More SC pictures

Just a few more pictures from our trip . . . we also got to see lots of friends, including Luke's buddy London and some of Gary's high school friends at his 34th birthday party and the football games. It was so good to see everyone!

South Carolina visit

On November 11 Luke & I headed back to Columbia for a visit. We borrowed a friend's DVD player for the plane ride, and Luke enjoyed watching movies. I enjoyed it, too; I actually got to read a book on the plane! We stayed with Grandmommy & Granddaddy, and they bought Luke a Thomas train set while we were there. After he got it, that's all he wanted to play with. We got to spend time with lots of family - Aunt Donna & Uncle Greg, Lauren, and Grayson; Aunt Cari & Uncle Cam, Hannah, Ben, and Ethan. I got to see Carolina beat Florida, but Gary and I both had to suffer through that terrible Clemson game. Yuck! Oh well, it was still a great visit. We miss everyone!

Happy Halloween!

What a fun Halloween we had this year! Luke's favorite stuffed animal is his monkey, Cheeky Charlie. As soon as I saw this costume, I knew that's what I wanted him to dress up as for Halloween. Besides, I figured this is the last year I'll be able to pick his costume for him. Next year I'm sure he'll want to go as something much more boyish . . . Darth Vadar, a ninja, or something else that carries a weapon. The only weapon he toted this year was a stuffed banana.

I talked to him about trick-or-treating for several days before Halloween so he'd know what to expect. We practiced saying "trick-or-treat", and he was pretty excited at the prospect of getting a lot of free candy. He still didn't quite get the concept, though. At the first house, he wanted to go inside. After all, that's what you usually do when someone answers the door! He picked up on what the night is all about pretty quickly, and by the end of the evening, he was saying "trick-or-treat" with gusto. We were out for over an hour and were all pooped by the time we got back home. Until Monday, Luke had only had a few types of candy; trick-or-treating has opened up a whole new world to him. Since I passed my sweet tooth on to him, I'm sure he'll be anxiously awaiting Halloween for years to come.

Pumpkin carving

Luke has always had a thing about having his hands dirty; whenever he gets anything on his hands, he immediately wants to wipe them off. Needless to say, I was shocked when he stuck his hand into the pumpkin and pulled out a handful of pumpkin goop! His class carved a pumpkin at school last week, so I guess that was his dry-run. His teacher told me he really enjoyed sticking his hand into the pumpkin, but I had to see it to believe it. We decided to carve a Dora the Explorer pumpkin because along with trucks and tractors, Luke LOVES Dora. It's a little hard to see Dora's face on the pumpkin, but it's her. I'm pretty sure we were the only house on the block (or in the neighborhood, for that matter) with a Dora pumpkin.

Go Gamecocks!

We recently rediscovered this hat that G-Mommy and G-Daddy gave Luke last year. This is pretty much his uniform on game days, but last week he added the hat to give him a little more "street cred". He loves Carolina! (Sorry, Daddy!) Whenever he sees any football players on TV, he yells, "Go Gamecocks players!" I taught him to pump his fist and say, "USC!", and he pretty much does it on command or any time he sees the letter "u". Gary's hoping with all this indoctrination that in 16 years we'll watch him run out of the tunnel to "2001".

The future entomologist

When my Daddy, an insect aficionado, saw this picture, his response was, "Hurrah! A boy after my own heart!" We found this tomato hornworm when we dug up our tomato plants. When Luke saw it, he was fascinated and wanted to get a shovel to scoop it up. He called it the "hungry caterpillar" (from the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar) and wanted to walk down the street to show our neighbors. Usually Luke is not a big fan of bugs, and when flies get in the house, he is very anxious for Mommy to get them. So when he wanted to pick up this big ol' bug and actually touched it, I was quite surprised. I don't think he realized it was a bug. When we finally had to go inside for a bath, we released the hornworm back into the wild. Luke asked about if for several days afterward, and every now and again he'll mention his very own hungry caterpillar who has now, according to him, gone home to live with his mommy, daddy, brothers, and sisters.

Farmer Luke

Recently Luke & I went to Owens Spring Creek Farm down in Richardson. We fed lots of animals, including sheep, goats, and a big ol' longhorn. Luke was not at all afraid of the animals and walked right up to the fences to feed them. The highlight of the trip was a hayride. We sat in a trailer and were pulled by a big, green tractor. What a thrill for Luke! After the hayride we walked around to see the other animals in the barn. Then we got to pick out a pumpkin. It seemed like Luke picked up about 25 pumpkins before he decided on just the right one. It was a great outing for us!

Biker dude

We recently got a bike trailer and have enjoyed taking family bike rides in the evening and on the weekends. Luke loves to hang out in the bike trailer and often brings along one of his "friends" (a stuffed animal). We've gotten a little more adventurous lately. Gary and Luke rode to a local restaurant one evening for dinner when I was out of town, and last weekend we all rode to the grocery store to get something for dinner. I even picked Luke up from school yesterday on the bike. I'm thankful that Texas is a flat state - pulling an extra 40 or so pounds is tough for me!

First day of school

Our church has a wonderful pre-school called Sunshine Kids, and Luke is one of the members of the Sunshine Kids class of 2008. Gary & I made the decision several months ago to enroll him in pre-school, but as September drew closer and closer, I started to get more and more nervous. I really thought he'd do well, but I still felt anxious about sending my baby away twice a week. However, after the first day I knew we had made the right decision. He absolutely loves school! He attends school on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00-2:00, and they really pack a lot into those five hours . . . story time, snack, music class on Tuesdays and chapel on Thursdays, recess, lunch, and finally a nap. Luke loves to tell everyone about Miss Cindy and Miss Kristen and his friends Landon, Grant, and Kate. He has already learned so much, and I'm thrilled that he enjoys it as much as he does.

I really enjoy Tuedays and Thursdays now, too. I run errands and schedule every appointment in the world for Tuesdays, and I have a women's Bible study at church on Thursdays. When I'm not running around (or updating this blog!), sometimes I just sit in my house and enjoy the feeling of not having to do a single thing at that moment. Being away from Luke for a few hours each week has made me a better mother; I miss him when he's at school, and I look forward to picking him up and talking about his day. Hooray for Sunshine Kids!

Pancake hat

Well, there's not much to say about this other than Luke is your typical two-year-old who has put just about everything in our house that he can pick up on his head, including his breakfast. Luckily for me there was no syrup on the pancake. And I thought teaching high school students was interesting!

The birthday boy

Luke turned two on July 30. Because he LOVES trucks, tractors, and any other kind of construction vehicle, we had a tractor-themed party. We invited several friends and their children, and even though it was your average blisteringly hot Texas day, everybody had a good time. Our neighbor Beth made the most fabulous tractor cake that was not only amazing to see but was also quite tasty. Many of our guests went with the tractor theme for presents, so Luke now has quite a collection of toy tractors and trucks.

I really can't believe he's already two. How amazing that two years ago he was just a little blob of a baby who couldn't do anything, and now he's running around the house singing "Baa Baa Black Sheep"! I can only imagine what the next two years will bring.

Who is Ito?

I'm sure many of you are wondering what in the world the address "watchitogrowup" means (although anyone who has spent more than two minutes with my child will immediately understand.) When Luke first said his name, instead of saying "Luke", he said "Ito". The best I can figure is that the "l" came out sounding more like "e", and the "k" sound became "t". So, "Luke" became "Ito". He calls himself Ito as much as he calls himself Luke (he can now say it correctly.) In fact, most of the people we know call him Ito instead of Luke. Since it's obvious that Ito is going to stick, Gary & I decided we better figure out how to spell it, and we decided to go for Ito instead of Eto (according to Gary it's in honor of Judge Ito from the OJ Simpson trial.) So after struggling for nine months to come up with a name, we only use it half the time. Oh well . . . no one ever claimed life with a two-year-old wasn't interesting!