ONE-derful!

Earlier this month Luke turned ONE! I still can't believe he's one. This year flew by. The first few weeks when he was struggling to eat and put on weight I thought we'd never get here. Well now it's here and I'm not sure I'm ready for him to grow up.

We celebrated the day by swimming at my friend Jacque's where Luke decided that he did not like her cool deck and started standing up by himself. Of course he only did it at the pool or anytime Dustin was not around.

We went out to eat at The Market Street Grill where Luke refused to eat what we ordered him.Sniff sniff, no more bottles. The transition to real milk and sippy cups was pretty easy seeing as he hates eating to begin with.

Then we were off to our Ward Party where he found the dum-dum treat basket and decided that those were better tasting than the cotton candy and popcorn.
Finally we made it back home for some Sprinkles cupcakes. Luke obviously did not know that these were one of Oprah's favorite things because he was not going to have anything to do with them. That's pumpkin with cream cheese frosting in case you need something to crave this morning.

We just knew he'd love them if he took a taste so we resorted to stuffing it in his mouth. We're not proud of this moment, but it looks like it worked!
The next morning we let Luke play with his fun new birthday present from my parents -- a water table. He is very serious about it. The big kids seemed to be equally entertained.

Monday we went in for his well check. He's 30.5 inches (75th percentile) and 20 pounds 7 ounces, which puts him back in the 10th-25th percentile. Little pip squeak. I really do try and feed him, but he's very head strong. I blame Dustin. His favorite foods are apples (hence the Chunk from Goonies look above), cheese puffs, macaroni and cheese and veggie straws. Somehow my pediatrician has assured me that this is OK as long as he's getting a little bit of the healthy stuff he'll eat (yogurt, baby food, apple sauce, oatmeal, milk and bananas). That's seriously about all he eats. Maybe some cereal or goldfish if he's desperate.

His favorite word is Dada. He says Mama when he's sad or can't find me. Every once in awhile you can get him to say Hi to other people or he'll yell Ellie which is really cute.

He's transitioning down to one long nap, which I'm learning to love because he'll sleep in a lot longer in the mornings now. He used to be up at 6:30 every morning, but now it's more like 8.

He has 5 teeth. I have no idea when that fifth one came in, I just noticed it one day.

And he's JUST starting to walk. He took his first steps last Wednesday and just started getting really brave this weekend. He has a few bumps and bruises and a nice gash on his head to prove it.

Saturday night we were at our friend's house and Luke was out on the putting green with the dads and kids. I was suppose to be helping Dianelle get some food ready, but I was just in awe watching Luke as he took a nice big bunch of steps. Dianelle asked me if it was as exciting with the last as it was the first and I have to say -- I think it's MORE exciting if that's possible.

With Ellie I was waiting for the next milestone and expecting walking to come, but with Luke I've been so happy to let him be a baby that it surprised me. Plus the other kids get *SO* excited that it's fun to watch their reactions. I think having them to share the amazement with makes it so much better. We seriously can sit around for an hour and just clap and cheer as Luke takes a few steps.

Luke was definitely a surprise for our family but I am so in love with him and can't imagine not having him. We are so lucky Heavenly Father had a plan and didn't follow ours!!