Luke: 14 Months

Here are our best shots of Luke at 14 months, back in October. These have been really hard to get lately . . .


Most of the time I just get a not-great photo of him as he's running by me or away from me:

Halloween Wrap-Up

These are the last few shots of Halloween. Here's Luke playing with his buddy Violet:


Myla at the end of the night with our jack-o'-lanterns:

And counting and organizing her haul with Daddy!

I want candy!

Here's how Luke's trick-or-treating went. First, he fought it:


But soon warmed up to it:


And then at some point he figured out that grabbing candy was fun, like he was getting away with something. He would take candy from the bowl and run off at a dead sprint (or a 14-month-old version of it, anyway). He nearly made it to the street a couple of times:


Then, he started taking other kids' buckets and running away with them. I promise Henry was laying down already when Luke went for his candy. He's an opportunist, but not a bully.

Trick or Treat!

Per our annual tradition, we went trick-or-treating from Nick and Anna's house. As you have already seen, Luke went as Calvin, from Calvin and Hobbes. Myla was Fancy Nancy--a favorite children's book character who loves getting dressed up and using big, fancy words. Matthew got major dad points by going as Fancy Nancy's dapper daddy.

The costumes:

Hitting the streets:

Pumpkin Patch 2011 Part 2

Maybe you're getting to that part in the holiday season where you've eaten too many Christmas cookies and heard "This Christmas" on the radio one too many times? Then the next several posts are for you--it's Halloween again! First, some shots from our trip to Thistleberry Farms with Baw Baw, Grandma, and Uncle Andrew.

Even with five adults and only two kids, we had a hard time keeping up with Luke. Here, Matthew keeps him from running off again by using his wardrobe against him.

As you can see, we had a great time with corn cannons, hayrides, cow trains, corn pits, go carts--you name it. But the highlight was the giant bouncy pillow, where Andrew, Myla, Kathy, and I had a ton of fun. Andrew put on a bouncy pillow clinic--and look at Grandma Kathy getting some air!

Photo Shoot: Myla

I seem to have worked out the technical difficulties that were keeping me from posting more pictures from our photo shoot with David Johnson (see Luke's pics below for a link to Dave's studio). Here are Myla's best shots--what a beautiful girl!

Luke: 15 Month Checkup

Luke had his 15-month checkup today. He was 33.5 inches tall and weighed 28 pounds. The percentile score is actually higher for height (96th) than for weight (88th) but that 28 pound number really shocks me. Myla was 22 lbs. at 15 months, and I'm not sure she's cracked 30 yet. I'm thinking we need to enroll her in some kara-te if she's to have any hope of holding her own against him in the coming months.

The visit went well, though Luke would say that nurse was a little too trigger-happy with those shots.

Phone Cam

There are lots of pictures from Halloween & other fall activities waiting patiently on our camera for downloading. Until I get around to that, here are a couple of recent ones from my phone camera.

First, I treated Myla to Starbucks (kids' hot chocolate) last night while she shopped with me in Target. She absolutely loved it, so I've probably gotten her hooked on the stuff at age 3. Oh well--like mother, like daughter.



And here's a picture I had to take while dropping the kids off at school last week. Apparently Myla's teacher asked each kid what they are thankful for. It put the biggest smile on my face to see what Myla's response was:



In case you can't see it, she says she's thankful for food (which is a bit of a mystery, given that she never eats), and "Luke, he is my favorite guy." Awwww!

I got in trou-ble!

Nana and Pop are visiting us, and Myla is taking advantage of the willing and captive audience. Last night, she was playing school, ordering Nana and Pop around as their teacher. They were having "circle time," where Myla read from a book and then showed them the pages. I was on the couch, half-listening and half-watching Jeopardy.

All the sudden, I hear in a barking voice: "Mommy! Are you listening?"

I say, "yes, I'm listening."

Myla replies: "Okay, where are they?"

Yikes, pop quiz! I am completely flummoxed. I have no idea where Pinkalicious and her pal are in the story. She caught me!

She then accuses me of leaving my listening ears at home that day. I hope she doesn't send a note home to my parents!

Happy Halloween! Last chance for UNICEF!

I'm having technical difficulties posting the rest of the pictures from the family photo shoot, so please be patient! But I didn't want our issues to mean you miss your last opportunity to donate to our Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF campaign. Donations will be accepted here for the rest of the day. We are 94% of the way to our goal of $350!

We'll be back soon with the rest of the family photos, and with lots of pictures of the kids' Halloween costumes. Until then, here's a preview of Luke in his Calvin & Hobbes time machine, with his Hobbes doll.

For you non-Calvin aficionados out there, here's a reference:

Finally, a Family Photo Session

A few weeks ago we did something that was long overdue: we had a photographer come and take some family pictures. And not just any photographer--our volleyball teammate and friend Dave Johnson. I wanted someone to capture our kids in action, rather than take lots of posed photos. Dave was perfect for the job and got way more than I thought he was going to! In fact, the star of the shoot turned out to be Luke, which was a total shock given how uncooperative he was. But it turns out that he just wanted to play, and when we let him do that Dave got some amazing pictures.

I'll post a few of my favorites over the next few days, starting with those great shots of Luke. If you're in the Bend area and are looking for someone to take some family photos (and at a very reasonable rate), check out Johnson Creative Photography here and tell him we sent you!

And don't forget that if you want to contribute to our Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF campaign, you should do so here be Monday. Thanks!