Adventures in Babysitting (Day IV and V)

Our time with Luke has come to an end, but we so enjoyed our time together! Thursday morning I woke up bright and early with Luke and let John sleep in. Luke was so happy to see me and was so full of silliness in the morning. What a great way for both of us to start the day. He shrieked with joy and just wanted to be in my arms. And ate a banana like a little monkey. In the afternoon, we took Luke to a new playground. He was pretty excited to check it all out, but even more interested in picking up all the sweet gum balls that have fallen from the trees. And he also cannot resist walking past a good acorn. I think he definitely has an appreciation for nature!

In the evening we took a stroll around the neighborhood to allow Luke to get his wiggles out before dinner. After a nice bath, he headed to bed a happy boy. We heard him singing himself to sleep. (Yes, it was "Pink Cadillac.") How cute is that?

This morning John let me sleep in because I was exhausted. Not because Luke was up all night or wearing me out, but because all week I burned the candle at both ends by staying up late and getting up early with Luke. I assume parents make this adjustment pretty quickly! It only took a few days for it to hit me. John and I spent the evenings watching some good TV and when John would head to bed, I read my book. I was reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett and wanted knock it out, so that's what I did and it caught up with me. Luckily John returned the favor from yesterday and allowed me to catch a little more sleep this morning.

One of our proudest achievements of the week was teaching Luke how to say "up." He really likes to be held as much as possible or on our laps when we are sitting, so we helped him communicate with us instead of grunting and whimpering. We started with "Up, please" but decided to trim it down to just "up" and will add "please" later. At first we would ask, "Say 'up'." And the cutest little voice would say, "Uuuuuuuuuuup" and his voice would get really high at the end. It melted our hearts. Soon after, he would say it without being prompted or we would just ask "What do you want?" It is amazing to watch him learn and communicate with a new word. I even rewarded him when he needed to sit in his high chair because he was eating breakfast--he looked at me in such a sweet way and said, "Uuuuuuuuup?" So I thought for a second, but then realized if we were trying to teach him this and he did it completely on his own, then he should should be rewarded. Hopefully now he won't just run around the house screaming "Uuuuuuuuup!"

This morning we spent some time with him before Keenan and Monte came home. We didn't have too long with him because they came home in the morning. It is strange being in "baby mode" and taking care of a little one, then not having him around all the time. I even panicked for a quick second when I thought I heard a baby sound at home, but quickly realized Luke isn't here. I guess that was my instincts kicking in.

Now I am sitting outside, while John grills some potatoes and salmon for dinner. We are back to our normal lives now at our house, but it doesn't really feel 100% complete. We definitely got used to looking after another and not just ourselves. Luckily Keenan and Monte invited us to come by anytime this weekend because it will probably need to happen. This girl is already having some Luke withdrawals.

In a sleepy cocoon.

Brushing a one-and-a-half-year-old's teeth isn't the easiest thing to do.

I can do it all by myself, Uncle John.

Either really into this page or wanting to turn to another, preferably with "tractors."

This will do.