Laughter

Oh, wee humans are so, so funny. Here are some things Luke did to make us laugh this week:

1. When he peed on his John Deere tractor.

2. When he waved at a box (it had the picture of a person on it).

3. When he waved eagerly at the back of a stranger's head in the ATM line, and then looked puzzled as to why she didn't wave back.

4. When we say "La loo" ("love you") and he says back: "La M" with his tongue jutting out.

5. When we say "Give me five," and he shakes his head "no." Sometimes he just doesn't feel like it.

6. When he tooted, and Bethany laughed, and with a grin he strained to try to do one again.

7. When he pushed his cart around the Co-Op like a crazy man, careening down the wine aisle like a drunkard.

8. When Bethany told him to put the little baby-sized cart back where it belongs in the Co-Op, and he looked at her and shook his head "no." (Not in the mood. Thanks anyway Mom.) She turned her head and laughed and turned back with a stern face and said, "Luke, please put it back." He shook his head "no." This happened about 10 times. (We had a laughing audience.)

9. When he bends over gently to embrace his friends so sweetly and tenderly.

10. When his one-year-older friend Ennes returned Luke's embrace and then the two had a good, long, friendly smooch on the lips.

11. When he plays with his three-months-older friend Elizabeth and they scream in each other's faces, imitating each other's syllables, volume, and pitch. It started one day on a face-to-face wagon ride. Now it's what he associates with her, so when he sees her he goes and shouts in her face.

12. When Bethany sings, and he shakes his head to tell her to stop.

13. When he insists on bringing his lawn mower wherever we go.

14. When he turns his back to eat something he knows he shouldn't, then turns back around with chalk or dirt dangling out of his mouth thinking he got away with it.

15. When he caused Sarah to call out from her room: "He's going after my Elvis cards again!"

16. When he sat outside with Richie eating a rice cake, and he decided to feed Daddy his rice cake, and he put bite after bite into Richie's mouth, and one bite seemed particularly chewy to Richie, and Richie took the bite out, and Richie discovered that Luke had fed him a cigarette butt.

And we could go on. We are loving this stage, cigarette butts and all. Luke has been so very happy and fun this past week or two. He is moving toward the end of his separation-anxiety and clingy phase, it seems (at least for now), and is just an all-around more content guy.

The weather here in California has been consistently warm and sunny, but not that intense heat yet--just perfectly warm.

Richie is excited about a potential grant that may come through that would enable him to work at UC Davis as a researcher for a few years after he gets his Ph.D. (Yahoo, local employment with benefits!) The research would involve fiber-optic wires to monitor levies and dams. This research excites him, and he will be thrilled if it pans out (but it will be several months before we find out if it will all come through, so no holding our breath yet). Last Friday he helped organize the first-annual UC Davis Geotechnical Engineering Round Table, as an officer for the Graduate Geotechnical Student Society, and it was a smashing success, so he is currently basking in the glow of a big event gone well. After Richie's presentation, one particular geotech bigwig who was there asked Richie the funniest question of the day: "So if you were a soil particle, what would you feel?" Richie began his answer, "Well to be honest, I've never been asked that question before." :) (But then he went on with a technical answer.) The same man later told Richie's advisor that the day was "electrifying." In a good way, we like to assume. Richie's current at-home foci: trying to get as many dates in with Wifey as possible, maximizing Daddy-Son time (hence, events like chewing cigarette butts), and getting our new webcam to work so we can have more real-life time with his family. ("Napoleon Dynamite" fans, hear Kip's song he sang to LaFawnda at their wedding, Richie's self-claimed theme song: "Yes, I love technology; not as much as you, you see; but, I still love technology, always and forever...")

And as for Bethany, she feels much less sleep-deprived these days (though Luke still wakes up a lot, the little stinker). The warm weather brings her happiness. Life is full and good. She is very excited about many things to come, not the least of which are becoming an auntie in October and the coming of summer with its Gracie sightings and Liz visits and family vacations. She is very thankful for her patient and understanding dear friends like Haley who put up with very distracted phone conversations, deep thoughts interrupted with, "Luke, take the dirt OUT of your mouth." She is very much enjoying the "now" and the "today" of hanging out all day with Luke, seeing her family often, sharing life with all the wonderful friends of Orchard Park, watching Timothy and Shealyn grow up into fabulous little beings (she enjoys their parents, too), fighting the squirrels in an attempt to grow flowers (the squirrels are winning), finishing up an excellent Bible study with other women on the book of Daniel, and filling in her "spare time" with some fun math-textbook editing work. (Yes, she really does find it fun.)

Ah, life is smooth. Can we press "pause"? What drama is coming next? (Da da da DA...)

Hopefully none? :)


And what do we have here?


As mentioned last time, Luke loves to push big things around like a strongman. This time he showed off by pushing his big wagon uphill and naked. (We should add this to the things that made us laugh this week.)


We put Luke's diaper on after his friend Ennes (who calls Luke "Duck," by the way) (he sees Luke from his patio and calls out, "Duck! Duck!") saw Luke naked and called out to his mom, "Ewwww!"


Ennes, this is a real Duck. Ducklings, in fact.


Here they are with some size perspective. Spring is the best.


The warm weather is bringing all the Putah Creek creatures up to the surface to bask in the warmth. Huge fish included!


(As big as a duck.)


There's an arboretum turtle.


The still-not-showing, still-recouping Sam with her apple-eating, eye-staring nephew.


And here he shows off for Auntie Sam his impressive lounging skills. He is getting so long and lean, definitely not a baby anymore...



Morning monkey snack.


New trick: "Luke, do SCARYMAN!" (Add this, too, to the week's laugh list.)


"Scaryman" face enhanced by blueberry beard.




Luke has a shoe fetish. He often brings us shoes and insists that we put them on. One day he brought Richie his Birkenstock, then when Richie told him to get his other shoe, Luke came back with a not-so-matching one: Bethany's plaid ballet flat. This particular morning, Luke begged to wear his frog boots.


He zoomed through the house in them, with wide bow legs like he just got off a horse.


The frog boots empower him to perform mighty deeds, like eating entire handfuls of cornstarch that Mom accidentally left within reach.


And so goes life with our funny little man.