Look what Luke can do!

Luke will be seventeen months old in three days. It blows my mind what our sweet little baby boy can do... once again proving that he's really no longer a baby but a toddler/little boy (though he'll ALWAYS be my baby!). These are some of his latest developments.

• Luke LOVES planes, trains, and automobiles (guess that makes his all boy, huh?). We couldn't have chosen a more ideal place to live, as we're just a few minutes from an airport and planes go by all the time. Luke is quick to point out all of them as they fly above our backyard (he'll point up to the sky and tell me over and over again, "Plane! Plane!"). Of all modes of transportation, however, trains are proving to be the big winner for his attention (or as he calls them "choo choo's"). His neighbor buddies, Caleb & Gavin, are very into Thomas the Train and we knew it was only a matter of time before he would be persuaded by their interest. Back in early October, Luke attended Caleb's 3rd birthday party and was gifted a Thomas DVD in his party favor bag. Since then, we have rented several other Thomas DVD's from the library. Luke's affinity for anything "choo choo" has continued to grow throughout the weeks... so much so, that when we purchased him some sippy cups (a necessity that just happened to have Thomas the Train on them), he was insistent on sleeping with them the first night they were in our house! While it won't be financially feasible this year, I'm hoping next Christmas to surprise him by taking him on a Polar Express ride at the local train station.
  

• Luke also really loves shoes and hats. It doesn't really matter what the occasion; his personal preference is to try to put them on over his footy pajamas at bedtime. He's been known to sport dress shoes with nothing but a diaper around our house and he loves to try to share his hats with anyone that takes the time to sit a while in his bedroom (we have both shoes and hats on a shelf at his level in his closet so he can access them when he wants). The only aggravation he has is that he doesn't understand why his shoes don't fit on Mommy or Daddy's feet, but he's quick to accept that their covering a couple of our toes is better than not having them on at all.
  

• We've discovered that Luke is quite the academic. Back in August, I purchased a bunch of flash cards in the dollar aisle at Target... ones on presidents, states, phonics, addition, subtraction, etc. I figured they would get put into a storage bin until Luke was closer to school age. The phonics cards have been the exception to the rule. Luke loves to play with them! On one side they have a picture of an object that starts with the letter on the card, while on the other side they just sport the uppercase and lowercase letter. He really enjoys naming the card when we have the letter side up and also finding the object when we put several cards out and tell him to find the what-have-you picture on one. Between his use of flash cards and his time on an educational website called Starfall, he visually recognizes over half the alphabet! Of those letters, he knows most of the coordinating sounds that go with those letters, too. We're now working on numbers, as well, as he is really interested in learning to count.

• If you're in need of learning a little bit about your anatomy, ask Dr. Luke. He can tell you where all these parts are on your (and his) body:

Ears
Nose
Eyes
Cheeks
Mouth/Teeth/Tongue
Chin
Neck
Head/Hair
Shoulders
Elbows
Hands/Fingers
Belly/Belly Button
Knees
Feet/Toes

• I've been really thankful that Luke is not a picky eater; to the contrary, he'll try just about everything! I've been particularly surprised that he likes some items that have particularly strong flavors, such as lemons, pickles, olives, and even mild jalapeno peppers! Luke also is very determined to eat unassisted with utensils. This can be interesting (and messy) at times since he still is working on his fine motor skills. Luke has found it works the best when he holds a fork in one hand and picks food up/places it on the prongs with the other.
  

• Perhaps one of the sweetest discoveries of all has been seeing Luke's tender side come through. He loves giving kisses and hugs and it just recently clicked in his little mind that he's going to be a big brother. When asked where his baby brother is, he is quick to point to my belly and give it a kiss. He calls my belly Baby Bubba (brother) and he has been trying hard to pronounce Quinn as best he can (he calls him "Keeeeen"). Just precious! Even more exciting has been his enthusiasm towards our nightime routine (not the going to bed part, mind you, but the process before). He loves being read to; each night we try to read a few books and then end with a short story from his childrens Bible. He likes to read his Bible a lot and requests it by name. Afterwards he will lay down in his crib, fold his hands, and chime "JEEEESUS!" because he knows we're going to say our nighttime prayers.

• Luke is a regular Twinkle Toes. Over the summer I watched So You Think You Can Dance pretty faithfully and Luke was entranced by all the different types of dancing. Now that Dancing with the Stars is on, we watch that ever so often, too. Luke is more interested in trying to outdance the contestants than he is in watching their own footwork. I'm convinced if he keeps this up, tap dance lessons will be a given next year. Gene Kelly, watch out!

• Luke also loves music. He instinctively feels rhythm and has had the ability to clap on the beat for most of this year (good thing Daddy saved his old drumset... it may get good use later down the road!). I don't know if it's because of his viewing dancing shows (where they clap after every number) or what, but he instinctively claps after any song is done playing on the radio or when Daddy finishes playing a song on the piano.
  

It blows my mind how fast he's grown and what he's already up to. When we were pregnant with him, I was told countless times by other mommas how they felt like they just blinked and their kids grew up. I've come to discover it's all relative until you actually have a child of your own and now I see that it is so true! I look forward to continuing to watch him grown and change but am in no hurry for him to grow up any faster than he already is!