Teethin' and Movin'

Well, Luke's second tooth made it's debut yesterday with a little more fanfare than the first. He had been a bit more fussy recently and seemed to have more difficulty with cutting this one. There is bigger news to share, however:

- Luke can now pull himself along the floor with his hands, and
- Luke rolled from his back to his tummy for the first time today!

We are not exactly sure when Luke actually accomplished the first. For a while now, he has been able to turn himself in a circle by employing a kind of hand-over-hand method. He can also slide himself backwards, though this is mostly accidental. These two in combination have meant that for a while he can wiggle himself around a little and get into things that you didn't realize he would be able to reach. But today for the first time, we watched him purposefully and accurately scoot himself along the floor to reach a rattle. We're not sure if he was able to accomplish this because of or in spite of the fact that he was on the hard wood floor and wearing his sleep sack (like footie pj's except with a sack at the bottom).

It was while doing this scooting that he accomplished his second feat. Matt and I were watching television while Luke was scooting around on the floor playing with his toys. He managed to get himself flipped over onto his back. Instead of turning him over right away, we let him struggle it out a little. Before we knew what had happened, he was belly-down again and scooting towards another toy! Again, we're not really sure if this was helped or hindered by the sleep sack!

First Tooth

It's here! I discovered the very tip of a new tooth this evening. From Luke's perspective, it's the bottom left tooth in the front. It arrived without much fanfare, and we are hoping the others will do the same!

First Snow

Yes, it snowed today! This was our first snow of the year and Luke's first snow, well, ever! We've had about three inches so far, and the roads are good and slushy. The only thing that could have been better about this snow day would be if Daddy had gotten to stay home with us! Luke and I wanted to wait until Uncle Joshua was home from school before we went out to play. He got home early, as did Uncle Ryan because both Hanover County (where we live) and Chesterfield County (where Ryan teaches) closed schools early. We walked down to see Nannie and the Uncles and they all came out to play with us a little and take some pictures. Also, Nannie, Luke and I went to Granny and Granddaddy's house to say hello. By this point, Luke was already pretty worn out, and he ended up falling asleep in Granny's arms!

So, Luke's overall reaction to the snow? If it takes this many layers, no thanks!

(See more pictures of First Snow! here, including pictures with Granny and Granddaddy).

TWO Amazing Accomplishments

Luke's second amazing accomplishment, as you can see here, is that he is now able to get up on his hands and knees and rock back and forth. Since early on he has been able to use his arms to push his chest fully off of whatever surface he was on, and he has also recently learned to get his knees under him, though before today he has never really been able to do both at once and lift his whole torso up off the ground. This means that crawling may be in the not so distant future! (And yes, he was actually doing it with his head up as well, but by the time I stopped watching long enough to get the camera, he was getting a little worn out!)

So, you may be wondering why he is nearly naked. That leads me to his first amazing accomplishment of the day. The outfit (and diaper) that he had been wearing when he woke up this morning were both completely ... let's just say ... ruined. How did I know this? By the gooey yellow stain showing through his outfit ... on the SHOULDER!! Yes, his shoulder! Upon further inspection (i.e. changing the diaper and outfit) I discovered that the mess did indeed originate at the back of the diaper and had somehow made it's way up his back to his shoulder. This may not be a first for babies in general, but it is certainly a first for Luke! Though I supposed we should give credit where credit is due. This amazing feat could have had something to do with the fact that when his Daddy got him up this morning, he was playing with our boy by picking him up by his ankles so that he was hanging upsidedown! Oops!

(View more pictures of Trying to Crawl ... sorry, no shots of the other amazing event. )

Early Days at Home

OK, for those of you who were disapointed because you expected the last post to be about Luke, here's another "Flashback" to those early days at home. This post is actually more of a collection of photos, and just a little background on each set.

Of course, we took lots of pictures of Luke Sleeping ... or sometimes not sleeping when he was supposed to. My favorite was the time that he wiggled and fussed so much that he worked his little layette down around his arms. The minute we walked in with the camera, he stopped fussing and looked up at us as cheerful as could be! Our little boy in a straight jacket!

Luke has always been Daddy's Boy. We have lots of pictures of him doing various things with his daddy, such as working on the computer, drinking coffee, and of course, reading Russian novels.

We also have some pictures of Luke with Mommy. As I have mentioned in previous posts, Matt is much more of the "artsy" photographer, so these pictures have much more of a "feel" to them than most of the "capture this moment" pictures I take.

Enjoy the pictures!

P.S. Uncle Ryan, this post was just for you. ;-)

Thanksgiving - Part 2

As promised, here is the update on our second Thanksgiving gathering, the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Usually my grandmother hosts this meal, but because she had quite a few house guests this year, my mom offered to host. It was different from any family meal we have ever had! First, mom had a list of jobs for everyone. The boys (ages 10-12) were supervised by Matt in carrying extra chairs and a card table from our house to my mother's. The high school girls were in charge of the drinks. Two aunts were given the job of decorating the house with "found objects" (holly, pine cones, and other greens from the yard, and then an assortment of candles and other decorative objects from around the house). Myself and another aunt pulled apart rolls and arranged them in baskets. Dad carved the turkey. In short, everyone had a job!

When the meal was ready, mom passed around a dish with a collection of small pieces of paper. On each slip of paper was a number. These matched with numbers on stickers at each place on the table. Everyone sat in the places for the numbers they drew. When dinner was finished, Dad shared part of a Thanksgiving sermon from John Piper. Then, everyone drew numbers again and changed places for dessert!

While most of the grown-ups lingered at the table to eat and chat, the kids headed outside to take part in another activity my mom planned: water balloon slingshot. A special tip was attached to the outside faucet. The kids filled up their own balloons (usually having Ryan tie the balloons for them) and then placed their balloons in the "pouch" of the slingshot. Ryan and Ben each held and end of the slingshot while the kids got to pull back and let-her-go! This activity was taking place just outside the dining room window, so it also provided great entertainment for the adults!

Of course, none of this has anything to do with Luke (though he was there and got to do a lot of visiting), but it was such a grand old time, I just had to write about it. I nominate mom for hosting Thanksgiving every year!

(View the rest of the pictures from the Hildreth Thanksgiving here.)

Thanksgiving - Part 1

We spent Thanksgiving Day with Matt's family in Chester. Luke had a great time visiting with all of his relatives. He especially liked his Nana, his Granny and his Uncle Lyle!

(See more photos of Thanksgiving here.)

P.S. Stay tuned for Thanksgiving - Part 2 as we celebrate with my family on Saturday and Luke gets to visit with the other branch of his fan club!

Bouncing Baby Boy

Luke is in a stage where he really likes jumping. He will jump if you hold him up on your lap or any firm surface. But he especially loves to jump in his "Ultrasaucer." A saucer is like the walkers that kids used when I was little, but instead of wheels on the bottom, there is a dish-shaped piece of plastic (hence the term "saucer"). The "legs" of the saucer are spring-loaded, so Luke has a grand old time jumping and bouncing. Even better (or worse, depending on your perspective!) there are several musical/noise-making devices on the saucer, some of which are activated by the bouncing! Mommy took lots of pictures of Luke in his saucer in the living room and Daddy (always the fan of natural light) took some great pictures of Luke outside in his saucer. The first group capture some really typical-Luke actions and facial expressions. But the second group is not to be missed as this is where you will see some really precious shots Daddy captured of our little guy.

(See Luke in his saucer Inside and Outside.)

P.S. Friends from church just recently lent us their "Jumparoo." Luke is a little apprehensive yet, but I bet this gadget will generate some really hilarious pictures in the not too distant future!

Bundle of Joy

We had our first really cold day last Friday (as I told Matt, it was literally the coldest day of Luke's life). We pulled out the snowsuit we got on a really great sale at Kohl's and the knit Gap hat he got from a friend. He was about the cutest little bundle I have seen!

(See more of the Bundled Boy here.)

Family from Florida

Last week family members of mine from Florida stayed overnight at my grandparents' house (two houses down from us) while on their way through town. The visitors were my mom's great-uncle Walt, his son Larry and Larry's wife Sarah. Larry and Sarah's daugher Karen is about my age and she and her husband Nathan have a little guy named Silas who is about 8 months older than Luke. Luke and I went over to say hello. We got to see some pictures of Silas and we also got to take some pictures of Luke with his Florida family. We also got to hear the music that Larry and Sarah's son Jason has written for a kids' mission program he is involved in developing. Luke seemed to like it and could be seen "swimming" to the music!

(More pictures of the Florida Family here.)