On the boat with our flippy floppies

Another fabulous weekend in Louisiana! The weather was absolutely, positively perfect - low 90s and lots of sun (a little windy, but just a mild breeze by Kansas/ND standards!) Of course we spent as much time as possible out at the lake. Nothing beats Cheetos and beer while out enjoying the day...well, just Cheetos for Luke. After the bag of puffy delightfulness defeated Luke, he passed out for almost 2.5 hours!  We decided it is probably the best babysitter in the universe :) Here are some pics from our latest adventures at Cross Lake.

It has been another fun, relaxing week around the Godinez household. Luke is getting more and more mobile. Now that he figured out he can get around on his own, his new favorite thing to do is head straight for the doggie dishes! He loves to pull around his little train; however, he forgets how fast it moves and manages to bonk himself with it when he's on the tile.  As you can tell from the last picture, the little dude wears himself out! Plus, that fourth tooth coming in sure does hurt :( Good thing a snuggle with Daddy makes everything better.

Dallas

Last week I was all geared up for my upcoming trip to our Houston facility for work. Although I do enjoy travelling for work, I was more concerned about the exciting shopping opportunities in Houston during my free time.  Alas, they were not ready to proceed with our planned project, so the trip got delayed. No big deal for work, but what to do about my shopping?!?!?

Solution:  Dallas!

For once, we had nothing planned for the weekend, and it was simply beautiful outside.  Luckily, the neighbors were willing to watch the four-legged babies, so off we went for a weekend of shopping, eating, and baseball in Dallas.  Luke, as always, was a fabulous little traveler.  We shopped until we dropped, stuffed our faces with delicious Mexican food for dinner and La Madeline for brunch,  and went to Luke's first MLB game (Rangers v. Angels)! As you can see from the picture, it was a bit too much excitement to handle, but it was the perfect way to spend the weekend together.

MOBILE BABY

After hours....and hours....and hours of struggling, grunting, and rolling over in defeat, Luke is FINALLY mobile!! Megan, our speech therapist, took Luke out of class this afternoon to start our session, but, as usual, I was running a few minutes late. When I made it to the room they were already hard at work, so I sat down about 5 feet away. Luke instantly stopped what he was doing, lowered himself to the floor, and went hand...leg...hand...leg...hand....leg until he pulled himself into my lap! As I sat there fighting back the tears, Megan was in stunned disbelief. Luckily, Anita, our occupational therapist, was right across the hall with one of Luke's friends, so when we started yelling and clapping she, of course, had to come check out the commotion. Guess what?!?!!? He did it AGAIN!!!!

And that's not all folks....

With a mobile baby comes....a waving baby!! Yes, it does not matter if you are a stranger at Target, an old lady behind us at church, a tree, or a pretend figment of his imagination, Luke will wave hello to you. Watch out though, he tends to get distracted and wave at himself, which cracks him up more than you will ever know! Nothing beats trying to conduct a meeting after hours at work with Luke in my arms (because Patrick was flying) as he waved to everyone while I tried to talk. Somehow, I don't think they remember what I said....

Pictures/video to come. Do you know how difficult this is to capture on camera??????

Dancin' Fool!

So, my son has dance fever...

About a month ago, the rhythmically gifted (Black) teachers at his school taught him how to dance.  You just do a little beat box (those younger than 40 will know what that is, the rest of you just fake it) and he would bounce up and down!  He loved it!  Then, he started doing it to actual music or people singing!  More recently, he has added a new move.  He will rock back and forth too!  We thought you would enjoy his audition tape to "Dancing with the Starts!"



Pretty awesome.

In other news, Luke is growing up so fast!  He has been transitioning to real food!  That means that he is eating what we eat at home and cafeteria food at school!  He doesn't even use a crib at school either!  They have him napping on a mat.  Crazy.  His new favorite pastime is reading a bedtime story.

This story makes my hair stand on end!

See you later dear readers!

Does she EVER slow down?

Have you met my wife?  She's....well the best way to put it is to describe what she's been doing lately.

Tonight, she turned in a 15(ish) page paper to her professor.

Not too bad, but what's the big deal you ask?

Well, it was the last paper...in the last class...to finish her Masters Degree! (I'm so proud of her!)

WOW!!! (you declare, even though I can't actually hear you)

But wait, THERE'S MORE!

Last weekend, Luke turned 1!
We just got back from Jamaica!
We just put landscaping, a gazebo, and a shed in our backyard!
Melissa went on her first out of town trip for work!
Grandma Godinez came to visit!
I got a new instructor rating at work!
And much more!

Grandma couldn't figure out why she could hear Baby Luke, but just couldn't seem to find him!

What can I say, he loves his pinwheel!

Baby Luke is telling you all about his friend, Pablo the Penguin!

"I CAN TAKE A BETTER PICTURE THAN YOU CAN! GIVE ME THE CAMERA!"

Daddy imparting great wisdom on his son...

Baby Luke having a great time!

So you see, Dear Reader, that's probably why we haven't been writing much on the blog as of late.  But tonight...tonight things are different.  Melissa is surfing the internet and watching The Wonder Years reruns.  Ralphie is curled up next to her to keep his nose warm, and Sophie is snuggled up in her blanket on the floor.

It's a good night.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Little Dude!

One year ago we were staring at the monitors to watch your vitals, not even able to hold you because you were so sick. There were so many questions:  How long until you could breathe on your own? Did you have a heart defect? How severe would the Down Syndrome prove to be? How long until you could learn to eat?

Now......

 You have no trouble eating.....

You LOVE to be snuggled.....

 And you don't have a care in the world!

We love you, and here's a look at the first year of your life.

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