Happy 2nd Birthday Luke!

Luke had a great time seeing family for his second birthdy. He loved opening his presents. He got a yard set including a rake, shovel, chain saw, leaf blower, weed trimmer, goggles, and gloves. He also got a garbage truck, cute clothes, and some really good books. In the picture with Grandma and Grandpa, Luke has his camping supplies. He got a life preserver for boat rides and his own camp chair. We love having a two year old.

Winter Reading

Dave and Luke are at it again. This picture is a sequal to the one where Luke was sleeping in Dave's lap while he was reading an annual report. Now Luke is reading "Everything you need to know about wills and estate planning."

I have been enjoying this winter and the snow. This has been the best cross country skiing year that I can remember.

Here are my favorite things about Luke in Febuary. He gets so excited about brusselsprouts and broccoli. He is starting to use please, thank you, I'm sorry, I loved you, and excuse me on a regular basis. He loves dancing with his mama. He lets me hold him for three entire songs as we bounce and spin around the house.

Visitors

Luke loves visitors. Here are Leah and Zac from Pittsburgh.

Erin and her husband David from Illinois.

Play date with Connor, Lily, and Isacc (not shown).

Luke and Eli.

Christmas

Christmas is a wonderful time of year. Dave and I enjoyed spending time with both families. Luke loved getting so much attention for the 5 days we were with family. Posted above is a picture of Grandad and his 7 grandson's. The next is a picture of my entire family.

Luke is underwater in the sting ray and shark tank. We took him to the aquarium and he was only somewhat scared. He wanted to be held the entire time. He really liked the gift store the best.

Riley and Jackie taught Luke all sorts of fun things over Christmas. He loves the books they gave him.

Luke's new horse, Champ, from Grandma and Grandpa.

Dave and baby Jake. This is a picture of Julie and Tom's 4 month old baby.

Almost the Christmas Card Picture

Luke is best captured on video camera. As you can see, in the first two pictures Luke is in action and can not stay still. The other two pictures are of Grandma and Grandpa Krause's house. Luke loved the entire light show they had on display, especially the train. The train has been snowed under for the majority of the winter.

Pea pod in action

One of the reasons we have not added a post in so long is because Luke will not stay still for a picture. He was a pea pod for Halloween and he enjoyed throwing his velcro peas across the room. Thus, I do not have a photo of him in the costume with all peas accounted for.

The pictures of Dave and Luke are some of my favorites. This field is right at the end of our block and Luke and I go there often to play in the field.

Enjoying a beautiful fall

Fall has been just perfect. Luke and I have had time to watch every leaf fall. We have our daily

playground rotation on nice days. Luke will do the slide about three times and then he will take off on a "hike." The playgrounds that we go to are all connected to the Ice Age Trail. So every day Luke hikes about 3/4 mile through the crunching leaves. Sometimes he will even let me hold his hand. I love watching our shadows move together.

I also wanted to discuss some things I learned about motherhood. These items will not be depicted in the photographs. 1) Don't wear short running shorts when you go down the slide with your child. All you will feel is burning flesh on the slide, a wedgie, and comments from local dads about my bad clothing choice as they hear the squeak of my skin. 2) Don't be afraid to wear goggles and a swim cap if necessary. Luke gouged my eye with his thumb as he was reading a book and doing the sign language for hat. I totally did not expect it. The high velocity jab made my eye hurt the rest of the day. 3) Luke also has a tendency to pull out chucks of my hair when he is being carried somewhere he does not want to go. Not only does this hurt, but then my hair can be found in his sticker books, toy bins, and under the refrigerator magnets. A swim cap would be very helpful.

Also, I wanted to thank Leah for the cute bear outfit and Grandma and Grandpa for the stuffed animal bear. Notice Dave, bear, and Luke.

Emergency

Well, we made our first trip to the emergency room on Oct 6th. Luke was with Alyssa at Lapham Peak State Park. He was in an area that just had some brush cut when he tripped and fell down. When he got up he had a large cut... or more fitting... a large gash under his eye. The brush that had been cut poked his face because it was like 4 -5 inch sticks, that stuck out of the ground.

Urgent care doesn't deal with facial wounds that might need stitches so we went to the ER. The bleeding had stopped long before but at the ER Luke had his face "glued" together instead of getting stitches.

We are VERY thankful that his eye wasn't hurt. We know his face will heal. Today his face looks even more puffy and swollen than when these pictures were taken. Both Alyssa and I feel sorry for Luke, but he is in good spirits. He is still running around and laughing just like nothing happened.

Going to Chicago by Truck and Wagon

On Labor Day weekend we took a trip to Chicago for a visit. We went to see my cousin Julie, her husband Tom, and their new baby boy, Jacob. Luke wanted to drive his dump truck and stuffed animals down. Later, he thought being pulled in a wagon might be the way to go.

Luke liked the big city, with all of its new experiences. He enjoyed stroller rides on Michigan Avenue watching people and traffic, always pointing out the trucks. He liked running in Millennium park and Grant park. But his favorite thing to do was ride in the Intercontinental Hotel elevators with its mirrors and smile "cutely" at the other people.

My big guy

Luke has progressed this summer in many ways. He couldn't even walk on grass in the spring. Now he can run on the sand, push his dump trucks off road, and stand by the crashing waves. Here are pictures of Luke by Lake Michigan.

Family Vacation

This is what having a family is all about! I love spending time with Dave and Luke doing things we love. If it were up to me we would take a vacation at least once a month. This month we had three mini vacations, first Eagle River, then Minoqua, then Sheboygan. We spent time with both of our extended families.

Luke has always been a nature boy. He took to the northwoods quite naturally. He is already blazing trails walking through the underbrush, identifying rocks, floating sticks, talking to ducks, and surviving a bear visit. When camping we had a black bear come to visit and eat our peanut butter and trial mix on two nights. The bear ripped into the tent right next to where Luke was sleeping. After opening the tent the bear pushed a sealed and locked plastic bin out into the woods and stole the sweets. The bear was caught later that week.

Here are some photos of our three trips.

Father's Day

Luke has been a growing delight. He gives us so many gifts every day. He gives us gifts of love, hugs, and laughter. As you can imagine, Luke was laughing the whole way down the slide while on Dave's stomach. Dave wanted to go again and again just to make Luke laugh. He also laughs when he puts anything (bucket, strainer, hat, cow, sock, blanket, cantalope) on his head or when he is trying to surprise us.

Luke and Dad are writing a card to Grandpa Krause for Father's Day. Notice Luke's "I love Daddy" shirt that was picked out by myself and my mom.

This outfit is Dave's favorite on Luke. The camo pants are from Aunt Jackie and the shirt says "I do my own stunts."