First Birthday Boy

Our little Luke Mackus Baranko is 1 year old!  Can you believe a year has passed already?!  We love our funny, sweet, precious little guy more than anything and we can't imagine life without him.  Happy Birthday Lukers!!!

Luke turned 1 on Sunday, September 4th, which was a perfect day to have his big birthday party as it was the middle day of the Labor Day weekend.  Matt and I are so lucky to have large families who live nearby and love our little boy - we had almost 50 people in attendance and that's just family!  Thank you to everyone who came and celebrated with us.  We had a great time.  Luke LOVED his giant piece of cake, as you can see from the pictures.

Sweet Kate Eichinger, up with her family from Springfield

Jackson Warner & Lukers playing in the baby pool

Kurz Clan

Presents!  What a lucky boy:)

My first bike!  Balance bike from G&G Baranko

 Before the big party on Sunday, we got to spend a couple days with Ben and Linda - in town from Idaho.  It was so fun hanging out with them and Matt's parents- we don't often get to have quality Baranko Family time like that.  We went to the beach, went for a hike, ate Chinese food, enjoyed Lake Forest Heritage Fest and hung out by the pool.

So there you have it!  It was a busy week and now we are the proud parents of a one year old.  Luke had his checkup yesterday and he is totally healthy.  Here are the stats:

Length: 30 inches (50th percentile)
Weight: 21 lbs 4 ounces (25th percentile) - still hasn't caught up with his weight since he's so active
Head Circumference: 47 cm (50-75th percentile) - since we tell his how cute he is everyday, he must have a big head!

Is that where those animals belong?  I don't think so!  Little Stinkers strikes again!

We went for a hike on Labor Day and the drop in temps made it feel like Fall!

Luke preferred to walk vs ride in the stroller.  He loved it!

Surprise Retirement Party - Success!

This past weekend was the BIG surprise retirement party for my Dad.  We have been planning the party for months, and we were so excited that it was finally here. It was a great success!  Dad was totally surprised and everything went perfectly.

Kristin, Cory, Matt and I hosted a party for about 100 of Dad's family, coworkers and friends aboard a private dinner boat cruise.  Special thanks to Mom for all her help:)  The party was to honor my Dad's 35+ year career with Bucyrus International.  We're so proud that just last week Dad was named CFO of the Year by the Milwaukee Business Journal.  He received the Career Achievement Award.  What a well-deserved honor, and a fitting end to his impressive career with Bucyrus.

Lured to the boat cruise under the ruse of Cory's birthday dinner, he was shocked to find out the boat was filled with all of his family and friends!  The night flew by.  We had a perfect summer evening, the food was delicious, and the conversation lively.  Tim Sullivan, the former CEO of Bucyrus, gave a touching speech about Dad.

Beautiful Milwaukee skyline

Thank you Donna & Emil for watching Luke for most of the night so that I could mingle!

On Sunday Mom, Dad, Matt, Luke and I all went to Lake Geneva so that Dad could use his birthday gift.  Matt & I had given him passes to the Lake Geneva Canopy Tours for his birthday back in March, and were happy to go with him to enjoy the experience.  Mom graciously offered to watch Luke the entire 3 hour tour, thanks Mom!  The canopy tour was so fun!!  We highly recommend it.  Another gorgeous day made for a pleasant afternoon in the forests of Lake Geneva.  I included a video of Dad zip lining on "Turkey Run" where you are supposed to gobble like a turkey the entire time.  Dad's turkey sounded a little funny:)

Lukers has continued his "Da da's" consistently.  We love it when he whispers it like a secret, "da..da.."  It is just so fun to hear his voice, he's becoming such a little person!  I can't wait until he speaks full sentences.  He also likes to roar like a lion, which is so cute too.

Before we sign off, we want to wish HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Cory (it actually is his 35th birthday!).  Today is his birthday, so we hope it was great.  Also, it was our sweet Spumoni's 6th birthday yesterday.  Six years ago our first baby was born, and he continues to bring joy into our lives everyday.

  Here are some cute shots from the week.

Spaghetti dinner

Talking!

Luke has started talking! On Saturday he said "Da Da".  Matt is very proud that his first word was "Da":)   The jury is out whether or not he is connecting the actual words to Matt, but we'll take it!  We are so thrilled by this development milestone.  After a couple days of steady "Da da da da da's" he added some "ya ya's" to the mix too.  I'm crossing my fingers that "Ma Ma's" makes a debut soon.

He has also started to dance, which is a-dor-able.  When we play music he stomps his little feet and dances around in a circle and shakes his head from side to side.  Seriously, it may be the cutest thing I've ever seen.  I'm trying to get it on video to show everyone.  Cross your fingers.

Finally, he got a haircut, the second of his life.  I know just last week I was talking about how we liked it long, but it was looking pretty scraggily so we thought we'd give him a tiny trim.  Matt and I trimmed it last night spontaneously and immediately mourned the loss of his long hair, but after a day we've gotten used to it and now we think it is cute.  Here's a before and after.

Before

After

Last Saturday we went to Nicki and Andy Bullock's house for a fun dinner party.  We had a nice time with our friends, thanks!

This past Sunday we were very excited to introduce Luke to Uncle Jay, Uncle Mike, Kevin and Julie.  Aunt Penny and Uncle Jay hosted a fun barbeque at their house in Schaumburg, and Uncle Mike, Cousin Kevin and his girlfriend Julie came over too.  Kristin, Cory, PJ and Dad came down to join in on the fun visit (Mom was on a Girls' Weekend).  

Snuggling with Grandpa

PJ driving a car over Kevin:)

Here are a couple other cute shots from the week:

Throwing my toys down the stairs.

At my first gymnastics class - I love the ball pit the best!