Drive to Orlando...

 

...to visit Aya!  Lucas and I drove up to Orlando (Baldwin Park to be precise) to visit our old next door neighbor that became a very good friend of ours and fell in love with little Lukey.  Her two grandchildren, Danny and Gabby, just received a new baby sister this week and I am sure that Lucas' visit was good practice for them.  As you can tell by this picture, they are naturals. ;-)  

Lucas loves Aya too!

 

And Olivia Grace - Aya's dog!

 

New "Baby Cage"...

...or play station, as I like to call it.  We put up the barricades in Lucas' new contained play area a week ago and he seems to like it.  We have since put two new toys, one with legs and the other that is a tall cube with a lot of activities, that encourage standing and walking.  For now, Lucas loves to do his inch worm crawl and rip up the foam letters and borders.  He also loves to visit the various toys that are hanging from the fence. 

Pool time with his girlfriend Sofia...

 

Lucas loves the water and thoroughly enjoyed his play date in the pool with little Sofia and mommy Chiara.  Of course he kept ripping the hat off of his head so I armed myself with plenty of baby safe sun block for the next outing.  When I held Lucas in the water and dragged him around on his belly he kept trying to put his face in the water.  It was hard to tell if he was trying to drink the water or just liked his face in the water - either way, I encouraged the behavior.  I may look into getting some baby swim lessons for Lucas, or at least water safety lessons.

Eat, eat, eat your food...

...eat your food I say, Wiggledy biggledy bobbildy BOOP, it's fun to sign and play!!  Yes, we started a sign language class for little Lucas last month.  It is held at our house on Saturday mornings right after music class at the University of Miami.  Yes, Lucas has a very busy schedule for such a little guy.  Four other families join us as we go through different categories each week.  Last week was bath time signs and this week was night time signs.  As you can see, I also love the songs that go with the signs.  Truth be told, the only signs that I really remember to do are EAT, DRINK & MILK.  However, my friend Amy and I saw first hand that these babies really do learn these signs from a mommy whose little 18 month old daughter Sophie was signing away about twenty different words in Spanish - very impressive indeed!

The nebulizer...

Last month, at 9 months old, Lucas had some bronchial coughing and the pediatrician prescribed a nebulizer.  We had to run the machine three times a day for 10 minutes.  Lucas was surprisingly well behaved during the process and didn't move his little head around too much.

First visit to Publix...

...the local grocery store!  I usually end up taking care of the groceries after Lucas goes to bed so that I can make it a quick trip and Andres stays home with the sleeping bambino.  Last week, however, Andres was in Colombia for the surgeries of his parents and I was in the position where I had to bring Lucas with me.  He seemed to enjoy being whisked about the store and even made a little friend in the dairy department.  Lucas never misses a social opportunity - just like his mommy!

Ooooh, FIRST TOOTH!!

 

Lucas' first tooth came in at 9 1/2 mths after teething for days, weeks and MONTHS!  He now has both of his two lower front teeth in with the second tooth just peeking out.  It is so cute to watch him eat meat and chicken as he brings it to the front of his mouth so he can chew it.  Lucas is also a constant flow of drool and snot, although he hasn't had any fevers or severe discomfort from the teething process.