One Year!

Sweet Luke,

You are one year old! I can't believe it...I feel like I was just in the hospital giving birth to you! This has by far been the greatest year of my life. You are such a gift to Daddy and me, and I thank God for you daily. You have made our lives so much richer, and they were already very rich! I love having a son. It's evident to me daily that God created me to be a wife and mommy.



You are, well...you are just plain cute. In every way. Your hair is getting really long...Mommy's already trimmed it a couple of times, especially around your ears. The longer it gets, the more curly it's beginning to get. We think you have the same color hair of Mommy and Daddy when they were babies - blondish brown. It seems to be getting lighter with time, and it looks really blonde in the light. You have the biggest brown eyes that I LOVE. It's one of my favorite features about you. Your long eyelashes are just gorgeous. You really are a pretty baby - everyone tells us that. You now have both of your bottom teeth, and your four top teeth are just about to pop through. And your dimples...oh, your dimples...they are just precious. You tend to charm everyone you meet, and your dimples definitely help accomplish that goal. You are long and lean, and Dr. Barret said that you'll probably be a thin-looking toddler. You do have a large head, which just means that you're very smart. :) You have Mommy's sensitive skin and eczema. I'm sorry!

Speaking of smart...you are learning new things every day. You know how to say "Mama", "Dada", "Uh Oh!", "light", "shoes", "tree", "MamaMAW" (Grandma), "bye bye", "hi", "that"...those are just the words that are clear to us. You attempt to say many other words...milk, doggie, Macie, more, socks, nose, and many others. You have a really sweet little voice. My favorite thing you do is just babble on and on like you're carrying on a conversation, especially riding in the car. You can sign for "more" and "all done". You can point to many pictures in books when we say the words like ""doggie", "kitty cat", "cow", "lamb", "pig", "egg", "grapes", "banana". You are just starting to learn the parts of your body, but you do better pointing at Mommy and Daddy's features than your own. I love to watch your lips while you talk.

You just started to "real crawl" in the last couple of weeks. You are also pulling up on everything now, including your crib. We love walking into your room after naps or in the mornings to see you standing so proudly in your crib waiting for us. You are also starting to let go of things and stand by yourself for longer periods of time. Today, while Mommy was gone, Daddy said that you pushed your Thomas train across the living room and would stop and let go for a while. Wow...you are getting close to walking! Your favorite way to move is to walk holding our fingers, and you're getting better at holding just one hand. You're a baby on the move!

Right now, you're into putting things inside of other things, stacking things and trying to put things on your head (or someone else's head). You are very creative in the way you find little indentions in things to put your toys into. You also love to hold your toy, make sure we're watching, say "Uh Oh!" and then drop it. Throwing things around the house is also a favorite of yours. You absolutely love being outside, especially in your new birthday wagon. You still LOVE watching your Baby Einstein DVD's, and you also enjoy watching Elmo. The tv is almost never on while you are awake, so you get really excited when we turn it on because you know a video is coming. It's so cute to see you sit so still in awe while you watch. You have also started to put things over your eyes on your own and wait for us to say, "Where's Luke?". Then, you'll pop out with a big smile and squeal. "Peek-a-boo!"

You are a great eater. You went through a short stage recently where you got really picky, but I am so thankful that you're past that. You eat all kinds of fruit and veggies, but your favorite foods are meats (turkey and chicken) and yogurt. You get so excited eating yogurt that you are almost frustrated because you're so nervous about it running out. You did a great job with your birthday cake and birthday donut. Those were the first sweets you had ever had, and you thoroughly enjoyed them. You're completely weaned now, and you're doing a great job at drinking your milk and water from your sippy cups.

You are also a wonderful sleeper, much to Mommy & Daddy's delight! You usually sleep about 11-12 hours at night. Then, you sleep from about 9:30-11:00, and 2:30-4:30ish. You sleep with your little blue pony, and that's usually the only time you need your pacifier.

You have such a delightful personality. I love taking you shopping with me because you always make the days of the cashiers that you flirt with. You always tilt your head, scrunch your nose, and give a big, straight smile that shows your top gum and bottom 2 teeth. It's absolutely precious. Then, you wave with one or both of your hands facing yourself. You are getting much better with your separation anxiety. Most of the time, you are okay with someone else holding you. It still makes our day to see you reach for us, though. You also clap all the time. Lately, we'll ask, "How big is Luke?", and you'll put one hand straight up. "So big!" You love trying to brush your hair and Daddy's hair, and you love trying to feed us and Macie. You're extremely ticklish. You are constantly laughing and just so full of personality. You love it when we laugh at you, and you try to do more of whatever you were doing to make us laugh in the first place. We think you're going to have a great sense of humor.

You sure have many, many people that love you, Luke. Of course, Mommy and Daddy are crazy about you. You also have 4 grandparents and 7 great-grandparents that love you to pieces. You had a wonderful time in California visiting "MamaMAW", Grandpa, Uncle Billy, Uncle Jason and Aunt Annie. Although our times with them aren't as frequent as we would like, they are wonderful and sweet times together. Aunt Annie absolutely adores everything about you...you love to play with her, and I know that your uncles think you're a cool kid. You are also blessed to live near your Papa and Momo who love to come babysit and play with you. We can't wait for you to get old enough to play with your cousins Maddie & Mack. (and Uncle Mike & Aunt Stacie!) Besides family, you also have a lot of friends through Mommy & Daddy's friends at church and elsewhere. You are one loved little boy.

One year is gone, and we have seventeen more years of discipling you and shepherding your heart before letting you go into "the real world". What a blessing it is to be your parents. It is evident that "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights." (James 1:17) We pray daily that you will grow to love the Father with all your heart, sould, mind and strength. We can't wait to see God answer that prayer so that He can use you and equip you to accomplish His purposes for your precious life.

You are a wonderful baby boy. We can't begin to tell you how blessed we are to have you join our family.

I love you, sweet boy!

Mommy