O Tannenbaum

We decided to start a new tradition this year and go to the Christmas Tree Farm to cut down our very own xmas tree!  Luke's favorite part was the hayride that picked us up with our tree to take us back to our car.

Ben & Luke with our new white pine

Thanksgiving

We had our friends Jeni and TJ over for Thanksgiving, and Luke feasted on Turkey, Green Beans, and Sweet Potatoes!

A Showstopper

A few weeks ago, Kristina turned the big three-oh, and the family went to Disney World to celebrate.  It was Luke, however, who really made a name for himself down there.

Upon arrival, the trio headed to Downtown Disney, where they had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe.  Sure puts eating in the kitchen at home to shame, with all of the animitronic elephants and gorillas and thunder and rain.  Then, B&K did what a lot of other parents do while at Disney World, they bought young Luke a "mouse ears" hat.  But they were not prepared for what would happen when they put the hat on.  It was a showstopper.  Scores of people gawked and gushed and told their friends to gawk and gush.  It was as if they had never seen a child in a mouse-ears hat before.  Disney employees, who presumably had seen one or two, were just as excited.  One woman pointed out Luke to her entire travelling group, and said "Just wait until he turns his head".  To which of course he did, starting a new round of gushing.  Luke has always enjoyed the attentions of the little old ladies everywhere from the supermarket to FDR's house, but this was something else. 

A Helmet

As many of you are aware, young Luke has plagiocephaly, meaning one side of his head is a little flatter than the other. The doctors have recommended that a helmet be worn for some length of time, hopefully not exceeding a few months, to promote growth in the desired areas and round things out. Luke got his helmet last week, and his parents dressed it up a bit for him, though apparently they could have picked a more recognizable team. This past weekend, one guy thought the "D" stood for Dallas Cowboys, while another woman thought it was an Auburn football helmet. Seriously, Auburn?

yes, the kid will be allowed to pick which team to root for

practicing his fumble recovery skills by going after the remote

North Carolina

After Halloween, we went up to Dave & Cathy's timeshare in the North Carolina mountains for a couple days, with KK&M.  We enjoyed some foliage, mini-golf, and a BIG hike around the lake. 

Uncle Ben with Madison and Kailey, hiking around the lake

Later on, as they try to get the pine sap off their butts, Ben and Luke will wish they hadn't sat right here

Halloween!

Mom and babe

Have you ever seen a cuter pumpkin?

two of a kind

Sometimes he can be fairly cute

And the winner is...

Sara, with her guess of 18 lbs.  The actual weight was 18 lbs, 15 oz.  Height 26 3/4 inches.

So congratulations to Sara, may you enjoy the satisfaction of knowing you were tops on the inaugural poll of Luke's blog.  It is a title that no one can ever take away from you.  At the other end of the spectrum were Luke's aunts, particularly the one in Florida.  25 lbs or more?  Geez.  He's been called chunky, but he's a baby boy, not a baby elephant!

Lesson #47 on what Big Boys Do

As taught by Luke to his parents, Big Boys do not just ride around in their baby stroller in Publix.  They sit up in the shopping cart seat, legs dangling out the leg holes. 

Additionally, Big Boys have teeth!

A few video clips of recent activity, one of Luke displaying his "ups" on the jumper, and one of him enjoying the card his Grandpa and Cathy gave him for his 6 month birthday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THxOt89WIgU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhZFqJqeF70

The North Georgia State Fair

As our frequent readers will know, we were eagerly anticipating the North Georgia State Fair this past weekend.  The weather was great, and we did have a good deal of fun.  Truth be told, the elephant show was a bit of a let-down, as there was only one elephant.  His name was Dumbo.  How do you play a basketball game with only one elephant, you might ask.  Well, yeah, it was 1 on 0.  Dumbo won, dunking it twice. 

The much more impressive basketball feat of the day was Ben draining two shots in a row to win Luke a big stuffed dog.

waiting for the elephant show

Dumbo the elephant

Dumbo 2, Opponents 0

Hello Mr and Mrs Bunny Rabbit

Look what we won!

Durham

We wanted to belatedly post a few pictures of our Labor Day weekend in Durham, where we introduced Luke to Duke, Duke Football and several Duke friends.  As for the football, on Duke’s first possession, they had their punt blocked and returned for a touchdown, and things didn’t improve thereafter.  But the rest of the weekend was great!  Special thanks to Kyle, Stacey and Grant for letting us stay with them!

And of course the trip up I-85 through Charlotte would not have been complete without stopping at the Hendrick Motorsports Headquarters and Museum, home of Jeff Gordon’s and Dale Jr’s race teams. 

Tailgating before the big game

two handsome Duke fans

with Grant and his parents

for a pediatrician this guy isn’t bad!

 indulging his mother in front of the Jeff Gordon car

Poll

The blog administrator apologizes for the recent difficulties voting on the poll to the right.  The problem has been fixed, we think.  Anyway, vote away!  We already filled in the votes of the two godmothers. 

If you'd like everyone to know what a good (or awful) guesser you are, you will still need to post a comment with your name and guess.

Visit #5 (or 6?) to the Zoo

We are getting our money’s worth out of our Zoo membership. The rain finally stopped for a day last weekend and we went to see our animal friends. It’s been fun to watch the progression of Luke at the Zoo, from being unaware of/indifferent to the animals (and mostly asleep in the stroller) to being much more interested in them (though they are still less interesting than the other kids at the zoo). We also went to the petting portion this time, where he found the goats, sheep and pigs were more receptive to his grab-and-pull style petting than Frank and Grey. Still working on the “be gentle” thing.

with Mom and the goat

Luke with three tall friends

what a handsome lion cub!

Goings on

Luke is still rolling around, though he apparently likes showing off this trick far more often at school than at home. He’s having a bowl of rice cereal every morning, and doing very well with that. By far most of it is making it in the mouth, down the tube, to the tummy, as opposed to stopping at the chin/cheek/bib etc. And, he’s starting to put consonants and vowels together in his speech, for example he is quite good at the Beach Boys’ song “Barbara Ann” (the “Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba” part). Slowly working on the rest of the song.

This weekend we are going to the North Georgia State Fair, where we hope to see the world famous basketball playing elephants. Tough to tell whether Luke or his mother is more excited about that.

Chunky Delicious

On a recent trip to Walmart, Luke and his father were approached by a pregnant lady who gushed to Dad, “Oh, isn’t he Delicious!”  When Dad didn’t respond (what are you supposed to say to that—yep, with a little ketchup he sure is tasty?), the lady continued with “Oh, I hope my baby is chunky like he is”.  Luke was tempted to fire back with something about how she was looking a little chunky herself but gave her a pass since she was pregnant.

Wanted to post a couple of pictures of our little Chunky Delicious, from yesterday afternoon.

 Sure is fun to crinkle up leaves and pull up the grass!

Let me hold the camera, Dad!  I want to see how it tastes! 

Hey Mom, Look at Me!

Big Luke is now 5 mths old and he is busy. He is going to school 5 days a week, entertaining his parents, traveling all over the East Coast and reading tons of books. And although his parents used to be able to just tote him around in his carrier or his carseat, he no longer tolerates this. He is a civilized young man now - he sits up by himself and he eats from a spoon. He does not do either well...but he sure does enjoy trying!

Enjoy the pictures from Luke's recent milestones

Loving the high chair

Probably more food on his face than in his tummy

the face of a baby experiencing (flavorful!) rice cereal for the first time

Playing ball

Playing bigger ball

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?

We sure are.

Vacation Photos

"happy to be on vacation!"

checking things out with Mom

"as you can see I dressed for the occasion"

view from our porch

fun in the pool with Mom

Madison, Kailey, and Kara in downtown Beaufort, SC

Like Father, Like Son on the river cruise

cruising with Mom, and pretty happy about it

walking the boardwalk with Mom, look out for those crabs below!

These crabs!

"Good thing this hat has dinosaurs on it, otherwise it'd be a bit dorky"

Believe it or not, there is a baby in there