Is that my voice?

I feel pretty fancy putting a video on here...I hope that it works. Luke is hilarious. He has turned into quite a talker lately, but in the last day or so, he has also learned that he can squeal and now does so repeatedly at random times in the day. It is really fun to hear and makes me laugh everytime that I hear it.

The last couple of days he has been getting up at 5am so I will get up with him, nurse him and go to sleep with him on the futon in his room. Today we stayed in bed until after 10 which was glorious for a couple of reasons. 1 - he was up about 5 times last night (really) and 2 - it is actually really really special to wake up to your baby kicking you repeatedly in the back - those little feet not even aware of what they are doing, etc... He gets more fun every day!

Sweet Dreams

Okay everybody this is Steve...I hijacked the blog because I had to post this pic of Erinn and Luke. Usually I get up in the morning and change Luke's diaper before bringing him to mommy for some breakfast. By the time I leave for work, mom and baby are asleep and Luke has taken my place in bed, happy to be out of his crib. Erinn is always blogging about how lucky she is...but it can't compare to how lucky Luke and daddy are to have such a wonderful wife and mother as Erinn. How could I not have an awesome day when I start it off so often with an image like this...hopefully everyone will get to see it before Erinn realizes I know her password...

Cool people

I am in love with these two guys. They both absolutely make my life better: example... when I have gotten up repeatedly over night to feed the little one, gotten really lousy sleep and at 7:30 the next morning tell his dad that he can take him now. Said dad does take him without a word, entertains him, takes him to visit gma and gpa in Herrin and returns to find a very happy mom that got to sleep for 2 1/2 hours. Bless you both for helping mama out. This is an extreme example since Luke is sleeping better in general, but they both do things on a daily basis that make me knock on wood because I feel really lucky.

Sticking to the theme of cool people in the world - big thanks to Becca for the adorable (zweena) hat and socks that she knit for Luke. So nice...he will definitely get some wear out of them at football games this fall. And Becca, for the record, you are totally right I could put these on him now (August) and take a trip to Azrou with the windows to the grand taxi sealed tight and blend right in to the local scene...aaah memories! Thanks chica, thanks!

Family Fun

Singing Camptown Races with Gma Susan and Gpa Paul on their anniversary :)

Enjoying being walked around by Aunt Laurie. She is awesome! Just loved on Luke as much as she could even when he tried to eat her Tigger shirt
Posing with Uncle Pat and Aunt Laurie. Luke was trying to show Pat that his belly is the roundest :) With Gma Jackie and Gpa Nick (I guarantee my mom is going to tell me to take this pic off the blog b/c she doesn't like it! - Mom you look happier than ever when you have Luke in your arms!) Luke is trying to figure out where that guy went that is always waving his fingers in his face - for the record, dad, he does seem to be entertained by your specialty trick :)

Uncle Glenn

Uncle Glenn, Luke and Dad - what a great looking trio!

We all love Uncle Glenn and enjoyed seeing him over the weekend. Glenn is the man that will teach Luke anything and everything he needs to know about sports :) Luke will probably be texting him in a couple of years during Red Sox games to discuss pitching changes. Here are some pics of them together. I like the one of Luke checking out the Blackberry. I know that Glenn loves Luke if he let him near the Blackberry!

Here he is showing Luke how to bid a job at the Ford plant from the comfort of home.

We don't let Luke watch tv. It is scary what a zombie he turns into when he is able to sneak a peek. Steve was Luke's distraction Friday night so that Glenn could watch football...It was funny. We explained that we don't let Luke watch, but Glenn said he wanted to watch so we did...it was good to remember that life doesn't always revolve around Luke these days :)

p.s Thanks for the pizza Glenn - next time we will get 2 larges!

Five Months Old

Five months ago Luke was in the hospital with a feeding tube, I was in a daze from magnesium and other meds and Steve was taking care of both of us in between runs home to walk the dogs and take a shower. WOW! Look at him now...


What a kid! I am not sure how many times a day I hear myself or Steve say that...I took Steve some lunch today and some friends from school came out to visit. One woman made a joke about Luke's thighs and said it is a good thing he is a boy because they are big and meaty. He started crying like he was totally offended that she would comment on his thighs. I think he was hungry, but it was pretty great timing on his part.

We had some fun on a rainy day today playing on the floor and taking lots of pictures. He was thinking about giving me a kiss here...

Maybe it is the new age or maybe it is the fact that we turned our AC on again after a 2 week lovely break for fresh air in the house, but Luke slept from 10-7 last night. I woke up and didn't realize my boobs could get that big - yikes. I have a whole new respect for women with large chests. They make everything different, from sleep to exercise - why do women get breast implants?
Uncle Glenn is coming over tonight! That will be fun. Luke will get an update on the Red Sox and their chances for getting the wildcard at the end of the season.

I should really do something around the house now, but I have been saying that all week. Thank goodness I married a man that knew before we said our vows that housework is not something for which I will ever win an award. I can keep the place pretty tidy, but there seems to always be a tumbleweed of dog hair roaming around somewhere. The dogs make life better so whatever...as my wonderful friend Lesley says there are houses we (meaning owners of big dogs) visit and enjoy (meaning really clean houses) - and houses we live in :) I really am going to go clean out the dishwasher now. This has been one mess of an entry.

Happy 38th anniversary to Gma Susan and Gpa Paul! Not only are they still married, you can tell that they still really love each other - Awesome!

Little chef

Luke is getting more and more interested in everything going on around him. It seems like each day he changes. Steve loves to get him up in the morning and I seem to hear "Luke you are bigger than your were last night" on a regular basis as he gets him up for the day :)

He is learning that his arms need to go up in order for someone to pick him up which is cool, and he is talking and tracking things more and more each day. I have noticed that he will look up more than he did even a couple of days ago and he just wants to soak up everything around him.

These pics are from yesterday. He helped me make some creamy orzo and baked chicken - and you can see that the shallots were holding his attention for a while. He gets really interested in what is going on in the different pans and seems to enjoy hearing me talk about each step of the process for whatever we are making.

Peace Corps used the motto "The toughest job you will ever love" as a motto years ago. I can't help but think that they borrowed that saying after hearing a mother or father say it. Parenting is intense - you deal with every possible emotion and always have this little person and his/her needs in your thoughts. I am seriously amazed at people that are able to have/manage several children.

We are really lucky to have a happy baby. There is real joy knowing that so far we are meeting his needs and keeping a smile on his face. I tell him our goal for him every night when I put him down - healthy & happy - keep those 2 H's going and life is good, little man. It is pretty easy for me to find something to complain about on any given day, but when I stop to think about having my health and my family around me I realize the other stuff just doesn't really matter as much. Life is good....

Grandma knows best

Daddy is in charge of Luke's daily cereal intake. He gets a tablespoon of cereal with some breastmilk mixed in once a day. Lately, it has become a battle of wills between Luke and Daddy. Either he is too hungry to wait for that darn spoon to make it back to his mouth, or he is just not into eating the stuff. Steve does a really great job, though, of working with him and getting the job done. Both grandmas have mentioned adding some kind of fruit to the mix to make it a little more tasty so yesterday as I observed the daily war of the wills, I cut up a small piece of peeled apple, blended it up with some water and added a spoonful of 'apple juice' to the cereal. It helped at least a little and Luke ate a little bit
better!

Another step on the road to independent
eating. I am a bit of a nervous nelly about what Luke will eat when, and have no problem putting food off. Less mess, less preservatives and other junk going in his body and he is happy and healthy now so we'll just keep on keeping on! I will be blending up a batch of the apple juice, though, to continue adding...thanks grandma(s)!

Surprise!

Trooper died last year on August 24th. It was a really sad day for us. Steve and my dad buried him in the backyard, and our neighbor Bob made a birdhouse that we hung over his grave. I also put a sunflower seed feeder out there and planted a bunch of sunflowers this spring by T's spot. I am not quite sure what happened to all of the seeds - eaten by birds/squirrels, not planted correctly, whatever... but this is the lone sunflower that came up this year. It is really pretty out there in the corner. It seems proud to have survived - just like Trooper.

and I thought he was getting big!

Well - here are some shots of Luke in his Johnny Jump-up. This kid has a wonderful amount of energy and is always kicking his legs, etc...so I have been looking forward to him getting to try this out. The packaging says for babies 4+ months - he will be 5 months next week (yikes!). He really liked being in it, but the jumping isn't happening yet, and he gets a little lost in it. Steve and I were just loving watching him spin around in it and try to eat the straps. The good times continue.
Steve came home for lunch today. Here are some pics of him and a very happy Luke.

We took our last morning walk with Gpa Nick today. He goes back to work tomorrow :( It has been really fun to meet with him this summer for walks and talks. I get to spend a lot of time with Gpa still because tennis season has started. It is pretty cool to have a dad to coach with...we have great girls this year too - so far, so good.

Personally, it is REALLY nice to have a commitment outside of the house/baby. I know that this time with Luke is precious and I am making the most of it and enjoying it, but I enjoy my work and miss it at times. The tennis is a good balance. I think it is good for Luke, too. He gets good time with Dad and Gma Susan and Gpa Paul and when I get home now I am greeted with wonderful smiles. It is exciting to see my family (especially when they are excited to see me!).

Luke note: Snuggle puppy was a big hit today!

Laundry

Can you find the baby among the laundry?

Okay - I am pretty good at getting laundry done. By done I mean washed and dried. I tend to ignore the clothing once it is ready to be folded and put away. I have always done this, and it was much easier to get away with when I was single. I could just kind of live out of a basket and then start over. Well, today I set up a laundry folding station outside and described to Luke each item of clothing as I folded it. His first words may end up being "Daddy's boxers".
He really had fun outside with me, though. I rigged his colored links up to a chair that was blocking the sun and he enjoyed trying to eat those while evaluating the things being placed in piles around him. He managed to grab a couple of his more colorful onesies and try them out for a snack, but quickly realized they aren't nearly as tasty as the regular cloth diaper that he still prefers.
This is the kind of day I will remember with a smile. Making fun out of something lame like laundry. I have a hard time being IN the house all day so I am really thankful to Luke that he is a fan of the outdoors.

BTW - if Luke looks really rested to you, it may be because he slept from 8:45 - 5:30 last night! He woke up smiling and so did I!!

walking

First time in the walker tonight...he is always eager to see what is going on...I love how his toes touch :)

Happy mom getting some snuggle time...Luke doesn't look so sure about it :)

What a weekend!

We had a wonderful weekend. The weather was perfect - warm, no humidity, sunny - and we had lots of fun with family and friends. Friday we went to Kyle and Ryan's to eat pizza and Luke met his first baby. Jack is a month younger than Luke, but a little bigger! They really weren't that interested in each other, but it was fun to talk to another new mom and dad. Kingston was there, too. He is about 3 weeks old and slept through the party. Luke did not :) He was up and interested in the whole evening and once his near bedtime rolled around (8:00) he was ready to hit the road. So we did and he was down for the count by 9:00. Steve liked Guy's description of Luke. He said he doesn't really look like a baby, more like an adult just shrunk down. hmmmmm...

Saturday, we had fun moving some furniture around and again enjoying the great outdoors. Gma Susan and Gpa Paul had Luke for the afternoon so Steve and I enjoyed lunch at the newly remodeled Louie's P&R - yum! and then just did some work around the house and enjoyed some time together.

Yesterday we went to Malcolm and Carol's grandson's b-day party. Luke got his first light sabre as a party favor :) He is a social guy, but when he is ready to be done with the social scene he lets us know it is time to hit the road. Malcolm is trying to get Luke's first word to be money and already let him know his words of wisdom - Free is better than cheap...

Tennis starts this week...went to the coaches meeting this morning and I was excited to get back home to Luke. Really glad that Gma Susan is so available to help Steve and I when our schedules overlap. We know he is in good hands with any of the grandparents and we are lucky to live by them!

This was a quick catch-up post...I don't have any new pics but Luke is rolling over more with some help and figuring out how to do it on his own - need to get him and go outside to soak up some more of this awesome day!

Feeling like his old self

Yesterday was a check-up/shot day. Luke did really well. We were there for about 45 minutes, and he was really patient until the appt. was nearly over. As the doctor checked him out, he even asked me if Luke is always so happy. Yeah -so far, so good - he is a cool little guy :) Anyway, he had had enough by the time I had to hold his hands so that his ears could be checked out and let everyone know it. The shots were last, he survived - those just suck - thank goodness we had the same nice nurse as last time. She gets the job done QUICKLY. We have just chilled yesterday and today. He had a little fever last night and today but when he woke up at 4:00 today he was smiling so that was a real treat. Grandma Jackie came by to get him to smile and it worked for a little bit...Grandma Susan is back in town so he is bound to get a good dose of lovin' from her soon too!


So tonight he ate and ate and ate and I finally put him down with sweet dream wishes, but he isn't having it. Steve is walking him around now and I am going to nurse him some more - what a doll - I just had to get this shot on here of him looking at me once I got him out of his crib and put him in the bouncy chair. "Mom, what the h#$@ were you thinking - that I would go to sleep???" I love the attitude in his eyes - still just adorable...Steve just nailed it and said that Luke reminds him of Stewie from The Family Guy right now - if only he could tell Star what he was really thinking.

Last pic is of the dogs last night - I guess watching over Luke after the doc got the best of them...Steve thought we might have to sleep in the extra room!

Life is good, and we are thankful.

World of drool and other happenings

I have no idea when Luke might get a tooth (any day to months from now...), but we have certainly entered the drool stage. Gma Jackie reminded me that I have a whole drawer full of bibs so I have started putting those on him when he is in a full fledged drool stage. The teethers are growing on him, but he still can't get enough of his fingers...

Luke started out with his head underneath the dangling butterflies. However, my little mover and shaker obviously was looking for a different view as he ended up how you see him below. I laid him down to play for a few minutes (and stayed in the living room with him) and watched him squirm all over the place. He got a little fussy after a while so I went to talk with him and noticed that his eyes were HEAVY. I couldn't even get the sentence out "you look sleepy" before he was out. These activity mats are really something...notice the bib that I took off of him but he just didn't want to let go of - Steve came home for lunch to this scene and I am not sure what he thought at first. I was in the kitchen and came out to see him looking at Luke knocked out on the floor with a look of "hmmmmm, what have we here?" on his face. funny

Grandpa Nick went for a beautiful ride with us this morning. We went down 127 through Alto Pass and found this wonderful pond that is state property, but not used very often. We were the only ones out there and the dogs had a total blast chasing sticks into the water and running around the woods.

Luke fell asleep before we got there, but we are sure to return. It was a stunning spot - peaceful, lovely and happy. Thanks Grandpa! His uncle and dad fished there a lot when he was a kid so it has some history for Luke to learn about one of these days, too.

Latest buzz...

Gotta love time in bed - Luke is really talkative in the morning so once his belly is full he is all about planning the day and telling me exactly what he wants to do...I hope that I follow his instructions pretty well :) Eat, play, sleep - repeat

I am not a morning person so it is extremely helpful of Steve to get up and change Luke's diaper and then bring him to me in the morning (around 7) so that he can have breakfast in bed and then just spend some time talking to me while I become more alert. He is generally up around 2 or 3 am and then 6:30 or 7 so I feel more normal everyday. As soon as I post this, he will be up 5 times tonight...

Last feeding of the day takes place in his room and Luna has started to take part in the ritual. She will come in to check on both of us, get a pat on the head and then monitor our progress until his is down for the night. It is nice to have her company.

Joy!

I love this picture...I love this kid :)

Giggles

Luke laughed yesterday. I wish I could post a picture of it, but it was too good of a moment to try and stop to capture it...I had him in the pool with his legs on my chest and we were bouncing up and down making waves around us. I was making a sound when we would go up and down and he was looking down at me and just started laughing and squealing with the fun of it all! He did it a few times, but every time he would laugh my mom and I would crack up and he would stop to try and figure out why the heck we were making so much noise. It was great.

He is sitting on Steve's chest right now out on our deck having a conversation about his head control and whether or not he has anything in his diaper. Those two are a sight to see - Steve says he could hold and kiss Luke 24/7 and I believe him...what a spectacular dad!

Luke and I fell asleep together on the futon this afternoon, and didn't even hear Steve get home from his golf tournament. (Way to go dad and Marla - 6th place in their flight - won some $, too!) When Steve did come in, he laid down with us and Luke stirred a little as we talked about the day, but I am convinced he was happy to be in the middle of his parents and know that he was safe and loved. It was a really nice moment.

Still a fan

This entry is for Uncle Glenn. He has reassured us that the Red Sox will be okay without my fave, Manny Ramirez, and we definitely trust Glenn when it comes to baseball!

Comparisons

These pics are about 4 months apart...he has grown into the bear :)