Luke Update

A few new things on the Luke front...

He had his 18 month check up last week (a month late - ooops) and currently weighs in at 26.2 lbs, in the 48th percentile, and stands at 34 inches, in the 84th percentile. Basically he's becoming long and lean like his daddy. Everything else checked out fine, except for the ear infection that he picked up during our vacation in California and the "gunk" in his lungs that we are working on clearing up. He is now starting his 2nd round of antibiotics since the first round didn't seem to take, and on a steroid for his lungs since the inhaler also wasn't working for him. Bless his little heart, he takes it all in stride. We've managed so far with just a bit more fussiness than normal and a diminished appetite.

He is working every day on learning new words. He has added about 5 just this week: keys, cheese, juice, up, and baba (seems to be his word for mommy/mama). Old favorites are ball, baby, daddy, uh-oh, hi, and bye (the last two are always accompanied by a wave and smile and are said to anyone near him, including cars at red lights). He signs milk, all done, more, and please. He continues to enjoy peek-a-boo, throwing balls, and dancing and running around the house, yard, and park.

Winston and I are having fun watching him grow and learn. We are constantly amazed at what he can do and how he responds to us. When I tell him that daddy is home, he runs to the door. (Of course, sometimes when I say that daddy is on TV, he also runs to the door! We love seeing daddy on TV. Winston always gets a smile and a clap when he first comes on, then Luke is pretty much over it and goes back to his toys.) Luke finds small pieces of garbage and puts them in the garbage can, he pats on the fridge when he's thirsty and on the pantry door when he's hungry. He knows many of his body parts and even took off his pants the other night in the attempt to get his shirt up (he had a onesie on) to show his belly to a friend who was over. In all fairness, she did ask Luke where his belly was! These are just a few recent observations, I could go on and on...what mother couldn't, right?

We are now looking forward to a visit from Grandma Linda and Grandpa Mark who will arrive in Houston tomorrow night. Maybe a little more TLC in the house will help our little guy recover.

I'll close with a video of Luke welcoming Daddy home from the gym. I should have kept the camera rolling because he came back down the hall with his football. Enjoy!