Our Little Santa!

Luke was a hit this year in our Christmas card photo! He was such a happy babe all dressed up in Santa's hat and Ben's tie...such a stud.
" All I want for Chritmas are my two front teeth..." and I got 'em! (A total of 4 teeth!!!!!!!!)

With all of this teething going on Luke has started chewing on his pointer finger. (which, I guess if you had to pick a finger...that's a safe one to pick!)

Luke started crawling! (videos to come!) He isn't a pro yet but he can manage to get where he wants to go. Sometimes he'll get his little butt way up in the air and then isn't for sure what to do next. Other times he will actually crawl or army crawl or do a cross of both.

Of course... Luke is Santa's favorite ;)

Luke in front of my most favorite Christmas tree yet! Our tree was 10 feet high and with our angel topper, it reached almost all the way to our ceiling. LOVED it!

Lukie with Grandma C. picking off his ornament! (and for those who may be curious...yes, that is a fireplace playing on Dad Cooley's TV. Classic.)

" I'm already for sunny Florida in April!"

Chritmas Eve jammies...

Luke loved the wrapping paper (the bows were his favorite!). We all had to be VERY patient because it took Luke a LONG time to open his gifts.

Christmas Eve service at Clarskton Community Church.

" Good Morning! It's Christmas..."

Luke received lots of little treasures from Santa this year. He must have been a very, good little boy!

We spent the day at Luke's Great Grandma Budd's. We need to get our family photos from Aunt Cathy and will post them soon! We had a great time catching up with family and loved spending the day with some of our most favorite people!!! Luke crashed on his Bobo after a perfect Christmas Day. :)

On Sunday (the day after Christmas) we headed up to Traverse City to spend the night with the Johnson side. Luke spent time with his Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Johnson, Great Aunt Debbie, Nick, Lynds, Ella, Drew, (2nd cousins? 3rd cousins? who knows...but we're all family!)Gpa and Gma Cooley and Auntie Janae!

2 of the proudest Grandmas around!

Luke just adored Ella! Ella is 16 mos. and weighs almost the same as Luke...he's our chunky monkey :)

2 bestie cousins with their babes...love this.

Luke loving on his greats!

Turkey, and cheekers, and lights, Oh My!

Luke loving his sippy cup! We were so proud when he began holding it himself.

Playing with his piggies during our photo shoot. :) Luke will often stick his toes in his mouth when we change his diaper.

Luke is moving on up to his big boy car seat! He is still under 20 lbs. This week we went to the doctor's for his flu shot and he weighed in at 19 lbs. 6 oz. At 22 lbs. he'll have to move out from his infant carrier and into this new seat.

I walked in from the kitchen and this is what I found. I was dying! Luke loves to watch the water fill the tub before he gets in.

Enjoyin the light show! Luke fell fast asleep in Ben's arms. BTW, that Baby bjorn is getting pretty tight. We couldn't buckle one side up.

Like father, like son.

I love how Luke is looking at Ben. :)

Luke's first Thanksgiving was such a special time celebrated with our families. We had dinner at Uncle Chris' with the Budd/Kerr/Uitti crew and then headed over to Clarkston for dessert later that night. Unfortunately, we didn't get any group shots with everyone but now I'll remember for Christmas! Here is our little turkey enjoying some yummy sweet potates!

Above is a pic of Luke getting excited. His little body can't contain all of his excitement! He begins breathing really heavy, his body tenses, and he begins waving his hands.

Luke hanging with a few of his cousins and his Uncle Chris. Luke met cousin Kayla for the first time...he sure loved sitting on her lap and looking out the front window with her. :)

6 Month Pictures!

Our little boy is looking so sweet (and big!).

In deep thought...with a little drool on the chin.

Luke crossed his hands on his own for the pic below. We were dying during the photo shoot. What a ham!

Showing off...
Mr. Cheeks!

Haley at JC Penny Photos, you did it again!

Solid messy foods = A big boy bath!

Our adorable little one...looking like his Daddy.

Luke tried to convince us he wasn't putting the bubbles in his mouth.

Luke loves playing wih the bubbles! He "rakes" with his fingers to try and gather all of them and then tries to eat them (surprise, surprise).
First time eating veggies! On the menu...homemade pureed carrots.

"What is this?"

Getting more used to it.

By the end Luke was scraping off all he could off of the spoon.

Pampers model material? Well, of course.

Luke started on veggies when he turned 6 months. I'm making the baby food right now because it seems pretty simple. Steam or bake, then puree and serve. We started with carrots, next was sweet potatoes (his favorite so far), and then we'll hit him with a good dose of his greens with some pureed green beans. After that we have some bananas for him to try with his oatmeal in the morning. His other big thing is drinking a little bit of milk or water out of his bottle without a nipple. He also loves to drink from our own glasses of water! If he sees us drinking from a glass he'll begin begging for some.

6 Month Check-Up!

Grandpa Cooley was convinced that Luke was going to be somewhere around 30 lbs....not quite, but here's Luke's stats:

Height: 27 1/2 inches (75-90 percentile)

Weight: 18 lbs. 13 oz. (75 percentile)

Head Circumference: 17 1/2 inches (75 percentile)

" I promise Nurse! Let me just get a few more crunches in and I know I can shed a few ounces!"

This is what the paper on the table looked like after Luke had it's way with it. Hence, the crinkled 6 month sign in his 6 month picture. :)