Peekaboo!

The variations are endless.

His latest favorite requires no extra props. Luke simply buries his chin deep into his chest, waits for a long while, then pops back up with a look of pride and glee. After all, if he can't see us, we must not be able to see him, either. (Glad to know our son is at least as smart as an ostrich.)

Other recent noteworthy variations:

1. He loves hiding behind the door, closing it, waiting a long time (this guy is patient), then opening it up again with a chuckle. It is heartwarming and unbearably cute, because when he opens up the door it does not surprise us at all; we are warned with the slow appearance of tiny, chubby, dimpled fingers prying open the door.

2. This morning he added sound effects to the first-mentioned variation of peekaboo. He was sitting in his high chair eating breakfast with Dad, and suddenly his head went down into peekaboo position. After a looong time, his head popped back up and he SCREAMED! AAAAAA! Richie, of course, pretended to be scared, so Luke did it again and again. (In the past few days he has definitely discovered the joy of making noise. After getting attention for saying "bye bye" (BA BA), he screams it over and over again at the top of his lungs. BA BA BA BA BA BA BA!!!!!!!!!)

3. Grammy caught Luke playing peekaboo in his crib with his teddybear. Holding GGBear by the neck (he will need parenting classes when he grows up), he looked at GGBear's face, then put GGBear face-down in the crib, held her there, pulled her back up to stare at her face again, and chuckled. He did this repeatedly. Didn't know such a little character was capable of such abstract thinking.


The peekaboo master himself, getting into the bathroom drawers. He took out each bottle of nail polish and placed each on top of the drawers. (At least it was an organized mess.) He does the same thing with our boxes of checks: one by one, removes them from the package and places them atop the desk. We are happy to announce that Grammy has successfully taught him the command "in," so now he can even clean up after himself (and enjoy it!)


We ventured outside Davis to take a walk at Sacramento State University. This is a view of the American River that runs behind campus.


We admired the river while Luke laughed at his pen.


Humor in the pen only went so far, so then Luke joined us in our appreciation of the river. (Okay, so he's actually staring at a motorboat.)


He's got his adventureface on.


The backseat brute.


Dirty socks only enhance the tastiness of toes.


"I'm not enjoying this, Mom." And indeed he didn't. Our trip to Sac State, his screaming session in its arboretum, and the car ride back were reminders of why we normally opt to stay in Davis, within wagon-pulling distance.


Don't let his looks deceive you.


Happy Birthday, Grammy! How 'bout a grandson as a gift?


"OK, get ready, I'm about to play peekaboo..."


"Where's Luke?"


"THERE HE IS!!!!"