Somewhere Between Baby and Boy

Our little Lukas is growing into a little boy so quickly now that I thought I better share all that he is doing. There is just so much about this little boy that I could go on and on, it amazes me that someone so little and so young can have such a large personality and presence in my life.

At 16 months old Lukas is somewhere between baby and boy. Some days I think he is closer to boy, but then suddenly I will realize how much of a baby he still is. He has very few words, less than 10 in fact, which makes him so much more like a baby, and yet somehow he is able to communicate so passionately that I often don't realize that he hasn't said a single word though I know exactly what he is "saying".
His words:
UhOh, No, Mommy, Keyyie (Kellie), Shewi (Sheri), Don (our neighbor), and just recently, Kitty.
His non verbals:
pointing and saying "no" until I find what he is looking for,
grabbing a hand and leading that person somewhere,
stomping his feet and running in circles to show that he is mad (my personal favorite)


This kid is the master expressionist. I am constantly cracking up at all his little faces he makes. The cutest one is when something seems to have gone awry he turns his mouth into a little "o" and just looks at me waiting to see what will happen next. Hmmmm, or maybe the cutest one is when he sees someone he doesn't know, puts his head down while staring them down and then gives them an eye roll. Oh yeah, it doesn't get any funnier than that:)


His most common look is with his tongue sticking out. I love that little tongue:)
Luke has now begun to give kisses on command, and Tone' and I are taking advantage of it! Luke will kiss whomever he is nearest as soon as he hears the word "kiss". He especially loves to kiss his big brother, Nikolas, Mama, Daddy and his buddy, Nathan. Nathan usually sees Luke coming, screams and runs away. There's some history there however.....some certain fingernail scratching and possibly some biting.
Lukas also is our little tool man. He loves to push around his wheelbarrow and "help" mama garden. He will try to lift any tool left out; shovels, rakes, lawnmowers, rototillers......I'm hoping that carries over into his teen years.

In case you were wondering: He has a mouthful of teeth! Funny thing, though, he doesn't use them to eat with as he still refuses to eat hardly any solids and simply would rather nurse for sustenance. Why end a good thing, I guess......mama is ready though. One thing he does use his teeth for is biting! Little stinker. We have learned to never leave a toe or finger dangling off the couch as it attracts little chompers. Tone' learned this the hard way as he was taking a peaceful nap one Sunday afternoon and then suddenly this little piranha came up and took a bite of his big toe! OUCH! Though there were some other words that came out of Tone's mouth.

As a mother of a 3 year old, I would have to say that so far my favorite stage is the 1 1/2 year old stage. They still have their chubby baby bodies, they are learning to protest but can't yet do anything about it, they have the cutest little language all their own and they are constantly learning new and exciting things. So if you haven't seen Lukas for a while and want to then you better come on over as 8 months from now he will be a TWO YEAR OLD. And we all know what that means....

Cute & Crazy Kids

Thursday the boys and I had the Landolts, Davis' and the Ahls over for dinner. With two husbands MIA our adult count is at 6, while the kid count is at 10 (with 2 on the way!) . Needless to say, the noise level can get a little out of control, though with the nice weather we had they mostly stayed in the backyard. In fact, the adults actually were able to visit for a while!

Thanks to Grandpa Graham for buying this super delux picnic table to seat all of Nik's friends:)

Little Lukas is making a run for the endzone. John, don't get your hopes up, I'm still determined to make him into an extreme athlete of some sort;)

Nathan, on the other hand, looks ready for some PeeWee Football.


What kind of trouble can 10 children between the ages of 1 and 6 get into if left to their own devices?

Plenty!
Check out Miss Elouise and Mr. Nikolas trying to take the Jeep four wheeling over Mt. Slidemore.

Now What?!!!

Seriously, what goes through their minds.....

Sweet little Lily's face sums up dessert.

A Glimpse Of Summer

The boys and I drove North on Saturday for my sisters birthday. We met her and the family at Dash Point in the Puget Sound and spent 2 relaxing hours enjoying the sand, sun and sea. It was so nice to be outside with the sun shining down upon us, if only it would last.....
My little beach boy, Lukas, made himself at home. He loved every aspect of the sand and water. Squishing his fat little toes in it, digging in it and especially tasting it. MMmmmm....

Nikolas had some one on one lessons in skimboarding from Uncle Chad. It was a good thing Nik had his tough uncle there, as I did this for him twice and that was enough for me. It is quite a workout!

We had forgot to bring swim trunks and so he started chucking all his clothes off as soon as they got wet, it was only with alot of coaxing that he is wearing his underwear. He did, however, receive a comment from a passerby on his cool Thomas the Tank Engine unders. At what age do people stop thinking that is cute?

My nephew, Zachary, went from newbie skimboarder to pro in less than two hours!

Lukas and my niece, Alex, made sand castles. Or was it that Alex was trying to make sand castles and a couple little boys kept ruining them?..... that could have been it. Good thing they're cute:)

Fun At The Children's Museum

I have been wanting to take the boys to the Childrens' Museum in Portland for some time now but didn't want to fork over the money for it, so I have been waiting for the free passes to use from the library for about 3 months now. They finally came! We spent 3 hours there and the boys had so much fun and especially did not want to leave. Here are a few highlights:


Both boys love playing in water, needless to say they had a blast in the water room. Lukas is still trying to figure water out. He doesn't quite understand why he can't hold it in his chubby little hands.

They both had fun playing in a big pretend bus, so much that I had to drag Nikolas kicking and screaming away from it when it was time to feed Lukas. Note to self: next time bring food.

Lastly we went to Bob the Builders play area. This was a lot of fun and had so many different activities.
Lukas absolutely loves wheelbarrows and drove this one all over, dumping out its contents and then reloading them over and over. He's so cute:)

Nikolas was using tools "just like Daddy's!" in Bob's workshop. The drill press and the skill saw made real sounds and there was even a drawing table to draw up your own house.

We will definitely be putting our names on the waiting list for free passes again, the boys had a great time, I had fun taking pictures and they both were so tired afterward that they fell asleep in the car almost immediately, which was a good thing as getting through downtown Portland at 4:00pm takes quite a bit of time.

Yes, I'm Still Here

Where have I been?
Well, I have been up in Tacoma and Issaquah for the last week visiting my sister and husband. That is, my sister in Tacoma and my husband in Issaquah. Just to clarify. I had a great time with Kellie, going to her Bible Study and working out at her gym with her. I think my abs have recovered to their normal squishy state. Then the boys and I went to stay with Tone', who does not have internet access, ACK!. We were back in Portland for roughly 42 hours, in which time we did some major gardening and went for a bike ride to Baskin Robbins, yum! Then back to Issaquah to hang with my sister and family on Mother's Day. I have some great pictures and stories to post, but it's a little late and I really need to get to bed, so I just thought I would let ya all know that I hope to be posting some Tuesday or Wednesday. Off to get a couple hours of sleep!