Luke's 12th Month

Well.

Guess who went and had a birthday.

Guess who's growing up much faster than his mother allowed.

Guess who has earned the position as The Baby of The Family for the rest of his life,

even if he isn't technically a baby anymore.

I dreaded the arrival of Luke's birthday.  In fact, when I went to check on him the night before his birthday and found him sleeping soundly, I actually got him out of bed and snuggled my Baby one more time before he officially became a toddler.  I don't remember giving him my permission to outgrow babyhood.  Disobedient child.  But what can I do?  We love our children, faults and shortcomings and everything, right?  And I do love Luke, rebellious streak and all.

Here are a few highlights from his 12th Month.

Luke showed more of an interest in books this month, even if it was mostly to manhandle them.

Luke took his fridge exploration to a new level this month when he sampled

the yogurt I was straining.  Caught white-handed.

Eliza frequently asks me to put Luke's hair in a mohawk, so I finally obliged one day recently.

Cutest punk ever.

  

Luke has enjoyed this gumball machine for a while, but it was fun to watch him figure out
how to put balls back in the top this month.

Luke has always been a happy baby, but his joyful personality is becoming more prominent, and it's so fun to see him laugh at the big kids.  He also enjoys making them laugh, and if he does something they think is funny, he'll do it over and over again, watching for everyone's reaction.  He's not walking independently, but he cruises a lot, and will take a step or two by himself when he wants to.  He's signing "more" more often now, but still prefers to scream for attention.

A few more pictures to share:

 

And, drumroll please for the final collage...

Hard to believe he's all grown up already.