"Cherry Lips, Crystal Skies" {Luke 18 Months}

Luke is our cuddly-rough-and-tumble-messy-funny-sly-charming-all-things-outdoorsie little guy!  He is up for a hug or a kiss at almost any moment and just loves to give friendly touches or rough bumps to everyone he meets.  High fives, fist bumps, nose rubs, those lovely open-mouth kisses and of course the "I am going to hold onto your leg until you pick me up" affections.  He's incredibly fickle (which is why I chose this song) and goes from giggling and running around to throw-myself-on-the-ground fits.  I think both are pretty adorable.

These are my favorite things about Luke

1. Bedtime snuggles--and how he points to his rocking chair before every nap even though we've never rocked him to sleep.
2. Watching him play with his cars & trucks...he doesn't have an incredibly long attention span yet...but if he's going to play with something for an extended period of time it's going to be his race track.
3. When he scrunches his nose and squints his eyes with a little smirk on his face because he just can't figure out how to nod his head.
4. That he is a pretty good sleeper--giving me periods of 10-11 hour night sleeps and 2-3 hour nap sleeps. Holy moly that blows what his sister did at 18 months out of the water!
5. That his favorite foods are eggs, olives, tuna & cashews.  Yes...we can always get him to eat those 4 things and we understand our kid is special. ;)
6. Watching him follow around his sweet big sis who is so good at including him!
7. That toddler waddle-run
8. That he rubs his ear when he's tired or needing to self-soothe for a bit
9. Reading him peek-a-boo books...or really that he's happy to sit for 20 minutes and read if given the opportunity.
10. He is trying SO hard to use his words but the sweet boy can only get a few out.  I love that his most used word is "Mama" because it makes me feel special...and other than Dada, milk, no, up, this, that, dog & all done he doesn't say much but "ah, uh & mmm."

Here are the things about Luke that drive me crazy

1. He cannot for the life of him figure out how to have an affirmative comment.  So...we have to deal with him shaking his head and saying "no."  Thanks, bud.
2. That he finds pulling Carly's hair THEE MOST HYSTERICAL thing on the planet.  Not cool.  This act makes bike rides (which we love doing) very difficult.
3. Oh when he stands at the door and pounds on it with all his might while crying out some sort of "let me out of here!"  Neighbors....we treat our son really well but by golly he just wants to spend every waking minute outside.
4. That he throws his food when he doesn't like it or is finished with his meal
5. Lukey is so stubborn and still completely irrational.  It drives me nuts.  I feel like all I say to him some days is, ¡escúchame!

This is a plum...in case you were wondering

I love having a son and we thank God for his sweet & sly spirit everyday.  He is going to keep us on our toes but love us with all he's got for all time, I think.  We pray for his heart every night as we hold him close that he would be a man of integrity, grace & endurance as He seeks living a spirit-filled life.  And until then, we pray for God's daily guidance in how to shepherd this young boy's heart.