Grand Cayman

A picture post of our trip to Cayman.

We love this place.

All these pics were taken the morning we left. We forgot to take any other pictures- oops.

We had an outstanding time- we ate, drank, dove, swam, laid on the beach, snorkeled, relaxed, slept, napped, and just had a wonderful, childless time.

If you've ever though of going to Grand Cayman, let us talk you into going. We seriously love this place!!

On the beach in front of our condo. It was cloudy, so the water isn't as beautiful as it usually is, but it still looks pretty good!

The yacht that we think is Paul Allen's. It was HUGE.

Looking down the beach from our condo. Ahh, heaven.

Beautiful flower on the condo grounds.

Our condo complex with the pool.

15 months

This month's update brings exciting news!

• Luke is in the 25th percentile for height and the 10th percentile for weight! Finally, things are looking up. His weight was 20 lbs 11 oz and his height was 30 inches. Little man is moving up in the world.
• We also have a walker! Well, maybe a 50% walk 50% crawl kid, but he is definitely exploring the world on two feet! We weren't sure this day would ever get here, but it has and it's very nice. He can just start to do so much more now which is very exciting. He's still good about staying next to you, so we don't have a runner yet- maybe next month, we'll see.
• Luke is looking pretty chunky lately, too. He's been eating really well. He still won't eat just anything I put in front of him, but he eats! He's a grazer for sure where he just eats a lot of small meals all day long. His snacks have become a constant thing- I always travel with food.
• Since Luke took swim lessons, he's really taken to the water. He even got in the lake in his float for the first time! When he hangs out in his float, he almost falls asleep every time. That thing relaxes him like nothing I've ever seen. We use his baby pool pretty regularly and if he can get his hands on the water hose, he's a very happy boy.
• Another of Luke's favorite things to do is to throw dirt. He consistently gets into my flower beds and throws mounds of dirt on to the sidewalk or deck. He also tends to do this on the playground. Playground outings have ended in bath time many times.
• The kid still talks all of the time. A lot of it is just babble in his own little language, but he's really good with hi, bye, mama, dada, and he can say ball and this. Pointing is still is favorite way to get what he wants. You'll pick him up and he'll point to where he wants to go which is usually to an exterior door to go outside and play. He's still just hanging on to the two signs, more and all done, but those have worked in many circumstances such as bath time, swinging, at the pool, etc. It's great!
• We're down to one nap! Occasionally, when he's super tired he also takes a quick morning nap, but that's used more as a catch up now than a regular thing. He goes down around 11:30 and usually will sleep for about 1.5-2 hours. He goes to bed at 7 and usually gets up around 6. It's not unheard of him, though, to get up at 5:30 or so just for fun. When he does this, though, he's good at lounging in bed with us until we're ready to get up. It's so kind of him.
• This summer Luke has been a traveling fool and done extremely well. I'm almost ashamed of how much we've stretched his schedule and his patience this past month, but he's been a champ about it all. We're pretty lucky to have such a laid back baby that will bounce right back after being away and drug along to things for weekends on end.
• He started his first Mothers Day Out program. The baptist church in Richardson runs a summer program, and he's going on Wednesday from 9-3. They do a splash time for them, feed them lunch, have a nap time, and then play time. Luke didn't nap the first day which was no surprise b/c he's not a good napper when other are around. He's too interested in what everyone else is doing. I'm hoping as he goes more, that'll change and he'll nap some. He seems to enjoy it and was happy when I picked him up after the first day. I'm enjoying it, as well, as I finally go the entry way painted, have plans to paint the hallway, plans for lunch out with a friend, and I'm getting to catch up on doctors appointments sans baby. All of this is pure bliss for me!
• Even though Luke is a very happy baby, he has started showing us his other side. He's throwing little temper tantrums when he doesn't get his way. He'll cry and put out these huge crocodile tears. At other times, he'll bang his head against the floor or whatever he's mad at (which is completely counter-productive on his part as it usually makes it worse, but I guess that's just how he shows frustration). I try to pick him and tell him to breathe deep. I'm really hoping he doesn't have a temper and this is the start of it. I don't deal well with short-fused people, so we'll see how that goes...
• On the 4th of July, Luke got to be in his first parade! He rode on the riding lawnmower with my dad through the lake's parade. He even got some beads on the route from some admiring girls, but don't worry, he didn't have to show anything for them! He loved getting to 'drive' the lawnmower and he looked pretty cute doing it.
• He also went on his first vacation to grandma's house! Trey and I went to Grand Cayman for four nights to dive and hang on the beach. Luke got to have a blast hanging out with grandma and grandad at their house while we were gone. He did amazing there and they said they really enjoyed having him which is great. My mom even made a little book of all the things they did which we put in his memory box. It was really cute!

I think that's about it for now. We're still loving our little boy every day. He's so, so sweet and kind. He makes friends everywhere he goes and continues to love everyone around him, whether he knows them or not. He's smiling constantly and loving life. We are so blessed by him everyday!!

Austin

We've been traveling fools since about mid-May.

The weekend before I went to New York, we drove to Austin to attend Trey's cousin's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding outside in a very neat park with a historic house on site. There were peacocks running around, as well, which were beautiful but Luke was a little scared of them and proceeded to cry during the ceremony. It was fun to get to see a bunch of Trey's family, even if for just a couple of hours.

Beautiful but loud peacock

Grandpa, Luke, peacock

The peacocks were getting to him at this point and Judith is trying to calm him down.

A little Phil/ Luke bonding

family pic- We're pretty cute.

Again, a little concerned that big, bad peacock was coming after him

Mark and Karen, the bride and groom

Then, the weekend after New York, we drove to Alice so that Trey could go bay fishing with Hank and Jason. We took a pit stop at our dear friend's house, the Allens. They just had baby two, Wyatt, and we enjoyed getting to meet him and watch Luke and Zanna play! We got these great pictures of them right before we headed out to finish our drive.

I love them all, Luke, Zanna and Wyatt

So cute!

Examining the backyard together.

Swim Lessons

Luke and I took a mommy 'n me swim class this summer. I was really excited about it, and he ended up loving it!

I will say, though, it was tiring. By the end, I was very ready to be done. Going every evening from 5:30-6 for two weeks was a bit much. While he did love them, by the end of those two weeks, he was exhausted. I felt so bad. It didn't help that we also went to vacation bible school in the morning during the second week. My little man was pushed to his limits.

I didn't get any pics of him in the pool, but here are some of him sporting his swim wear and summer eye wear. Couldn't he be a model?!?

14 months

Luke's becoming a little boy. Where did my baby go?

He loves to play with these coasters.

And be silly...

• He's standing on his own all of the time and can take four to five steps on his own! I know he can walk on his own, but I think that he's still a little timid to just take off. I really hope he's walking by 15 months, though. 
• He waves at every single dog he either hears or see, even if it's on TV. This kid loves dogs. Every time we leave the house, he says, "bye bye" to KC. So cute.
• He's still just the sweetest boy. He shares his things (most of the time), and he will smile at anyone. He makes friends every single place we go. This kid knows how to work a room, and it's hilarious.
• He is definitely getting more and more of an appetite. Just in the past couple of weeks, his eating has taken off. He eats more variety and pretty much will at least try whatever we put in front of him. I really feel like we're getting past his weight issues.
• He still drinks one pediasure a day which he loves. I'm not sure how much longer we'll give them to him, but he'll be sad to give that one up. He does love his whole milk, though. I still have no issue getting that down him :)
• He's still wearing 12 month clothes and size 3 disposable diapers. I have noticed that his shirts are getting a little small, they creep up on him constantly, so I may try some 18 month things soon. The only problem is that he's still pretty short for his age, so pants are definitely still long on him and they continue to fit ok in the waist.
• Luke's still babbling up a storm. He says byebye, hi, mama, dada, this on a regular basis.
• He can also sign 'more' and 'all done'. I'm working on teaching him thirsty and hungry. I love that he can tell me what he can. It makes me eager for him to talk more so that he can really communicate his needs/ wants. Right now, when he doesn't know how else to tell me, he just points and grunts at what he wants. That can be pretty frustrating because sometimes he could be pointing at one of many things!
• He's very curious. Luke is constantly inspecting things and looking at things. He also loves to organize things. Just today, I put a shirt in the dirty clothes hamper and didn't get it all the way in, so he went behind me and finished the job for me! Perfect- my own little person to pick up after me. He will also spend forever stacking thing and unstacking things. Lately, coasters have kept him busy for quite a while!
• Now he's asking to go outside all of the time. He'll go over and point at the door. He's never ready to go back inside. Me, Luke, and KC spend quite a bit of time lounging outside.
• He just started swim lessons. It's a mommy and me class, so I get in the water with him. It's really just about getting him used to the water, so it's nothing big, but he's really enjoying it so far. He was a little unhappy at first, but once the instructor got out the toys, he was sold! He even last about 15-20 minutes today after it rained and was cloudy during lessons, so the water was pretty chilly.
• Luke goes to bed right now between 6:30 and 7. He sleeps until about 6:15 most mornings. We are definitely down to 1 nap a day. He goes down sometime between 11 and 12 every day- it really just depends on what's been going on. He'll usually sleep about 1.5 hours, but I really like it if he'll sleep 2 to 2.5, not just so I can get more done, but I feel like he makes it through the day much better.
• Luke and I have been going to the gym on a regular basis. He loves the child care area, and they love him. He has so much fun crawling around, playing with the toys, and watching the big kids. Many times he gets some big kid to entertain him. It's been very nice for me to have that time, and for him to get to be very entertained for that time.
• Overall, he's just a very happy baby. He continues to be very laid back and a true people person. He loves getting out of the house and going to play dates. We're having a lot of fun being home together. I'm really happy that I get to be home with him. Some days it's hard because it's getting harder and harder to get things done with him at the house because he wants my attention all of the time, but I still love it.

New York, NY

My college roommates, Alicia and Jacki, decided to take a trip to New York to see Newsies which just opened on Broadway. I really didn't have any intention of going because that would mean Trey was left with Luke by himself. Although to my surprise, when I asked if I could go with them, he agreed I had earned a weekend away! I literally nursed Luke for the last time the day before I left. I decided New York was the perfect reason to let it go :) 

We had a wonderful time, and it was so nice to be gone with adults and no baby schedule to adhere to for two whole days. I would have had a a good time even if we'd done nothing, though, I was just glad to be able to sleep in a hotel room with no chance of a baby waking me up. 

We went to the 9/11 memorial park which was very neat. 

This is the "Survivor" tree. People are still leaving items at the bottom of its trunk.


We were taken by a hot dog stand guy. Good thing we have a great sense of humor.

We ate at a Belgian tavern.

Newsies was GREAT! I highly recommend the show. It was definitely worth it.

Shhhh... we took illegal pics in the theatre.

We ate at a very cool Victorian Bar called Lillie's. I had the best buffalo wings here.

 

We saw Million Dollar Quarter off-broadway which was really cool. I'm very glad we did the off-broadway thing.

We had after-show drinks and dessert.

We took a stroll through Bryant Park.

New York was warm that weekend, but we still had a great time walking around and just seeing the city. 

City Hall

Garden District

Air, Space, and Sea Museum on the Intrepid

I loved getting time to spend with the girls and be an adult without kids! It was a wonderful memorial day, and I have the BEST husband who took care of Luke all weekend so I could do that :)

Pants on his Head

The title of this post should be sung to the tune of, "Pants on the Ground". Remember that little ditty from a couple of years ago??

Luke is silly. He loves to crawl around with things on his head. So far it's been.... a bucket, a shirt, his sleep blanket, and his pants. We only got pictures of the pants. Usually, he likes the object to be covering his eyes so that he'll run into things and laugh about it. Weird, I know. Silly, yes.

The pants weren't covering his eyes, but he still found it hilarious.

Hmmm.. somehow we always manage to get his sans pants pictures when he's in his cosmic diapers. He does have others, I promise ;)