Lucas O'neil at One and a Half

Last Friday marked Luke's 18 month birthday, and every day since then I have been telling myself that I need to write a blog. I am pretty sure no one even checks this site anymore since the last time I updated was before Christmas--and now it is St. Patrick's Day. But, I suppose I should write here, at least so that I can look back and remember Luke at this age. Eighteen months is the best. He is independent--yet cuddly, talkative--yet shy, silly--yet polite. He loves reading, dancing, watching golf, and stacking anything and everything. He surprises us every single day with a new word, song, or most often--a sports skill. For example: he can honestly throw a spiral football, hit a golf ball, and kick a soccer goal better than me (I think I can still beat him in swimming the 50 yd freestyle...for now). Monte already has him doing football drills that include "fast feet" and push-ups. I think he had to run sprints after this practice since he totally cheated on his push-ups:



I love it that he is not just a "jock," he is a sweet, sensitive, loving little guy who I could cuddle and hold every minute of my life--if he would sit still long enough. He is absolutely head-over-heels obsessed with tractors, cars, and buses (in that order). He sleeps with them, talks about them, kisses them, and sings songs about them. Other than things with engines, he loves "UNCA." He talks about Uncle (John) non-stop from first thing in the morning until bedtime. Whenever he even goes near the front door he points and asks where's "UNCA?!" It's pretty cute.

Monte and I took a cruise to the Bahamas a couple of weeks ago, and it was the first time we had both been away from Luke. While it was a wonderfully relaxing and much-needed getaway for us, we found ourselves missing him and talking about him non-stop. It was amazing how much free time we had on our hands when the little stinker wasn't around to need fed, changed, bathed, entertained, etc! We almost got bored...but then we would realize we needed to take advantage of the time without the constant responsibilities of raising a toddler and head to the pool or the casino. :) "Uncle" and "Whit-a" took unbelievably good care of Luke while we were gone. Whitney blogged and updated us with emails while we were gone, and that made it so much easier to be away knowing that he was in such good hands and having the time of his life. You can read about their adventures here. I imagined that when we got home, they would be running out of the house and peeling out in the street to get out of there. But, actually they were already asking us when we would be leaving again, so they could watch him. He is just such a joy to be around.