Luke has been loving the warm spring weather we've been having. He loves his new found freedom of playing outside. He gets so angry with us when it's time to go in the house or get in the car for a ride. He just wants to play. When he's outside he's the happiest and it makes for a good day. His whole attitude changes for the day if he gets some outside play time in. It's been nice, for all of us, to have less temper tantrums (there are still plenty but he's definitely more mellow after being outside).
Luke has got such a fun, goofy little personality. If he makes someone laugh he picks up on it quickly and continues to do what he was doing to be funny. He LOVES spinning around in circles and it makes for some good entertainment. He will spin, not very gracefully, about four times before stopping and watching the ground still spin. Then he looks up at us and giggles and if we laugh he spins some more. Sometimes we have to make ourselves stop laughing so that he will stop spinning. There's no forcing him to stop because he's one very determined, stubborn little man. If the laughs stop so does he. He's a great entertainer, when he wants to be.
One thing about Luke, he's his own little person and he lets us know that! There is no forcing him to do something. No convincing him or reasoning. He's stubborn and determined and we're learning to just go with the flow!
Luke hasn't learned any new words this past month, which kind of bugs me since we were told by our pediatrician that he should be learning 2-3 words per month. He communicates fairly well. He's starting to point at things that he wants or needs. He will point and grunt, all while holding a binky in between his teeth, and usually gets what he wants. He waves hi and bye and will say both but not on command. I can never get him to say something when I want him to. He screams "Daaaaddddd!" a lot! He occasionally says mom, mum, or ma. Sometimes we think he says Tyke but we're not really sure. He definitely understands the words Tyke and brother because when we ask him "where's Tyke?" or "where's brother?" he will look at Tyke and point at him and smile. He understands us well and can follow simple commands. I will tell him to go to the bathtub after meals and he runs right to the tub and tries to climb in. I will tell him to take an item to his daddy and he will. Sometimes he needs more convincing than others but he does a good job. He's getting to be a good little helper.
Luke is all boy and is a rough kid! He likes to hit, pull hair, occasionally bite, wrestle, push and scream. If he spots anyone lying on the floor it's game on and he immediately runs over to them and starts a wrestling match. He likes to play rough and thinks it's great! He likes to pick on his big brother, which for now is mostly okay because we consider it payback for all of the times Tyke picked on him. He especially likes to bother Tyke when he's napping on the couch. Luke will poke him and push him (he gets in trouble for these times) until Tyke screams in his sleep and starts swatting at him. We try to stop him but he keeps going back for more. I guess he sees it as an easy target when Tyke can't hit or push back. These boys are going to give us a run for our money!
Luke still loves his bath time and it is the happiest part of his day. He loves to splash and play with his bath toys. He bathes with his big brother and they love to pick on each other. Tyke tries to hog up most of the bath tub and Luke in return dumps cups of water on Tyke's head, which he hates but the rest of us thinks it's funny. I love the relationship and bond that Luke and Tyke have with each other!
Luke loves his minky blankets more now than ever before. He drags them everywhere and I feel like I'm constantly throwing them in the washer to keep them clean and not stinky. He likes to find the corners on his blankets now and chew on them. It's pretty darn cute to watch him do so.
Luke has been venturing out in the food department and he is still our little champion eater! He still likes everything we have fed him minus mashed potatoes eggo waffles. He is obsessed with mandarin oranges and has to have a cup of them every afternoon for a late afternoon snack. We introduced him to Vienna sausages and he LOVES them! He will eat any kind of meat put in front of him with out being picky. He likes his milk warmed up. He hates waiting for it to be warmed up but he still refuses to drink it cold. He's not a big fan of having it flavored with chocolate. He likes apple juice but is unsure of orange juice. He loves pop but we try not to let him drink it. I think his infatuation with pop is getting to drink out of a straw. He likes straws a lot! Give the kid a straw and he will be content until it gets taken away. I'm pretty sure he's tired of grilled cheese sandwiches. We make them a lot because it's about the only thing his big brother will eat. Give the Lu some meat and cheese and he will be happy as can be! We love that he loves food and is such a good, "adventurous" eater. We wish his brother would take a lesson or two from him.
Luke had been cutting back on using his binky but the last week or so he has started using it almost 24/7. While I don't like that and would love to be rid of the binky, it is definitely a lifesaver when he is in one of his moods and we can't calm him down. He definitely finds comfort in his binky and blanket. He has been sleeping better at night and wakes up early in the night, like around 1 am for milk, if he wakes up at all. He sleeps through the night at least twice a week now which has been so nice! He usually will wake up and come running into our room and then gets mad for some milk. His screams in the middle of the night are so loud they wake us all up and probably the neighbors too. The boy has got a set of lungs and knows how to use them! I don't know how his throat doesn't get sore the way he screams! Luke is down to 1-2 bottles a day. One at bedtime and one during the night if needed. Other than that he uses a sippy cup now. He's not completely sold on that idea but we're trying to win this fight. Occasionally we give in and give him a bottle in the afternoon for nap time just because he gets so grumpy and we know it's a quick easy fix (if we're lucky). Luke does well with a sippy cup. He usually prefers to steal Tyke's and use it rather than his own. He's not a big fan of chocolate milk but will drink it. He drinks most anything that he can get his hands on. He likes to help me with my diet coke's which I don't like because I don't want him liking pop and I don't want to share. He gets mad though and it's just not worth the fight.
Luke continues to LOVE food! (I wish we could say the same for his brother. I wish Tyke would take a lesson or two on eating from Luke.) Luke has been introduced to a few new things this past month and has loved them all. We started giving him chopped up vienna sausages with his mandarin oranges and I think it's safe to say that they are his new favorite treat! Luke loves any kind of meat and will usually quickly eat it first before eating what else is on his plate. Luke also had his first taste of salsa the other night. We had dinner at the local Mexican restaurant and he stuck his finger in the salsa. I told him he wouldn't like it because it was extra hot that night (plus salsa is a pretty extreme food for young ones anyway). Well he sucked his finger clean and didn't pull a disgusted face or anything before diving back in. Soon I was dipping chips, lightly, into the salsa and giving them to him and he really enjoyed it! I was so surprised! I tried my hardest to not let him have too much because I was worried about him getting a belly ache. He really enjoyed his "meal" at the restaurant and it was the best that he's ever eaten when in public! He had half of a quesadilla, hands full of my rice (he takes care of himself and helped himself to my plate), chips and salsa, and quite a few bites of my chicken enchiladas. He loved it all! He's such a great little eater! He enjoys pretty much anything he can physically grab onto, so things like mashed potatoes are on the dislike list.
Our little guy isn't so little anymore and is getting to be so tall and solid. If he stands next to me he hits me at about the waist which I feel like is tall for a 17 month old. He is currently wearing 18-24 month/2t shirts, 12-18 month jeans, and 18 month jammies which are pretty much too small for him now and need to be retired. He is still in a size 4 diaper but as soon as we run, in the next day or two, we are going to be moving him into size 5's. He wears a size 6 shoe that fits great length wise but seems to be a little too tight in the width/height wise. He has chubby little feet with a high arch. Luke still only has twelve teeth: top and bottom front 8 and 4 molars. As grumpy and miserable as he is sometimes I would swear that he's teething but I can't find any signs of new teeth coming in yet. He loves having his teeth brushed, mostly just so he can bite the toothbrush but he does cooperate well with getting the job done. The little stinker bites me every time I try to look in his mouth and I must say he has got one good, strong bite! It surprises me that he doesn't draw blood, just tears haha.
We love our little big guy so much! He's been so much fun to watch learn and grow this past month. It just keeps getting better and we really hope that with that he starts sleeping better and being less grumpy. I know I make it sound like he's just a miserable little grump. He's really not but it sure feels like he's more grumpy than happy at times. He's a playful, tough, strong, determined little man and we love him and his sweet, stubborn self so much! Happy 17 months Little Lu!
Lu was NOT happy to have his monthly photoshoot today! This kid is getting harder and harder to get a quick shot of. He hates to sit still and just wants to hold the camera. Silly Lu!
