Christmas

Luke had a very eventful and prosperous Christmas, raking in lots of goodies.  He also got to spend time with relatives who live far away, like Gramma and Pop, Aunt Gretchen, and Uncle Zach and Aunt Jessica.   Luke had the starring role in our church's (St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church) Christmas pageant, playing baby Jesus.  He was absolutely perfect during the pageant, looking cherubic as the congregation "beheld" him.  I think he likes the attention.  I will try to get some video footage of the pageant up soon.

And so it begins...

Luke has figured out how to suck on his thumb and seems to prefer that to his pacifier.  About half the time he's sucking his whole hand but sometimes, like in this picture, he singles out the tasty thumb.  I also caught his index finger in his nose today - not sure if he was really mining for gold or if it just seemed like a comfy place to rest his weary finger.

The Drool Team

Homer has really learned to love Luke.  Today I thought I'd see if he would let Luke cuddle up to him.  Luke needed a bath today anyway, so I put the stinky-slobber twins together for a photo op.  Homer just curled up and kind of nuzzled Luke, like he knows this is his little boy and he has to protect him.  It was really adorable.

Bad Mommy

My mom doesn't believe that Luke ever cries or gets upset.  Those of us who've been exposed to him recently know better.  Tonight Graham was busy washing bottles and I was busy updating his blog (see previous post), and he was very irritated that he was being ignored.  His little tantrum was kind of funny so I snapped some shots to show the not-so-lovely side of Luke Barron.  The more I laughed the madder he got.  I hope he doesn't end up in therapy because of this.

Christmas Ham

I've been trying to get some good shots of Luke with the hopes of having a decent Christmas card this year.  Unfortunately, he's such a ham that what I often end up with are funny pictures rather than cherubic smiles.  The ones below I've titled "Christmas Grinch," "Gimme More Presents," "Mommy Can't We Stop With The Camera Now Please," "No Autographs, Please," and "I Just Pooped."

Sneaky Little Dude

Well, we thought Luke had learned to roll over. Turns out that what he's learned to do is to shift his weight just enough so that he flops back on to his back - a cheap ploy to avoid spending time on his tummy (which he HATES to do). Now whenever I put him on his tummy he'll "roll over" just to get out of having to exercise. Very clever, Luke. You've outsmarted your parents.

rolling over - sort of

Today Luke was being very playful and cute so I of course got out my videocamera. We've been practicing rolling over, but he hasn't done it on his own yet. About halfway through this video I turn him on his tummy, and he flips himself onto his back. We haven't practiced that at all. I'm not sure if this was just a random movement or something purposeful, but we got excited all the same. It doesn't take much for Graham and me to be impressed. I shot about 5 mintutes worth of video here, which was too much to download at once, so I divided the video into two. What's really incredible is how much progress he's made in just a few days. Compare this video with the last post and you can really see how much more he can crane his neck now .

Slobberpuss

We just learned how to upload video to the blog. I shot this footage of the wunderkind today. He gives Homer a run for his money in the drool category. This was shot towards the end of tummy time so he gets kind of cranky, but not before he lets a big slobber make its way down.

Getting Strong!

Luke surprises us every day with how much stronger he is getting.  Some days he's a lazy bumb and then some other days he's crazy active.  Today was a little of both - when I put him on his tummy this morning he just laid his head down and refused to squirm.  This afternoon, he decided to humor me a little and work on his upper body strength.

Happy Baby

Luke smiles all the time, but rarely for the camera.  He was being especially cute today, so I decided to trick him and get some pictures.  He caught on to my ploy.

Baracking the Vote

Luke is all about Hope ("I hope mommy doesn't make me do tummy time today") and Change ("Please change my diaper now"), so I think he would definitely vote for Obama.  Alas, I could not find a "My Daddy is for Barr" t-shirt for Luke.  

The Great Pumpkin

Caroline gave Luke her first Halloween costume to wear this year.  Unfortunately, we didn't get many trick-or-treaters, so only Graham and I saw the little pumpkin.  He was terribly cute.  

Miscellaneous Cuteness

These pictures are just some cutie-pie moments we captured and thought we'd share.

Bumbo

We've found that children's products often have the dumbest names (Bumbo, Boppy, Binkie, etc.).  This is a prime example.  The Bumbo is an awesome invention - it's a squishy foam-like chair that helps babies learn to sit up straight.  I put Luke in his Bumbo for the first time today (it's recommended for babies 3 months and up but his neck is really strong so I thought I'd try it for a few minutes).  He seems to like the independence of doing it himself.  Then I realized that I only have a few more months of being able to just cuddle the daylights out of him before he gets mobile so I took him out of the Bumbo and smooched all over him.  Luke's not crazy about the smooches, as you'll also see from some of these pics.

best seat in the house

Luke feels quite comfortable taking the best seat in the house away from his daddy.  He is so easy-going that he'll just sit here, then eventually he'll slide down the leather but he won't complain at all.  Graham likes to prop him up and then watch him slide.  So cruel.

Petting Homer

Luke and Homer shared some cuddle time tonight.  Homer kept sticking his nose in front of the camera, but I was able to get a few cute pictures.  When Homer decides to pay attention to Luke (which doesn't happen often), he is very patient with him.  Luke is still not sure what to make of Homer.

Growing so fast!

I can't believe how fast Luke is growing up.  Two weeks ago I saw his first non-gas-induced smile, but he wouldn't let me capture it on camera.  This past week, I took him up to the family cabin in North Carolina and he started smiling much more, almost laughing even.  I've snapped a few pics of the cute little grin.  He also started holding on to his rattle and shaking it around.  I don't know if he's made the cause and effect link of his shaking the rattle, but he does seem a little amused with his new trick.  He'll hold on to it for several minutes at a time.