galleria fun, birthday parties, update

Today( I started this post on Thursday) Lindsay and I took the boys to a new little play place in the Galleria. It is called "The Little Galleria," and was so cute. It is a miniature replica of the Galleria itself...with buildings, stores, and even parking lots. The floor is very thick and padded and the actual buildings are some kind of foam covered with rubber...or something like that. James Thomas had a blast running around and climbing. Luke, well, he enjoyed sitting and watching the other kids. There are a few pictures of his ALMOST crawling skills and one of Lindsay holding his hands while he is standing. He actually took a little wobble of a step with his hands held! YAY! I would not say he is crawling...yet...but I really think he is VERY VERY CLOSE...like maybe tomorrow or within a few days. Don't worry, there will be a celebration post when it's official!

We had a great time letting the boys play, shopping, and having lunch together. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to have days like this. (Excuse the sweaty look of myself, we went straight from the gym to the galleria...I just thought it was a cute one of Luke)












This weekend, we were busy with birthday parties! Friday night was Oliver's 4th birthday! It was at Noah's Ark pool and we had so much fun! I was a little worried about how Luke was going to be considering he only got one nap in during the day, but he did great! Greg played with him in the water while I got to visit with the girls! We love the Chambers family and are so glad we got to celebrate Oliver turning FOUR!






Saturday morning we got to go to Lauren's 'Carnival' birthday party! Again, Luke missed his morning nap, but was a trooper. The party was complete with a little petting zoo and pony rides. Amy captured a picture of Luke on the pony, so I will post it as soon as she emails it to me. Luke reached another milestone at the party...he ate a HOT DOG! I cut it into the teeniest bites possible and he ate every one without ANY choking! YAY. We are so proud of him. I think the baby food might be on the outs!! We had a great time celebrating precious Lauren turning TWO! After the party, we enjoyed a yummy Pappa's Burger with the Garretts then went home for a good nap!

Luke is doing WONDERFUL these days. Greg and I are so proud of him and how far he has come in the past month. He ate a cut up grilled cheese sandwich the other day without any choking. After I saw how well he did with that, I have started giving him a lot of other things...blueberries, strawberries, chicken, etc... (I have tried these foods MANY times in the past month or so and he either choked, gagged, or made himself vomit.) I now have options to pack him for MDO!





He actually crawled (VERY SLOWLY) across him room the other day to get his ball. He will crawl to get something (sometimes) but I don't think he has figured out that he can crawl to follow me. He still will sit and whine until someone picks him up. It will be interesting to see how he advances. The palm of his hand is looking rough right now so he tries to compensate for the pain by flipping his hand over when getting in the crawl position then realizing it is too hard to move like that so he gives up and gets frustrated. poor guy. He hasn't crawled again since his hand blistered. I guess he will just go when he isn't in pain and just sit when he is. I worry about him not getting any practice though...

EB moms, stop reading here. I am about to get worst mom of the year. :) SO, Greg and I know what heat can do to Luke but I honestly didn't think that 30 minutes or so in the heat would do TOO much damage. WE.WERE.WRONG. After spending some time outside at Lauren's birthday party, the back of Luke's legs, stomach, and palms are in bad shape! It is so bizarre to me. Literally by that afternoon, he had so many new bubbled up blisters. Live and learn, I guess. At least he got to ride a pony for a second and see some baby animals.

My mom and dad (AKA Kippy and Papaw) came in town a couple of weeks ago to celebrate my mom's birthday. My dad captured the actual birthday pics, but I got a few of Luke before they got here. We had a great few days with them here visiting. We wish we could see them more.





Next week is Luke's MDO orientation and meet the teacher. I can't believe our baby will be going to "school" one day a week. I didn't think I would feel this way, but I am a little sad to think about leaving him. So silly, I realize, but I know it will be good for both of us! I hope he is not too much work for his teacher and continues to eat like a big boy!