As you can see from the title Luke is learning to crawl . He practices rocking back and forth on his hands and knees every day now, but usually only when we put him down on the floor in that position. This video was the first time that he had ever lifted up by himself. We didn't know what had inspired him until I picked him up. The floor. was. freezing. Oops.
You'll notice that we're totally silent at the beginning of the video. We didn't want to distract him at all while he did his thing.
Oh and the molding is gone in front of Luke because we had termites in that spot last month and even though we got rid of them we have yet to replace the molding. Luke is obsessed with this area because we never let him play there. Termite carcasses we might have missed + toxic termite killing spray + wood splinters all seem to be irresistible. So yes, in this video you are seeing a baby on a freezing cold floor trying to get to a toxic area. Enjoy!
Chris interviewed at Johns Hopkins today. He found one job he really wants. The other he's not interested on at all. It almost makes it tougher that he found one he wants so much, it makes it harder to calmly wait and see.
While he interviewed Luke and I explored the city. We had great weather for walking and so we walked all over the city. We started out the morning at Mother Goose on the Loose at the central branch of the library. It was an amazingly organized story time considering it was very interactive and the target age was under 3 years. Then we walked through Mt. Vernon to Starbucks and then over to Bolton Hill. I fell in love with the architecture all over the city, but especially there. Here are some photos of the streets.
A park in Mt. Vernon. This is looking at the Peabody Library.
Also looking at the Peabody.
Here's a street in Bolton Hill. I think this was Park Ave. It was so peaceful and pretty.
After wandering all over Bolton Hill, we hurried back to our hotel to meet Kellyn. She took us to a wonderful Gluten-free bakery called Sweet Sin. I ate pizza! And cupcakes!
Then we explored Mt Washington by car so that Luke could get a good nap. After that we met up with Chris in Fells Point. We got to walk by the water and people-watch as everyone settled in for dinner at all the outdoor cafes. We loved it there and it was such a peaceful end to a busy day.
To finish our day on the perfect note we went to Pitango's for the best gelato in the world. I got crema with passion fruit. It was perfect. I wish I had some more right now.
Luke wore a tie to the special talk. It was the first time he's worn one, mostly because we figured that he would consider it an edible element to his outfit as opposed to a decorative one. Surprisingly though he didn't even seem to notice it was on. He was the only one who wasn't interested. He got lots of comments from the friends after the meeting. The general consensus was that it made him look very dapper. The consensus between Chris and I was that we need to start putting a little more effort into dressing him since it seems everyone is paying way more attention to his clothes than we thought they were! From here on out he's going to dress like a Ben Affleck when he was dating JLo. Super smooth.
As I try to write this you are squirming out of my arms to get at the laptop. The buttons on the computer fascinate you and the mouse is your personal nemesis. You are always almost catching him and then daddy or I move him right before you pounce. At the moment we're helping him outwit you, but judging from the speed at which you grabbed my glasses this morning I don't think we'll be able to keep the two of you apart much longer.
From the moment you wake up in the morning you are constantly looking for new things to learn about. You reach for everything, and when you get it it goes straight into your mouth! You're better than a vacuum cleaner because as you crawl every piece of lint/string/dust particle gets eaten. I try to catch it, but the only way to keep your mouth particle free would be to have a clean floor all the time and that's just not going to happen for the next year or so. So if as a 20 year old you find yourself craving a lint ball, you'll know that you developed a taste for them young.
You are starting to learn how to crawl on your hands and knees. You aren't as motivated to learn right now because you're already fully mobile doing your army crawl. I don't know how you manage it, but in the blink of an eye you will go from playing with your toys on the living room rug to getting to me in the kitchen and wrapping your fat little arms around my leg and trying to chew on my toes. Here's a video of you coming at me because I bribed you with Tupperware. I love that that is all it takes to get you scooting towards me:
You're eating a lot now. You like EVERYTHING we put in front of you. Rice, bananas, kale, tomatoes with cilantro, beans, etc. We feed you a cut up version of whatever we're eating. I'm not giving you meat yet because you don't have teeth, but from the way you've been acting lately I think teeth will be coming soon. While you eat you like to be entertained, so I keep you busy at breakfast with the text, at lunch it's usually you watching me cook or clean, and at dinner you prefer for daddy and I to take breaks from talking to jump around and make funny faces. Not that we mind doing it. I love that from me merely jumping in the air and sticking at my tongue at you, you reach levels of glee that would usually be reserved for a guy being handed the keys to a new car upon graduation from middle school.
There is a long list of things that make you happy, mommy being at the top of that list. Everytime you see me now you grin. Every. Single. Time. I love that.
It's not just me you love. Daddy is your constant entertainer and the person you ask for most. (Granted, you only know the names of two people in this world and one of us is with you all the time, but still, you do love to say dada) Yesterday we went to visit daddy at school and as he put you in the car seat and walked away you started saying "dada?dada? Dada?" and you kept it up until daddy was out of sight. When I told him about it later he grinned really big and whisked you from my arms into a big hug and kiss. It's nice for daddy's to know how much they're loved.
You are addicted to your grandparents and your Titi's too. They love to shower you with kisses and you love to give kisses right back. Right now your kisses are big open mouthed, slobbery ones that leave trails of spit on everyone's face. We keep a lot of dry cloths nearby and let you go to town.
You love toys, but you find the contents of the junk drawer just as entertaining. A lint roller and a cardboard case for a deck of cards will keep you just as happy as a rattle and a stuffed animal. Since you follow me everywhere I just take stuff out of drawers and off shelves as we pass them. It keeps you happy and lets me get things done around the house. The spice drawer is your favorite because you get to lick traces of the spice off of the tops of the bottles. I almost handed you the cayenne pepper the other day until I realized what it was. I now store all spicy spices in the back of the drawer!
There are very few things you don't like. Loud noises being the thing you dislike most. When daddy finds something really funny his laugh could blow the roof off the house and every time he does it you burst into tears. Even the sound of the blender scares you. Loud sound's are really the only thing that will consistently get you upset.
You've been having a bit of a rough spell with sleeping lately. Waking up several times a night, sometimes to nurse, sometimes just to cuddle or hold our hands. I don't always like being woken up, but the feeling of a sweet, clinging baby holding on to you in the dark isn't something I would trade for anything.
You really are the sweetest baby that anyone could wish for.
We love you baby boy, all the way to the moon, twice around the earth and back home again.
Mommy and Daddy
I didn't realize that I haven't taken any pictures of our house in months. The living room and bathroom after pictures are from before Luke was born. As you can see the kitchen picture is pretty recent. Luke was definitely the focus of my photo, but you can glimpse the kitchen behind him.
So much has changed so I need to get some new pictures.
