First playtime at the park

Now that he’s a one-year-old kiddo, I thought it was high time that we started visiting our local park to let Luke play. This afternoon’s exploratory trip was mostly a success. Luke loved the park; he quickly warmed up to the baby swing, the slide, and was thrilled to walk around on the platforms and spin the attached toys. I was impressed by the general cleanliness of the equipment, the sturdy, tall-sided basket-swings, and I’m a big fan of the clever double slides that allow Luke and Mommy to safely descend side by side.

I was also struck afresh by what a wonderful location we live in. We arrived at the park after a fifteen-minute walk along quiet roads. On the way we passed an elementary school, which offers another interesting outing – Luke loves to walk by at the end of the school day to see all the kids pass by, the cars going and coming, and the lines of children loading up the big yellow buses. Just past the park is Costco, another fun, frequently-visited destination we visit on foot. What a blessing to be so close!

The unfortunate part of our park outing was that I didn’t realize that the temperatures had lowered and it was quite chilly outside. Luke didn’t seem cold to me while we were out, but looking at the high of 43 for the day and thinking about how long we were out for, I think I should have had more layers on him. Sorry little guy! I’m afraid I inadvertently benefited from how wiped out he was from the cold and play; he took three naps today!

I see many trips to the park, longer naptimes, warmer dressing, sturdier shoe-wearing, and maybe even new park friends in our future! 

Birthday boy!

Our little bambino turned one on Friday and what a blessing it was to celebrate the joyful year we’ve been given with him. We are ever amazed at the playful, busy, inquisitive, social, and more-and-more adorable little person he is. We still swoon at all his precious little sounds, expressions, and antics. Grandma and Grandpa Nielsen flew out to visit us for the week and Luke loved being the center of four adults’ attention. Papi and Generational-Name-Yet-To-Be-Determined Ferry didn’t want to miss the occasion either, so they skyped in with their own birthday cake, candle, and song for the little boy.

All things considered, the L-man was much more laidback than we anticipated when it came to his bday cake and hat. After some initial resistance, he actually left the hat on undisturbed for an extended length of time, giving us plenty of time to snap festive pics. He certainly enjoyed his cake and consumed the majority of a piece. But he ate it with considerable calm and restraint given that it was his first sustained exposure to chocolate and intense sugar! In the photo above, you can see him take his first bite in his cute smock-bib, our little numero uno.

As it turns out, the little guy’s gift roundup tended toward the ambitious side for a one-year-old. His big presents were Duplos, an outdoor playset, and a bike! He really is such a fortunate little kiddo that he has just about all the wonderful baby toys needed anywhere except a daycare, so it made sense to choose ‘to-grow-with’ toys. Erik and I have already had a lot of fun building with the Duplos, and Luke enjoys banging them together and putting the box on his head. We all laugh when Erik calls the box’s clear lid a ‘baby riot shield’ – Luke is modeling it for you to the left.

Luke’s new-to-us playset gives our yard a little more color and a family feel. Luke hasn’t quite managed to climb up on it by himself yet, but he’s quite close to making it onto the first platform and it’s fun to send him down the slide.

We’re also excited about the clever design to Luke’s new green machine – his Strider running bike! Instead of pedals, the two-wheeled bike is propelled Flintstone-style by Luke’s two legs. At first toddlers just hold the handlebars and walk, but over time kids learn balance and can zoom along by pushing off while sitting on the seat. We were inspired by several impressive videos on YouTube and so we envision Luke eventually riding it around our house’s quiet cul-de-sac, as well as on paths around the city during family bike rides. But first Luke’s legs need to get just a little bit longer – he can barely touch at the moment!

We are so thankful for our Luke-a-love and treasure each day we’re given to play and learn and grow with him. God bless you in the year to come, sweet little boy!

Click HERE for many more bday pics!

The little librarian

“Why don’t you go get a book, Luke?” Two little legs plod over to the shelf and then bend as Luke carefully reaches down to select a favorite title. He raises it above his head and looks at us, as if to say ‘how about this one?’

“Bring it over here,” we coach him. He obeys and sits down beside us with a few excited bounces as we open to the first page.

To be honest, I’m not exactly sure why he likes reading so much. Is it just the colorful pictures and melodious sound of his parents’ voices? Doesn’t he see bright colors and hear our voices all day long with or without books? Perhaps a more likely motivation is the sense of control that books allow him – he chooses the title, turns the pages, and we almost never say no to reading a book.

To keep countless re-reads a little more interesting for myself, I set challenges – how fast can I list all the foods listed on the tummy ache page of Very Hungry Caterpillar? How consistently can I individualize each character’s voice in The Egg in the Hole Book? Can I memorize all the rhyming lines of On the Farm without confusing it with Fuzzy Chick? Can I avoid losing my sanity?? At this stage, Luke and I both find strange things to love about our cozy story time routine!

Mom, I think you did the pig’s voice wrong.

First big haircut!

Unfortunately, I must interrupt the stream of joyful posts to bring you some grim news... Luke's adorable locks have been chopped short! And the tale turns treacherous as the evil perpetrator for this crime was none other than Luke's very own Daddy.

To the left, please enjoy a pic of our beautiful Luke boy, pre-haircut.

Then check out the forlorn fellow below after the big chop! Yes, yes, his hair doesn't get in his eyes and constantly hold caked food that is smeared there during attempts to brush his hair aside (in order to better see his food). But this 'trim' took a turn for the extreme that I had a little trouble adjusting to.

With time, however, I've come to realize that Erik actually did a fairly admirable job considering Luke's lack of compliance with haircut protocol. And my pragmatic husband was motivated by the somewhat reasonable goal of avoiding frequent battles to keep a squirmy Luke still. So I've edged back from my 'you should never cut his hair again' stance to a simple vow to communicate the haircut parameters much better next time. And, really, he is still pretty charming, haircut or not (Erik and Luke that is, see below)!

Luke the travel guide

On our way back to Albuquerque from our whirlwind of winter travel, we counted up the number of plane take-offs that Luke has experienced in the past year. Not counting in utero travel, we came up with 18 takeoffs! (which, thankfully, were all followed by smooth landings.) The fact that Albuquerque doesn't have direct flights to most of our destinations really amplifies those take-off numbers, but nonetheless, we feel that we've come a long way toward becoming savvy baby air travelers since the apprehension of our first flight with the little man. This time we were showing other parents how to strap a car seat into the airplane seats and offering some of our well-packed baby snacks!

But the travel surely hasn't all been on our end. We also counted up the number of visitors that Luke has received from the east coast. Not counting kids, there are 20 people who visited us from the East since Luke was born, and several of them multiple times! It has been such a blessing to maintain those dear relationships despite the distance, and has also given us extra impetus for visiting the many gorgeous sights this area holds.

We were reminded of both blessings once again this past weekend when we enjoyed a fun visit with Emily, a sweet friend from Princeton. Despite the unusually cold weather, we drove up to Santa Fe and toured the new history museum there and then took a snowy walk up to the La Luz trailhead in ABQ. You can see below that we decided the stroller was the safest, warmest spot for Luke on the icy road. He didn't seem to mind!

Luke on 2 legs!

No going back now -- walking has become Luke's primary mode of self-transport. That cute crawling move is now just a means to get to a wall, toy, or piece of furniture where he can pull up to standing and walk to his next destination. I've even seen him trying to stand up from a sitting position in the middle of the floor, but I don't think he's had success in that endeavor yet. It's cute to see his awkward unsteady gait and so sweet to have him walk into our arms with a big smile on his face. But he requires extra-sharp supervision as he's always just a moment away from tumbling down and banging his head on furniture or the floor.

He can now also travel by sitting atop his fire truck ride-on toy and pushing with his legs! For a couple weeks he's been enjoying wild rides atop the truck in which Daddy pushes a seated Luke all over the house. But we were all surprised last night when he started pushing himself around using his feet without any difficulty! Unfortunately he can't manage to steer it properly yet, but it's still a very independent new talent!

Luke has also recently experienced his first major stomach bug, complete with one particularly spectacular incident of vomiting all over Mommy. I wanted to cut my shirt off instead of having to lift it over my head! Another milestone met, but not one we hope to repeat any time soon.

Our Luke-man seems to have quite a social personality. He loves attention and hams it up whenever he has an audience. He's quickly taken to various crowd-pleasing tricks, and the one that always gets the most laughs is 'dancing with his head'. You can view our favorite video of this move here along with a little showcase of his blinking and peek-a-boo games. He definitely understands the connection between dancing with his head and music, so when a toy starts singing or we walk into a store playing music he's likely to start up the head-dancing to our delight and endless amusement.

Luke also loves to play the point and explore game. Frequently pointed at items include the blinds, leaves, Christmas lights, and photographs. It's neat to see him grow in being able to communicate with us and investigating his world. This growing awareness has also resulted in a sharing impulse. When he's drinking his bottle he often tips it up toward our mouths, offering us a tasty, slobbery sip. We are also frequently tempted by mushed-up avocado and soggy crackers! And when he wants us to play with him he holds out a book or toy toward us, wanting us to come take it from him. How can you say no to such a generous gentleman?

Holding his own

These days it feels more and more like we're a family of three, rather than a couple with a baby. Luke can join in with our activities in all kinds of settings. Mealtime is probably the best example, as we often feed him parts of our dinner and we even ordered off the kids' menu at a restaurant for him once. He loved the blueberry pancakes he was served there, though I'm not sure the waitstaff appreciated the portion of them that he 'fed' to the floor! He has begun babbling in his own dialect of baby gibberish, seemingly thinking he is adding his thoughts to the conversation. He also notices what is happening around him much more now and it's fun to experience new things with him, be it the Christmas tree aisle in Home Depot, another child at the supermarket, or falling snow. I've been establishing a ritual of having Erik call us before he bikes home from work, and then Luke and I watch for him from the front window. It's fun to see Luke look for his Daddy!

One standby of wintertime little kid-hood that we haven't been enjoying is a frequent runny nose. This child does not like having it wiped and it pains me to see him have difficulty taking his bottle or sleeping because of congestion. But we just tell ourselves that his immune system is doing its job and try to keep the humidifier going and the germs at bay.

He is getting closer and closer to walking, standing on his own for several seconds before sitting down and taking a couple steps before losing his balance. Erik and I are excited and reluctant to see him enter this new stage. It's so much fun to delight with him in these triumphs, but I'm dreading the constant chasing and painful tumbles walking will bring. In the meantime he is also very content to be held as long as we comply with his mistaken assumption that his parents are Segways. He leans in whichever direction he wishes to travel and expects transport!

In other news, our house is feeling more and more like our home as we come to the close of this stage of updates. Below you can see the new tile we put up around our fireplace and the stockings for our little family of three!