Pure Genius!

First of all, I must apologize for the bad (dark) quality of this photo. I had my camera set to take outdoor photos and didn't re-adjust before snapping this one indoors.

As we all know, my son is the most amazing child to walk the earth. He's the cutest, he's the wittiest, he's the smartest... really just amazing in every way!

Now, I'm beginning to think that he goes beyond just being the smartest... I think he might actually be a genius!! :)

Look at this kid stack blocks! They are taller than him!!

With each block, Andie and I would say "no way...he's not gonna get this one on there". But each time, he'd use his ever-so-delicate touch (while Andie and I held our breath) and we'd watch the tower very slowly sway back and forth until it finally came to a stop. Applause would erupt from the crowd!

It was pretty magical to watch. :)

This photo also makes me laugh because this is what I came home to on Sunday after being out of town for Anna's bachelorette party. That's right, it was the middle of the day on Sunday, Luke was still in pjs, toys were scattered all over the house, and Andie had inflated a blow up mattress in the middle of the living room so that he and Luke could jump around and have fun.

Ah, I love those two!! What fun boys I get to live with!

Anna's Bachelorette Party

The time came for another bachelorette party - this time, it was in Memphis for my friend Anna! Anna and I were roommates in college and she will be getting married in two weeks!! So exciting!

The evening was kicked off with dinner at a mexican restaurant and a little lingerie shower. Anna got lots of good gifts - some naughty and some nice!

It was so fun catching up with old friends during dinner! I hadn't seen Mandy or Erin since my wedding (three years ago!)

They really hadn't changed too much since college:


Ok, now let's take a good one! Smile!


After dinner concluded, we proceeded with the traditional bachelorette party activities...

we made Anna wear something ridiculous:

then we drank:

and drank:


and had fun!!

I think that the highlight of the evening was when we met this guy:



He found this "mustache" on the golf course earlier that day and proceeded to wear it like it was his own. Yes, we have no idea what the "mustache" actually was - honestly, it is probably better that way.

No one could escape Mr. Mustache Man:



Towards the end of the evening, we were able to get a couple of group shots. Here is a photo of the USM girls (this was after running down Beale Street in the rain)!!



And here's the whole group (minus Amy. Not sure whether she was in the bathroom or if the dude who took this picture accidentally cropped her out):



The night was fun and now Anna is ready to enter the land of the married folks!

Daddy's Boy

Luke is totally a daddy's boy. There's no denying it.

Sure, he wants to snuggle up with mama when he's tired or hurt... but in general, dad is SO much more fun and interesting to him.

Here's an example of a conversation with Luke:

(me): Hey, where's Luke?

(Luke points to himself while smiling and giggling)

(me): Where's daddy?

(Luke slowly smiles... looks over at dad... then enthusiastically points to him)

(me): Where's mommy?

(Luke keeps smiling - very proud of himself - then points to dad again)

(me): nooooooooo... where's MOMMY??

(Luke shoots a glance over at dad. Then he points to dad again, smiling.)

So, yes, Andie is both dad and mom to our child. :) At least for a week or two.

Example Number 2 of Dad love:

On Saint Patrick's Day, I made corned beef and cabbage for dinner. I didn't think that Luke would touch the cabbage, but I put a couple of spoonfuls on his plate just to try. To my surprise, he actually took a few bites! Exciting!

Once he started slowing down with the food on his plate, I put some cabbage on my fork and offered it to him (sometimes he likes to eat off of the "big fork" rather than his own utensils). He shook his head "no" and was not at all interested.

At this point in the meal, Andie got up from the table and put another serving of cabbage on his plate. He returned to his seat and started to chow down. Luke was observing his every move and as soon as dad started eating more cabbage... Luke started eating more cabbage.

We were cracking up! Andie actually went back for a third scoop - just to see if Luke would eat more!

It is really fun to watch Luke's complete admiration of his dad! I love it!

Huntsville - Uncle Pat's 50th and more fun!

We took the day off this past Friday and headed down to Huntsville for the weekend. When we got to town, we immediately went to see Grandma and Grandpa.

Grandma showed Luke how to draw on rocks with chalk:

After Grandma and Grandpa's house, we went over to the Barnsby casa to play, eat dinner, then splash around in the bath with Andrew.

Bright and early in the morning, we headed over to Aunt Sally's house to visit these two:

(cousin Ronin)

(cousin Maeve)


Ronin showed Luke how to whip up some good eats in his kitchen. Luke decided to heat up some plastic green beans in a skillet - can and all! :)

Then they had a little jam session:



I think this move is called "the claw"

Next, it was off to Rosie's to meet Kristen and Andrew for lunch. The food was delicious, but the best part was the awesome purple balloon that Luke got!

(in the car on the way back to Kristen's house from Rosie's):

Once we got back to Kristen's, the boys went down for naps, then around 3:00 we headed over to my aunt and uncle's house for my Uncle Pat's 50th birthday party! They had a big blowout and fun was had by all!

I should mention that this entire weekend was especially fun and exciting for Luke because of all the animals involved. As you know, we have zero pets in our house. Luke, however, is obsessed - I mean, OBSESSED with cats and dogs! My parents have two cats, my sister has three huge dogs, Kristen has a cat, and my aunt has two small dogs! Pets galore!! He was loving it!

(Andrew, Luke, and Andie at the Sloan's house):


The final excitement of our day occurred when Kristen's Jeep got stuck in the yard at my aunt's house when we were leaving! The ground was really muddy from previous rain, but we took a risk and parked there anyway. Kristen feels bad for creating a few decorative tire marks in their yard - but really, she isn't to blame. She was just following us and we directed her into that off-road position. Oops! Luckily, the Sloan's had a chain and our Tahoe came to the rescue (really, we just wanted to give everyone a good excuse to take another shot! party on!)

Scott, I'll post these pics just for you so that you can laugh at your lovely wife! :)





Whew, another successful weekend! It is always so hard to try to see everyone and do everything whenever we come to Huntsville to visit! We didn't "do it all" (we never can!), but we had a good time and got to see lots of our favorite people!!

Nothing is Off Limits

I was in the kitchen manhandling a rotisserie chicken, when Luke comes running in with a silly grin on his face.

Ah-oh, what is he up to?

He disappears, then quickly reappears with a little bottle of baby powder.

Where did he get that?

He disappears, then returns again with his nasal aspirator... then a tube of butt paste... then an unopened bottle of Infant Motrin...

Apparently, he figured out how to get into the junk drawer of baby "stuff" in his bedroom. I wasn't too worried that he'd grab anything that was unsafe, since he proudly displayed all of his findings to me.

Once I finished up with the chicken, I washed my hands and grabbed the camera to snap this quick shot:

Look at him up on those toes!

Bring on the Night

I know I've already made one post about the nightly routine, but in my opinion, you can't have too many posts about such a fun time of the evening.

(organizing his bath buddies before he gets in):

(the snuggler):

He is a simple guy and only requires 3 things to be completely happy: a book, his blanket ("deet"), and his thumb.

Pure bliss!

Makin' Dad Proud

Luke, the Firefighter

Luke got a plastic fireman hat at school last week and he's really had a lot of fun with it. That hat is pretty durable too - it has been stomped on, crushed in his hands, and thrown all over the place. It still remains intact.

"Hi!"


Today's "game" with the hat is to hold it in front of your face and walk/play.



Yes, walk around with the hat completely obstructing your view. Real safe!





Hmmm... what else can I do with the hat? I know - I can stand in it!

Mission accomplished!

(He really likes the hat!)

Expressions

We've been trying to encourage Luke to "use his words". So far, it has been pretty unsuccessful. He has his 10 or so "words" and isn't quite ready to expand his vocabulary.

At least not today.

Maybe tomorrow.

So, rather than adding new words, instead he has picked up some new expressions. The latest is that he holds his hands up like he's asking a question with his gibberish talk.

It cracks me up!!

I just wonder what the little guy is thinking and trying to say! I'm so excited for his communication skills to advance to the next level.

Here are some pics of Luke asking some very important questions during breakfast.





Cutie pie!