New Job

I rarely post about what's going on in the lives of Eric and myself (mostly because not much exciting happens), but something pretty wonderful happened last week and I realized I didn't say anything about it. Eric started a new job last week (Tuesday to be exact) with Rapp Collins as an Interactive Project Manager. He is going to post more about it on his blog. This whole opportunity came about in the most amazing way, and we just sat back and said, "Thank you, God!"

First Words

Lukas is now saying 2 words. He says Mom (which was his first word) and bye bye (except it sounds more like buh buh). I'm so proud of my little guy!! Now we're off to work on some version of Dad.

Aquarium and Easter

This past weekend Lukas' Mema and Grandad came up to visit, so we all decided to go to the Dallas World Aquarium. I must start out by saying that the place needs a new name. It was really nice (and the prices said they thought so too), however I thought it was more of a Rainforest Adventure than an Aquarium. As I said though it was really nice, and very pretty. We saw a variety of monkeys, a variety of birds, a river otter, of course a variety of fish, turtles, penguins, sharks, a snake, and many other things I don't remember. Lukas (thanks to the fact that he went with his grandparents and not just his parents) left with a book (which has beautiful illustrations), 3 stuffed animals (one of which will wait for him in Houston), and a t-shirt (which is really cool).

Ready to see the Aquarium!



Not sure what they're both pouting about, but they're doing a good job.



Mema and Lukas checking out the river otter.



"Mommy, these baby sting rays are just like me!"



Uncle Ryan, Aunt Ashley, Mommy, Lukas (who thinks the waterfall is much more interesting), and Daddy all pose for a picture.



"Aquariums are exhausting too!"



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Lukas got to celebrate his first Easter this year. He got Easter baskets from Mommy and Daddy and from Mema and Grandad. He also got a bunny from Great-Grandma and Great-Aunt Nancy and one from Mimi and Papa. He was able to hunt eggs at Great-Grandma's house on Saturday, and even put some of them in the basket (although most he just picked up and put back).

A confetti storm...Lukas says, "I'm leaving!"



On the hunt...for eggs.



Lukas and Great-Grandma Smith



The boys on Easter.



The Swayne family in our Easter best!



Lukas and his friend Nathan (4 months) wore the same outfit! Aren't they cute?!



Opening his Easter basket from Mommy and Daddy.



Opening his Easter basket from Mema and Grandad.



Lukas with the bunny that Mimi and Papa gave him.



"Can someone please open this for me?"

11 Months Old

I think I say this every month, but wow time is really flying! Lukas having only 1 month until he is a full year old got me thinking about where I was at this point a year ago. I was very much ready for him to make his grand entrance due to all the migraines (one of which landed me in the hospital at the beginning of April). His room (or half a room since we only had a 2 bedroom apt) was almost completely ready (only the finishing touches were left to be done). Now he is in every corner of our house that he can get to, and I couldn't imagine him not being around.

Lukas at 11 months:

- is crawling (still) faster and everywhere....if there was an Olympic sport of speed crawling I really think he could win!
- is babbling a lot and it's starting to sound like words (at least babble words)
- signed the word 'more' once to ask for more snack
- is cruising (which is walking while holding on to stuff) all over the place
- will stand on his own as long as he doesn't know he's doing it...as soon as he realizes that he's not holding on to something he gets startled and grabs on
- has decided that baby food is no longer for him...he wants what Mommy and Daddy are eating (and I don't blame him)
- Pear juice is his favorite juice...although apple is a close second and grape is third
- Sippy cups are awesome! Bottles are ok if he's tired and feeling lazy.
- is very independent!! He will play on his own (or really do anything on his own) and only wants Mommy and Daddy to help or join in when he decides it's ok.
- has started to throw tantrums (yes I know...that's not a fun fact), but when he sees that doesn't help get his way either he usually will calm down with a paci
- has started to "share". He will hand you something that he has (on his terms of course right now), and then wait for you to hand it back.
- has started to sort. He will move things from one bucket to another. So maybe that's not really sorting, but hey you gotta start somewhere.
- loves to read! His favorite book right now is a cloth nursery rhyme book that has movable parts.
- still loves to bounce!
- loves music! He will grove to music he likes, stop to find music he can't see, and calm down to music when he's fussy.
- is the biggest flirt...already! He will watch girls (not guys only girls...good thing he's got that part straight) until they make eye contact with him and then give them the biggest smile and the cutest face. And he will do this constantly, and sometimes it's like his head is on a swivel because he's trying so hard to make eye contact.
- is loving his Mommy and Daddy more and more every day!!!

Last Week....

Lukas was diagnosed with an ear infection on Monday. Yuck! I've determined that this child has got to learn to talk. I don't care if it's with signs, words, or smoke signals, but when I showed up at the doctor all I had to go on was "he's just not right". Thankfully, they were able to determine that it was his ears. He's been on antibiotic and is feeling ever so much better and getting into even more mischief now.

I'd have posted on Friday (which I'm trying to make as my traditional posting day) but my hard drive died. So my wonderful and amazing husband had to find a way to fix it...at least temporarily.

On March 8th (a couple Saturdays ago) we took Lukas to get his first haircut at Cool Cuts 4 Kids. They did an amazing job!! My original intention was to let them cut it the first time and then attempt to trim it up myself in-between visits so we didn't have to go so often. After seeing Lukas squirm all over the place trying to see what was happening on the back of his head I'm not going to attempt to do it myself. I sat there in amazement as he looked every which way, and the stylist calmly talked to him and kept clipping. They gave us a picture and hair clipping to take home since it was his first cut.







He also decided that he really likes feeding himself. Forget the baby food! Bring on the table food....he wants what Mommy and Daddy are eating!





We had our church Easter picnic this past Sunday. I can't say that Lukas had a clue what was going on, but he came home with quite a few eggs. He sat in the grass and would pick up an egg and then put it back. Eventually, I (Eric was behind the camera this time) got him to put some in his bucket, and then some of the older kids came to help him out.

This week in review...

- Teething is a bear for Lukas. I can't wait until he gets all his teeth in because I think only then will the screaming (on his part not mine) stop. He's teething so hard right now the doctor said he's having referred pain up into his ears. YUCK! I've said it before and I'll say it again...it's hard being a baby!

- On Monday he signed the word to request more puffs during his morning snack.

- We had a playdate on Tuesday with our wonderful friends Jill and Maddie Benfer.



Don't let this picture fool you, Maddie is about 6 months older than Lukas (he's just tall).



- When the pain wasn't too much, playing was certainly being done!





- Being cute is a must.



- Yesterday it snowed! Although the snow in our area was mixed with freezing rain and sleet, so it was very slushy on the ground. Lukas didn't quite know what to make of the snow. He just watched it very intently (as he does every new thing). I promise it is snowing in the pictures, even though it's hard to see.







- And being silly with Daddy! We didn't know what he was clapping at, but it was cute so we took a picture.

The Zoo

This past Saturday we had wonderful opportunity of going to the Fort Worth Zoo with our friends Alan, Rachel, and Kaleb Wages. We had a blast! We woke up bright and early (not that this is different from any other morning) so we could be there when the zoo opened at 10:00. Alan and Rachel brought their double stroller, so the boys were riding in style (as well as Kaleb being able to poke Lukas in the head). Lukas thought all the animals were cool, but the hit of the day was the waterfalls in all the habitats. He would stare at those much longer than the animals. We saw several kinds of monkeys, tigers, lions, several types of birds (although only the parrots got any attention from the boys), flamingos, rhinos, hippos, giraffes, elephants, and even the native squirrel. The weather was beautiful for our trip, so we all enjoyed plenty of sunshine. We even ended the trip with a train ride.

Lukas and Kaleb ready for the zoo!



Daddy and Lukas looking for the gorillas.



Trying out the shoulder sit...(Lukas actually really liked it, but I didn't catch a smile in the camera just a crazy face)



"More pictures?! Where's the animals?!"



"You see Lukas this is how you climb...."



A posed Lukas...



Lukas and Mommy...



The Swaynes



All the boys just hangin' out...(for a picture of course!)



Lukas after the train ride...



"Zoo's are exhausting!!"



The souvenir (a Colobus monkey)...



I'd apologize for putting up so many pictures, but you all know you enjoyed looking at them!