The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas always flies by and this year was no exception. Besides all the wonderful opportunities to visit family and celebrate, we had lots of other reasons for wonder and adventure, especially when looking through the eyes of little boys.
He is 8 months old now, but I never got his sweet little 7-month photo posted, so without further ado...
...here is our baby, growing up just as fast as he can so that he can do all the things he sees his brothers doing. Luke now has four teeth with a fifth expected any day, is feeding himself little bits of anything we'll put in front of him, crawls on his forearms and belly, and is beginning to pull up to his knees. This brings him to the perfect level off the floor to pull out and investigate the contents of his dad's sock drawer. Fascinating! He is finding his way around the house, and if I put him down in our room I can bet his first destination (now, occasionally after the sock drawer) is our bathroom. Even if the door is closed, it doesn't latch, so he's learned that he can give it a good push and hopefully make it to our bath mat to scratch at it with his fingers before I scoop him up and redirect him. He is very vocal, usually "sings" with me when he's tired and trying to go to sleep, and also makes sounds the whole time we are at the table for a meal.
The big boys have been waiting for months for a big event at the farm - the preparation for and laying of a pipeline through the property. The heavy duty machines finally arrived and they were able to spend a few 70+ degree December days taking it all in.
They got to sit in the driver's seat of a brand-new bulldozer and watch all the excavators, dozers, and big trucks doing their work, plus climb on a huge pile of dirt they'd pushed aside. Does it get any better than that?
It might get better, for Isaac. He also got to go feed the cows with Papa, which is one of his favorite things to do anyway, but on this trip there was a rattlesnake at the barn. He watched from the safety of the truck as Papa removed the danger, and was fascinated to check out the snake and its rattles afterwards. When we returned to where the others were working, Isaac was so proud to show off the snake (minus head + fangs) along with the stick (yes, that short one that he's holding) that Papa used to dispatch it. That's super tough-guy stuff.
Later on he was tagging along to check on the pipeline action when Papa asked him to show the bulldozer operator what was in his pocket. He nearly fell over when little Isaac pulled out the rattlesnake rattles and told him in his biggest boy voice that he'd killed it with his "whopping stick!"
It had been such a busy day that Luke didn't do a lot of napping, and by the late afternoon he was just worn out. A quick ride in the truck from one part of the farm to another was just too warm and comfy, and I felt his little body relax suddenly as he fell over, asleep on Isaac's shoulder. He had been so interested in everything all day long and finally gave in to a little slumber.
Caedmon and Isaac had been so excited about the digger action happening at the farm that they wanted to take along their toy diggers to participate in the event. The hole that we had dug in preparation for a new cattleguard became the perfect place for them to "work" in the soft, fresh earth and they played there contentedly for some time.
So if that weren't enough adventure for one week, we had to wrap up our trip to the farm and head home in time to beat the ice and snow that blew in. The boys were ecstatic when they woke up the next morning to find a world of white outside and were dressed and out the door before I even had a chance to make breakfast.
Even Luke was entertained by the change of scenery, and gave us a wrinkly-nosed toothy smile!
The boys experimented with different items to determine what made the best sled for the slope in our front yard. They had a ton of fun sliding on a plastic lid from a storage bin, going up and down over and over.
Luke had another opportunity to experience the outdoors, this time from the warm shelter of his dad's coat! He loved watching his brothers play while staying snugly tucked in.
I mentioned that Luke has a bunch of teeth - with this being the case, we figure we need to let him use them! He thought he was such a big guy when I put a piece of sausage on my fork and let him gnaw away at the end, all grins. Meat has definitely become a welcome and enthusiastically received addition to his diet.
Bonus picture! I loved this shot of Isaac watching his dad demonstrate flying a toy helicopter that Isaac received for Christmas. So serious and focused...learning every day!
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