Easter in San Diego

For Spring Break, we packed up the family in a minivan (how suburban!) and jetted down to San Diego for a vacation. We were all in desperate need of a break and couldn't be happier to have Grammie Linda invite us down. The weather was beautiful on Easter and we dressed Luke up in his little Easter duds to hunt for eggs. Dissapointingly, he wasn't all that into it. He wanted the first egg he saw and wasn't willing to drop in into the duckie Easter basket Grammie got for him.

Luke is such a outdoors kid. All he wants to do is run. Open any door and he is like a moth to a flame. He can run around outside all day. We know that the minute, he's old enough, he'll be in some sort of sports - just to get all the energy out!

Vegas Baby!

On the first day in Las Vegas, we discovered the Lied Children's Musuem and thought it would be a great place to let Luke run around and play. He hadn't been to the Children's Discovery Museum in Downtown SJ in a while, so I made the mistake of putting him in the "baby" area. He was completely over that. He toppled right out and ran off to the big kids area. He loved being able to run around, and everyone laughed at the three adults running after him.

I do wish the water zone would have been a bit lower. We had to hold him up and practically turn him upsidedown to get to the water. Because of the that, the water area wasn't too exciting for him.

Mostly. Luke enjoyed running after the other kids and yelling "HI!HI!HI!" The other kids didn't know what to do, but the parents all laughed. He was just so excited!

Much to Todd's excitement, they had a kid's mechanic area where the kids could work on "cars." Luke, of course, loved the tires. Those tires were HEAVY, but he kept lifting them and dropping them, lifting them and dropping them.

Playtime at Vasona

With the weather being so terrible and cold lately, it was a blessing to have a gorgeous Saturday! We decided that morning that if the weather stayed so nice, we would have to take Luke to the park to play. Luckily, it also happened to be Shea-bee's 4th birthday (so soon??? ack!) and joined the family at Vasona to play for a bit.

Luke yelled "Hi! Hi!" to every single kid who ran passed him. It was a gattling gun of hellos, which was adorable. He spent some quality time on the swings and loved sliding down the slide alone. Well, mostly alone. (hands were still held!)

He had a rough time traversing uneven ground - he managed with the tanbark, but the grass was pitted and uncut and the poor kid just kept falling. And we discovered that Luke is still not a fan of touching grass, which made it difficult for him to get up.

Oh those blue, blue eyes. Every so often, I can catch a quick picture of them, but usually he's running around so quickly, I don't have a chance. But there they are, already searching for what to chase after next.

Luke is now understanding the "hug" - though more often than not, he won't actually follow through when you ask him to hug someone. He's way too independent for that. Many times he'll run straight for you, like he's going to hug you, then laugh and turn at the last minute. Sheesh. But we were all impressed when he actually returned a hug! Normally Luke would push away and run, but he didn't - impressive!

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!