Christmas 2009 in the Electric City: Part the First

This year, Luke and Mom & Dad headed off to Grandma & Grandpa Casey's in Scranton for Christmas. He had practiced everyone's name, eaten a practice run at "Grandma's White Pizza," and picked out good presents for everyone. He was ready!

He got right down to business on day one, playing Sorry with Uncle Steve, "Goofus", and Ritchie (the Casey/Conery's exchange student from Albania).

He then supervised the move-in of the tree (it's Casey tradition to put the tree up on Christmas Eve)

And he helped set it all up - mostly because it earned work gloves

Where's Luke?

He and Uncle Steve celebrated a job well done with some football / tickle tackle

And Aunt Amy kept him from tearing the tree back down

And Grandma took a shift

Ornaments!

He had fun hanging ornaments on the tree - and his cousins, Peter & "Goofus", were good to show him how it's done

Another Casey (via Paul's great Aunt Hedy) tradition is to get the kids together to make pretzel cookies - Luke dove right in and sprinkled to his heart's delight!

Grammy, Grandpap, and Uncle Rob should note that "Goofus" was making Black & Gold pretzel cookies for the Steelers

Well done, Luke!

The annual photo of the kids in front of the tree

Finally! Luke was ready (and hydrating) to open presents!

The Bromance

The weekend before Christmas we had a snowstorm. Our friends, the Kornbluhs, came 'round to help learn to play in the snow (FAIL). So, we decamped to our apartment, played with Luke's toys while we waited for the pizza to arrive. Luke's favorite thing about the Kornbluhs is their youngest, Ben. Ben, with whom Luke goes way back, is oft-referred to around our house - sometimes Luke goes looking for him after naps, blows up his celly on pretend phone calls, and mentions him on real phone calls to Grammy. When asked who is best buddy is, the answer is almost always "BEN!"

Here, Ben's Daddy, Jed, entertains Luke, Ben, and Ben's big sister, Evie.



And Luke & Ben enjoyed the Jack in the Box monkey. (The observant may notice that Ben has a shirt identical to Luke's. Coincidence?)



And finally, TICKLE TACKLE!

Christmas Pre-Game

Since Luke will be spending Christmas with the Caseys, the Conerys, and the Casey Conerys in Scranton, Grammy & Grandpap Rosella sent his presents to Hoboken. Many of them will be coming with us in our sleigh this week, but one present was so big that we decided that 1) it won't fit in our car, and 2) he should get to open it early to enjoy it a little before he's awash in loot.

After a long weekend of a lot of being cooped up because of cold & snow, we let Luke crack open the big box while dinner was cooking. (please ignore that our apartment is upended by several projects - including packing, baking cookies, gift wrapping, making dinner, and clean up after an afternoon playdate)

I think he likes it.




And he's grateful, too!

Snow Snow Look at the Snow

While we had some snow when Luke was but a newborn, and a bit last winter, this weekend's "blizzard" was the first snow that Luke was old enough to care about/be aware of. After dinner on Saturday night, we took Luke out for a walk before bubbles & bed.

We got him alllll bundled up in his cold weather gear (fortunately Miss Kellie at daycare had been teaching them about hats, gloves, and boots!) and we were ready to head outside!


Luke took his time to get acclimated

Daddy tried to teach him to catch snowflakes on his tongue...

But after a few minutes outside in some heavy snow and bracing wind, we were all dusted with snow. Luke did not like this and became convinced/concerned that he was covered in something "yucky." So we walked on the snowless part of the sidewalk.

And as a reward for him being a trouper, we went around the corner to see the inflatable decorations on a neighbor's stoop - including a choo choo and a Santa (Luke calls him "Grandpa"). He was done walking in this "snow" business and Daddy had to carry him all the way home.

Only a few months later...

I thought that we should get photos of Luke in Scranton posted before we make our return trip to visit The entire Casey/Conery Clan. We went in October after postponing a week due to illness.

First Luke had a good time watching Grandma make Grandpa's Birthday Cake (probably more than eating the cake itself)


He made sure he kept things clean in the dining room


Which he needed to do after eating lots of pancakes


Of course he made plenty of time to play with the gate


and to collect leaves

Survey the property with Grandpa


Walk up and down the steps


read stories with Grandpa


and read the paper

Turkey Lurkey Lukey

Luke went to Grammy & Grandpap Rosella's new house for Thanksgiving this year. He had a great time making himself at home, playing with his cousins, and visiting the first of Pittsburgh's many museums.

Luke quickly discovered Grammy's spare gloves and enjoyed wearing them around

He and Grandpap spent some time discussing serious matters

He had stories with Grammy & Grandpap before bed

And on Thanksgiving, he had a grand time playing with his cousins, Simon & Chloe - specifically Simon's cool Batman cars

On Friday, we went to the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh (which fortunately, unlike its website, does not play "the chicken dance song" on a loop). He enjoyed the sand table

And he did his Great Uncle Joe proud by using the bricklaying tools so well!

We also spent some time looking at the Mr. Rogers exhibit - here Luke gets a look at Daniel Striped Tiger, after which his lovey is named

And we sang some Mr. Rogers classics at the player piano

When we got home, he "shared" some crackers with Grammy & Grandpap

And organized Grammy's spices

I like this picture. It's wicked artistic.

Finally, Luke ended his trip by spending some quality time with Grammy & Grandpap's broom all while sporting his new sweatshirt from Grandpap