Blackjack babies

Picnic with Popo

Three of our new pretty babies.

And the prettiest baby of all.

Luke is so very close to talking these days.   But never has he tried so hard to utter a word: Cuh, Cuh, Cuh... What he means to say, is "cow".  He LOVES the cows.  And it just so happens to be calving season out at Blackjack and right now we have five new pretty babies that he is obsessed with.  He just points and leans as if to say, "Take me over there!  Let me pet them!"  So this weekend we finally gave him his chance.  We hand fed the cows so that Luke could get his hands on them.  He loved it!  His eyes were wide and his face showed absolute amazement.  I think we have ourselves a little cowboy, folks.

I'm walking the floor over you....

December 23rd, 2011 marked a huge day for Luke independence.  I took my first steps.  We were out at Blackjack and the mood just struck me.  It has taken several days for the parents to get a photo or video, but today they finally got it.  After I take several steps,  I like to sit down and clap for myself while everyone erupts into "Yay"s and "Good job, Buddy Boy!!"s. We are having some technical difficulties with video, so for now here is a picture of me mid-walk.  Needless to say, I am quite pleased with myself.

Celebrating with friends

Food!

The Old West

Make your own cowboy hats.

Wanted: The Notorious Luke Townsend

Kate plays hostess.

Alice and Kate in jail.  What did these sweet girls do?

Kate and Luke/Cowgirl and Cowboy

The girls' posse

Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys.

Today I invited some friends over to play and have pizza and cupcakes to celebrate my first birthday.  We had a great time exploring the old west and making some fancy cowboy hats.   Too bad it has been raining all day long; it turned into a garage party!  Thanks for helping me to celebrate all of you wonderful friends and family!

First Birthday Breakfast

For me?

Well let's see what these are all about.

Ooooooh I love them!

Very classic "Luke" pose.  Very charming.

This is where you can always find my wiener dogs during mealtime.

They are telling me "Happy Birthday", too; I'm sure.

I forgot to share pictures from my very first birthday breakfast.  Around here, we do homemade Belgian waffles on our birthdays and since I don't really love strawberries, I had mine with blueberries.  Now THAT is the way to start your birthday!

Happy Birthday Luke!!!

Kate is always looking out for me.  She is making sure I don't burn myself on my candle.  She is such a good big sister.

And then she helped me blow out my candle.  (Only because I am too little.)

Digging in.  This is my first taste of cake and kinda like it.

And then Kate helped me eat my cake.  (She is so helpful.)

Today marks the one year anniversary of the day I arrived in this world.  My first year has been full of fun and love and living it up each and every day.  I am still a mischievous little devil; I would much rather play with dangerous things than toys.  My favorite "toys" are the dogs' bowls and Iphones.  I will eat absolutely anything.  At Thanksgiving, Mom gave me sauerkraut and I kept opening my mouth for more.  (I am half German after all.) I still cruise around holding on to things, but I haven't taken any steps; too scary.  I have learned to be gentle with my puppy dogs.  I like to crawl up to them and pet them and sometimes lean in to give them kisses.  My sister is still my favorite things around here though.  She makes me laugh and she has taken to carrying me around the house which is HILARIOUS to me.  I wave good-bye when people leave and I am working on my first words (which makes you wonder, I'm sure, if I can write so fluently and descriptively in this blog, why can't I even utter the word "Daddy" aloud? )  Well so far there are lots of "Dadadada"s and "Nininini"  and "Mamamama" but nothing consistent just yet.  Thank you all for being with me this first year of my life.  We've only just begun!

Luke is 11 months old!

Exactly one month from now I will be ONE!  The year has flown by, but I am really enjoying still being a baby.  I am not ready to walk just yet, but I can crawl as fast as the wind!  And I love to eat.  So far the only two things I don't like are strawberries and green peppers.  Everything else gets shoveled in!  I say lots of "Mama" and "Dada" but not with much intention just yet.  My eyes are still so very blue and if they don't change, I will be the only Blue eyes in this house!  My favorite toys nowadays aren't toys at all.  I love the dog bowls, remotes, cell phones, this laptop!, and the water faucets on the bathtub.  I like to turn them and pretend I am driving.  Happy eleven months to this cute baby boy!!

Luke is 10 months old!

Friday, I turned 10 months old, and I could barely sit still long enough to let my mom take any pictures.  First of all, you must notice the awesome cowlick that makes the hair on the back of my head stand straight up.  Mom might need to start using a little product in my hair.  I am crawling everywhere but not yet interested in walking.  I am also not interested in holding my own bottle or using a sippie cup.  I really like for everyone to dote on me, to be honest.  I now have six whole teeth and that means I am eating everything I can get my hands on.  Including dog food.  And dirt.  I love to dig in all of the pot plants around the house and when someone tells me no, I just laugh and shove the dirt in my mouth.  But I am not all trouble.  I also happen to be very sweet.  I will kiss my dogs any chance I get, even the little bronze wiener dog statue by the front door.  I love to crawl over and give him big open mouth kisses.  I love to chase my sister around the house and she loves to entertain me in a language that only the two of us understand.  If I could get her to hold still long enough, I would give her one of those big ole kisses too!