Our Luke at 1 Year!

It seems like a 3 month pattern is starting... sigh... life is just so full these days/weeks/months, time passes and I don't get a chance to sit down and capture all that has been happening.  First thing first though, I want to write about our sweet Luke who just turned a year last week!!

These past 3 months have been so much fun watching Luke grow into his own person; daily we see his unique personality blossoming as he explores the world he is learning God created!  Luke is still the most easy-going little boy I have ever known... with the strongest temper I have ever seen (yes, even more than Wyatt and Gavin!).  He's laid back until he wants his OATMEAL NOW... or it is NIGH NIGH time.  Other than that, he's very laid back.

Luke loves to have cuddle time these days; these cuddle times are different from when he was a baby.  He goes from crawling everywhere or focused on something to molding his body into mine as content as can be.  He LOVES to give Mama GIANT hugs and kisses (eating my face!)!!

Luke has been the 'best' hair puller I have ever known or heard of!  I could never wear my hair down until about a month ago.  He is finally learning what, 'open hands' means!!!  He will go to grab my hair or the dogs, I say, 'open hands, open hands Luke' and he opens them up!  So thankful and excited to see small teachings turning into big progress!

Luke has been mobil for a long time now, but officially started to do the real crawl, real fast, all over the place at 11 months.  Since then he has been connected to his big brothers and wanting to be a part of all their games!  They are AMAZING with him and love him soooo much!  They love to include him in all their games... except they have a hard time sharing what once was their toys and now are all 3 of theirs!  Gavin and Wyatt also are 'really good' and telling him 'not to put that in his mouth'... I've tried telling him he is a baby and that is just what they do, but they do NOT like slobber on their toys!

Speaking of slobber, Luke has 8 teeth; 4 on top and 4 on the bottom.  His bottom gums started to get real white and swollen about a week ago, so we will see if anything new starts to pop through.

Luke is 21 lbs and 30 inches, in 18 month clothes (some 12 months can fit, but most won't).

He loves to crawl and pull up on things, but mainly pulls up and stays on his knees, but will pull to his feet if he wishes.  He does not like to cruise though!  He doesn't like to walk much while holding my finger either, although he will if he wants.  He LOVES to stand though.  He often tries to shake my fingers loose.  He is trying so hard to go from the crawling to the standing position and is almost there, but just doesn't give it a good push with the arms/legs.  As I've seen him with all major milestones, Luke has a preference and won't do anything other than that.  Just because he can do something, doesn't mean that is what he wants to do or practice.  This is so different than the twins.  I LOVE watching how God made each of them so different!  I'm thinking this 'knowledge' of what he wants/likes is going to be a wonderful quality with two active older brothers!  He won't get lost in them, but will join the team as his own person!

Luke is a good eater.  He's gone through phases of 'great eater' and 'picky'!  His FAVORITES are applesauce and yogurt always.  The past month it's eggs with sausage and cheese, pancakes and now it's oatmeal... oh is it oatmeal... if he doesn't get his fill of oatmeal fast enough in the morning he will make everyone pay... We are working on this... ;) He basically eats anything you put in front of him which is great.  He just started really feeding himself well about 3 weeks ago or so!  Up until then, he'd feed himself cheerios and puffs, but refused to feed himself anything else.  So thankful that is over and he is happy as can be feeding himself finger foods.  He grabs the spoon from my hands every meal and puts it in his mouth, but can't get the scooping yet; we are a team effort here.  He stopped drinking from a bottle about 2 weeks before his birthday and had zero issues.  We dropped it to a bottle in the morning and night, then just in the morning about a month before and then stopped altogether.  Never wanted to go back!  He never used a pacifier, so that's a non-issue too!

Luke had been taking 2 naps a day for a long time up until the past 2 weeks.  Now he averages 1 nap a day right around lunch time (so we are at the 2 lunches a day phases), but since we are selling our home, naps are a bit different many days, and sometimes he's been taking 2 or just fussy in the evenings off and on because he's over tired.  He sleeps from about 8-6 but sometimes 7pm bedtime or 7am wakeup depending on the day.

Luke has 2 favorite 'things'... his brothers Gavin and Wyatt and the dogs (dawgs)!  He can't get enough of them!  He wants to be with his brothers and do what they are doing or have what they have.  He is so proud when he is a 'big boy like them'!

Luke has started taking off with trying to talk and saying more words the past 2 weeks.  He has been saying Mama, Dada, Nigh Nigh, (used to say Ba Ba for bottle), and then started to say Dawg.  He LOVES the dogs and says Dawg, Dawg, Dawg, everytime he sees or hears a dog.  He says No. He has started to try to mimic words like dirt (we are always playing in it) and just today he was trying to say oval (o-all).  There are so many others he is trying to say, and starting to put more of these efforts together in phrases, but it's not completely there yet.  I love this stage and watching him so proud of his efforts!  He also loves that his brothers mimic the sounds he makes.  The 3 of them will CRACK EACH OTHER UP for 10 minutes doing this; trying to see who can be the loudest.  This is especially funny in the car (not so much at meal times)!

Luke really doesn't seem to care for dancing thus far.  I think he thinks we are crazy when we dance for and with him! Although he loves to make music and seems to really perk up and concentrate when instrumental or classical music is played vs 'songs' or his brothers banging ;)

The past couple of weeks, Luke is taking off with his interest in learning.  Up until this point, trying to get his attention to teach him (his brothers distract him all day long) has been such a big challenge.  When I've tried to have individual teaching time for Luke, Gavin and Wyatt come try to help too, which causes Luke to just watch them and not pay attention to Mama.  I've learned that this is okay, that his relationship with them is way more important right now!  But, now that Luke and the twins are on seperate nap schedules, I've gotten a lot more 1 on 1 time with Luke!  This is sparked an interest in lots of things like colors, shapes, body parts and puzzles.  I haven't done a lot of letters/phonics with him other than what he hears me with the twins.

Luke loves the water; both pools and bath time are great fun for him!  The 3 boys take a bath together and it's so fun to watch!  Luke has graduated out of the bumbo during baths and is now free in the tub with the other 2; he is so proud and having a blast!

It looks like Luke is going to get his Mama's eyes!  Right now they are light brown with some hazel/green to them.  I just love his big round eyes!  So many people have to stop and stare at them and comment on how big they are.  I love to watch them too.  Oh how he focuses and gets lost in something or his thoughts.  It goes further than being a male too.  It's part of him that I am having to learn so I can better teach him the way God made him.  How do I get his attention and what keeps it the best.  Because when something gets his attention, he won't let it go! Related to this is that he really really enjoys Baby Einstein and Preschool Prep.  I've downloaded apps on my iPad and work with him on those.  It seems this is a great way to work with Luke at this stage; something unfamiliar to me and not my first preference, but thanking God for opening my eyes to see how I can best teach my 3rd son.

I know I am forgetting so many things, and unfortantnly I probably wont' get a chance to write for another few months since we are getting ready to move into our new home in another month.  But I want to always remember my sweet Luke at this age.  I am so thankful God has entrusted him to us.  His sweet, easy-going and confident personality leaves my heart full and smiling!  Luke my dear, I thank God for you!  Happy 1 year birthday my Luke-E-Pooh; our Uke/La-Luke!

Here are some pics from the past 3 months: