Luke's first food

Luke must have been going through a growth spurt, because he could not get enough to eat this day. Since he won't take a bottle anymore, our options were pretty limited, so we decided to move onto rice cereal even though he is only three months old. He still has his tongue-thrust reflex, so he pushes the food back out as soon as we put it in, and we had to push it back in to get it down. Despite this process, he ate almost the whole bowl, so we declared success!




He looks pretty satisfied.

Portland Taiko

Today we went to our third performance by Portland Taiko. "Taiko" is the Japanese word for drum, but also seems to specifically refer to this big drum, physical style of drumming. Last year, we could not make the children's matinee due to John's school schedule, so we went to a regular performance. This year, we made the children's matinee, and were thrilled to learn that children were invited onto the stage during the performance. Josh was one of the invitees, and happily accepted. The picture is dark, and we actually weren't supposed to take any so we only got this shot, but here is Josh on stage doing some Taiko drumming.


He was so cute. Also super cute was Luke, who we outfitted in Bose noise-cancelling headphones (John's) which were way too big but very cute on him. He wasn't bothered by the loud drums at all, and made it through almost the whole performance without so much as a peep.

Cannon Beach

Two weekends ago (yes, late post, typical these days), my dear friend Michele Stone had her baby shower at the beach. Seven women rented a house together in Cannon Beach, Oregon, for a weekend away in her (and baby's) honor. Lucas also got to come as a surprise guest, because he began refusing a bottle when I went back to work in August, so John had no way to feed him while I was gone and I didn't want to subject John and Josh to two days of crying. Plus, Lucas and seven women equals lots of love and affection for baby Lucas, so he had a great time.
The weather was absolutely beautiful. Here is a picture looking north to Haystack Rock.

Here we are enjoying some lazy rest on the beach.

Michele's friend Amanda from Chicago, with me and Lucas, while out window shopping in town.

Erin and Lucas, who is sucking her thumb.

Michele and baby, flanked by Courtney and Erin.

It was a really nice time, sunny, gorgeous, relaxing, and with good company.

Three years // Three months

Luke turned three months old last night at 11:30 p.m. Here are his three month photos, also featuring 3-year-old big brother Josh.

close up:

Luke started daycare yesterday too, and Josh visits him during the day. His teachers are all so impressed with how proud Josh is of his "baby brudder" and how much he wants to show Lucas off to his friends.