Don't Fence Him In.

I was in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner while my sweet little son was playing on his blanket. After about 5 minutes, I walked into the family room and found his blanket in disarray (he likes to bring it with him as he rolls) and Luke attacking the leg of his bouncy chair. Who needs crawling when you can just roll where you need to go?

Luke LOVES the camera (and the camera obviously loves him!)

Occupational Therapy.

This is the most wonderful Lori (holding Luke), our occupational therapist, with intern Erica. Lori has been working with Luke since September and has had an amazing impact on our family's life. I honestly believe that Luke would not be doing as well as he is today without her positive influence on his development.

Erica has been Lori's intern since January and recently completed her schooling. Today was her last visit with Luke as an intern but she will be joining the Pediactric Services team fulltime so we hope to see her again soon!

Luke Loves the Ladies.

Some of the girls from my sorority where in town for the weekend (annual Theta reunion) and couldn't resist coming by the house and giving Luke some love. He was all too happy to be passed from lap to lap and was quick to turn on the charm. From left: Megan, Jenny, Amanda (my big sis and old roommate,) Daina and Heidi.

I was suppose to attend the reunion last year but Luke's shunt surgery ended up being performed a couple of days prior. This past Friday (April 25th) marked the one year anniversary of Luke's surgery. With shunt malfunction so common and likely, we are ecstactic to reach one year without a single complication!

Breakfast & The Big Boy.

Last Saturday morning, the Henard family hit up our all-time favorite breakfast establishment. Nothing beats a Franks hot dog but we've been big fans of their breakfast burrito/sandwich/pancake plate since Matt and I started dating (and before!) Fortunately, we live close by so it's still a weekend tradition. Luke got a nifty new highchair (it attaches to the table!) from Papa and Grandma Chrissy for his birthday so he is now able to comfortably enjoy his burrito and extra-large Diet Pepsi (or at least be a happy camper while we enjoy ours!)

After we got home from breakfast, Matt turned Luke's car seat around so he now faces forward. At 1 year old AND 20 pounds, Luke can now legally ride in the car like a big boy!

Where's Luke?

There he is!

This is Luke's new very favorite game. He enjoys using his highchair as his hiding place but if not there, his left forearm covering his eyes works just as well. All you have to do is ask "Where's Luke?!" and the arm shoots up. He gives a pause and then emmerges with bright eyes and a big smile, wanting to hear- "There he is!"

Not Yet A Fan of Nature.

The weather has been fabulous (even a little too warm) in SLO as of late. Last Thursday, Luke sat on real live grass in our front yard for the first time. The conditions were optimal but Luke was not impressed. Moments after this picture, Luke decided he was done with this nonsense and did a header out of his sitting position (he has no clue how to transition into it or out of it yet.) Needless to say, the face full of lawn did not improve his overall opinion.

A Treat From Mother Nature.

Luke had avocado with dinner tonight. The giant mess aside, Matt and I greatly enjoyed watching Luke's utter enjoyment and delight. Who knew avocado was so much fun?

Luke's New Best Friend.

On March 20th, our dear friends, Andrew and Amber Davis, had their first child, Carter Nash. He's such a sweet little boy (I don't believe that he screams all the time for a minute, Mommy Amber!) and, although he was at Luke's birthday party, Luke didn't officially meet him until Wednesday. It was the first time that Luke actually seemed aware of a tiny little human and all was well for a little while...



We purposely put Carter on Luke's not-so-good right side to lessen the chances of Luke taking a swing at him. Also to avoid the infamous "Luke Nose Pinch."

Carter start squirming and was touching Luke's right arm. Luke can usually care less about this arm but Carter touching it gave Luke sudden reason to be concerned about its well-being.

Carter started crying and it was all over. I was being a very bad mommy and decided to snap a picture before comforting my hysterical child. After a few seconds, Luke recovered. He was fine everytime Carter started up again after that but only as long as he was in either mom's or dad's arms.

A Pirate Has Been Spotted In SLO!

Tuesday marked the first day of journey in patching Luke's left eye. The doctor's orders are 2-3 hours each day and we did 40 minutes on Tuesday and 2 hours yesterday! Much to my surprise, he was totally okay with it and was even, dare I say, happier with it on? Maybe it has something to do with him only having to work on using/focusing one eye- who knows. Regardless, my biggest issue is getting it on and making it stick properly. This picture was taken yesterday- I love how the patches are so small and gender-specific. We're going to wear the camo one today!

Take note of the his "goal post" teeth. All four of the bottom are in but the two middle are just a little slower in truly showing themselves. He still looks like our little carnival worker.

In Search of a Bear Skin Rug.

Dad requested that I post this shot. The leg is just too funny.

Little He-Man.

We've been working on Luke sitting up without support for many months now. Today he was able to do it for around 5 minutes! I was even able to run into the other room, grab the camera and still get an excellent picture! He's not attempting to sit up on his own but I think the better he gets at it once we prop him up, he'll be more motivated.

Flashback.

Just a small sampling of Luke's early days.

Bonus.

I forgot that I had taken pictures at Stanford last week and thought I would share. We had the developmental clinic at 8:30am and his neurosurgery follow-up scheduled in the exact same place at 11:30am. It was after 10am when we got out of the first appointment so the staff was kind enough to wrangle neurosurgery early and we completely done by 11:30am. Since we waited a bit in the room, a Luke photo session helped kill the time.

This is Luke with a cold. Same old Luke but with a very stuffy nose, pink cheeks and a slight cough.

Luke doing what he does best- "talking." I'm sure he was explaining the meaning of life to Grammers here.

Never one to let the mood get too serious, Luke pauses his lecture for a photo-op.

Because both Luke and I were sick for most of the week, we spent a lot of time just hanging around Grammers/Grandpa John's and Grandpa/Grandma Stephanie's houses. The heat at the end of the week was a little surprising (and uncomfortable) but it gave Luke a chance to show off his maybe-not-so-ready for summer physique.

Those long skinny arms and legs of last spring have blissfully been replaced by some much needed baby fat!

Birthday Party Fun and Stuff.

Luke's 1st birthday was March 27th but we celebrated it with a little party on the 29th at our home. We did food and cake and the older kids beat on a pinata. It was a wonderful day and a perfect celebration honoring Luke and his truly amazing first year of life.

Aunt Sarah (Uncle Brad's girlfriend) and Grandma Stephanie (Hersom) taking their turn with Luke (thankfully, a sign-up sheet was unnecessary but discussed as a possibility...)

All was well until Mom put on the uncool party hat (this was the only time the entire party that Luke cried and it lasted for 5 seconds.)



Nate Archuleta (Godmother Aly's son) taking his turn the first round of pinata beating.

Dad controlling the pinata with Luke's pal Eli Hoffman as his assistant.

Jordin Arthurs (Dad's employer, Mike's, daughter) getting the job done.

Nate Archuleta, Eli Hoffman, Dana Archuleta (Nate's sister and Mom's Goddaughter) and cousin Kaylene Fagan displaying the versatility of the Henard Family front yard rock (it was mostly used as "home base" during tag.)

Luke eyeballing his personal cake while Happy Birthday is sung...

...and Mom and Dad help blow out his candle.

Exploration begins with a sniff.

Resulting in a perfectly red frosted nose.

The crowd cheering Luke on.

The end result? A chocolate goatee!

A moment on the lips a lifetime on the hips... The painful realization sets in.

But life is again good once the clothes come off!

Kisses for the Mom.

Luke and his grandparents (minus Grandpa John- taking the picture- and GREAT Great Grandma Elliott.) Clockwise starting from the big guy in the middle- Grandpa Jim (Hersom,) Grandma Chrissy (Henard,) Papa Gailand (Henard,) Great Grandma Wanda (Elliott,) Luke in Great Grandma Hersom's lap, Great Grandma Joan (Styczynski,) Grammers Carole (Hersom) and Grandma Stephanie (Hersom.) What a lucky guy to have so many wonderful grandparents.

We are officially back online and have no major plans between now and the end of next month (Stephanie and Kevin's wedding extravaganza!) so I hope to start posting again regularly. Luke did have appointments up at Stanford last week but they were incredibly uneventful which is really good. The neurosurgery team reports that the shunt is in place doing it's job and the CT scan results came back normal (Luke's version of normal.) We also visited a developmental clinic and the doctor there is very satisfied with the progress Luke is making (she saw him in September so had some frame of reference regarding his growth.) Although he is very delayed physically (only rolling over and back- no sitting, crawling, standing, etc.) she found him to be very bright and engaging. And with all of Luke's babbling and mimicry, she thinks actual talking might be in Luke's near future!

We've had a very busy past few weeks but have a had a lot of fun and have enjoyed seeing so many friends and family. Thank you again for all the love and support and make sure to keep in touch!

And We're Back.

After the glorious insanity which was Luke’s 1st birthday, we’re now working on getting back to normal. This is will very short-lived, however, because Luke and I are heading up to San Jose on Saturday (Luke’s got two Stanford appointments on Monday) and won’t be back home until the following Sunday. Such is the busy life of the Henard family!

I’ll be sure to post pictures from Luke’s little birthday celebration after I collect all that were taken (I took exactly two and they were both of the piñata) but we had a lovely time and Luke was a very happy, well behaved, little boy.

Yesterday we ventured back to Dr. Stathacopoulous, the pediatric ophthalmologist, for a regular follow-up. She mentioned that he seemed to be favoring his left eye over his right (we had recently noticed this as well) so Luke will now be sporting an eye patch daily for 2-3 hours (Luke the Pirate!) I haven’t put it on him yet but I’m very concerned as to how well he will tolerate it- the kid won’t even keep a hat on so I don’t have a good feeling about mandatory eyewear.

The possibility of the eye muscle surgery was discussed again. Dr. S. told us that his eye movement needs to be completely stabilized in order to do it (so she knows exact measurements of how much to shorten the eye muscles) but he’s not at that point. She feels that he is making such incredible progress that he may, in fact, grow out of his lack of control and then no surgery will be necessary. We were assured that the surgery can be done in the future (it’s not age-sensitive) and it’s less serious then a tonsillectomy (24 hours of discomfort and then he will be fine.)

Overall it was a very good check-up and it’s always fun to hear a doctor gush over your child (words like “amazing” and “miracle” were very common during the 15 minutes of doctor face time!) We head back to see Dr. S. in June when she will dilate Luke’s eyes and get a good look at his eyeballs. Hopefully he will continue his spectacular progression in this area!

Teething is continuing at a very rapid rate and I wouldn’t be surprised if Luke is ripping into a steak by the end of the month (not really but you never know!) It’s hard to get a good picture of the new choppers but I managed to get a half decent one (2 on top, 4 on the bottom but you can only see 2 of the bottom ones.) Please note that Luke is currently accepting sponsorships!

University of Michigan gear courtesy of Uncle Chris (Go Blue!)

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