kid of a thousand faces

Over the course of about 10 minutes, these are some of the faces Luke made. Keith always says that I'm very expressive with my face, so maybe this is a little bit of me in Luke.

souljaboy: out of practice?

I have to get this out.

Last night around 11 p.m. (which, mind you, is WAY past my bedtime), I receive a text from someone identifying himself as "Jesse Souljaboy." Apparently some random girl had given him my phone number instead of her real one so that this guy wouldn't be able to contact her. Thanks. Really. The guy didn't seem to understand that I wasn't the girl he had met and he kept questioning why I had given him the wrong number. Um...if I had given you the wrong number, I wouldn't be talking to you! Duh!

The whole debacle got me thinking. I know that I have been out of practice with the whole dating-thing for awhile. I mean, Keith and I started dating when we were 15 and have been married almost five-and-a-half years at this point, but when did it become okay to contact someone for the first time after getting their number by text at 11 p.m. at night during the week? And why would you insist on being called, not just Souljaboy, but Jesse Souljaboy (I was corrected when I mistakenly called him by just Souljaboy during one of my reply texts)? Who would take someone seriously that called themselves that? Come on. My maternal instincts almost wanted to help the kid out and point out all the mistakes he was making as to why he had received the wrong number in the first place. Almost. Like I said, it was way past my bed time.

Am I so out of the loop that this is common place now? Is this really okay?

Mental note: remind Luke texting at close to midnight with a ridiculous nickname is dumb and never recommended if you'd ever like to hear from the girl again.

12-1=11

I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that Luke is *11* months old already. He's becoming such the little man and it's going by so quickly.

Luke has continued to improve his walking skills over the course of the last week. He can make it from our kitchen table to the couch completely independent of any assistance. It's amazing that he'll go to the chairs, stand himself up, and walk away from the chairs as if it's no big deal. Meanwhile, I'm sitting there with my mouth hanging open, trying to calculate how much precious time I have left until he's running like a madman through our house. Speaking of kitchen chairs, he's figured out how to get through the chairs which has posed another new obstacle for me as I learn the various ways I get to chase him around the house. But how can you get upset at this?

The way that he gets excited at the most normal, everyday things is precious to me. I still have to remind myself that he's still seeing things for the very first time, not the millionth like myself. He starts to breath all heavy, almost panting like a dog, while breaking into this huge grin where you can see his tiny dimple in his chubby cheek. He likes to stand on his toes so he can get a better look at things; he's already starting to sport some Waltemeyer calf muscles.

We've started feeding Luke more solid foods, but it's been a difficult road as he *still* only has those bottom two teeth. Thus far, Luke likes potatoes, ravioli, cheese, pears, yogurt, and best of all, Mickey-shaped chicken nuggets. He doesn't like to be fed the baby food anymore, but we have to to get a good amount of calories in to make sure he stays healthy. Pop learned the hard way this weekend that Luke doesn't take well with being told how to eat his food or what food to eat; he laughs when you tell him no. Doesn't matter how firm you are when you tell him, too. (Told you so, Dad.)

Luke continues to be a happy, healthy, thriving kid who is becoming continuously more difficult to photograph for his monthly chair picture. After attempting to nose dive from the chair, he made a break for it and never looked back. With the exception of the chair part, I'd say that last sentence pretty much sums up our last eleven months. The best eleven months.

a day at the park

I'll add more to this post a bit later when I get all of my pictures dowloaded, but for now I'm just going to add this picture that Eric took. It's *officially* one of my most favorite pictures of Luke.

new toy

We bought Luke this ball last week at Target. We went with the intent of getting him one of the big balls, but he could get his hands around this one better and he laughed hysterically at Keith while he chased it down the aisle. For some reason, he gets a kick out of having it thrown at his head. Definitely has to be something inherited from Keith.

I apologize for it being dark and long. I can't figure out how to edit it and accurately save it on my computer so it will load to blogger.

a visit to treeland

I would like to start by saying that I think the people at Treeland must get sick of seeing Luke and I show up at Treeland because we manage to distract a good portion of the employees during the time we are there. I'm sorry.

Luke and I really wanted to visit though, so we made the trip in today. Luke got to spend some quality time with Aunt Holly and even helped her answer the phone a few times.

Keith was in and out for the majority of the time we were there. During one of his brief stops in, he and Luke got to spend some time together. Luke kept trying to take all of the papers out of Keith's pocket. Do you see how big Luke is ?!? We measured while we were there and he's 31 inches long. It's hard to believe he's grown 10 inches since he was born. Crazy.

We also took a family picture. If I don't ask to be in pictures, you'd never see me on here.

Donn (aka Ta Ta, Grandpa, Bampa, Boompa...whatever Luke decides to call him) spent a good chunk of time with us but tends to be a little camera-shy. I'll work on that. I think Steve, the manager of Treeland, was feeling a bit jealous and left out. I caught him making this face:

Luke seems to really like seeing everyone at Treeland. Or at least I hope he does. My guess is he'll be spending LOTS of time there when he gets older.

the mange

After the stray-ratty-dog debacle, we have been monitoring Rosco very closely. Apparently this sarcoptic mange thing that the other dog had is highly contagious and we were super worried that either Rosco or us would get the disease. It's spread through mites that burrow in the skin of the dogs (and humans too!) and causes excessive itching and hair loss. Can you imagine if I had to cancel a play date with Luke's friends because he and I have the mange? How do you explain that without sounding like a total goober?

Rosco is a typically itchy/licky dog. He's been this way since we've had him and it drives me crazy. The sound of dogs licking is like nails on a chalkboard to me. I even shudder at the thought. Ew. Anyways, Rosco has stepped up his itchiness over the course of the past few days and has even broken skin with his nails during two of his scratchy spells. Hence, Rosco ended up like this:

The t-shirt helps to protect the wound that is already there and deter him from further scratching. We thought we should take him to the vet to make sure he didn't develop the mange (must be said in a very ominous, booming voice). Although we'd been joking about the mange over the past week or so, we seriously didn't want Rosco to have it (or spread it to us, for that matter). Off to the doctor we go.

Prognosis: not the mange. Just a dog with skin allergies and an ear infection. So we come home with this, minus a significant amount of moola, to keep Rosco healthy and less itchy.

Well worth the peace of mind and lack of further licking noises.

thisclose

It's almost time. Tonight he started taking actual steps on his own without us having to throw him forward. We were only balancing him before he took off. We are so proud of him...but so completely terrified of having to run after him soon!

random fluff

This is merely a mish-mash of pictures and stuff that didn't quite merit a post of there own, but I still wanted to share.

1. New shoes. Who doesn't want to show off a new pair of shoes? Luke needed some sandals for the weather we've been having lately. His standard monkey shoes don't quite go with shorts.

2. Future American Idol? Luke has really taken to singing. He'll sing along to the music on TV or the radio. He'll sing along as he's playing the piano keys on his activity table. He'll try to sing a song after you do (Itsy Bitsy Spider is his personal favorite). He'll even just sing to himself as he's playing and there are no other sounds.

any ideas appreciated

Luke has started doing this thing while we're feeding him where he likes to rip off his bib before we are finished feeding him. He is by far NOT a clean eater, so I really want him to wear one, thus saving me extra time spent trying to remove stains from his clothes. We can usually tell it's about to happen when we get this face:

Because then he starts to refuse the food.

My solution? I've been using an alligator clip to secure his bib in place.

He is not a fan of this method at all and continuously gives me dirty looks as he presses his head to the back of the high chair to figure out what's going on back there. I've been looking for a place to find bibs that tie in the back, but haven't been successful with that so far. I've also looked in to making some, but I haven't found a pattern that I like enough to follow yet. I've thought about the bibs with snaps instead of Velcro, but Luke is incredibly strong and I'm fairly certain he'd rip those right off too.

Any help or suggestions?

new tricks

Luke and I have been practicing some of his new tricks lately. He still doesn't do them unless he feels like it and he's in the mood to perform, which basically eliminates him from doing them when others are around. I thought if I caught them on film, I would actually have proof that he can do the normal (and not-so-normal) things babies do. Low and behold, he actually cooperated with me and the camera!

I present the standard "So big!"

Uh Oh!

Peek-a-Boo!

daddy's home

This is what happens everyday when Keith gets home from work. It melts my heart every. single. time. Make sure you listen for the door slamming in the background.

poop face

I'm not sure this is appropriate to post, but I think it's hilarious and since I'm using this blog to document Luke's life, it's being posted. I also know that it's a blurry picture, but you have to take what you can get in the brief moment the poop face appears. It's never heard to guess when Luke needs a diaper change:

The pictures don't even do it it's full justice. His face turns a bright shade of tomato red and he stands on his tip toes as if that were helping his cause. His chin always tucks in towards his neck and his bottom lips disappears on most occasions.

I'm horrible. (typed while trying not to laugh)

dinner at grandpa's

Last night, Keith's dad had us over for a nice, quiet, and very yummy dinner. Rosco even got to come play with his brother, Tyson.

Luke is getting to be such the ham as he gets older. We've found he also has this way about him where he can make people do the craziest things for him. I think it's the reward of hearing his laugh. At one point, Don (grandpa) was hopping side to side like a frog to get a laugh from Luke, which it did without a problem.

Aunt Holly and Luke

Luke acting crazy as usual

Luke is very excited that Uncle Corey will finally hold him

"since he doesn't look so breakable anymore."

Luke spending time with Grandpa. The last picture is my favorite of the night.

Thanks so much for having us over for dinner! Hopefully we'll get to do it again sometime soon.

a grinch-y update

Less than an hour after I placed the phone call to Animal Control, they were at my door step to pick the dog up. I was very impressed with their speediness; the man I spoke to on the phone said it could take up to four hours with a possibility to reschedule for the next day. 

As soon as the guy (dog catcher?) caught sight of the dog, he told me the reason the dog looks so crazy was that it had mange. I always thought mange was a made up term. Mangy. Nope-it's a highly contagious disease that can spread to other animals and humans. Yippee! I had to keep Rosco locked out of the back yard until Keith had a chance to disinfect our front porch and backyard. That's right. Keith had to disinfect our backyard. That's not one you hear everyday.

And now for the craziest part of the whole ordeal: As Keith was checking the mail on his way home, someone from our neighborhood was putting up signs looking for the dog. You mean to tell me that someone actually let their dog look that rough? Even the dog catcher guy said it looked like the dog had been abandoned. There is no way that stick attached itself to that dog in a short amount of time. And who lets their dog's paws become so overgrown that the poor dog could hardly walk?

I have half a mind to call Animal Control and beg that the dog be placed in a better home. Just not mine.

i've found the grinch's long lost nephew

As I was walking Holly out of the house this afternoon, this lovely dog greeted us. For some reason, it seems that s/he has mistaken my home for his (or hers-I didn't really want to check, if you know what I mean). After checking the neck, which it easily let me do, we figured out that it didn't have a collar on, let alone tags. 

This poor dog looks like it has been so neglected. What's left of the hair on the tail is in dreads. It has a stick stuck to its back two legs. I tried to pull it off, but it's so matted in there, that it looked like I was pulling the skin off. It's missing a good majority of the hair on it's body, although it's still in full supply around it's face. The paws are what really kill me. The hair is so long it truly resembles the feet of the Grinch. The dog was panting so hard that I offered it a bowl of water which it proceeded to drink for a solid five minutes. We thought about giving him food too, but he vomited whatever he had eaten previously on my front porch (Keith, it's waiting for you...Yay!). 

S/he is now contained in my backyard so that Animal Control can come get it. The deal is that they will come get him faster if we have him cooped up somewhere and faster to them is 2 hours quicker. Okay! In my backyard s/he goes!

My heart goes out to this poor guy. It is such a sweet dog; I hope some family gets to adopt it and give it a good home. And I hope Animal Control gets here relatively soon.

another family visit

This past weekend, my entire family was able to be here to celebrate Beth's birthday, among other things. The boys were able to get a lot of play time together and had so much fun.

standard snuggle time with Pop

Luke decided he wanted only one shoe on.

They practiced sharing again. First Killian had the water bottle...

...then Luke had it.

We love when the family comes to visit and can't wait until next time!

the good, the bad, and the disgustingly sweaty

Although this post doesn't have much to do with Luke as my usual posts go, I wanted to record this memory for him and use it as a reminder to myself of the experience we went through for years to come. The entire post is a commemoration of our Ash Wednesday Mass we attended last night. If any of this comes off as mean or in a complaining-type voice, I apologize as I mean to be purely a factual statement. And I mean that. Factual.

First, the good-I have never seen so many people attend a Mass at St. Mary Magdalene. The junior high gym setting can tend to detract some people from attending there, but not last night. The small gym was packed (probably way beyond what is deemed safe by the fire code). There were people standing in the hallways, overflowing outside, and even lined up in places along the front walls where they weren't able to see a thing. For the most part, the entire Mass was reverent and it was neat to see so many people celebrate the beginning of Lent together.

Now to the bad-As a religious education teacher (r.e. from now on) I was required to have my students sit with me in the bleachers, because they were all required to be there as well. I took attendance and then proceeded to cram children as young as Kindergarten all the way to junior high in one small section of bleachers. There were a few teachers and aides dispersed through out the sea of students, but not nearly enough to adequately control them. I literally had third grades right up next to me on both sides with another one's knees in my back while trying to convince the junior high kids in front of me that there wasn't any reason to talk during Mass. We were packed like sardines (Keith's observation, not mine) and had no room to move. At one point, one of my kiddos even had to go the bathroom. Oy.

And the sweaty-I can't honestly recall ever sweating the amount that I did last night; not even when I gave birth to Luke or when I work out. The room felt like a sauna and there was no escaping it. I know a lot of places don't have air conditioning turned on full blast yet (it is only February) and I'm guessing they didn't prepare for that many people to attend, but geez. Last night was the first night you could actually see sweat stains on my shirt. So gross.

It was eventful and I will be recommending a different situation for dealing with the kiddos next year (make them sit with their parents), but all in all, it was amazing and so heart-warming to see such an out pouring of people attend a Mass that isn't a required Holy Day of Obligation. Lent is off to a great (and hot) start.