Luke and Emily's Frequent Dance...

Luke and the headphones!!! He's constantly wearing one pair or another. Usually they are around his neck, but sometimes they are actually on his ears while he is cruising around the house with the cord dragging behind him. :-) It's cute.
Meet Luke's New Pal... Freddy! He's a Webkinz. (Thanks Aunt Elizabeth.)
We spend many of our days with various Christian Artists' music playing on the radio while we go about our day of activities. Today I realized that we frequently observe Luke standing on the couch, wearing a pair of headphones and dancing along to the music. Today's selected artist is the band, Caedmon's Call. He's really enjoying himself and the music. It's so cute I had to share some pictures!!! Emily is enjoying herself too... and jumped in for a picture.

He is also notorious for launching himself into Sissy's draining bath unless he's locked out of the bathroom or kicking and screaming in mommy's arms. If he's given any bit of a chance to get near the tub, he will literally launch himself into the tub head first, flip himself over onto his back and smile! He will then collect himself (after a little shock from the fall) and sit up splashing. There's not usally much water left at this point, but when a fully clothed and diapered baby decides he's ready for another bath and is splashing and giggling, it can be a bit frustrating for mommy to give him yet another bath! He wins at that point... but only a little. His second bath is typically very fast and not much fun.

We also find Luke walking longer distances across the house now. He walks with his arms out for balance, with his destination in site and a true sense of focus demonstrated by his facial expressions. It's cute.

Luke also enjoys taking care of dollies when Sissy will share. He's very kind to her dolls and often pats/rubs their back. When he's not playing with dollies, he tends to be very rough. At least he's distinguishing the difference between a baby and being gentle and other non-baby toys and being not-so-gentle.

More New Words!!!

Luke now says "Bye Bye" and "See You Later" (while waving)! He also has A LOT to say at times, we just don't quite understand.

He can growl like a lion and make this awful noise like a parrot.

When he hurts mommy or sissy, he will now blow us kisses until we feel better.

However, if he hits us because he's mad at us... watch out! He's got a temper that we're diligently trying to correct.

He loves to whisper, sing into the microphone (and giggle at himself afterwards), and climb on and off of the couch!!!

Also... today Luke finally signed back to us. He signed, "eat" while shaking his head "no." Of course, our little guy would say he doesn't want to eat. We're constantly asking him and he's constantly saying 'no' or pushing food away. Oh well. We'll just keep trying. Maybe a spaghetti or pizza dinner are in order. He never turns them away!

-Thanks for reading.

New Words!

Luke's New Words at 15 Months Include:

Amen (said once at the dinner table after we prayed as a family)
Uhh-Ohh! (said A LOT!)
Ball
Dog
Ehhh (squirrel)
Issy (Sissy)
Momma
Dadda
Daddy
Babba

Luke's Dr. has suggested a high calorie diet for our busy little guy. His weight hasn't changed and he is now busy walking, sorta running, climbing on and off of the couch (while proudly smiling), crawling and enjoying all of our toy stations throughout the house. He doesn't always enjoy sitting in his chair during meal time, but will usually entertain us while nibbling. (He's a real ham and LOVES attention.)

His favorite foods include pizza, mac 'n cheese, corn, peas, beef, beans (legumes), cheese sticks (the whole stick), cookies, grapes and crackers. He hates cow's milk (and drinkable yogurt) and appears to be upset over being tricked when I fill his sippy cup with milk instead of water. He will actually yell and throw his cup after taking a sip.

He also likes to receive and give raspberries. He will actually pull our heads down to his belly so we will blow on him. :-) Likewise, he will turn my head to get her attention so he can smile at me. He loves to whisper to us, rub noses with us, share secrets and sweet nothings, give high 5s, growl, pretend to talk, sing and dance along with the ABCs (Leap Frog Fridge Phonics), type on the computer, play with the computer mouse, wear things around his neck, brush our hair, rub my arm, blow kisses and try new silly moves or faces in hopes for a giggle.

This evening he knew he was in trouble when I called his name. Instead of turning to look at me with a guilty look, he turned and smiled while blowing me a kiss! Can you believe it?!? Emily used to bat her eyes at us... Luke just blows me a kiss when he knows he's in trouble. Amazing!

Thanks for reading.
-Angela

Emily's 1st Day of School

Emily began her first day of school with excitement and a big smile. She woke up super happy and thrilled about her big day ahead. Mommy woke up early to make a special breakfast treat, blueberry muffins. But, Emily chose the typical cereal instead. During breakfast Luke provided a little entertainment at the dinner table. He showed us how he could put his spoon into the muffin and hold it up like a treat on a stick. He was so silly and Emily enjoyed the time for giggles first thing in the morning.

Emily decided to bring Miss Sugar with her to school today. Her teacher even told her it was okay to bring her into class. After first deciding that was a good idea, she changed her mind and asked Mommy to care for Miss Sugar while she was away.

Emily helped Mommy set up for class. She placed books and handouts on the desks. She was so excited to be a teacher's helper, but quickly wanted to go down to the play ground.

Here's Luke with his muffin on a spoon! It's a trick... do you get it?

Video of Emily's 1st Day of School and Luke's 1st Steps: http://saltydogsaloon.com/Luke/lukevideo.htm

And here's Emily's school pictures:

The Big Day is Finally Here!!!

After several weeks of Luke walking on his knees, he has finally started walking on his feet!!! (Yes, all on his own.)

The day started out with him wanting me to hold his hands to help him walk. I was quickly able to convince him he could do it with my holding only one hand. Shortly after that, he decided to stand himself up and walk across the room to Emily! All of us witnessed it!!! This evening he has continued to practice walking. He's learning to balance himself through straight lines as well as turns. We keep giggling and making comments of him resembling Bambi when he first started to walk.

Luke is also getting on and off of his push toy... and at this very moment has figured out how to shake all of the punched paper out of the three hole punch! Gotta love him!!!

And... let's not forget Emily!!!

She is swimming like a fish! She is so comfortable in the water. She swims across the pool on top of the water and under the water, taking breaths as needed. She's even diving, a real dive! No one showed her how to do it, I just happened to notice her doing it when she was practicing her jumps. It's amazing! (This is her picture... demonstrating to Luke how easy it was to smile for the camera. Thought I would include it.)
Emily's new frequent comment is, "Luke's walking again... "

Yah for Luke!!!

Yesterday Luke started letting me help him walk by holding onto his hands. Until then, he refused to let anyone help him practice. He's really proud of himself and sometimes stops to add a clap to his smiling face. He also loves to push around his little Mickey's Airplane push toy and can even run along to keep up with it when he leans too much and it tries to scoot across the floor on him.

Another funny thing... the last couple of times we've come home (without daddy), he will yell out what sounds like 'Keith' when we first enter into the house. Emily used to do this for a bit, but went back to calling him 'Daddy' as we've prompted. I'm curious what he's really trying to say.

Luke is also adjusting to the idea of trusting other adults to care for him for an hour or two from time to time. Typically he will cry to the point of vomitting (just like Emily used to do). Today he didn't get to that point and just whimpered until I returned. It makes me feel so much better to see him adjusting.

He also likes to dance and clap to music. It's really cute. Emily will pick up on it and try to join him. She LOVES to play with him and find things that they can do together.

And yes, he still loves to play with the hair dryer. :-)

I think my favorite parts of each day are when Emily will randomly tell me she loves me and when Luke will put his face up close to mine and pretend to whisper a secret to me. It's SO CUTE!!! Emily, Luke and I will sometimes pretend to whisper back and forth. Our secrets usually resemble some version of "I love you." Love It, Love It, Love It!

Thanks for reading!
-Angela

Luke has a new word...

It's Banana... pronounced 'Nana.' He made the announcement this morning at breakfast as he proudly held up his banana for us to see. :-) He was smiling from ear to ear.