More Magnolia

Here are a few more pictures we took while our magnolia tree was in bloom. I love this first one of the brother-sister sweetness.

Luke: 19 months

Luke turned 19 months old during an unseasonably warm March. We got to get outside and take some of the photos in front of our beautiful magnolia tree.

Luke: 18 months (Bonus)

Luke's official 18 months photos weren't the most flattering, so here are some better shots from that month. Nicer haircut, better clothes!

Luke: 18 months

Here are Luke's 18 months photos. He was looking pretty rough, with scraggly hair and a pretty big scratch on his nose that I no longer remember how he got. But he has a great shot!

Luke: 17 Months

Luke: 16 Months

I have five months' worth of Luke's monthly pictures to post, starting with 16.  I'll have a new one each of the next five days.

Sports of All Sorts

Both of the kids really enjoy their sports right now. Myla loved her basketball classes this spring and has gotten really good at dribbling and shooting. Luke just sees his big sister doing these things, realizes how much fun she is having, and takes right to it. Thought you might enjoy a few videos of the kids playing basketball and tee-ball in the driveway the other night. Kasey and I have just as much fun watching them and playing right along!

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Not my daughter

This morning the unthinkable happened: Myla woke up before Luke. She called out for me at 6:50, where she usually sleeps until at least 7:30 and sometimes I have to wake her up at 8:00. So I went in and told her she could lay back down or play quietly in her room.

When Matthew went back in at around 7:15, what had she been doing? CLEANING HER ROOM. She spent the entire time putting all her dress-up clothes away, shelving her books, and even making her bed. She was really proud of herself and we were sure to make a big deal out of it to encourage the good behavior.  I included some pictures of her handiwork.

By the way, the subject line is in reference to the battles I had with my mom about keeping my room clean.  Sorry, Mom!

Luke Update

We probably don't have any readers left out there, but for our own records I'm going to try to add some updates to the blog in the coming weeks.  As I've said before, this blog is like our baby book, and just like with traditional baby books, the second child isn't getting enough attention!  So let's start with some thoughts on what Luke is like at 20 months.

First, Luke is still pretty big.  At his 18 month appointment he was in the 90+ percentile for both height and weight.  And I just weighed him and Myla this morning on our scale, and they weighed exactly the same at 30.5 pounds.  She still has quite a bit of height on him, though.  He's also quite good at lots of physical activities--he can gallop, sort-of jump, and has a great arm and an amazingly good shot when he's shooting hoops on our little goal.  Lately he's taken to trying to throw a frisbee, and while he can't aim, he definitely gets the concept (which is sometimes more than you can say for me).

He's also become something of a wildman.  He likes to jump off of things, go down slides, spin in circles until he falls down, and tackle.  He thinks he can do anything Myla can do.  All this means that he gets hurt a lot--right now he has a goose egg on his forehead from falling in the garage and a red mark on his cheek from going down a slide face-first.  But it rarely phases him--he'll cry for a few seconds and then tear off again!

Luke adores Myla.  He follows her absolutely everywhere, and they play together very well.  He loves to get her up in the morning, and the other day he picked up her picture in his room and give it a big wet kiss.  If she's crying or upset, he'll go give her a hug or take her a toy.  They do occasionally fight, and my money's usually on him.  If Myla's his favorite person in the house, Matthew is his second.  He's a real daddy's boy right now.  It makes me a little jealous, but it's so cute I'll allow it.  :)

Luke is incredibly sweet.  We had his parent-teacher conference today, and they said the same thing.  In fact, he gives his classmates toys or books when they're upset, just like he does with Myla.  He still loves to sit in your lap, and if you're on the floor it is guaranteed that he will come plop himself in your lap--usually with a book.  He can't get enough of books these days.  The cutest thing is when he sits in your lap for a book, and clasps his little fingers together while he listens.

While I still wouldn't say that he's talking, he has lots of words that he says and that we recognize--bounce, Baw Baw, nana, Mama, Dada, milk, dog, duck, mine, yes, no, shoe, sock, up, etc. and of course basketball and Elmo.  His "Myla" sounds kind of like "A-zha."  He's definitely getting good at communicating, even if it isn't always verbal.  And he understands what we say very well (also something they remarked on in our conference).  He can point to just about anything you ask him to in a book (popcorn? kite?), so we know he has a big vocabulary--it just doesn't come out yet.

Luke is also very good at picking up (way better than Myla).  His teacher said that the two-year old class can't wait to get him because he's such a good helper.  He likes to help me unload the dishwasher.  He isn't always an angel--we had a spell with biting a few months ago, and he can really throw a fit if he's denied the exact snack he wants or if Myla wants to watch Doc McStuffins when he wants Mickey Mouse.  He is finally getting better at being in the car, though!

I think that's it . . . as part of the catch-up I'll be posting his 18-20 month pictures.  I'll do a Myla update closer to her 4th birthday in early June.