The 2-year Check-up

Luke went to the doctor yesterday for his 2-year check-up. He did very well. Thankfully, there are no shots at the 2-year mark! And they don't need to see him again for another year! Yay.

Here are the 2-year stats:

weight - 27lbs, 12oz (50th percentile)

height -- 35 inches (75th percentile)

head circumference -- (75th percentile)

So, in summary, he's tall and has a big brain! ha.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BUDDY!!

And a special thanks to my cousin Maggie for creating our new banner and for giving me some key pointers on photography and Blogging! She's so creative!! Thanks, Mags!!

Introducing the FROSTING GOATEE....

This is the Cupcake Collage I created with Picasa!

I love Picasa! If you don't have it, you need to download it - very cool!!!

Happy Birthday, Part II

We had a Family Cookout for Luke's birthday...

Luke and Gramma.... (he had just woken up from a nap when the party started)...





My cousin Gregg pointing out The Backyardigans...

Luke and Mimi...

Pa and Va... and Pablo...

Yvonne and Aunt Martha ...

The mound of presents... (you would have thought 10 little boys had a birthday...)


Luke is pushing around his new lawnmower...

Luke and Pa (his great-grandfather)...


Martha and Gregg pushing him in the swings...

Gregg pushing Mimi...


Opening presents...

Ahhh... the Thomas the Train Set that Grampa Brian got him... It's 8 feet by 5 feet... not quite sure where we're going to put it just yet...

My Backyardigans cake... (I had to add the decorations myself - couldn't get anyone to make a Backyardigans themed cake...)

Cake - YUM!!!

What fun!!!

Thank you to everyone for coming to the Party! Luke had a blast. He loves all his new toys!!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Luke!!

Wow - 2 years old already. And such a big boy! So smart! And so sweet. He's the best little boy ever! In fact, I couldn't have gotten a better one if we'd special-ordered him out of a catalog. He's so good, in fact, that we think we ought to stop while we're ahead. The second kid is always so different from the first, and we don't think it could be any better.



Seriously... could he be any cuter??


"Cheese!"


Well, the day started out by us serenading him with 'Happy Birthday To You' in bed. (His favorite song). When he got to school, we all sang to him again.
Then I showed up at school around 3pm for birthday cupcakes.




Then we continued the celebration on Friday night by getting a pizza and going to the park with Cindy and the triplets!


Playing on the rocks.




They were so sweet - they got Luke a birthday present and even helped him open it...





It's a Play-Dough set!! Wow! And some bath crayons! Thank you, Jack, Josh and Kaitlin.




We went to the Splash Pad at Carl Cowan Park. That's us. (The adults were out-numbered).



Luke wasn't too sure of the squirting water at first, but he soon warmed up and was running all over!!

















Having a blast...







That's my little drowned rat... he's sopping wet!!


And that was just Friday. We had a Family Cookout on Sunday. So you'll have to stay tuned for Part 2 of the Birthday pictures!

Work in Progress

Please ignore the construction - the Blog is a work in progress. Blogger came out with all these new enhancements and I am anxious to play with them. Probably what you see today is not what it will look like next week so please bear with me.

In other news, please check out the new 'Link' on the right... I have a new website with Avon. You can do your shopping on the web. You can search for specific products or you can browse the latest brochure online! I'll still deliver the orders in town. But if you are out of town, you can have them shipped to you for a small flat fee! I hope you will check it out:
www.youravon.com/katietanner

(Have I told you how much I love Avon lately?? If you would be interested in signing up, let me know - it's easy and it only costs $10 to get started!!)

Funny things!

Here are a couple of funny stories I have to share:

1) The other day I bought shampoo and conditioner at the store. I put them on the stairs so that they could be carried up to my bathroom. When Luke and I were heading upstairs to get ready for bed, I asked Luke to put the shampoo and conditioner in Mommy's bathroom. He ran in with the shampoo, left it in the bathroom and ran back out. Later, after Luke had gone to bed and I was getting ready for bed myself, I realized where Luke had put the shampoo and conditioner - in the toilet! (I guess he thought the toilet is "the bathroom.") A similar thing happened again a few nights later. (No, I didn't learn my lesson the first time). We were brushing our teeth and Luke had run out of the bathroom with his toothbrush in his hand. I asked him to go put it back in the bathroom.... yep, you guessed it - he put it in the toilet! I just had to laugh.

2) One morning while I was getting ready for work, Luke climbed up on my bed. Then he started jumping on the bed and saying "Monkey jump." I realized where he got that from - we read a book called "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed." I reminded him what happened to the monkeys - they fell off and got an ouchie - then they had to sit in time out. (not really, but this is my version of the story). So needless to say, we don't read that book anymore!!


3) They told me this story at school the other day: apparently they have this plastic zoo set at school with many different animals. (It's quite life-like, not in size, but in detail). So Luke doesn't like the gorilla at all!! "Rilla - scawy." He thinks the gorilla is scary. They always have to remove the gorilla from the bunch and put it high up on a shelf before Luke will play with the rest of the animals. One day he didn't see the gorilla so he thought it was safe to play. Well, the gorilla was hiding and when another kid pulled the gorilla out, Luke took off across the room.


4) And the best news of all... Luke can count to 10! Well, sort of. He skips 8. I don't know why. But it's really cute. One, two, twee, four, fibe, sick, seben, nine, ten. Then nine, ten again.

5) Luke turns 2 on Friday (the 22nd). I've been trying to prep him for it. I keep asking him how old he is going to be. His answer is "one." I tell him, "no, you're going to be 2." Finally just yesterday he got it right. I've also been asking him what he wants for his birthday and his response is "cake." That's it. Just cake.

The Pool Boy

Luke has been swimming before, but it's a completely new experience this year. And I must say, he LOVED it. In fact, he loved it so much, it really scared me. He was clearly not afraid of the water.

He kept putting his face in the water, but he knew exactly what to do - he knew to blow out his nose and mouth!

He wanted to jump straight in. So I let him stand on the steps and jump to me. But then he wanted me to move out of the way. I said "No way - I'm catching you." So he gave in and let me catch him.

And if you'll notice, he's got a little Matchbox car in his left hand that he held onto the whole time he was swimming.

For a special treat, we gave Luke an ice cream bar. As you can see, he enjoyed it very much. However, he didn't feel the urgency to eat it quickly - doesn't understand the whole melting problem. Anyway, that's why we were outside!

This is his newest thing ... hiding his face with his hand. He's done this in various different situations - when he acts shy and then when he's mad at me and doesn't want to look at me, and also when playing peek-a-boo. I think it's funny. Who knows where he learned that one.