And crawling (one night he did 10 laps between Mike and I and just giggled and squealed the entire time):
We also took him for a swing ride up at the park for the first time. He got to swing in St. Louis at Uncle Bob and Aunt Marlo's and loved it so much that we decided to try it here. He's a wee small for the swings, but we managed to work it out and he loved it!
Grandma Bucciero visited last week, too, so we were pretty busy (hence the lack of blogging sooner). We had a great time!
He also has finally figured out that the cats are pretty cool. He's even gotten a bit daring by reaching for them. Sydney as of yet is fairly unphased and Pinochle is just a little confused by it and just has decided that perhaps it's better to move and avoid the situation. 
Luke is definitely working hard on proper crawling. He can move around all over the place to go after a toy but it's largely disorganized movement. It won't be long! This week, Grandma Bucciero will be visiting so we've been feverishly getting ready for that. In fact, vacuuming is calling my name.
He was very intrigued by Great-Grandma and Poco. In fact, he put on quite the scooting/rocking/rolling show at their place on the floor. He loves being up on all fours and moving as much as he can, which isn't too much given that he hasn't quite figured out how to move his legs. We also decided to start him out young on some pinochle playing. He's really a fast learner!
We did have a great trip to Cape Girardeau and St. Louis, although it was extremely quick! Luke is certainly getting the hang of flying and hopefully, we can do this more often as it was such a rushed trip and there were many people we didn't get to see. Coming soon...pictures of not one, but both of the toothlings!
P.S. Not to brag, but it's August and I'm wearing a sweatshirt around the house! Apparently, this is a tad unusual.
He loves food so far. We've done peas and sweet potatoes, too, and he just loves them. It usually takes a second for him to remember what on earth we are putting in his mouth, but then he is quite entertained with the whole endeavor. Although, no more giggles like the first time!
Yesterday, we visited our first church. Luke made it through the entire service for the first time! Yippee! Unfortunately, I don't think this will be our church home. Two critical requirements were missing - no pipe organ and no music program. Overall, it was a very nice service and the pastor has been there 25 years, but Trinity just has left very large shoes to fill. In fact, I was trying to remember how I chose Trinity 9 years ago. I believe it was the fact that there was a bell choir and as soon as I met Marcia and Rob and Pastor Phil, that was all I needed. We miss Trinity dreadfully, but hopefully, we will find one soon to belong to.
In closing, I took a very large step in addressing my Richmond addiction - I shredded my Ukrops card (sniff, sniff) and send my frequent luncher punch cards to friends to use up. Even the cats are starting to return to old behaviors like hanging out in the bathtub. Different house, same old tricks.
Tomorrow, Luke and I fly to St. Louis for a quick visit to meet Poco and Great-Grandma Niehaus and Uncle Bob and Aunt Marlo and to meet some friends of the Grandparents Lukens. It will be great to see everyone!! We'll be back on Friday in time for the Olympics! I can't wait - it's the best thing to happen to television since 2004!
