Poppa and Luke, 2002

Grandchild Number 4 - Luke Colter Little

Luke with big brother Landon

Landon and Luke with their mom, Sheri

,2010

His first cake-his great,great grandmother's recipe

First Grade

Luke and Landon playing putt putt in South Carolina on trip with parents

Swimming at Grammy's

Luke, Landon, Anna, Christmas, 2010

     Where do I begin with Luke! Luke Colter Little (little brother to Anna and Landon) was born on January 24, 2002. I found out that my daughter, Sheri, and her husband were expecting their third child one night when they came over and Landon was wearing a t-shirt that said, "I am a big brother." They also had one for Anna that said, "I am a big sister." 

     I actually did get excited this time! After two successful childbirths (Landon and Ryan), I had a little more faith in the whole process again. Oh, I forgot to mention that when Anna was born, she looked so much like her Dad ("Bubba") that for a while we referred to her as "Bubbette"! When Luke was born, however, one of the delivery nurses said that she had never seen a newborn look as much like a parent as Luke looked like his Dad. And she was right!

Ryan, Luke, Landon - Biloxi 2004

          Luke is the class clown, the life of the party. He keeps his cousins and classmates in stitches. He has a really good memory and can remember jokes or parts of tv shows, etc., and retell them in a very funny way. And as long as he keeps talking, the kids all keep laughing.                  

     When Luke was 2, Russell and I took all the family to the beach in Biloxi. It was okay until Luke and Ryan got stung by jellyfish. Here is a picture of Luke; Landon; their Dad, Bubba; and that's Russell coming out of the water. 

End-of-school party - preschool

     Luke has always loved strawberries. Once when he was very small (perhaps 3), his mother had bought some and left them on the kitchen counter. This was at their house before they had moved in here with me. Sheri was taking care of Anna in Anna's bedroom; but later when she went into the kitchen, she noticed that all the strawberries were gone. When she asked Luke about it, he said, "I cutted 'em, I wa-shed 'em, and I eated 'em all!" He had somehow gotten up to the sink, balanced himself on his stomach on the front of the sink, and proceeded to do exactly that. He washed them, he cut the stems off (with a butter knife), and ate every last one of them.

     My grandchildren call me "Grammy." When Luke first started calling me by name, he couldn't pronounce his "r's," so it came out "Gwammy." I really was hoping that would stick but, alas, he eventually learned how to pronounce his "r's" and, sadly, I heard "Gwammy" no more. That's one way to really tell that they are growing up. Sometimes I wish they wouldn't!

Landon and Luke and bags of crawfish!!

   
  I love the picture of Luke with Russell at the top of this blog. Luke must have been about 6 months old or so. Russell looks fine to me in this picture, but I know now that this horrible disease had already started eating away at his personality.
     And here is one of Luke's first haircut--he cried at first but finally got into it and didn't mind so much--takes a lot of the "baby" out, though.

     Luke was able to go to Gueydan (Louisiana, Poppa's hometown) with Landon and us a couple of times; and Luke, like Landon, loved seeing the alligators and playing with the crawfish. The two brothers have also enjoyed several Halloweens together, as well as liking Nascar racing! 

Landon and Luke with me at Smithsonian

     In October of 2009, Landon was selected to participate in a Junior Leadership Conference in Washington, DC. A group of parents took the small group of boys up there, and Luke and I flew up to pick Landon up at the end of the conference. We decided to take a few extra days and stay with Landon to see DC together. This was Luke's first time to fly, and we had such a good time. We stayed at a hotel near the airport in Baltimore, so we spent quite a bit of time in Baltimore AND in Washington, DC. The weather was terrible, but we had so much fun. We went to the Washington Zoo, as well as most of the other famous DC sights and spent a lot of time exploring Baltimore as well. This would have been a trip Russell and I would have taken with them, and it would have meant so much because, having worked for the federal government, Russell spent quite a lot of time in DC and the surrounding area. We felt his presence there though, even the boys, in the many stories I shared with them of some of the many times Russell and I spent there.

     One more story about Luke, one I hesitated to put in here. But it was just too cute not to. When Luke was in preschool (5ish??), one day at Show and Tell, he decided to share with his teacher and his classmates a joke that he heard from his older brother. He thought it was so funny and really had no idea that it was "inappropriate." This is a "yo mama" joke, so if you think it might make you uncomfortable, you might not want to read it. But since it was told by Luke in complete innocence, I thought it worth sharing. This is what Luke shared with his preschool class: "Yo mama is so stupid, she shoved a battery up her b____ and sang 'I've got the power!'" Needless to say, Luke's momma received a call from his teacher (after she stopped laughing--not in front of Luke, of course). Look at this precious, innocent preschool face--how can you be mad at that? After all, kids DO say the darnedest things!!

Addendum to blog about Luke

     Couldn't post until I told this story. Luke may have saved my life today! I was chocking and was not getting any air. This is the 4th time this has happened to me. Usually, it will pass after a while, but this attack was worse than the other 3. Luke had been with me when the same thing happened this past Saturday.So when I told him it was happening again, he immediately picked up the phone and said that he had his fingers on "9" and "1." I asked him to just call his Mom, but when he did she said to call 911. So he did. In the meantime, I put some sterile water into the mask on Anna's breathing machine and started breathing through that. I was unable to talk. I subsequently took the oxygen off Anna and began to breathe through it. I was still having difficulty getting a breath. I heard Luke answer questions the dispatcher was asking him, and he was so calm and knew exactly what to answer. He could not remember our house address so I used my fingers to put up the numbers in the address, which he reported. Eventually, the paramedics arrived. I was breathing better but still not without difficulty. I was taken to the emergency room and given something to relax my muscles and after a while I was taken home. I have an appointment next week to find out what keeps causing these attacks, but I honestly believe that Luke saved my life this time  I was there with my two-year-old granddaughter, Luke (9), and, of course, Anna(16). He did report to the 911 operator that Anna was disabled. He was so calm and so mature, even though I know he was scared. I love you, Baby, and thanks!!