First Haircut

Luke's hair has always been crazy. It has been through a variety of colors over the past year, beginning with dark brown hair, shifting to a medium reddish-brown and finally ending up with a sandy blond. That being said, his hair is naturally . . . fluffy. Short on the sides and the back, but puffy in the middle, growing into a mohawk. We finally decided it was time for a haircut, an official, honest-to-goodness, attempt to control that crazy hair haircut. He was such a good boy for the haircut: no crying, no struggling, just curious to see what that lady was doing with that buzzy-thing. At the end, she gave him a sucker (which was promptly taken away after leaving) and a "First Haircut" certificate. And she said that if he were her son, she'd have him in a mohawk too. With blue or red tips.

We'll wait for preschool.

Valentine's Day!

Neither Todd nor I are all that into Valentine's Day. We try to make a point to be kind and loving everyday. That being said, we saw Valentine's Day as a wonderful opportunity to spend the day as a family, doing an activity that we enjoyed pre-Luke. Now, we just make him be a part of it!

We drove up to Russian River Brewery in Santa Rosa for the afternoon to enjoy a good beer and amazing food. Mmmmm . . . deliciousness . . .

There is something there for all of us: Todd has his flamin' hot, makin' you sweat wings, I have my focaccia with garlic and cheese and then little "beer bites" for Luke. Do not fear! There is no beer in them! Basically, they're just pizza crust with cheese. Luke was a huge fan!

It's My Party . . .

Luke's First Birthday - Part II.

So these are the pictures I had to include for the cuteness factor alone.
The lack of sleep . . . it shows itself in charming ways. Under normal circumstances, a bonk on the head results in giggles. Overstimulation x audience x exaustion + head bonk = meltdown.
Simple math.

But it doesn't take much to fix. Meltdown + (Cute girl + truck) = sniffles/recovery.



Everyone was so generous with their gifts for our little guy. Again Luke placated for a few minutes and then was gone. Such is his way.



I'm so glad that Todd got what he really wanted - a dump truck with buttons that make cool noises! You're the coolest ever Aunt Nancy and Uncle Joe!

A Pirate's Life for Me!

Luke's First Birthday, Part I.

Okay, I simply could not do a teddy bear or Sesame Street themed birthday party for Luke's first birthday. He's just not that kid. And quite frankly, I predict years of Elmo and Handy Manny in my future. So that stuff can wait. So it was all about pirates!

Grammie Linda was the Decoration Committee, while Grandma Harvana was in charge of Food Creation and Arrangement. Except the cake, that was from Not Just Cheesecakes http://www.notjustcheesecakes.com/ and I highly recommend them! I employed a Photography Wench and Bean-Bag Supplier (paid with fuzzy socks) to be my support staff. Mainly I ran around like a chicken-with-my-head-cut-off (Ye olde Chicken?) as witnessed by my constant state of blurring.

Luke was awesome - making it through the day on one nap and disinterest in eating. He enjoyed the cake though, so he made it on sugar alone!





But Luke wandered around from group to group being my little social butterfly.

He had all his buddies there: the cousins, the Selleos' and of course, little Stinky, who has now apparently become the object of his affection.




Wow. You don't even see them growing up so fast, and then it's their first birthday and they're kissing girls. Luke marched right on over to her and kissed her. Not once, not twice, but three times. And right on the mouth. It was about the most adorable thing I think I have ever seen. They were so sweet to each other, and then Luke kissed her arm. And I am clearly concerned about his teenage years. *sigh* Reign that kid in!

Unfortunately, no one really got the actual kiss(es) on film, we were all laughing way too hard. We only got the aftermath.

Happy First Birthday, Luke!

Christmas Time is (was) Here . . .

Happiness and cheer
Fun for all,
that children call
their favorite time of year . . .



Luke loved his first Christmas. I really enjoyed that Luke was almost a year old by the time Christmas rolled around. He was totally into having all the family around, though not necessarily the gifts. He placated me for about 5 minutes before he was off and running to do something else. Of course, Luke is always off and running to do something else.


Except Grammie Linda's rocking horse (Ted). As Luke is now too big for the swing, too heavy for the doorway jumper and way over the Excersaucer, containment was getting difficult. Along comes Ted to save the day. And now, Ted has become a verb. "Can you Ted him for me?" "We should clean - Ted him." or "I'll be right back, I'm Ted-ding Luke." Thanks Grammie!




Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa gave Luke a pair of PJ's with a personalized butt-flap. I'll admit it, it's absolutely adorable. And that is completely bias-free. Luke running around with "Luke" emblazened on his tooshie was about the cutest thing I could imagine.


We were able to spend Christmas Eve with the Bickel clan and Christmas Day with the Rosbrugh clan. It was wonderful not to have to rush around on Christmas, but really have the chance to spend time relaxing. And really, traveling with a baby is a pain.