for attention, so I had him recite the first half of John 3:16 for you all!

Holding Feet

Cute video of Jonathan kicking and holding his feet.  :)

Building a Snowman

Here's Luke "helping" Nathan roll a big ball of snow for the body of the snowman we made.

Sledding

We went sledding in Frazier Park - Luke's first time!  He even went by himself a couple times - but lots of times with other people.

Snowball & Snowman

Here's Luke playing in the snow in our backyard.  He builds a snowball and tries to throw it at me - as well as talks a little bit about our snowman that we built.  :)

Snowing!

It's actually snowing at our house in Southern California!  WooHoo!