Luke at 2 and 3/4

I have been meaning to write a post about the things Luke has been doing at the age of two since, oh, he turned 2.  Now he's closer to 3.  But better late than never, yes?

Here are a few pictures to get things started, most of which haven't shown up on the blog as of yet.  The first few are from two different little photo shoots I staged with Luke, then the whole family.  The others (in mostly chronological order) are representative of a variety of moments over the last several months.

Just tonight Cat looked at Luke during dinner and commented on how big he's getting.  He immediately emitted a straining sound, scrunched up his face, and flexed his muscles, and all of us burst into laughter.  Then he did it again, and the kids laughed again, and the cycle continued for several minutes.

Cat is right.  Luke is getting big.  And, as you might have deduced already, he loves to laugh and to make other people laugh.  He enjoys being tickled, listening to funny voices, and sometimes tells jokes.  My favorite joke he's told was this one:

Knock-knock.

Who's there?

Orange.

Orange who?
MOO!

He loves his siblings and usually plays well with them, though he's not afraid to tell them (or show them) when he doesn't like what they're doing or is unhappy with them for any reason.

Luke has been talking more and more, with his speech pattern being best described as ALL CAPS for several months.  Now he is using full sentences almost all the time and his inflection has become more natural sounding, which makes me a little sad.  He has lots and lots to say, though there are still times when we can't understand him.

Luke loves to sleep with all of his "ammals," but his favorite one is Froggy.  (Doggy is a close second.)  He had been happily sleeping in his crib until just a couple of weeks ago when he was so tired at bedtime that when Ben laid him down on the floor to change his diaper, he just wanted to sleep there.  Imagine my momentary cardiac arrest when I went to check on him later that night and he wasn't in his crib.  Well, that was the beginning of the end of the crib.  It is now disassembled and he sleeps on the crib mattress on the floor and has done a pretty good job of staying in bed when he's supposed to and has yet to miss a nap, knock on wood.

Luke loves being read to, especially by Mom and Dad, but will tolerate a story read by one of his older siblings.  He enjoys putting together jigsaw puzzles and is pretty good at it too.  He still loves all things car/truck/train, and Star Wars has become a favorite play time, reading, and conversation theme for him.

Luke wants to be where the action is and loves being involved with what everyone else is doing.  He likes to help me with cooking tasks in the kitchen, he follows us around with whatever we're doing, and he gets frustrated when he can't do exactly what the bigger folks are doing.

He loves music and his favorite song has been "Oh, the Things You Can Think" from Seussical for some time now, though he has recently begun bursting into an adorable rendition of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" at random times throughout the day.  He also really loves Newsies as well as other musical theater selections and a variety of other types of music.

Luke is a pretty good sport about having to get in and out of the car throughout the day, taking older siblings to places they need to go.  He's a good tag-along, which is fortunate.  He tolerates babysitters well and usually enjoys going to Nursery on Sundays.

Luke is still in the phase best described by a quote I saw online: "Hell hath no fury like a toddler whose sandwich was cut into triangles when he wanted squares." He has strong opinions, and doesn't hesitate to voice them, though he is beginning to reason better now, thank goodness.

He likes to say prayers and frequently wants to be the one to bless the food at meal times.  In the evenings we'll sometimes let him say his own personal prayer and it is so soft and sweet to hear, though we can't usually understand what he's saying.  (That's okay - it's not intended for us.)

I could probably go on and on but I'll wrap it up here.  We sure love this kid and are enjoying watching him learn and grow and show us more of his personality.  He is such a blessing in our lives!