We've got a two-year-old in the house!

You know how you hear parents say things like...I just can't believe he's already two...how time flies!!? Well, I have to be honest and say that I really can't even remember what life was like without Luke. It feels like we've had him around forever! It baffles me that just a little over two years ago our family was Lukeless!

We had a fun little birthday party for him while my parents were here. Well, it was little if you count 14 kids as little! Luke decided to be shy for the first time in his life. He even crawled up in my friend Amanda's lap about halfway through the party and wouldn't get down.

We covered the tables with white craft paper & gave them markers, crayons, stickers & modeling clay. This is Luke & his buddy Noah.




Luke LOVES Elmo!! (or mo-mo, as he calls him) This was a bunch of cupcakes stuck together...isn't it cute? Messy, but cute.


He even blew out his candles in Amanda's lap.


This is Kallie's friend Connor. First, he colored all over his face with a red marker. Then he smashed the red cupcake all over his face & up his nose. Can you say Luke-in-two-years?!


He got out of Amanda's lap to open presents...


This picture makes me laugh. Luke looks like he's asking so politely.












He wouldn't eat a cupcake when everone else ate one. But after the party was over he wanted one. And he enjoyed it!


My parents gave him a rocking horse...


Luke is so full of life. You never forget that he's around. Here are some things about him at this age that I want to remember.

-He has just started watching tv. His favorite thing to watch is Elmo.
-He LOVES the Sesame Street songs, especially the one that goes, "Sing, sing a song. Sing out loud, sing out strong..." He makes me sing it to him at night while I'm rocking him. If I start to sing something else he puts his finger on my mouth and says, "NO! Sing song!"
-He plays with Kallie all day long. They love to pretend together. It's not unusual for him to have a baby in one arm, a purse on the other arm, and say, "Bye-bye Mommy!" and head for the front door.
-Oh, and he can open doors now. We often find him in the backyard by himself.
-Daddy is not thrilled with his newfound fascination for baby dolls. He loves them. He almost always is carrying around one of Kallie's babies or her giant Dora doll.
-He loves Dora too. He calls her "Woo-wah". It is quite the battle to get him to leave the giant Dora doll in the car when we're going somewhere.
-He loves to greet us with "Hi Daddy! Hi Momma!" and sometimes screams for me in the morning from his bed, "Mommy, ah-you??" (Mommy, where are you?)
-If he doesn't like or gets bored with his food, he plays with it. He smashes, crunches, smooshes, throws, and smears (usually in his hair).
-He is a climber. I find him on top of all of our furniture.
-He is VERY tough. Bloody knees...who cares!
-He has a strong will. Often his will is stronger than mine. Not good.
-He LOVES to be rocked at night. He says "rock you" to me as I'm getting him ready for bed.
-He loves to play outside.
-He tells us that he loves us spontaneously. "Mommy, i-yooooooo".
-He has a little boy haircut (as opposed to a big boy, layered haircut) and I love it.
-He sleeps soooooo good.
-He really is pure joy!