Luke's Top Picks of 2009, So Far

Hi, I'm Luke. I am 18 months old, 33 inches high and weigh 25 pounds. My Mom calls me her 'Little Wild Child', 'Lukie Pookie', 'Wookers Pookers', 'Bubby' and her favorite, 'Widdle Twiddle' which, when she's really smitten with me, she shortens to just plain 'Twiddles'! I am usually a very busy boy (following my sister, avoiding my brother and trying to permanently attach myself to my Mom's hip) but I thought I'd take some time to share some of my favorite things with you. Feel free to try some of these for yourself since I know you probably wish you could be like me (minus the diapers and stuff.)

The first rule to being cool, like me, is to suck on your fingers. At first, your Mom will think this is great because she doesn't have to keep up with pacifiers, but that's only until she remembers that toddlers' fingers tend to be really dirty (oh, but not mine, of course.)

Next you need to have a white, silk blankie (lovey). You can call it your "Nee-nee" (my brother's idea) and try to take it with you everywhere, even though Mommy says it's supposed to be only for night-night ("nigh-nigh") time.

Here is Nee-nee at the science museum...

... and at the petting zoo. (I was pretty proud of myself for pulling that one off.) Mommy gave Nee-nee a bath after that trip.

This is my best furry friend, Murphy. He loves me and really likes it when I hit him on the head and pull his tail. I know this because he always licks my face and sits next to my chair while I eat.

Murphy also likes it when I pet him with my Nee-nee. Nee-nee has multi-purposes.

Besides Nee-nee, my other favorite worldly possession is my broom(s). I'm really good at sweeping. Sometimes when Mommy is using her broom and makes a little pile of stuff I use my broom to spread it all back out again. I know Mommy really appreciates my help.

My favorite place to be is in my Daddy's Truck ("Guck"). He lets me run around in the back and sit on his lap to play with the steering wheel. Sometimes we go "muddin' " but we're not supposed to tell Mommy that.

The truck is cool because I get to sit right beside my brother and sister, and I have a really great view of all the little cars below.

I also love to 'tinker' with things. Especially electronic and dangerous things!

Anything musical is fun too. I have a really cool squatting dance I like to do when I hear music. I guess I'm kind of a trendsetter 'cause when I do the 'squatty dance' everyone else starts laughing and doing it too. Copy-cats!

This is another favorite spot of mine. The Pantry. I visit it several times a day. I bring all kinds of good things to Mommy from here. Sometimes she lets me snack on them and other times she says to "put it away, Lukie." I usually just drop it on the floor and try to get into the refrigerator instead. Putting away is not as fun as taking out. (Oh, and if it happens to be crackers that I drop on my way to the fridge, and if I happen to step on those crackers, I get to watch Mommy take out the broom again. So it's still a win-win situation for me.)

Yeah, eating is a good thing.

It makes me happy....

...anywhere, anytime.

And of course one must stay well hydrated too.Since there are so many activities to do, like...

Climbing... (On tables is my favorite.)Exploring...Running...Throwing...Digging...Splashing...... and of course, moving furniture.

And c'mon, who doesn't love just about anything with wheels?
Do I wear overalls and drive NASCAR? Well, we are in the South, aren't we?

Sometimes I get tired and leave the driving to my chauffeur.

Ok, I'll admit it. I do have a soft spot for my big sister too.Here are a few more of my top picks: (I highly recommend them!)

My Omi

My Opa

My Daddy

That's all for now folks! Y'all come back and see us real soon, ya hear?

A Tale of Two Sands

(These pictures are from our Rosemary Beach trip in September. More on that later, I promise.)


There are two types of sand. One for playing, and one for eating.


What? You didn't know about the eating kind? Well, it is very tasty. I know this because Luke told me.

So here I will share with you a few pictures from Luke's first, and last, day at the beach this year. It was fun while it lasted, but it didn't last long. He just would. not. stop. eating the sand! After much insistance on my part that it was "yucky! No, no Lukie" I quit trying to fight him and told Chris to "just go ahead and let him put some in his mouth and he'll figure out real quick that it's a bad idea." Hmm, yeah Mom, brilliant idea. My little 'reverse psychology' backfired. After one taste he wanted more, and more... I kept waiting for him to catch on that sand in your mouth was a bad thing. Finally Chris put an end to it saying that even if Luke thought sand in your mouth was a good thing, he thought sand in your tummy probably wasn't. I mean we're talking potential permanent intestinal blockage here!

We were able to distract him with the "Let's Dig a Hole to China" Project for a little while but then he started trying to drink the ocean water that begin filling it up. A few more minutes of that and Daddy caved in and took our wet, sandy, sticky, hot and sleepy baby back to the house for a bath while Maya, Jonah and I kept up with the digging project. I enjoyed the sudden blissful peacefulness and when I looked at Jonah I thought, "He's only 2 and a half years older than Luke and it's amazig how much more he can do." Again, I always seem to go back to the realization that they are growing up so incredibly fast. I want to take each moment and freeze it. Soak it up and hold it close to my heart.... Well, most moments.

Mr. Worker Man, ready for the big dig.

Yes, let the digging party begin!

Luke says, "Ok, yeah, that shovel was cool, but... is that some fresh sand over there?"

"Oh yeah, now were talking. This is the good stuff!"



"Let's see. Exfoliated Face? Check. Sea salt hand scrub? Check check."



"Better make sure I get in all of the grooves here. It might be a while before my next manicure."

"Oh yes and the salt water mousse. I just love the volume it gives my hair. So invigorating!"

The rest of the family, back from testing out the water. Looks like Chris thought it was fabulous! ;-)

(Sorry hon. I just couldn't resist.)

"Hmm, this looks like it could be a useful tool in my quest for finer, more sofisticated tasting sand. Gourmet sand, if you will."

"Yup, I think we've found it. Once we dig all the way to China, I will begin importing my own brand. 'Luke's Gourmet Asian Spice Sand'. Maybe we can sell through catalogs..."

So while our little gourmet entrepreneur was home getting sand scrubbed out of his ears, my other two worker bees continued their job of sand pool perfecting. Don't we all love a project?