Wow, I have been really bad about keeping up with the blogs to document Luke's milestones. Alot has happened in that last 5 months.

We discovered Luke had food allergies and were admitted to the hospital while traveling to Mississippi when Luke was about 6 months. Luke is allergic to milk, whey, peanuts, and egg whites so trying new foods has gone slower than normal. We are hoping that he will grow out of the allergies by the age of 3. We check ingredients on every label and must even be careful about kissing him when we have just had milk. Luke is now eating finger foods like fruits, veggies, fish sticks, chicken nuggets, and pasta. I think his favorites are chicken nuggets, blueberries, and peas. Luke started crawling on the same trip and has not slowed down since.

Luke celebrated his first Halloween as a tiger at my school Pumpkin Fest and then we went to a Halloween party at aunt Kris and uncle Rob's where we were all pirates. Luke was adorable.
Thanksgiving was celebrated in Brownwood and San Angelo. I have decided that Luke sleeping in his pack-n-play is no longer just like home. Luke enjoyed multiple Christmas celebrations including lots of clothes and new toys. He loved playing with the Christmas paper, the boxes and looking at the lights. Once again I decided Luke sleeping in his pack-n-play was not at all like home. :)

9 month check up Luke was 20. 9 lbs and 30 inches long.

At 10 1/2 months Luke started walking and now walks more than he crawls. Luke is into everything and is very stubborn. :) Luke also says a few words now "go, goc (dog), dada, mama" and loves to imitate sounds. He also has 6 teeth (4 on top and 2 on bottom) and we are still working on teaching him not to bite.

Luke has been sick off and on with an ear infection, tonsillitis, a cold and currently has RSV. You would never know he was sick if it weren't for the coughing and wheezing because he has not slowed down one bit.

Luke's likes: terrorizing the dogs, splashing in the bath tub, looking out the window and babbling, trying to play with electrical outlets, playing ball, climbing, clapping, dancing, pointing to everything

Luke's dislikes: changing clothes, having his face washed, being told "no", not being able to see what mom/dad is doing when cooking

Cute things Luke does: laughs if you laugh, tries to walk faster if he knows you are "chasing" him, pouts when told "no", starts clapping if he sees or hears someone clap on TV, tries to make you laugh my imitating silly movements/sounds that you do ( puts objects on his head or makes a monkey sound)

New shoes and sippy cup

Men at Work

Night out for Granny's B-day

Summer Time

More Milestones

Luke is showing more and more personality every day. We are so proud of him and what a good baby we have been blessed with. Luke found his feet this past week and enjoys holding on to his toes or behind the backs of his knees. Yesterday he sat in John's lap and actually banged on the piano himself squealing with joy. He sits in his jumper and entertains himself with the toys and music he hears. He will look at us and watch what we are doing with such interest. I would love to see the world through a baby's eyes for a day......... I imagine I would be full of wonder and "aw" about things that as adults we take for granted.

Luke had green beans for the first time yesterday and does not appear to care for them at all. They are John's favorite veggie so we will keep trying with Luke. :)

Luke actually has little "temper tantrums" now and it is so amazing/funny/sad. When we are changing his clothes or putting lotion on he will kick his feet and make this little screeching sound in protest.

For some reason Luke has decided he no longer likes to ride in the car seat and proceeds to cry the entire time I am driving anywhere. If the 3 of us are together it is usually a more peaceful journey if I ride in the back with Luke.

Luke's likes:
rolling on the floor, ceiling fans, squealing, standing, diaper changes, pacifier, talking/cooing/babbling, vibrating teether, touching people's faces

Luke's dislikes:
changing clothes, lotion before bed, riding in the car seat, green beans?

Cute things Luke does:
happy feet (when he is really excited he will kick his legs really fast), giggles when we wipe him during diaper changes, tries to "help" during feeding times (grabs the spoon to fling whatever is on it all over the place, tries to help with clean up (grabs his bib and pulls it over his face during feeding), sometimes holds his feet up during diaper changes

Things we have learned:
changes in schedule make for a fussy baby, cuddling and smiles make you forget about fussy times,

Well Child Check

Luke had his 4 month well child check today. He was 16.7 lbs and 27 inches long which puts him in the 75% for weight and the 97% for height. Amazing! He has gained 8 lbs and grown 7 inches since birth. So proud of him! We also got clearance to try different flavors of cereal to see if he likes those better. Once he is good at eating that, then we can begin introducing veggies and fruit. He is also now rolling both ways tummy to back and back to tummy. Yeah!

Yummy! Cereal!

Cereal

Luke had his first baby cereal on Sunday July 5. He was not a big fan of it and I think more ended up on his bib than in his mouth. Yesterday we tried again and he did ok, still started crying about halfway through. Today was a good cereal day. Luke is beginning to get the hang of it, even though he still spits ALOT out. Crying was replaced with happy squeals. He must have gotten more in his tummy too because he did not really want his bottle afterwards. One thing I have to say is........... THIS IS VERY MESSY!