The Merrick Family has grown: Off to Atlanta & some random thoughts

This early morning, I write from the Moline airport, waiting for my plane to Atlanta, where I will be through Saturday afternoon for meetings. The alarm went off at 3 a.m, much to my resistance, I had to rise and shine long before the sun would shine! Unfortunately, Sean followed right behind me, as he had to head out early for a surgery in Charles City. So what about Luke? Luke has his Uncle Mitch sleeping over with him. We felt bad asking Ms. Judi to come at 4:30 a.m so Mitch stayed with us last night and will be there if Luke needs him. I am crossing my fingers that Luke doesn't test his Uncle Mitch!

Luke has been sleeping until 7:15-7:30 consistently for nearly a month! He has always been a very early riser, so we are loving this, especially on the weekends. We get to "sleep in".

Everyday is truly like Christmas in our house. I love going into Luke's room every morning to see a HUGE smile on his face, he reaches out and gives the biggest hug. He is really into giving hugs, so if you are in need...this little boy will melt your heart! Some of the things Luke is doing now...he started saying "please or peas", he started going down the stairs backwards. It is hilarious, he gets down against the wall onto his tummy and then slides backwards until he gets to the stairs. He is obsessed with climbing, he pushes his toys up to the couch and chair to climb on it so he can jump. Luke loves to dance, anytime he hears music he starts to dance, and by dance I mean, swings his arms, and acts like he is jumping but his feet don't leave the ground. I think he gets his dance moves from his daddy! Most recent animal sound is a kitty, and his version of a "meow" is humming really high pitch, pretty darn cute if you ask me! I laugh so hard I cry.

I have loved every stage of Luke's growing, the cuddling phase to the wild, rambunctious toddler he is today. He still loves to cuddle with me, just not as often. It's funny to watch him, already at one, he is definitely more rough when he plays with his daddy, and when he needs some comfort he runs to me! Love him to pieces.

Ms. Judi asked me yesterday if it is harder to be away now than when he was an infant. I said, it is definitely less work on my end now because I don't have to prep so much before I leave, as far as his feedings, etc, but I will say it has gotten harder and harder as he has gotten older because he is so interactive and changes so much daily, I feel I miss so much. It also breaks my heart to know that he looks for me around the house:( So it is definitely hard one way or another, just a different kind of hard.

On a side note, I want to wish Ms. Judi a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Her birthday was yesterday, so we took her out to dinner Monday night to celebrate, had birthday cake/balloons waiting for her and Luke gave her a little gift yesterday. They spent the morning playing together and we gave her the afternoon off to enjoy some time with her sisters.

Lastly, please keep my sister-in-law Kate, brother Bryan, and the Jankowski/Batterman family in your thoughts and prayers. Tuesday they said good-bye to their wonderful, loving Grandma Marie. I know there is a very special angel looking down so proudly on you Kate, and the rest of your family. It doesn't matter the age, it is always hard to say good-bye to someone you love so dearly. Thoughts and prayers to all as you remember and treasure the wonderful memories of your sweet Grandma.

Now, I will leave you with a couple pictures I took of Luke from my phone yesterday!