ABCD...

 I finally caught Luke on camera singing his ABC's, or in his words, singing "ABCD". It has been like mission impossible to get this on camera, because he refuses to sing the whole song for the camera and won't even do it at all if he thinks you're watching him. Most of the time he will only sing it all the way through if he is doing something else, as if it keeps him from noticing that he is actually singing. And if you make eye contact with him at any point during his song...fuhgettaboutit. Sooooo the night before last, I propped the camera up on the table, slightly behind a big can of pears (I know, canned pears...in the snowy tundra that is this winter, you gotta just make do...don't judge). He, of course, saw the camera right away, but I just let it run and didn't make a big deal about it. He started singing and I just kept doing what I was doing...hence, my hands in front of the camera in the first video. I'm definitely not going to win any awards for my cinematography, but he DID finish the song, so I am thrilled with it. Oh, and FYI, instead of singing the ending that EVERYONE in the world sings, "now I know my abc's, next time won't you sing with me," he sings the fruity ending that Barney sings, "now I know my abc's, tell me what you think of me." Ick. I hate that ending. But oh, how I love my Stinker and his singing!

** THIS DARN BLOG CUTS OFF THE RIGHT SIDE OF ALL OF MY VIDEOS, SO HIT PLAY AND THEN DOUBLE CLICK ON THE VIDEO ITSELF AND IT SHOULD OPEN IT UP IN A FULL SCREEN SO YOU CAN SEE ALL OF HIS PERFORMANCE AND NOT JUST A CAN OF PEARS! **

(oh, almost forgot that there is an added bonus at the end...it cracks me up. luke finishes, celebrates and then says, "Now I'mma eat pears...the BIG one!)

I tried to do a retake, but Phil had the nerve to make eye contact with him, thus putting an immediate end to the song.

Funny Man.

Luke has moved on from wanting to see pictures of himself all the time to wanting to watch videos of himself all the time. He prefers watching old videos of himself on his slide, but he always gets such a kick out of watching himself look for the nail in the last video that I posted. Here he is watching himself search for the nail for the 500th time and reacting the same exact way as the other 499 times.

Like {Grand}Father, Like Son.

Phil and his dad, Stan, are very handy and good with tools, which is something that I love about them both. Luke seems to have inherited at least some of those genes, praise Jesus. Ever since staying with my parents in Tampa while we were in Thailand, he has been crazy about tools and goes around the house trying to "fits" (fix) things with his very own tools. Last week Phil tried fixing our very obstinate light in the kitchen. He brought in a step ladder, put on his head lamp, and broke out his tool bucket. Luke was enraptured. He insisted on climbing the ladder himself and using Daddy's tools to help "fits". Little did I know, a new obsession was born that day, and now all Luke can talk about is "ky yadder", or climbing a ladder.

Well, Tuesday, as I was getting home from grocery shopping, Luke met me in the garage and was begging to climb the ladders that were leaning up against the wall in there. Needing to get back in the house and put away the groceries, I had an idea. I brought in the step ladder (safer than a regular one) and put it right smack in the middle of the kitchen. I let Luke climb up and down and play with his tools while I unloaded groceries right there next to him. He loved it and was so cute that I had to get it on video. I also took advantage of his brief moment of cooperation by asking him to say things that I have been wanting to get on video for a while but haven't been able to because whenever I pull out the camera, he just wants to sit in my lap and watch old videos of himself. Anyway, the video is really long, but really funny. If you have the patience, stick with it and watch it to the end, because that is where he sings and declares himself a good basketball player.


**Sidenote: After watching the video, I figured out that when Luke says what sounds like "bop screwdriver", he is saying "Bob screwdriver", meaning that it is like Bob the Builder's (a new hero) screwdriver. Smart little Stinker.**



Last week's helper:


Observing and evaluating Daddy's work.


Giving Daddy pointers on how to do it right.


Giving up on Daddy and deciding to take matters into his own hands.


"Geez...I have to do everything around here. You just can't find good help these days."

Now I just need the weather to warm up so I can get Luke to cultivate those gardening skills that I am hoping he inherited from my dad. With Luke's help, I'll have this place ship shape in no time!

Big Talker...

Luke has been talking so much for the last month or so. Every day he has a new word or two. I have been making a list of his words, and it just keeps getting longer. It is virtually impossible to get him to sit still long enough to video him saying all of his words, but I did get him to say some of them in this video. I could just kick myself for not asking him to say more, but at the time I couldn't think of many to ask him to say. Still, I do LOVE this video and have watched it 1,000 times. I keep trying to get him to do it again, and I can't even get close. Oh well. At least I have this one!

(For the baby book and the G-parents)
Here is a list of the words that Luke is saying as of now:

• Bye-bye
• All done
• Mama
• Dada
• Ball
• Nigh-night
• Bottle
• Car (this used to be a double word for him for some reason and sounded like "ga ga", but now it's just one and sounds like "car"!)
• Truck
• Bubbles
  
• Cookie
• Yellow (he seems to recognize this color, too!)
• Purple
• Off
• Down
• Up
• Eddie (his blanket)
• Pop (for "Pops")
• Papa (for "Papa T.")
• Glasses
• Apple
• Outside
• Wow
• Whoa
• Yogurt
  
• Oops
• Uh-oh
• Slide
• Hot
• Open
• Juice (this is more of a sound than a word, but it's what he says when he wants juice.)
• Blueberries (this is only a 2 syllable word for him instead of 3, but it works!)

He signs:

• More
• Please
• All done
• Eat

I'm sure I'm forgetting some of his words and tomorrow he'll probably start saying some more. It's so much fun for him to be able to communicate with us, even just a little bit. We go nuts with every new word and constantly ask him to say his words to us. And when he's not saying words we can make out, he's always talking in jibber-jabber that is only understandable to him. Still, we think it's adorable!

Talking...

Luke has become very vocal. He wakes up talking to himself in the morning, and Phil and I practically bend over backwards to get him to talk to us during the day. It's the cutest thing. I just LOVE it and make a complete fool of myself all day long with my attempts to get him talking. These are some pictures I snapped of him during one of his conversations. We have been trying to get it on video, too, but any time we put a camera in front of him, he freezes and just stares at it until we take it away....then he starts up again. What a little stinker!

Luke on camera...

Here are a couple videos of Luke from today. If you are at all prone to motion sickness, beware...We were in the car and my sister was filming with her iphone, so it might make you want to toss your cookies. Watch at your own risk.

This one was filmed on solid ground, so no worries. Just disregard my double chin...I was super slouched at an unfortunate angle for the camera.