Early Christmas Gift

So last night I picked up the kids from daycare and I first brought all the bags in the house, then let Hunter out of the car and then went back for Luke. In the time it took to get Luke out of the car and into the house, Hunter had found the Cars watch I bought him for Christmas in my purse.

So he got a gift early. He was really excited about it, and put it on right away. Before bed, he said: "Daddy has two watches, so Santa can still bring me the fire truck watch I want, ok?"

(He specifically asked for a fire truck watch that makes sound, an impossible request so I thought a good compromise would be this Cars watch. Although he likes it, he is still waiting on the original request, great.)

Birthdays Galore

This was a birthday filled weekend. Saturday was my father's 66th birthday! We had a great dinner and delicious birthday cake, Hunter's favorite part.

On Sunday we went to the Softplay Room for Hunter's buddy Eli's 4th birthday. Both Hunter and Luke had a blast.

We have very energetic boys so any activity that burns energy is great.

We also took Hunter to the doctor last week to talk about his tantrums. For the last few months we have been dealing with more than we can bear. Not only has the number increased, but also the duration and intensity. The tantrum below lasted for 30 minutes! Bottom line.....the doctor said that although his are really bad, they still fall in the spectrum of normal for his age and since they aren't impacting school yet, we just need to pick our battles and try to diffuse if possible. If that doesn't work, move him to his room and tell him we will let him have time to himself to calm down.

Hopefully this phase will pass quickly!!

Flying Baby

Notice what Luke does with his arms each time Kerry puts him above his shoulders. How did he learn that?

Thanksgiving 2008

We traveled to State College the weekend before Thanksgiving to visit Kerry's family and watch the Nittany Lions play. It was a freezing cold weekend with snow! Kerry braved the weather and went to the game, while the boys and I stayed in the nice warm house to play. Traveling with Hunter is rough, (started with crying so hard he threw up again in the car on the way up) but we managed and had a great pre-Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday.

We went to my parents for the actual day and had another great meal. It was a smaller group than usual (just my immediate family) but still great company and food. Luke took a nap right before dinner so we put him on my parents bed with pillows around him (forgot the pack n play.) As my father started grace, we heard a boom, Luke fell off the bed! He was ok, just scared and we learned a valuable lesson, bring the pack n play!!

We managed to get a couple good shots of the family before it got dark.

8 months old

Not sure if you can tell by the photo, but Luke has 2 teeth now. He is standing up all the time, can even balance on his own for 1 or 2 seconds before crashing to his butt.

He is such a happy baby (during the day!) He loves to follow Hunter around and give him hugs and kisses. He has started reaching out for you to pick him up (I love that) and will protest if you take something from him that he was playing with or wanted.

The nights are unfortunately another story. I don't know if it is solely from the fluid in his ears causing discomfort, or if he just wakes and can't put himself back to sleep, but he is up a lot. We got a second opinion on the ears and that doctor recommended reassessing the situation in January.
Luke has also started saying da da. Not in reference to Kerry yet, but just to make the sounds. This is really the first babble he has done, he hasn't done much more than yell before, so it is weird to hear his voice.

He is still a good eater, not really showing much preferences for particular foods, eating what you give him (very different from Hunter.) He has started eating cheerios and loves to both eat them and bang them off the tray.

Gearing up for turkey day and his first trip to visit Santa.....can't wait.

Recognize the Dance?

Another milestone

So last night he officially pulled up. He has been pulling up on his knees for a week or so.

This morning I went to get him out of his crib and he was standing up waiting for me.

We are not ready for what comes next!