Hi my baby Lucas Walter,

I find myself wanting to say again (I know I keep saying it!) how fast time is flying, and how quickly you are growing up.  Please slow down baby!   This past month has been another month of a lot of firsts.  You are babbling a lot now, and one day we even prompted you to say “ball”  You say bye bye a lot and wave at people when they walk in and out of the door.  And of course you say Mama and Dada all the time.  The other morning we were all laying in bed together (we laid you between us in the early hours of the morning because you wanted to snuggle), and you were on your side facing Daddy, I heard you babbling, and then you rolled towards me, and when you saw me you whispered “mama!” to yourself.  It was so sweet to hear the happiness in your voice when you saw that I was next to you.

Another big milestone- you took your first steps!  6/5/13.   Ever since then you have been pushing the boundaries more and more of how far you can walk. You love to walk back and forth between us, you now can do 6 or 7 steps without falling.  Speaking of falling, you got your first busted lip this weekend when you were walking behind a toy and when you fell you hit your mouth on its wheel.  There was crying, a little blood, and a puffy lip, but you ended up okay! As rough as you are all the time, I’m sure there is bound to be more busted lips as you grow.

You love to point at things (with your middle finger).   And just this weekend you started pointed at different items and saying “da?” and wanting us to tell you what they are.     You love to drink out of straws now, and actually you love to drink out of any cup that you’ve seen Mommy and Daddy drinking out of (only water, of course).    You also like to eat this organic puffs we bought you, that are kind of like glorified cheerios.  It’s about the only table food you’ll reliably eat without throwing up.   You’ve been quite difficult trying to get you to move past purees.  We’re not sure if you’re just stubborn (what? my child?) or if there is a medical problem.  We are trying a couple different approaches this month to try to encourage you to eat chunkier food.  The good news is, I highly doubt you’ll go to kindergarten only eating purees

Your favorite toys right now are balls and bags (mainly purses since that’s what we have laying around).  You love to chase balls around the living room and kitchen.  You will hit it, then crawl after it, then hit it again, and so forth.   As for the purses.  Any time we set a bag down, you beeline for it, and pull everything out one by one, hold it up in the air like you’re proud you got it out, then you toss it aside and go for the next item.  It’s definitely an obsession of yours.  I actually pulled an old bag (ok, ok, it’s a purse) down from my closet and stuffed it full of your toys.  You emptied that thing for 20 minutes!  Success!

This past month you attended your very first Pigroast (the 5th annual) at your Aunt Jera and Uncle Kevin’s house.  You got love from your Gramma, and Poppa Mike, and Grandaddy, and Granny Pat, and your cousins, Camron and Nathan, and lots of other  great friends came to meet you (Auntie Jennifer! Uncle Matt Petty! Uncle Raymond! and too many other people to name)!  You got to see your first gun being shot (in order to blow apart a watermelon), and also go on your first boat ride.

You were also baptized this month at the Cathedral of the Assumption, the same church where Daddy and I were married 5 years ago.  We sought out Deacon Pat, who was also the man who married us all those years ago.  He was so kind to come back and baptize you for us.  It is cool to think that five years ago we walked down that aisle as husband and wife, and then walked it again now with our first baby boy.  Your Aunt Katie is your God-Mother, and your Uncle Michael is your God-Father.  All of our friends and family who live nearby came, and we had a reception afterwards at our family’s restaurant, Highland Morning.   You’re a lucky little boy that so many people love you!

We also celebrated Daddy’s first Father’s Day this month!!  We bought him a couple of shirts he’s been wanting, and a keychain in the shape of a guitar pick that says “Couldn’t have picked a better Dad”, and you also made him a couple of things.  One had your footprints on it, with a cute little saying, and the other is a word cloud that I designed and had printed on canvas.  Daddy loved it so much he got tears in his eyes (those masculine man tears).  It has words, phrases, and sayings that all mean something special to us about you, and this first year that you’ve been alive.   It was a pain to make, but worth it

You have sooo many teeth now, at 4 across the top and 4 across the bottom, so 8 total that are already through, but lots more coming in on the sides.  At your next update, I’m sure that number will be a lot higher!  At bedtime we still read you a book in the big red chair.  Your favorite is Barnyard Dance, because Daddy acts out all the words.   When you nurse to sleep I whisper the Goodnight Moon book to you.   I have been trying to get you to attach to a blanket so that it can comfort you  when we’re not around, but you have resisted.  Your “lovey” is my hair.  Anytime you are tired you love to stick your hand up in my hair and twirl it all around and rub it up and down on your face.   It’s very sweet, but I foresee it being problematic since you can’t have my hair when I’m not there.    Your sleeping at night still isn’t great, so let’s try to work on that, okay?

Last, but not least this month (well technically you’re already a week after your 11 month birthday) you had your first surgery    We had to spend the night in the hospital and then early in the morning you were put under general anesthesia to remove a staph infection in your leg.  We have no idea how you got it, and the doctors say it’s really common, but it was very very hard to see our baby boy hurt.   It took 5 attempts (including one in your forehead!), with 3 different nurses to get your IV, but they finally got it.  You did great during surgery, and now we have to keep you on antibiotics and give you 3-4 bath per day for the next 10 days to clean your wound.   It’s been a hard week!  Grammy and Poppy drove through a monsoon to get to you in the hospital before you went to surgery, and they got to stay and visit a couple of hours.   That night me, you, and Daddy all slept together on the single couch in your hospital room.  The nurses checked on you every hour, needless to say it was not a very restful night’s sleep.  You are now on the mend, and it hasn’t slowed you down one bit!

We love you baby boy, and cannot believe we are now approaching your FIRST birthday.  What?!?!?!