A few months back we had the month of "No"; this was the month of "Yes." Rather than only shaking his head no, now Luke is likely to be found nodding in agreement. He seems to be using his head nods appropriately and he is more and more able to communicate his needs to us, which is just cute (and helpful).
He's been sleeping great, eats great, and entertains himself more and more.
So what is Luke likely to be doing these days?
- Playing with To-ta (Cora).This might be playing together in the "dollhouse," one of them pushing the other down the hallway in the baby doll stroller, chasing each other, etc. Cora continues to be an amazing helper keeping an eye on Luke. And he just adores her. He continues to be unable to focus on the task at hand if he hears Cora crying. It's all "To-ta!" and a need to go see what's going on.
- Expressing his desire to go "Owsigh!" He will get his shoes ready and stand by the door. We shut our driveway gate and he has free reign of the property. He likes to help feed the chickens (including carrying the food scraps), push around kid vehicles (our driveway is like a used car lot for kids), climb up the ladder to the slide and slide down, watch vehicles go down the street, or be pushed in the swing. My anxiety at him climbing and sliding alone is decreasing as he is fearless and seemingly capable at this point.
- Reading. We always read three books before bed or nap and now he is very opinionated about what he wants to read. It changes day to day but he'll shake his head and push the book out of your hand if it's not what he wants. He has about 25 books in his room and he knows exactly what he wants and will go find it.
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| Staring out the window at our weekly Monday visit to the library |
- Being destructive. He's still in a full on destructive phase. This age! At times, it's like he's on a rampage and the only thing he is doing is picking things up and dumping all the pieces out on the floor. Wherever he goes. He has repeatedly colored on himself in the last few days and eaten some markers. And he still is way too hands on around the toilet. Gross.
- But...he's also been a noticeably good cleaner-upper lately. He enjoys putting things away. It's like a game for him and he will sing the clean-up song unprompted.
- He is unfailingly polite. He says thank-you ("dan-du") whenever he's given something. Love it! It makes us look like we're doing something right when our other kids are being surly or non-communicative in social settings :)
- Walking over to me and burying his head in my lap or snuggling on my leg. My sweet-natured, loving little fellow :) I love to get on his level and catch his running hugs. It's the best!
- Pointing and naming your nose, ears, eyes, hair, or mouth. This fascinates him. He especially loves grabbing noses because Jacob's and Cora's "honk" for him :)
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| Luke loves to eat the whole apple. He also loves pizza, pretzels, oatmeal, bananas, grapes, "tookies", and oranges. |
He's still taking two naps and generally nurses first thing in the morning, in the afternoon, and before bed. He's 24 lbs, 11 oz of preciousness. (Cora was 1 lb bigger and Jack 4 lbs bigger than him at this age.)
I savor my moments of rocking and singing to him at night and literally want to eat him up, he's so squishy and sweet :) :) We are so grateful for this child!
