July 19 - Little Joker & Little Man

Greetings dimpled munchkin fans! We've had an exciting last few weeks so I'll dive right in. Luke and I traveled to Florida at the end of June for work and had a fun trip. We flew into Tampa and had lunch with Grammie, Aunt Katherine and Uncle Chad before we trekked to Gainesville. WE stayed at Hannah and Mark's house again and had a fabulous time. They are expecting their first baby boy at the end of July so they had fun playing with the little man. Luke had fun playing with Nanny B (Amelia old BFF, Bailey the pooch) and loved their rocking papasan chair. My girlfriend Suzanne also watched Luke fo ra few days and she spoiled him rotten. She let him nap while she was snuggling with him I was worried he wouldn't npa solo again but no worries.

She has 3 kids so Luke was a baby on the move going to swim practice, picking the older kids up from summer camp, taking walks and Suzanne also took him to the pool. As for me-I always enjoy my time in the office being around people. It was great to catch up with everyone and of course, seeing my Gainesville based friends. Jill and I were able to hang out Sunday night (just like the old days, it was fab!) while Hannah and I spent almost every night chatting until 11pm.

Luke and I drove to Tampa on Friday 7/1 and got stuck in major traffic. It was combination of b

ad weather (heavy rains) and holiday congestion so a 2H drive took closer to 4H. When we arrived in Tampa, Grammie had a delicious dinner waiting and we were able to visit with Uncle Greg, Aunt Nicole, Uncle Chad, Gram

mie and K.C. (the cat).

Luke and I flew back to Houston on 7/2 and it was a whirlwind weekend. We all went to Hannah's birthday party at the Jumpin' Jungle (bouncy house place), a going away party for our friends who are moving to Milwaukee (I didn't realize there was going to be a water slide so I jumped in there with my clothes to play with Jules) and had a grill out with the Root's. It was a fab weekend!

Last weekend J.D.'s best friend's Andrew and Ben flew into town. They drove to Austin, went boating and ate a lot of delicious food (for those foodies who read this blog, Austin has the most amazing food, I highly recommend a visit if you haven't been there before). I was home with the kids and came down with a stomach flu (that put the kibosh on my milk production so Luke is 100% on formula now).

Julia is flourishing in her new class and absolutely loves school. Most days I pick her up she tells me she wants to go back! It's amazing how much she has developed in the last month or so. Most mornings, she wakes up, goes to the bathroom on her own, and sometimes evens gets dressed. She has also become quite the little joker. She tells us she wants to give us a high five, and when we put our hand up, she kind of pokes it with her fingers and squeals "I gave you a baby five!" She also likes to practice different faces and will show us happy, sad, crying and surprised. It is hilarious.

Luke is also doing fab. He discovered the stairs the other day and can race up them unassisted (don't worry, we're behind him). He crawls extremely fast, can pull himself up on almost anything and walks along stuff very quickly. He did a loop around the downstairs the other day pushing Julia's grocery cart. Pretty impressive! He had his 9mon check up last week and it's become clear that he inherited the small Cook genes. He is small and mighty with advanced motor skills.

Oh-we also buzzed Luke's hair a few weeks ago. His hair is very blond and looks super handsome! He's also discovered his tongue and sticks it out all the time. Beyond adorable!

Who Needs Bathing Suites?

Blondie (he has a lot of hair, it white!)

Mommy gives Luke a bottle for the first time

Julia Helps Make Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Jules and Luke

Silly Pool Fun

Another picture of Julia in her princess dress (she insisted on wearing this all day last Sunday) - She is so beautiful!