Luke is ONE!

Our little Luke is ONE! This year has flown by, yet our life is so different now than it was a year ago. Luke has been a pretty easy baby since day one. For both of us, but especially for me, the transition from one kid to two kids was way easier than no kids to one kid. Part of it is just the type of kids they are. Luke is chill like George. Madeline is more high strung like me. The biggest difference was that we knew what to expect and were already used to life with a kid. 

My maternity leave after having Luke was such a special time for me. I'm getting nostalgic because I just looked at a bunch of pictures from when Luke was first born. I truly feel like I made the most of my 3 month leave. I was able to soak in the baby snuggles and enjoy a lot of one-on-one time with Madeline while Luke napped. I really enjoy working, but as a working mom, I sometimes feel like I miss out on things, so I wanted to take advantage of my time at home. While I was on leave, we did three sessions of music class at the library, took lots of trips to the park, hung out with Terrisa and Parker, and watched a ton of Daniel Tiger. Sounds exciting, right? As boring as it may sound, it was actually pretty awesome and has left me with some lifelong memories. Enough about me...back to Luke. 

As a big one year old, Luke is starting to babble a lot! He says daddy, mommy, uh oh, bye, and repeats other things here and there. Most recently, he repeated "peak-a-boo" clear as can be. He has also repeated "coffee"! He can wave and clap and points (more like reaches out) to things that he wants. He does a lot of walking while holding onto things, but doesn't walk on his own yet. He's slowly getting more brave and will transfer from one thing to the next. He likes to steal whatever Madeline has -- toys, food, milk, anything. He loves to eat and is a really good eater. He has been picking up food and feeding himself since he was six months old, so he an old pro now. He eats three regular meals and a few snacks everyday. His favorite food is black beans. His teachers at the daycare are just amazed at how much he loves beans. He is a quarter Mexican after all! He has 8 teeth (yes, EIGHT!) and is about to get two more. He sleeps through the night and still takes a morning and afternoon nap. He was into his paci for several months, but wants nothing to do with it now. He is a big boy and is in the 80th percentile for all of his stats. He is starting to become more attached to George and me, but quickly warms up to others. When we're hanging out at home, he likes to be on the move with his sister. They roam around the apartment and will play blocks or look at books together....for a second....until Luke destroys whatever she's playing with. He's a happy boy and is always smiling. 

We love you, Luke!

Here are some of my favorite memories from our first few months as a family of four:

Going home with our new baby...always such a nerve-racking car ride! 

First evening together as a family of four...

Going stir crazy!

Sibling love <3

 

 

The many faces of Luke...

What a sweet newborn he was!

Luke's Birth Announcement...

One year later....

Since it's just the four of us here in PA, we didn't do a 1st birthday party...we'll make it up to him later! It was actually kind of nice to skip the stress and work that comes along with a birthday party. We still celebrated him in our own little way. In the morning, before work and daycare, Luke opened a couple of presents. Madeline made sure to help him with that. During the day, he was spoiled by his teachers at daycare. His favorite teacher, Ms. Shirley, is so incredibly sweet and made him a little stuffed animal and fabric block.  In the evening, we went to a burger place near our apartment. Luke enjoyed some chicken fingers. He was so tired from his big day, that he feel asleep on the car ride home. We tried to wake him up for cake, but it just wasn't happening, so we postponed the cake until the next morning. 

The sleepy birthday boy. 

Cake time!

He loved the cupcake! It got messy, but he actually ate almost the entire thing. Here's the play-by-play in pictures.

Granna and Grandpa Lucas got Luke this walker. It was a hit!

Company

It's finally Friday. This week has felt so long. Wednesday felt like it should've been Friday already. Anyone else feel that way? I have to finish our taxes this weekend. I have worked on them a few evenings this week and just need to review things one last time. I want to make sure we get every dollar back from the government that we're supposed to! :)

The past two weekends we've had company and the next two weekends we're expecting more company! Dan, Alaina, and Sadie came up from Rochester two weekends ago and Emily and Stephen were here last weekend. On Tuesday, George's folks fly into NYC. I will talk about those plans shortly. It's been so fun to have company. Madeline especially loves it. After Emily and Stephen left last weekend, she asked if Parker and Paisley were coming next. I wish we could actually surprise her with a visit from them. Maybe this fall?! 

Dan, Alaina, and Sadie came up on President's Day weekend. Sadie is a little more than a year younger than Madeline and a year older than Luke. Even though they're all spread out in age, they played really well together. Sadie could hang with Madeline (which isn't easy to do), but also took an interest in Luke which was really cute. She's all set to be a big sister in May! The highlights of the weekend included some time at the park, a trip to Chuck E. Cheese (Madeline's favorite place....but ugh, what chaos!), an adventure to old city to see some historic sites, lunch at Reading Terminal Market, lovely weather, and hanging around and chatting with Dan and Alaina. Besides each other, George and I don't interact with other adults very often here, so it was nice to just sit around and talk. I guess that's a sign that we're getting old, huh?! Thanks to Dan and Alaina for making the drive. We know it's not easy to do with little ones! 

Emily and Stephen (Emily's boyfriend) had an 8 day tour of the NE last week, which included 5 days in DC and 3 days in Philadelphia. Emily has a good friend in DC and also a good friend in Philly. I took Friday off and went to pick Emily and Stephen up from her friend's place in Center City. They had done all of the historic stuff in Philly on Thursday, so we just popped into Macy's to see the Wanamaker Organ and Reading Terminal for lunch, and then heading back up to our place. On Saturday, Emily and Stephen went to Amish country (Lancaster and the surrounding area), but we stayed back at home with the kids so that we wouldn't slow them down. On Saturday night, we took them to get Philly Cheesesteaks...when in Philly, you must! Again, it was so nice to just hang around and chat with them. Emily is so good with our kids -- they love their Aunt Emily. Thanks to Emily and Stephen for making the long trip out here!  

This weekend is our uneventful weekend, but we are gearing up for our next visitors. George's folks are doing a 2 week NYC/DC/Philly trip. We are joining them for a couple of days in NYC, 4 days in DC, and then we'll of course be hanging out with them here. Paul, Anna, Rachel, Marie, and Yolanda (George's grandma) will all be coming. Rachel will only be joining for the Philly portion. We are both taking some time off so it'll be a nice vacation for everyone! I've been looking forward to their visit since we moved. This will be their first time to all three cities. 

I want to blog a little bit about Luke's first birthday, but I'll do that in a separate post because I have to run. 

Before I go, here are a few pictures from the Moore's visit. I am annoyed with myself for not taking more pictures over the past couple of weekends. Emily did get some great pictures on her camera at least. 

What a cutie! 

Luke and Sadie do not look very impressed with the historic sites. Haha!

Madeline and Sadie placing their lunch orders at Reading Terminal...

Getting some baby practice in!