He's in his 20's!!

Samuel turned 20 months old yesterday! He's getting closer to the age where I say he's __ years old instead of __ months old (I figure that happens around 2). :)

So, here are some of his new "tricks" this month...

- He LOVES anything to do with cars, trucks, or trains. The other day we were at the park and he saw a boy with a truck on his shirt. He RAN over there, poked the boy in the chest several times, and YELLED "Woo Woo" ("Choo Choo"... he thought it was a train) at the top of his lungs. It was quite dramatic :) He did the same thing at the park yesterday when a kid had a race car on his shirt, but this time he yelled "Ga" (car).

- He recognizes and says the letters in his name... well, only when playing with his Samuel puzzle, but it's a start.

- He has lost some of his baby words... "Ba Bill" is now just "Bill," "Nigh-Night" is now just "Nigh," and "Bye Bye" is just "Bye" (drawn out in a bit of a southern accent)

- He signs "I Love you" (points to his eye, his heart, and then at anybody close to him)... and then proceeds to shake his arms as we do when singing Skinnamarink-e-dink-e-dink (I have no idea how to spell that... sorry). For now, "I love you" only relates to that song :)

- When he's not getting attention, he covers his face with his hands and waits for us to say "Peek-a-boo"

- When we say, "Samuel, say ____" he usually attempts to say the word... in the past he would just say "ahh" regardless of what he was asked to say.

- We are working on teaching him how to react when he doesn't get his way... right now he screams, gives a really cute pouty face, throws himself on the ground, and often works up some crocodile tears. I can't help but laugh at him... and then turn around, compose myself, and get back to the discipline :)

- At the park the other day, he initiated playing with another little boy his age. He was really fascinated watching the boy (Simon) for a while, then walked up and gave him high five, and then they ran off and copied each other in various activities (going down the slide, climbing the ladder, playing on the ropes, and playing peek-a-boo). In the past, Samuel would give others toys, take others toys, or watch the big kids from a distance. It was so cute to see him initiate play... he's such a social little guy!

- He's gotten more cuddly!! Several times in the last week, when he wakes up from his nap, we lay on the couch and read books or watch tv while eating a snack. He will sit on my lap, wrapped in the blanket for about 20 minutes before getting squirmy... and even after that he will play next to me on the couch for a while. I love it!!

Gigi Camp

Samuel had such fun at "Gigi Camp." He had a great time and my parents loved showing him the sights, sounds, and smells of Nashville. Here are a few of his adventures...

No trip to Nashville is complete without a trip to the Pancake Pantry. Samuel gets "Bears in the snow" (chocolate child pancakes, cut in the shape of bears, with powdered sugar... a one year olds dream come true!). They wanted us to send this picture to put up on their wall. So, if you are ever at Pancake Pantry... look for Samuel's picture!!
And, a walk at Centennial Park... this is the bench Bud proposed to me on :)

The zoo... if you look close, you can see zebras in the background.

I'm not sure where this picture was taken, but it was a good one of my dad. His official name is G'daddy, but Samuel calls him "Dodo" or it might be "Dido," depending on who you ask. Dad is pushing for "Dido," for some reason he thinks it's better than "Dodo."

Aunt Lolo made it to visit Samuel as well. Bud and I barely missed her, she came the day after we left and left the day before we came back. :( Obviously, Sam loves Aunt "Wowo" and was very glad to see her!

They took a trip to the Nashville Library. Sam liked this chair a lot...

... and has always been a fan of these toys.

Holly was such a good sport with a not so gentle toddler around...

Samuel wasn't sure about riding his tricycle from Gigi and Dido, but liked to push it around in circles. And, in the corner of this picture you can see his beloved "Memo" (Elmo) stuffed animal (another gift from Gigi and Dido). This toy talks in Elmo's high pitched voice and stutters like a broken record player, but is adored by Samuel, so surprisingly I don't get annoyed by it.

Thanks Mom and Dad for taking care of our little boy so we could get away. We were glad to know Samuel was having a blast, being smothered with kisses and hugs, and eating well (not healthy, but well :)). Looking forward to sending him off to camp again sometime! Love you!

A long awaited update

I know there have been a few people (well, 2 to be exact, one would be sister little and the other sister big) who have been impatiently (ahem) waiting for an update on the Lutz family blog. So, here it is. Of course, these people already know most of these updates anyway...

Last week we departed Northwest Arkansas for a bit of a mini vacation. We dropped Sam off in Nashville for "Gigi and Dodo Camp" during my mom's spring break and then headed to Philadelphia. So you might be thinking, "Why Philadelphia?" The reason... the Lutz family will soon be residents of the City of Brotherly Love because of Bud's job (still with Wal-mart). So, we headed there to look for a place to live and tour our new stomping grounds. We also looked at it as an Anniversary trip (It's no where close to our Anniversary, but we cancelled our Anniversary trip last year and probably will be moving around our Anniversary this year).

We had a good time, just the two of us. This was only the second time to leave Samuel since he was born. It was nice doing what we wanted, when we wanted, without worrying about naps or meals or keeping a one year old entertained. We ate at a lot of nice restaurants, did some of the touristy type activities (Liberty Bell, Art Museum, etc), slept in (well, till about 8... ), and toured the area for a place to call home.

We found some cute little suburb towns and ruled out city living because of the commute for Bud (his office is in the burbs). We now just have to find the perfect place for our little family. We are extremely sad to be leaving, but excited about the many opportunities available in Philadelphia...
- A zoo
- A Children's Museum
- 1.5 hours from the beach
- 1.5 hours from NYC
- 2.5 hours from DC
- Lots of wonderful local restaurants
- Lots of events... concerts, theater, symphony, etc.
- Tons of shopping (Trader Joes, Whole Foods, IKEA... just to name a few)
- Possibly a church with it's own building... we've never had this as a married couple :)
- And, a decent airport for our friends and family to come visit us and explore our new city!

I know you all probably are more interested in pictures of Sambo, but you only get a word post for now. I have to get the house ready to show... again (it's been on the market for less than two weeks and we have had at least 7 showings!).

Coming Soon...
- Pictures from Samuel's time in Nashville
- Pictures from Philly
- Pictures from our weekend at the lake with our friends who we will miss a lot :(

Weekend at the Lake

We headed to the Lake of the Ozarks a few weekends ago for a trip with the Matz and Shults families. It was so good to hang out with these great friends! We ate A LOT, chased the three big boys around or held Henry (the most perfect baby!), and found some GREAT deals at the outlets. I couldn't find my camera until we were packing up to leave, so check out Abbey's blog for pictures.

Picture Recreation

A few weeks ago, Bud and Sam recreated a picture perfect moment from when Samuel was 2 weeks old. Here's the original...

And, the recreation (18 months old)... Looks the same, right? :)