11 Months

Blogging might not be a summer hobby for me. The outdoors are so tempting that I just can't talk myself into sitting in front of the computer unless I absolutely have to.

Luke just turned 11 months old which blows me away. Am I about to have a one year old? That's crazy. Pictures don't quite capture his fun personality...even videos rarely come close. But we have a few that we really like.

Luke is getting much better at going to bed at night, but nap times can still be a struggle. Sometimes I have no option but to let him cry in his crib. I always find him in funny positions when I come in later to check on him. I'm sure he was thinking that if he just remained sitting then he wouldn't fall asleep. Poor kid...but check out that flexibility.

Mealtimes are more about destruction than consumption. Its a little annoying to clean up after, but I tell myself that maybe he's just really curious about what food is made of and he's going to be a world famous scientist someday. Either that, or a food critic.

Luke LOVES the binky. It has been his constant companion since he was born. He loves to play with it...especially if he has more than one. Andrew and I have watched him switch binkies in and out of his mouth for a good 5 minutes. I'm not sure why he likes to test them all out. I guess he is a connoisseur of fine binkies.

Up

Lately, we have been working on the words, "up" and "down". Yesterday, I'm almost positive that Luke threw his hands up in the air and said the distinct word, "up". I was extremely excited to think that he might have possibly attached a word with its meaning. Although, he says, "uhhhhhh" a lot, so maybe the "p" at the end was serendipitous. I couldn't help taking a quick video for the grandparents (he doesn't say "up"in the video, but its still cute).

Grade Me!

The other day, I casually remarked to Andrew that I would be more motivated to work harder if he would grade me each night. In my pajamas after noon...D. Wandering around the grocery store for hours because I don' t know what to cook for dinner....B- (actually making it to the grocery store is an accomplishment). Taking Luke to the Zoo AND remembering sunscreen...A++. I could really be on to something here.

Although I was mostly joking at the time, when I remember how crazy I was about getting A's in college...it actually would probably be highly motivating. I wish I didn't buy into the whole grade aspect of education. I didn't realize the magnitude of how unimportant it was until I graduated and had to comprehend what the experience actually meant in my life. Which ended up being much more encompassing than grades. I digress...

Anyway, when we were talking about it, Andrew brought up this clip from The Simpson's (weird because rarely have I ever seen him watch The Simpson's).



I'm Lisa. How embarrassing.

FYI

If you haven't guessed, it was Andrew's birthday yesterday.

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9

[Andrew]

Today at 12:34 pm and 56 seconds the world experienced for one second its one and only complete, ascending, numeric progression of time and date in history (military time assumed for you spoilsports).

12:34.56 7/8/9

Wow. This must be a special day. Very special things must have happened on this day throughout history. Very special things indeed.

OBX

For our family trip this year, we decided to visit the Outer Banks in North Carolina. They shorten it to OBX which kind of cracks me up for some reason...it sounds like it should be in some rap song or something. I had never really heard of it but luckily Andrew knows his stuff (I'm always surprised at how little I remember about geography...I'm not even sure I ever learned the subject in school).

The Outer Banks is actually composed of a VERY LONG string of islands a few miles off the coast of North Carolina. There is a little road that connects them all and allows vehicle access (instead of taking a ferry). There are tons of vacation homes right on the beach. We didn't plan enough in advance to get a place on the island, so we stayed in a town about an hour away. But I'm highly motivated to make some plans for next year. It was beautiful. I was really craving some beach time and this was exactly what I was looking for.


We really didn't anticipate what a beach experience would be like with a baby. We totally forgot an umbrella for the fair-skinned Luke, but our makeshift umbrella worked for about 15 minutes. Admittedly, we kind of looked like the beach paupers.



I'm not sure if Luke loves the beach quite yet. He had his "outdoor face" on the whole time. I like to think he is just deep in thought. But occasionally we caught a smile.


Luke may not love the beach yet, but he sure thought it was relaxing enough to take a nap on my back.

Here is Luke in front of "The Lost Colony" on Roanoke Island. It's kind of an interesting story you can read here.

Cape Hatterus Lighthouse

On the way down, we stopped in Historic Williamsburg, VA where they have restored the colonial city and created a huge visitor's center.

Behind us is the Governor's Palace


We also stopped in Washington DC on the way there and on the way home. We got to catch up with the Haws family (my old roommate whom I dearly miss) and spent some time at The Archives.


This might be the funniest/strangest picture of myself that I've ever seen. I'm standing in front of the Bill of Rights and I thought that Andrew was taking a picture with the flash on (I've always been kind of a strict follower of rules...mostly the dumb ones that ordinary people don't pay attention to). This is me yelling out, "No Andrew, don't take a picture with the flash!" My look of horror most likely indicates that I'm afraid that the document will instantly self-combust if the flash hits the surface.

But don't worry everyone, Andrew is smarter than that. The flash wasn't on and the Bill of Rights is still safe:)

Like Father...

Generally, I tend to think that Luke looks more like a McCann than a Stacey. But today I came across this...

Andrew

Luke

They are best friends... and apparently look more and more alike everyday.