A wonderful time with family

All of Drew's family got together at his parents' house for a long weekend while Drew was home. It was the first time all six cousins were together as well. We had a very fun time, even though the weather was a little dreary and chilly. It went way too fast, as always.

Fun with cousin Megan. This was the first time we got to meet the sweetie pie.


Grandpa took the boys for a ride in his golf cart around the property.


Grandpa built this great playhouse for the grandkids. The slide was a hit!


Wagon ride with cousin Avery.

Cousin Caroline working it out.

Grandma and Grandpa with all the grandkids

The whole Rossow clan!

Birthday Celebration

While we were back home, we celebrated Luke's first birthday with family. Here are the highlights.

Nana was supposed to make just a plain chocolate cake, but she outdid herself by making a big monkey cake for everyone and a little one just for Luke.

The birthday boy before the mayhem.

Getting a good feel of the cake, not knowing what to think about it.

Getting into the groove now.

That's the stuff!

Daddy taking him outside to get "hosed off".

Right before we took a bath

Mommy and Daddy got Luke a wagon for his birthday. He's "helping" Papa put it together.

First wagon ride. He loved it!

Luke got awesome birthday gifts from everyone. Aunt Kristen got him a drum. He grabbed a drumstick and started playing it immediately. Luke had an awesome first birthday!

Swimming

While Drew was home we decided to take Luke swimming for the first time. After our trip back home, we decided to stay at a hotel with an indoor pool on our way back. The weather was still a little chilly for outdoor swimming. Luke had an absolute blast. As soon as we put him in the pool in the floatie, he kicked his little legs and took off across the pool. We might have to sign up for swim lessons at the Y this summer!

Here's a quick video of Luke and Drew in the pool:

Luke is a one year old!

I absolutely cannot believe Luke is already one. He had his check up last week and he is doing just fine. He weighed a little over 22 pounds and is almost 32 inches tall. We're still waiting for him to walk, but he's getting closer each day. We had a few pictures taken last week as well.



Luke is always messing with his tongue and making funny noises. The next two pictures depict this very well...

Drew's trip home

Drew came home for his two weeks of R&R from April 23 - May 8. We had a lot of fun while he was here. We went to the zoo, went home to Missouri to see the family, took Luke swimming for the first time, and just spent time together as a family. I will probably do several posts in the next few days of our time together. I'll start with the first thing we did after Drew arrived home... the zoo! It was Luke's second trip to the zoo and he liked it much better this time.

Here are the boys at the entrance. I think Drew loves the zoo more than any little kid!

My favorite... feeding the giraffes!

Luke absolutely loved riding on Drew's shoulders when Drew was home. Any time Luke was fussy, up on Drew's shoulders he went. Definitely a resource I already miss having around.

My two very handsome boys!

Mommy and her little man

Drew loved showing Luke the turkeys. They had these at the petting zoo and then more in a more "wild" setting. Luke did seem to make a sound that resembled a turkey call. We even had to call Uncle Jon to share the news!