Four Months Old

Where did the last month go? Luke celebrated his fourth-month birthday in Portland, Oregon last Tuesday. He's such a big kid compared to just a month ago. For example, he's alert and tracking people (and the cat) all the time, and he's learned to pick things up with a steady hand and put them in his mouth. This morning he reached out to touch Jackson, whom he has never had much interest in before. (That's probably bad news for Jackson.) He talks a blue streak ("ah goo! ah doe! awoo gah ah ah ah...") and smiles and busts up laughing, and cracks us up every time.

Luke's favorite things:

• This Old Man. He's probably heard it 4,000 times at this point, and it never fails to calm him down from a cry or get a big smile and laugh.
• The Baby in the Mirror. That crazy baby in the mirror seems to follow Lucas everywhere! We saw him in Oregon, in northern Michigan, in the grocery store, even in the airplane bathroom - - we just can't seem to shake him. Not that we'd want to, since he's another sure cure for baby ennui.
• Fabric. Luke has a small blankie and a small taggie that he loves to grab and put in his mouth. He's also fond of any sort of blanket, bib, washcloth, or article of clothing that's within reach. He's just starting to get the hang of peekaboo and especially likes blankets thrown over his face and head.
  
• Watching us eat. He's fascinated by the food that disappears from our forks into our mouths (especially when it's spaghetti and we slurp it up!). Where does it go? It's a baby mystery.
  

We have a doc appointment on Tuesday, so we'll give an update then on his growth progress. He seems huge to us (Jill is getting impressive biceps) and has been in great health.

So last weekend we were in Salem, Oregon for David's cousin Laura's wedding. (See the flickr link at the bottom of the page for more photos from the trip.) Lucas was nearly perfect on both the 4 hour flight out and the one back. That's a big relief since this is a San Diego Christmas year. The wedding was at a 4-H Conference Center near Salem, and the bride and groom's family and friends stayed in cabins on-site for the wedding weekend and had several meals together in the mess hall. Luke loved being passed around between aunts and cousins, and rivaled the tuxedoed groomsmen for good looks (at least according to mom and dad!) It was a beautiful wedding and the bride and groom and their immediate family really outdid themselves with the accomodations, wedding decorations, ceremony, and reception.

On Sunday we went back to Portland for a few days. Grandma Jackie stayed in a room next to ours in the hotel and did a lot of babysitting so David and Jill could run around Portland and go out on a date. We all saw the Japanese Garden and did a little shopping and quite a bit of eating. Luke really liked the garden and stared at the koi and checked out all the plants.

Earlier in the month we went to Grandma Sally's for Labor Day weekend and a family party at Uncle Jim and Aunt Annie's house. (See photo with his cousins on the couch.) Before that we made a trip up to Cadillac to show Luke the wonders of the north woods. Again, he was great for both trips (except for a lot of carseat crying in the car) and he seems to love to get out and see new things.