WORDS

Luke will be 17 months in a week and a half and I want to document his vocabulary thus far!  Over the past few weeks it seems he has become a little "parrot," trying out several words we prompt him to say.  Here are his words so far:

Mama
Dadda
Nana (my mom)
Papa (my dad...he gets the P out then the rest is a little unclear :)
Nate (his cousin)
Kai (his friend)
Up
Help
Down
Cheese
Keys (pretty much sounds the same as cheese but he knows the difference!)

He is great at signing as well. It's so fun that he can communicate his needs with minimal whining...or so we're working on!  By 18 months children are supposed to have approximately 20 words in their vocabulary so we have 9 more to learn in the next month and a half. :)

I love this little guy!

Summer!

We have had a great summer so far, enjoying two vacations.  The first one was to the Oregon coast with my grandma, parents, brother, sister-in-law and their four kids. We had a great time exploring the tide pools, aquarium, enjoying the beach, and spending time together as a family. This was the first time in awhile we had been on vacation with my family, so it was wonderful to spend a whole week together!

Luke enjoying the chilly Oregon beach

Cousins!

My amazing sister-in-law and my inspiration for having 4 kids some day :)

The Johnson family

Exploring the tide pools

Braving the pool in 65 degree weather!

Beautiful coast! Alivia, Jesse, and Luke

Our second trip was just the three of us-camping in Yosemite. Jesse grew up camping every summer with his dad and sister and was anxious to begin creating those memories with our family.  We had a blast and Luke loved EVERY minute of it! His favorite thing to do was chase (and almost catch!) squirrels. :)  We hiked, biked, swam, and created wonderful family memories.

Helping daddy set up the tent :)

Yosemite falls

Our daily view on our bike ride-beautiful!

Bridal Veil Falls

Half dome shot

Ready to hike Vernal Falls!

Making s'mores!