Lucas is 1!

This past year was the fastest of my life. It really doesn't seem like that much time has passed since we brought Lucas home from the hospital, but there's no denying it. He certainly isn't a baby anymore. He has mastered the skill of walking and now practically runs away from me after bath time, not wanting to get dressed for bed. Instead of lying on the floor defenseless against big sister, he does some picking on Claire as well. He is saying a few words in addition to ma-ma and da-da. He likes to announce that he is about to do something he knows he shouldn't by saying "na-na" (no-no) over and over. Dumping Chloe's water dish, digging in the trash, and squeezing his body in between the spindles of the railing to name a few. The favorite word for this week is "uh-ooooooh". There is a misunderstanding on the meaning of the word though. Uh-oh is for an accident and is not to be used when you purposefully throw your bowl of food on the floor. Even so, I can't help but laugh when he looks up at me with squash smeared on his nose and says, "uuuuhhhh-oooohhh". He also likes to point at whatever it is that he wants and says, "dat dat dat." Until I either give him what he wants or remove it from sight, which results in quite the mini tantrum. Over the last couple of weeks, he has surprised me with how much his communication has flourished.

He has also been quite the climber the last month or so. At least once a day I find him standing on Claire's step stool so he can stand on the toilet or pulling out storage containers from under our bed to stand on. It is cute to see him scramble to stand up and then stretch his arms up to the ceiling as if he is trying to reach it. The only problem is he is still working a dismount that doesn't result in another bump on his head. A couple times a week I have people tell me that he must be teething because of all the chomping and drooling, but no. Still just the four teeth he got around 6-7 months. I think meal time would go smoother if he got more chompers in there so we could try some new foods. After several failed attempts, I decided that we'll stick with the pureed foods for a little longer and offer tiny pieces of cheese, meat, fruit, and veggies at most meals. He isn't as adventurous about new foods as big sister was at this age, so it has been a bit of a challenge. Meal time usually results in crying, food being flung across the room and the dog eating way too many table scraps. I guess he's eating enough to keep growing though. At his well check today he weighed 23 lbs. and was a perfectly average boy in both the weight and height.

The whole fam at Luke's birthday party

While he is officially a toddler now, he does still love to snuggle with me before I lay him down to sleep. I don't remember Claire being quite so cuddly at this age and I don't mind it one bit. He continues to be a little momma's boy even if he does exercise quite a bit of independence when in a crowded room. He loves to walk around and check other people and strollers out, as long as he can still see mommy. When I do get out of sight though, he does this thing where he just starts walking and crying and will walk and cry right past me. It's as if he forgets what he is looking for, but knows that he so desperately needs it. I always have to pick him up to get him to snap out of it. He still has quite the sense of humor and he really gets a kick out of making me laugh. I hope that this is something that never changes about him.


Lucas, you have proven that you are more persistent than the average baby and very investigative of your surroundings. You find the simplest things exciting and it makes me realize that maybe it's just that people get too busy to see something as more than ordinary. And even though you have done so much growing over the past year, I still think of you as my baby. My sweet, baby boy. You can still melt my heart simply by looking into my eyes, just as you did the very first time I saw you.