I Just Called to Say...

Almost everyday, at some point during the day, Luke gets a hold of my phone. (Thank God for the key lock.) It is pretty much a given that when he gets my phone, he will put it up to his ear, he will pretend to call PopPop, and he will ask him to ride his tractor. He will alternate talking and listening while holding the phone to his ear and will say things like "yowd" (meaning the tractor is loud), "minute, one day" (meaning he wants to ride the tractor in a minute or in one day, because we are forever telling him, "you can do/have that in just a minute" or "we are going to do that/go there in just one day"), "da red one" (meaning the biggest one, the red Massey-Ferguson), "dive it" (he wants to drive it), or  "fassss" (obviously, he wants to go fast). The funny thing is, though, that any time I try to get him to talk to PopPop or anyone else for real, he clams up and will hardly say anything beyond hello. As long as the phone is off, he's got lots to say and walks all over the house with the phone on his ear jabbering away--and always talking about the tractor.

A couple weeks ago he got my phone, put it up to his ear and screamed happily into it, "POPPOP!!! (I) WANNA RIDE TRACTOR! OH!!!" It was the same conversation that he always has with the phone, but this time much louder and with an exuberant "OH!", which I guess was just for effect. It made me laugh out loud. 

Every once in a while, though, Luke will change it up during his conversations with PopPop and casually ask about Grammy, Phil's mom. Sometimes he even mentions Emma and Uncle (Uncle Brandon, Emma's husband), because they were there the last time Luke rode the tractor. 

Just this past week Phil was in Atlanta for work and stayed with his parents. When Luke asked me about Daddy one morning, I told him he was at Grammy and PopPop's house, because it was much easier than explaining to him that Daddy was in Atlanta on a work trip. Luke's eyes got really big and he yelled out "DADDY RIDE TRACTOR!!!" It cracked me up. At least he's willing to share the love. So all of this is why I just had to take pictures the other day when he was in the middle of yet another pretend conversation with PopPop...and he just so happened to be wearing his beloved tractor shirt at the same time. Here he is talkin' it up with himself and the phone, pretending he's telling PopPop that he's coming in a minute one day to ride the big red tractor.

"So, let's see...what's PopPop's number again?"

"PopPop! What's up, dude?"

"Yeah, can you hang on...I'm trying to find a private place to talk."

"I know...she won't stop following me around..."

(This is so Luke, tilting his head and pacing the house while wheelin' and dealin'.)

"CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?"

"Seriously...is this thing even working?...."

"So am I coming to you or are you bringing the tractor to me?"

Having arranged to ride the tractor in a minute one day, he's all done and so proud of himself.

My sweet, silly Stinker.

And just so you too can experience the awesomeness that is riding the tractor, we have it on video. Yes, folks, this is what Luke hasn't been able to stop thinking and talking about since it happened. I'm sure you'll soon be calling PopPop and asking if you can take a ride, too.
**(like last time, if you hit play, then double click on the video you can see the video in its real size)**

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!

Blue Not-So-Suede Shoes...

The Stinker has been all about putting on other people's shoes lately. It took him a while to be able to walk in them, though. With a little help from Phil or me, he could get his feet in the big shoes and stand in them fine, but when he'd go to take his first step, he'd step right out of the shoes and right into a big ol' pile of frustration.
I guess it just took the perfect pair of shoes for him to get the hang of it. And those shoes were my sister's fancy new blue jellies that she showed up in a few weekends ago. Luke thought they were so cool and immediately wanted to put them on.

"I may not be wearing any pants, but I'm sooo gonna wear these blue shoes!"

He first tried slipping them on while standing.
That was a no-go.

He then took a seat and got down to business.


He even tried using both hands.


But he still had to ask for help.

Luckily all his hard work paid off when he was able to walk in his fancy blue shoes for the first time! My sister got it on video. Notice that half way through, he walks out of the shoe, tries to put it back on, and then gets so upset when he can't do it. Thankfully Annie came to the rescue with much needed words of encouragement, and he was able to finish his promenade down the hall.

...And just when I was starting to worry that Luke and his girly shoes might soon be joining Austin and Santino on their road trip, he was right back at it....

...showing the slide who's boss...

...beating up on Daddy...

...wrestling with Doggy...

...and rolling around on the ground making loud, unintelligible noises, while playing with a stolen iPhone and wearing no pants.

That's the Stinker I know.

Hilarious.

My sister took this video on her phone the other day when we were at H&M. That's him saying "glasses" at the end of the video.

"Gaaaaaaaaa!"

I adore him.

While I Was Away...

This past weekend I went on my first trip ALONE since Luke was born. From Thursday night to Monday morning I was footloose and fancy free. It was a blast. I went to Fort Worth to visit my sister, brother, and sis-in-law. They showed me a great time and kept me well fed. I already can't wait for my next trip out there...whenever that might be.

Despite all the fun I had, I was happy to come home and see my boys. I think they had fun without me, but I know that Phil was all fun-ed out by Monday. He told me Sunday night that I better not miss my 6:00 AM flight (you read that right) the next morning because he NEEDED me home. He said he'd never looked so forward to Monday and going back to work. Ha! The trip was worth it just to hear him say that.

While I was gone, Luke learned how to go down his slide the right way. Before I left, this is how he consistently went down his "sliiiiiiiii".

Over the weekend he and Daddy worked hard...

...and by the time I got home Monday morning, he had conquered the slide!

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!

Mommy's 1st Night Away.

SPOILER ALERT:

One of the cutest videos ever can be found in the middle of this post. If you don't care to read my ramblings, scroll on down to the video. You won't be disappointed.

Two weekends ago (i know, i'm still behind...), I spent my first-ever night away from the Stinker Man. No, not Phil. I'm talking about Luke this time. I went to the women's retreat with my church from Friday to Saturday. Phil was busy with Assessment Center for work that whole weekend, so my wonderful parents came up from Tampa to take care of Luke. I had to twist their arms.....riiiiiiiiight.... They were pumped not only to get to come visit their one and only (and most favoritest) grandchild, but to get to have him ALL TO THEMSELVES for a little over 24 hours. Luke was a champ and did great. I was so proud! Flipper and Pops (my parents) did a great job, too, and from what I can tell, they didn't even keep him up playing all night or feed him cookies and ice cream all day in an attempt to earn their spots as favorite grandparents. I really wasn't too worried, though. I turned out perfectly, so they obviously know what they are doing (my bro and sis are rolling their eyes and gagging right now...) Anyway, Flipper and Pops stayed for a nice 5 day visit, and we all had a great time together. We hadn't seen each other since Christmas, so we were ready for some Miller time......as in Rick and Flip Miller, not the beer, thankyouverymuch. As an added bonus, Luke took his first solo-step the day they arrived (note to self for the baby book: March 10th), and added to it every day, so they got to witness his first 5 days of walking on his own!

Here are some pics of our family fun and the Mommy-less sleepover.

What???!!! You're leaving me?

Luke and I picked Flipper and Pops up at the airport. What must that have been like for Luke? We got in the car, just like we always do. We drove and drove, listening to music and Mommy singing along. The car slowed down, pulled over to the side of the curb, and suddenly...Flipper's in the backseat and Pops is looking in through the door!!


Flipper? Is that you?


Say what? You're staying for 5 whole days?


That's AWESOME!

It wasn't long before the grandparents started the spoiling of the grandchild. Pops (and Daddy, too) took Luke outside and let him run up and down the driveway in his walker (and his socks!!). Luke was in heaven doing 2 of his favorite things: hanging out outside and going as fast as he can in his walker. Daddy and Pops played goal keeper, keeping Luke from flying into the street.


Strutting his stuff.


Is that grass over there? Maybe I can add some grass stains to the dirt on my socks.


"I was running...."


Daddy catches the Stinker before he sails into the street.


Ummm...Pops, why are you getting in my way? I'm trying to reverse here, dude.


Luke discovers that he brought a refrigerator magnet with him.


Making silly faces for Flipper.

My mom and I left the boys and went shopping. Yay! We got a cute little summer outfit for Luke, and it came with a hat. We should not have been surprised that it didn't even come close to fitting. You can't tell so much in the picture, but it was super small and just sat on the top of Luke's head. We couldn't pull it down around his head at all.


Grandson of huge-headed Rick Miller. Nephew of huge-headed Ben Miller. Son of huge-headed Phil Tatum. He was doomed.


Happy boy ready to eat...


...until he tastes his new berry yogurt bites. They were a little too tart for his delicate palette.
(And yes, I said yogurt. His lactose intolerance is getting better!!)


Fun times with the g-parents:


Playing football.


Pointing out every single knot in the wood paneling in the family room to Pops.


Reading and LAUGHING with Pops.


Seriously. This book is hilarious....to Luke.


...and Luke is hilarious to us!

And before we knew it, it was time to take Flipper and Pops back to the airport. Luckily we got to have a yummy lunch with them before they headed off.

Chubby man post-lunch, chillin' in the stroller.


One last laugh with Pops.


The only pic with both the g-parents. We were too busy having fun to pose for pics. (Apparently Pops was too sad about leaving to give us a real smile...)

Thanks, Flipper and Pops, for coming up and taking care of Lukie Lu. You did a great job.
Luke is still talking about how much fun he had!

Luke Loves Ava.

This week Ava's mom, my good friend Alisha, had her foot surgery, so Luke and I got to spend some more quality time with one of our favorite 4 year olds. Luke had so much fun with her. He just laughed and laughed at her and a couple times even cried when she left the room! Here is a funny video of the Stinker Man swooning over the older woman...until she throws herself at his feet. Then he's outta there.

He's got a ball and a domino, but he's all eyes for Ava.


"Hahahahaaaaa!!! You're positively hilarious, Ava."


Ava's jumping up and down and Luke's never seen anything so funny.


Still hasn't taken his eyes off her...


Just look at the love.


Please look at what she was wearing. She dressed herself. The boots are at least 2 sizes too big, and she HAD to wear the red bow instead of the pink one, because the red one was fancier..."It has polka dots!"

Best quote from Ava for the day:
We were in the car headed to our house, and I was explaining to her what we were going to do when we got there: eat lunch, put Luke down for a nap, then play. She said, "Yeah, and if you change Luke's poopy diaper, and it's a way big one, then I'm just gonna sit somewhere else."
Love her!!