Videos and pictures sometimes say a lot more than words.  We have quite a few videos to share, and so, I'm just going to pop them all into one post for all to enjoy.  

We all have been doing very well and are very busy.  By the time we get home, eat dinner, clean up, play, get ready for bed, ready books, and turn in, there is little time left for anything else.  

Mom is currently working on my yellow dinosaur halloween costume, but it's slow going with all of the other things happening in our lives.  Luckily for mom, Luke will definitely fit into my old gladiator costume, so she doesn't need to make him anything new.  The poor guy has a life of hand me downs ahead of him, but maybe by the time him is 3 and a half... and insistent... she'll have to make him something new that he'll love.  

Mom and I also went on an adventure to Kohl's last week to search for black and orange and black and light-up SHARK shoes.  They didn't have them in the store, but we ordered them - because I have the coolest mom.
From Luke:
I have completely turned around my game at daycare.  Long gone are the days of constant crying; instead I am happy and playful and a little lovey.  I am starting to hold my own bottle!  Can you believe it?  And I tried cheerios the other day. They were yummy, but I'm not really ready to make them a regular part of my day.  I swallow them whole and make a wierd face while doing it.  
Yesterday Mom and Dad didn't feel like cooking, so we went to Red Robin for a dinner.  Mom gave me a cardboard coaster to play with, and when she turned around a minute or 2 later to check on me there was a perfect baby sized bite missing from the coaster.  She paniced a little bit, thinking that I had either swallowed it or was about to choke on it.  She dug around in my mouth a little bit (totally not fun and such a violation of my personal space, Mom), but didn't find anything.  As she was trying to decide whether there was anything terribly toxic in the coaster that would require an immediate trip to the ER to have my stomache pumped (do they even do that), she noticed me swishing something around in my mouth.  There it was!  Right on my tongue.  It tasted kind of gross.  She fished it out and that was the end of that crisis, but I was kind of mad that she wouldn't let me have the coaster again.
Anyway, here are the promised videos.  Enjoy them!

Here is Luke on his 6 month birthday:

Luke found Preston's leftover spaghetti:

Preston rode a roller coaster on the boardwalk:

And Luke fell asleep... while jumping

Let's start with the important stuff.  I'm 19lbs 12ozs,  28inches, and 85-90% for everything.  Just to compare, Preston was 19lbs when he was 6 and a half months old.  So I'm still tracking bigger than him, although I'm starting to even out a little bit.  
I can definitely sit, and I'm still working on crawling.  I have figured out a reliable way to get myself around the room.  I pull up on all 4s, and then lunge forward on my chest to get a little distance, and it looks a lot like "the worm." I am highly motivated by toys across the room, people across the room, and ESPECIALLY kitties across the room.  I haven't been able to catch a kitty, yet, but I'm working on it.  
Yesterday I had my check-up.  That's how we know how much I weigh.  In addition to all the basic stuff they check, I also got FOUR shots (I was screaming after #2), and an oral vaccine.  The doctor also mentioned that I have an early "parachute reflex."  When you swoosh me down to the ground I actually reach for it like I'm trying to land.  This could mean that I'll be an early walker.  You need that reflex in order to walk.

My other big news is that I got baptized on Sunday, and Mom and Dad had a lovely little party in my honor.  Pastor Curt did the dunking, although he was a little stingy in his water application.  We had a fun church service where the children participated in the telling of Creation.  I was Day 6.  
Grandma, in true super star fashion made outfits, with matching hats, for both Preston and me with fabric that came across the ocean from Germany.  

Here are some pictures:

Yes, it's true; I am six months old today!  Seriously, where did the time go.  I'm already trying to crawl, sit up, and scoot around. 
We haven't blogged in a while, so we have a bit more catch up to do, besides celebrating my half birthday.  We went to the lake on Labor Day, where the gladiator hat made an adorable come back, we celebrated Grandma's real birthday, and we played with Talia and Liora.  I took a bath in the kitchen sink.

From Preston:
I had the best time at Dyken Pond!  I love it when Tia Deb, Liora, Talia, Uncle Ted, and Aunt Rachel are all there to play with me!  Mom and I made Grandma a special rainbow birthday cake.  See, when I was at the grocery store with Mom a few weeks ago, I saw the box for a rainbow cake.  I asked her if we could buy it, and she said no.  But I put it in the cart anyway.  Several times over the course of the shopping trip I would notice Mom sneakily trying to put the box back, but I ALWAYS caught her.  Even at check-out she tried to get rid of it, but I kept a VERY close watch.  So we came home with it.  Mom said she would make it for my birthday, but that's not until January.  I agreed that we could make it now for Grandma, and it was a LOT of fun.  It's turned out pretty cool, too.
We were also able to swim at the lake, despite it being late in the season. Even Lukey liked the water, and swam naked-dee-dee for a good 20 minutes with Tia Deb.  We are all sad that the Dyken Pond season is over.   It is VERY long wait until Memorial Day, but we will look forward to it through the winter.

Here are a few pictures, and you can see the rest of the album HERE:

Now we fast forward to the weekend after Labor Day when all went to Mem's house to have a party for Grandma's 60th birthday!  Mom made Grandma a special memory book a lot like the one she made for Grandpa last year. Grandma loved it!
The day before Grandma's party we went to BounceU to celebrate Quinten's birthday!  It was a lot of fun, too!
Here are some photos, and you can see the rest of the album HERE:

AND we did a little photo shoot today for Lukey's 6 month birthday.  SO CUTE!

See the full album HERE