pretending to sleep

one of luke's favorite things to do these days is to pretend he's sleeping. he'll be in the middle of doing something and then all of a sudden lay down and start making snoring noises. it's pretty funny. i spend a lot of my day pretending along with him and this time he got daddy to play along. eric does a little more convincing of a job than luke does. :)

sweet mandy b's decorating class!

many of you know that i have a love of all things sweet. many of you also know that i have a love of a local chicago bakery, sweet mandy b's, that specializes in all things sweet, especially cupcakes (see: luke's 1st birthday party). well, my friend, christine, clued me in on their special decorating classes for tots. luke and i went to a class today and learned how to make a cookiewich, a whoopie pie, banana pudding, and a dirt cup. it was a pretty successful class and the best part is that we took home everything we made! yummy!

luke and his friends olivia and chase busy at work.

mid-session taste test. luke loved the icing (just like his momma)!

luke and olivia drooling over all the cakes at the counter.

our last official weekend in the city

back in late may we decided to buy a house in the suburb of schaumburg, illinois (about 25 miles outside of chicago). this decision came after many months of discussing the next step for our family. we took time in early spring to tour some suburbs and decide on one we'd eventually like to live in. after a few months we decided upon schaumburg. schaumburg is where eric's dad and step-mom live as well as his sister and her family. this location also allows us to be much closer to eric's mom and step-dad and his brother's family too. so, we put our condo on the market in early may and even though our condo hadn't sold, we found a new home a few short weeks later. now, we just need our condo to sell!

we are set to close on our new home on july 22nd, but we'll be busy the next couple of weekends visiting my family in georgia and then we move! so, this was technically our last official weekend in the city. it was a special one because it included a visit to our favorite summer breakfast spot, julius meinl, as well as 4th of july fireworks on our rooftop deck. both of which are chicago traditions for our little family that we'll dearly miss. not to mention all of our friends that we've made over the 11 (me) and 14 (eric) years that we've lived in the city. we're excited for the next chapter but also sad to say goodbye to the end of our time in the city. this is the place where we met, fell in love, got married, experienced young married life, and then brought our first child into the world. we have so much to be grateful for to the city of chicago. but we are looking forward to having the extra space, a yard for luke to play in, free parking, and being closer to family. thank you, chicago, for the wonderful memories!

last time at our favorite summer breakfast spot. we started making this a tradition last summer when luke was a baby. it just kind of stuck!

one satisfied customer.

dinner with an old friend

tonight we had the pleasure of getting together with our dear friends kim, marc and their 3 year old son, dylan. they just moved out of the city into a nearby suburb and we went to see their new home and catch up. luke and dylan had a nice little dinner together after playing outside in the july 4th weekend heat (see: luke's red cheeks and sweaty head)!

more ice cream

luke has definitely caught on to this thing called "ice cream" since his first taste back at the end of may. and for the record, he ate this whole cone (minus a few licks from daddy as we had to control the melting).

good friends, good times, and luke's first boat trip

we spent the weekend up in menomonee falls, wisconsin with some of my high school/college and post-college roommates. we had such a great time cruising okauchee lake during the day and a fun night grilling out and catching up.

captain brian at the helm.

chef meghan who made the most amazing french onion dip that luke absolutely loved!

kim and mitch (aka mr. hawaii) HI! :)

luke hanging out on the boat eating green peppers drenched in french onion dip of course!

luke was the only one who wanted to take a dip in the lake, so his parents did too (welcome to the world of parenthood where you do stuff that you don't want to just because your kid does). boy, was that water cold!!

bye bye swim suit, hello birthday suit! drying off.

luke and his new friend, eloise (6 months old)!

father's day 2011

we had a great day celebrating eric's second father's day. luke was definitely more involved in this year's celebration.

helping daddy open his gift.

forehead kisses.

enjoying breakfast together.

and now enjoying the art of drinking out of matching Jayhawk's cups!

a little father/son park time!

happy father's day to "boppa" frank too!

my boys.

shootin' hoops at the orozco household!

and just in case you missed it...luke digs his dad.

playground fun!

we typically visit several parks around the city each week. this is one of our favorites and luke definitely feels "at home" here. he's a busy, sweaty kid at the playground.

steppin' out on the scary drop-off ledge that always gives mom and dad a quick panic attack.

on the big kid swings with daddy.

nothing like a good teeter-totter ride.

playin' some b-ball outside of school.

eyeing up the competition.

taking a break and showing off for the ladies.

throwing dirt and sticks down the water drainage gate to see the water make ripples.

airplane ride!

weeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

sesame street please!!

this is the "sign" that daddy taught luke for when he wants to watch sesame street. now luke walks around all day tugging on his ear. nice one eric...

luke is 20 months old! 6.6.11

"hi, i'm luke and i'm 20 months old!" that makes me one summer away from turning 2! whoa!

things luke is doing at 20 months:

- says "hi" and "bye" very clearly

- says "yeah" and "no" and means it when we ask him questions

- says every color is "boo" when we ask him "what color is this?"

- loves spending time outside and asks to go "side" first thing upon waking up

- holds our hands and drags us everywhere he wants to go

- is still rear facing in his car seat (we've adopted the extended rear facing method and hope to keep him rear facing until he's 2ish)

- still loves to eat raisins

- loves pickles

- dips his hotdog in mustard :)

- new words include saying his version of "please" while also doing the sign. melt your heart!

- tugs on his ear when he wants to watch sesame street (eric taught him this "sign")

- still loves to suck his thumb

- while at the park luke loves to climb on all the equipment, go down all the slides (big and little), play in the dirt, watch the leaves do their "helicopter" thing, play basketball, write with sidewalk chalk, bounce up and down on the teeter-totter

- is constantly red-faced and sweaty at the park when it is a super hot day

- loves forehead to forehead kisses - giving and receiving

- loves wagon rides

- enjoys playing in the bathtub during "water play" our new term for a bath during the heat of summer

- asks people to sit down by pointing to the couch, chair, etc.

- likes sesame street music videos (adam sandler, jason mraz, feist, will.i.am and "i love my hair")

- loves babies and makes the sign for baby while saying "baby"

- is very tickle-ish like his momma and says "no" with a smile on his face when you tickle his belly, neck or feet

- and still loves flags (zaza) and can't get enough of them

can't wait to see what you have in store for us over this next month luke! we love you!!