after and some fun

I never posted an after picture of Luke from his haircut because a. his after picture from the salon looks downright possessed and b. I haven't had enough time (or motivation) to unload the newer pictures off my camera until now. I'm also adding a before picture for comparison sake:

Before

AfterI also felt like adding this picture because, for some crazy reason, I *love* when I find him like this. His little feet are tucked under him and he's totally content to sit like this for quite awhile. It's even better when his shoes aren't on, so you can see his chubby toes and square-ish feet.

snip snip

On Tuesday, we took Luke to get his *first* haircut. As you know, I've been dreading this moment and really put it off far longer than I really should have. He was looking creepy there towards the end. Honestly, creepy.

Although he had no idea what I was talking about, I prepped him for it all day, making sure that I told him how nice Ashley was and how handsome he would be afterwards. I packed his diaper bag full of toys to distract him with and a container of puffs in case I was forced to bribe him with food. Because I was also getting my hair cut, Keith and I drove separately so he could leave with Luke when he was finished and put him down for bed at the regular time.

We decided that Keith would sit in the chair with Luke and hold him while I took the pictures. I think Keith just didn't want to get in trouble if he didn't take adequate pictures during the whole process. It seemed like it was going to go well when Ashley put the cute kiddo smock on Luke. He seemed to enjoy that.

As soon as we started though, Luke wasn't happy. He has this thing about having his head restrained. He likes to be able to look around and check everything out. When you have an extremely sharp pair of scissors in close proximity to your particularly large noggin, free reign with head movements is not in any one's best interest, especially Luke's. When I asked Keith where the diaper bag was so I could start the entertainment/distraction process, he had no idea what I was talking about. In my mind, wherever Luke goes, the bag goes. That thing is a lifeline to occupying and pacifying our child and since Keith wanted to be the one to drive Luke to the appointment, the bag was his responsibility. Keith's thoughts were that since I'm the mom, I was supposed to remember it. Either way, it wasn't there.

Ashley was so nice to try to help us find ways to try to take his mind off what was happening. Keith's first instinct was to put his finger in Luke's mouth (the bink was in the bag).

That lasted for all of about 10 seconds. Next thought was to see if he would play with a comb (the toys were in the bag).

It was almost like he was trying to hold on to the comb for dear life. Poor guy. The comb didn't last long, which was my fault. I was busy taking pictures when he stealthily put it in his mouth. Next.

Our last thought was to try to bribe him with a sucker that Ashley had (puffs were in the bag). We were willing to try anything at this point.

This also worked for approximately 10 seconds before he wanted nothing to do with it anymore. He's not used to sweet foods and he typically prefers vegetables to fruits, so I think that this was a little too much for him. Keith enjoyed it though.

We gave up trying at this point. We held him still, let him fuss, and finished the haircut.

Ashley said that he did really well compared to some of the other babies she's given haircuts to. I'm not sure if she was just being nice or if he really was quite the trooper. I feel really silly that I'd put it off for this long. Blame the crazy mom in me I guess. He is such a handsome guy now and I love the way it turned out!

dr. jekyll and mr. hyde

This series of pictures occurred in a brief two minute period. My sweet boy morphed into a crazy crabby baby and back again in no time flat. I probably should have comforted him, but seeing as nothing pre-empted this fit, I found it to be impressive. I just laughed. A lot.

And this is where the turn for the worse happened...

and created a full blown tantrum.

Apparently it required too much effort. The moment had passed and mom's laughing wasn't the reaction he'd been hoping for.

For those of you who might be wondering, my Mom of the Year award is already being mailed to me. Thankyouverymuch.

wagon and/or wheelbarrow

Last week we took Luke for his first *official* ride in his wagon (Keith refuses to acknowledge that it's a wagon; he instead refers to it as Luke's wheelbarrow) he received from Andrew for Christmas. We hadn't taken him out before this because I was too nervous that he wasn't big enough yet. It says its for kiddos at least a year old and older, but I finally broke down and we took him to get the mail which is right around the corner from our house. Since he's larger than an average one-year-old at this point, I figured, hey-why not? He loved every second of it!

We started off with the intention of taking Rosco with us, but after we caught sight of the kids playing at the end of the street, we decided against it because we didn't want him scaring any of the kids. We know he just likes to sniff, but the kids had no idea that's what he was thinking.

Luke found some toys that I'd put in his wagon and began playing with them while we were walking. He also managed to grab his long-lost sunglasses from the bottom of the wagon. We tried to put them on him, but much rather preferred to play with them.

The trip was uneventful and fun. We were only out for about 5-10 minutes before I had to leave to teach R.E. I'm excited for us to go again!

the best medicine

I think this goes without explanation...one of my very most favorite sounds in the world.

dining with royalty

On Friday night, we were so lucky to have dinner with the King family! It was so great to be able to see Corbin and Kyle; we hadn't seen them for any extended amount of time since Caleb was born in November. Brayden was hilarious the whole night. He was so excited to have people over and so kind to share his toys with Luke and show him how they work.

Brayden's sweet Superman cape

Corbin made a very yummy dinner of Chicken Parmesan and we were able to just hang out and catch up. Such a nice night; thanks King fam!

just because

I love this kid's blue eyes. I admit I'm jealous sometimes because I always wanted my mom's blue eyes growing up. At least Luke got them!

nine

I know that I'm running behind this month with Luke's usual post, but life gets tricky when you are chasing a crawling baby!

Luke turned nine months old on Thursday, January 15th and this past month has been filled with many firsts for him. It seems like as soon as he figured out how to pull himself up on the couch, his milestones starting coming at us fast and furious. Within a week of beginning to pull up, he began crawling and cruising around the furniture. His piece de resistance came this past weekend when he decided to stand on his own. That moment was completely unexpected and caught us totally off guard. One minute he was using me as a human jungle gym and the next second he's standing next to me completely independent of any assistance from me.

It's fairly funny to us that he's accomplishing these great feats in such an abbreviated amount of time. Keith and I had just been telling each other how we were in no hurry for him to figure any of these skills out. It's really sad to admit, but we were those parents who were okay if our child was slightly behind the curve in being physically active. As soon as we spoke the words, we were doomed. Maybe he got my spirit and loves a great challenge; he won't let any one's expectations hold him back from what he wants to do. If I think of it that way, I'm glad for him and this eventful week.

As Luke gets older, he continually gets happier. I never think he can get much better than he is at any given moment (he is perfect already), but he never ceases to surprise and awe us. He's developing a very goofy and fun personality that loves to laugh deep belly laughs and to proudly display his toothy grin, even if it still has only two teeth. He makes these crazy noises as he explores the sounds that he can make with different formations of his mouth and tongue and although he still probably has no relation between specific words that he says and their meanings, he has a great time trying to repeat what we're saying just the same.

He tends to gravitate towards the same few toys, even though he was showered with an insane amount at Christmas. He loves balls, drumsticks, and any toy that seems to only project it's noise at a decibel that I'm sure isn't good for our ears. His all-time favorite toy/item is any book. I need to add that I am not prompting him in any way to choose books as we have playtime; I'd like to think that an innate love of books is another trait that I gifted him through my genes. Eight times out of ten, he'd rather choose a book to look at than play with the other items in his toy bin.

After our brief scare shortly after he was born concerning his weight gain, Luke has become quite the large, hefty fella. He tipped the scales at 21 lbs., 14 oz. at his check-up and measured 31 inches long. Due to his increasingly large size, it was time to upgrade to a big-boy car seat. Of course, safety first, so it's installed backwards until his first birthday, but he fits so much better and can actually sit up and enjoy the view as we go places.

Oh, and although he still eats banana baby food and banana yogurt without any issue, he continues to despise actual banana.

Luke, we love you and can't wait to see what you have in store for us this month!

funky flash=black & white

This past Sunday was beautiful outside. Actually, the past week or so has been gorgeous. 70-ish degrees outside with a slight breeze and little-to-no clouds. Perfect Phoenix weather in the dead of winter.

Keith was in the backyard burying some kind of wiring so Luke and I decided to watch. Never one to miss a picture-taking opportunity, we started shooting some pictures of him. I didn't realize until afterwards that the flash was set funky which made all of the pictures turn out this dull, bluish color. To make the best of the situation and to not lose any of the pictures, I made them black and white instead. Here are my favorites:

award

My dear friend Kristi was kind enough to give me this award which essentially means I was tagged! How it works: You have to answer these questions with one word answers. Try to think of the first thing that pops in your head! It's pretty fun.

1. Where is your phone? desk
2. Where is your significant other? working
3 .Your hair color? brown
4. Your mother? amazing
5. Your BFF? pharm. d.
6. Your favorite thing? family
7. Your dream last night? creepy
8. Your favorite smell? roses
9. The room you're in? office
10. Your hobby? craftiness
11. Your fear? everything
12. Your favorite 80's flick? Big Business
13. What you're thinking about? Saturday
14. One of your wish-list items? shoes!
15. Where you grew up? Gilbert-ish
16. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here
17. The last thing you ate? Z-bar
18. What are you wearing? jeans
19. Your TV? all-consuming
20. Your pet? wrinkly
21. Your computer? working
22. Your mood? content
23. Missing someone? Dad
24. Your dream/goal? author
25. Biggest celeb crush? Um?
26. Something you're not wearing? socks
27. Favorite store? Only one?!?
27. Your Summer? Inside
28. Love someone? Yes!
29. Your favorite color? Depends…
30. Last time you laughed? today
31. Fav childhood toy? Barbie
32. Something you crave? peace
33. Why you blog? documentation

And now I get to pass this on by tagging someone else! So...Kristi W., Sara, Heather, and Tabby-you're it!

a new trick

So I'm in Luke's room folding his laundry while he's playing in his crib yesterday. Typically, this involves him scooting back and forth to the opposite sides of his crib to push the buttons on the toys and make the music play. As a peeked over to watch him for a second, this is what greets me:

He was on his knees trying to see what I was doing! Within a few minutes, it became this:

All the way up! This is the first time that he's pulled himself up like this. I knew this day was going to come eventually, but even still, I don't feel like I'm prepared for this new stage. For a second or two, I thought maybe this was just a freak occurrence, until this happened:

I'm just going to go with it and be so excited for my little man right now. He's amazing!

strike a pose

Luke does this thing when he's scooting around on the floor that cracks me up. He'll get himself going and then stop, whether its because he decided to take a break or because someone or something behind him was more exciting. When he turns to look back, he strikes what I call "the model pose." It seriously looks like he's posing for some male model underwear ad. Maybe that's his future calling...