Luke stories.

1. Every baby book has a page devoted to "Baby's Firsts." Luke has one from last week that isn't in his baby book. But it was a highly significant event for him. A very exciting time. He went poo-poo in the bathtub. Mom was watching him play in the tub with his boat, beaver, and itsy-bitsy magnetic frogs. Then a mysterious stream of bubbles started rising from the depths. Mama asked Luke if he was toot-tooting. He looked at her with a very serious face but did not respond to her question. And then a moment later, a proud declaration came out of his little mouth: "Poo poo!" Sure enough, a log floated along in the water--and not the kind of log that boats dock to, beavers eat, or magnetic frogs might hop on. We pulled Luke out of the tub immediately, plopped him on the toilet, and he finished his job. And wow, was he PROUD.

2. We heard grunting coming out of a back room, so we went to go see what Luke was up to. He was lifting up both of Mom's 5-pound dumbbells. They were almost his size.

3. Last post, Luke's tenderness to his baby was juxtaposed with his random acts of violence, like mowing over his baby with his bus. We have found this happens often, like when he cuddles with his orangutan and then out of nowhere, he catapults his orangutan across the room and declares, "DONE!" The other day Luke was playing with one of his magnetic frogs. Luke would conk the frog over viciously, then pick the little amphibian up and say in a high-pitched sweet voice, "Boom!"--and then he would give the frog a gentle kiss. After the kiss, he would set the frog down again, knock him flat, and pick him up tenderly and smooch him again. Poor frog must have been a bit confused.

4. A real story of tenderness: Luke begged for Mommy to walk down the street with him while he pushed his Poppy's big lawn mower. He came up to where she was seated on her parents' front lawn, grabbed her by the shoulders, and said, "UP!" "You want me to get up?" "YEAH!" Bethany explained that he could push the mower, but Mommy was going to stay on the grass because her toe went "boom" and it hurt to walk. She told him that she really needed to rest. Luke's brain-wheels churned for a moment, and then he gently pushed his mama down to the ground until her back was flat against the grass and said, "Ny ny!"

5. The other day Luke spied Mommy's num-nums and shouted excitedly, "NUM NUM!" Mom explained that num-nums are for babies, and that milk comes out of them but it is YUCKY milk. He drinks big-boy milk. Babies only get YUCKY milk out of num-nums. Luke responded with a smile, said "Yeah," and seemed to get it. Then a moment later, he shouted another excited "NUM NUM!" Bethany replied, "Yes, but who are num-nums for?" Luke answered, "BABY!" Bethany was so happy that he really, really was seeming to get it. Sigh of relief. Then she asked one more followup question just to be sure: "Yes! And what comes out of the num-nums for the baby?" (Please say "milk," please say "milk"...) A smirk came over Luke's face, and he shouted happily: "POO POO!"

Our little comedian is also a little tornado. Poppy says his middle name should be Entropy. A classic Luke scene, here: an empty box of crayons, top chewed off to be "gum" (paper = Bubblicious); snacks strewn atop artwork; "turtles" drawn all over his paper (most scribbles are turtles, he tells us); and his train. Must never forget the train.

Last night we went to check on slumbering Luke before we went to bed, and here is what we found. Creative.


7 AM and all ready for the ocean! When we woke up today, we realized we couldn't take Luke to his two-year-old class at church, due to his cough and yucky nose. So... might as well head west. When we told Luke we were going to the ocean, he got very excited and started pacing around the house saying profound oceanic words, like "boom" (the crash of waves), "boat" (informed us he wanted to see BIG ONES), "Dada," etc. It was as if he thought we could be transported to Pacifica instantly: He asked to put on his goofy sun hat; and he traipsed with glee to the front door, basketball and boat in hand, ready to play at the beach! Ironic, since it was still dark outside...


Very brave: Luke wanted Daddy to help him touch his toes in the ocean.


But he never wants the water to come and actually hit him while he is standing, so Daddy lifted him up when every wave came. Just in time. What an adrenaline rush. Sheesh.


The Ocean Men.


Ain't nothin' sweeter than a bear hug.


See?


Richie asked Luke if he wanted to help. Luke ran over immediately to provide his necessary assistance, and exclaimed, "Back!" He wanted to lift the back of the board. Okay.


Bonus for helping: Luke got to "surf" on Daddy's board far, far away from any oncoming waves.


Talk about an adrenaline rush: Luke got a real thrill out of jumping off the tip of Richie's board, though it was only about an inch off the ground. It's all about perception.


He also enjoyed hurling large rocks that weighed half as much as he did. (And he didn't even pull a Mom and drop one on his toe. Phew!)


Appropriate for Luke's gladiator ways, he donned Richie's new "Gath" surf-helmet (that's really the name of the thing).


Heeeey, who stuffed that basketball under Bethany's sweater?


The day ended with this haaaaapy Luke, and then haaaappy parents who enjoyed two hours of Luke asleep in the car. We told Luke before he got in that he would need to take his nap in his car seat, so he needed to try to go ny-ny. Literally thirty seconds after getting in, we looked back and he was out cold. Just the way we like it.

Now, just as Luke is finally getting really easy, here comes another one! Perfect.

(Countdown: 10 more weeks!)