P U

Well, I am sitting on the computer looking for fixes for the toxic and disgusting smell of a recent skunk spray. It must have sprayed when Star went outside earlier tonight or when it ran into one of the hundreds of annoying cats that people let run around the neighborhood...whatever... it stinks and now we have the windows closed, and I guess I will try putting coffee grounds around the house tomorrow to soak it up and opening the windows back up to get some fresh air. The coffee worked for the car when Luna got sprayed and then got back into the car to bring the stench home.

On a Luke note - he sat up by himself for a few seconds today! Very cool...he also won't tolerate being read to because he wants to eat the books. I had the Dr. Suess ABC book out on the deck with us today and he was absolutely throwing a fit until he could try to chew on the binding. I let him chew on it and went through the alphabet anyway. I named something that started with each letter. I was trying to name an animal for each letter but ran into some trouble with a few of the letters - U ideas, anyone?

Sports fan

Luke saying hi to Aunt Shannon. He is looking forward to being the ring bearer in her wedding at the end of October :) She got him this NAVY onesie for Christmas last year, and I remember when he was born how BIG it looked...now it just looks cute!
We are watching Luke play with the 30 toys on his walker and the Steelers beat (hopefully) the Ravens. Luke is loving his toys and Steve in in a football trance. I just really love that Luke can entertain himself a little while he is awake and happy. Steve just yelled at the tv and Luke looked at him like "What the heck, Dad? You are way too noisy" Anyway, pics are of Luke celebrating the Red Sox making it to the playoffs and of him this morning happy after a nap - I LOVE his spiky hair.

Weekend Update

The weather has been so spectacular the last week or so. We have been trying to enjoy it as much as possible, and Luke certainly enjoys any opportunity to be outside. Friday night we had a family walk planned in Gma Jackie's neighborhood. As we pulled the stroller out, Gma said 'oh you are taking Luke?' so we left him to play with her and Gpa while Steve and I enjoyed a 2.5 mile walk around town with the dogs...it was really fun even though Steve likes me pushing a stroller or carrying a frontpack more since it slows me down :) You can feel fall in the evenings and you an see the trees starting to change but the days have been just stunning and warm.

On Thursday last week, Luke and I had a wonderful visit with Claudia. She is one of those amazing people that you get lucky to meet and even luckier to be friends with in a lifetime. She was a counselor with me my first year at the high school. Now that she is retired (and busier than ever) we enjoy getting together every couple of months. Claudia has three grandchildren, 3-2-and 1 so Luke was a real highlight of her week. Two of her grandkids live in Japan right now on a naval base so she is really happy to get some baby time in and share stories of their life with me. We had a great time. Not only did Luke get to watch lots of birds at their feeders, we took her lab, Ruby, out to chase tennis balls and he 'walked' through some dewy grass which was of interest to him. The thing that Luke liked best was finding a leather strap with bells attached to it...I am not doing a very good job of explaining this thing but picture a holiday decoration that one might put on a horse carriage. His eyes were as big as ever when he made the bells ring and when he realized that he could CHEW on the leather and ring the bells, I think his love of life jumped up a notch.

I am explaining this because yesterday I went to Mt. Vernon for a tennis tournament with the girls and about an hour into the play I got a picture message from Steve with Luke holding his own "bell-belt" Steve is the best dad - he took Luke to Hobby Lobby and bought him his own bells b/c he heard me talking about how much he loved them...I really didn't even know Steve knew there was a Hobby Lobby in Carbondale. I would have LOVED to see him shopping with Luke among the racks of fabric and other zillions of craft items. Too cute. In order to completely go overboard with this story, my mom was worried about Luke chewing on his new favorite toy b/c it was made in China and everything from China seems to be sending babies to the hospital these days so she found some heavy duty made in the USA fabric and sewed some holiday bells onto it...I hope he plays with her creation until he is at least 1 :)

Other fun over the weekend included seeing Gma Susan and her co-worker Penny on Friday at the Gift Garden. It was fun to surprise her, Luke is always happy to see her and he certainly enjoyed his tour of the Garden - lots of colorful things that sing and make fun noises! We got up early today after a pretty good night's sleep and took the dogs to Kinkaid for a hike. They were on fire, Luke loved watching them from the frontpack, and I loved having Steve with us. He is a great sport about doing spur of the moment things when lots of times he would be happiest just chilling on the couch on Sunday.

Enough from me...what happened to you today that made you smile?

Life is good

Grandpa Nick has gotten the chance to babysit a couple of times now, and he has done a great job...Here he is with Luke last Friday. Luke loves when Gpa wiggles his fingers in the air and 'gets Luke' he gets all wiggly and smiley about it...He has played a couple of songs for Luke with his guitar, too which went over well...I am not sure if it was more fun to watch Luke look at the guitar or to hear Gpa try to rhyme words as he made up lyrics for a song about Luke!

Luke is eating more - some veggies in the afternoon and some more veggies mixed with some cereal and milk in the evening - it is going

well and you can see that he is quite the neat freak. He is more excited most times to chomp on the spoon since his two bottom teeth are showing up more everyday but the food seems to be a hit, too. He especially likes carrots. Steve hates carrots so he must have gotten that from me :) just kidding I know that it is just because they are sweeter tasting. It is crazy what a little food does to a babies poop - yikes - the smell and the size - can we start potty training now?

These food pics were taken last night (9/21) The one of the three of us was an after bath photo...still loving the bath time. He has fallen
into somewhat of a routine with food, fun, bath, more food and bed lately.

Luke is 6 months old today! In March, this date seemed like a million years off. I thought I would try to make it 6 months breastfeeding, and now I am hoping for at least 9 months. In early April, I wasn't sure what the hell what going on...it was tough to have my life change so dramatically and no one had told me about that. I guess you can't be prepared, but jeez...between being just tired and not knowing if I was doing the right thing plus having a little PERSON rely on you completely I was a mess lots of times (thank goodness for Steve's even temperament! and my mom repeatedly telling me that I am not nuts!)...I really don't remember much about April or May and I guess that is natures way of helping parents have more than one child(what a trick!), but I am glad to have that new parent haze lifted. I might not be sleeping through the night yet, but I am getting bigger chunks and besides that, it feels almost normal now to have a baby. My body feels good, Steve and I get time together and Luke is obviously a central part of our life. Everything about him is really great - Steve and I talked the other night about what it feels like to be parents. I still struggle to say 'my' son. I am not sure about using a possessive when talking about Luke. I feel like I belong more to him that he does to me...I am his mom and I will do whatever I can forever to help him be healthy and happy and to live the life that makes him smile. That is my job now.
On a lighter note, we had a great 1/2 birthday for him today. He talked to Daddy while he got ready for work and then got back in bed with me for a while. We are enrolled in a baby and mom exercise class that meets Mondays and Wednesdays. We went last week and Luke was great...the teacher is a muscled up college student named Lance which is kind of funny, but he loved Luke. He wanted to play with him more than he wanted to give the moms a workout :) We were getting the car ready to go today, but as I was loading our stuff up Star was at the door barking. I think that she was telling me what a GORGEOUS day it was and she was right. Today was perfect - blue sky, sun, no humidity about 8o degrees - so Luke and I loaded up the dogs and headed over to Lake Kinkaid for a hike. I told him that today is a lesson in "life is short so enjoy the moment!" We can go to class on Wednesday...I wore the frontpack and we took a break after a while so that Luke could dip his feet in the lake - he loved it! He learned to take his hat off today which was cute...all of a sudden he was hatless and trying to get the hat in his mouth while we walked. We also got to see Gma Jackie during her lunch hour - Luke was passed out in the car so we just visited on her front porch while he and the dogs slept - and we visited the Buser's. He didn't cry! I know that he knows they are wonderful and was just doing the crying thing for a show...Today was a breakthrough and we enjoyed getting to visit with them both :) I have rambled on and on..now I get to go snuggle up with Steve - yeah!

Special People

We lost to Marion tonight. In my three years of coaching we haven't ever lost to them so that really stinks. It is really frustrating to coach and sometimes feel like you are more interested in the outcome than your players. My girls are wonderful young ladies - really! - but we just aren't getting it done this year...

I really like Coach Watson, though, and she has really worked hard to build a program for the girls in Marion. I always enjoy talking with her and she surprised me tonight with a present for Luke. The afghan that he is holding in this picture is from her mom. I have never met her mom, and this is one of those moments that you realize there are so many good hearted and generous people in the world. Luke was really interested in the blanket. He tolerated it on his body and of course wanted to chew on it!

The video attached doesn't have sound, but this is what I saw when I got home tonight. Steve was giving Luke a bottle and he was looking at the door as I came in...all I saw was a huge grin. What a sight! I felt like a mom and I felt like he was really happy to see me. Leah came over today with 3 month old Jonah. It was fun to talk and hang out for a while and the boys were interested in each other. Jonah is almost Luke's size which is kind of funny - they both really like to go for walks and be outside so in a couple of years Leah and I will probably be chasing them around the park together.

Gma Susan discovered Luke's second bottom tooth popping through today. He was really happy all morning then kind of cranky in the afternoon and I swear that thing popped through between 12-2 this afternoon. Luke is really sick of me pulling his lip back to look at them but I am really intrigued by the whole process :)

We go to Salem tomorrow so it will be another long break from my babe and my babe - I am looking forward to having a relaxed family day on Sunday already.

This drool is paying off...

Luke has a lower front tooth popping through. I thought that I felt something as he gnawed on my knuckles yesterday and Gma Jackie let out a "ouch!" today as the edge of it came down on her finger! Exciting....so much happens so fast

The video is my favorite so far...not related to the tooth but I had to get it on here.

9-13-08

I am sitting here writing this as Luke spits out the cereal that his dad is trying to feed him so that his best friend Star can lick it off of his face and outfit. I think they are both happier than they have been all day doing this little show!

I have been able to master walking the dogs with Luke in the frontpack which is a great step towards more independence for all of us. No more sad looks all day from Luna and Star as they wonder what the heck I am doing home if they aren't getting a walk :) Luke seems to really like it. I think that he really likes watching the dogs and everything around him as we tour the neighborhood.
He is experiencing new things everyday now...he has enjoyed his first peas, squash and green beans so far. He gets a little every day at lunch and then his normal cereal with applesauce in the evening. He is okay with everything so far. Seems to enjoy the new tastes and no allergies or anything...








Today is the last hot hot day that I think we will have. Next week is supposed to cool down dramatically so we spent some time on the deck today - you can see Luke's excitement. Actually, he can sit out there for a long time and not get bored. Between hearing one of us describe what is going on around him and just looking around for himself he is happy on the deck. We gave the dogs each a bone today and Luna thought that they were both for her...of course!

Good to be home

I was away from Luke for the longest time yet over the weekend. Dad and I took our top 8 players to a great tournament in Edwardsville on Friday morning and got back in town about 6pm Saturday. The girls played better than we could have hoped for, and we were really pround of them. It was fun to spend time with the team and Dad. They love "Big Papa"!

Steve was awesome with Luke. I had left about 45 ounces of milk behind for his feedings but Steve really had to stretch out the last few ounces until Elyse showed up with the milk I sent back with her. (many thanks for her helping out!) I know that both Gma's and Gpa Paul were big helps too...It was wonderful to get home, but I have to be honest and admit that sleeping from 11-6:30 on Friday night was pretty great :) Luke was great for dad, and he even slept through the night last night. Thank you Luke for a great welcome home!

I am adding some recent pics since I have been away from the blog for a while. Loving his cold teething ring
Enjoying some cereal with Gma Susan. He ate his first veggies tonight. I gave him about 1/3 of a jar of peas and they were a hit. The dogs were sticking really close in case his face needed a good cleaning.
He told his panda his life story the other day...talking, talking, talking. The panda loved every word.
This is Luke last night after I got home and was able to nurse him for a while. Pretty content little dude. We took a walk after this pic and he loved it. I did too...my favorite thing is getting out with the dogs and baby and husband.

Are you ready for some football?

Steelers won today - Luke is happy and so are Uncle Glenn and Daddy!

Catch up

We had an awesome weekend. It was really a treat to have Steve around for three days, and we all enjoyed lots of time together.

Friday night Luke had a really good time at the C-dale vs. Murphy football game. It was packed, but he was just thrilled to soak up the game and all of the surroundings. Not to mention the fact that there was a line of fans ready to hold him at a moments notice. Good fun...and thanks to Gma Jackie and Gpa Nick for being proud grandparents and saving the guest of honor a seat :) He is loved and it was fun to hang out with them during the game. Carrie M. gets a big thanks too - Luke was quite comfy resting against her bosom and appreciated her covering his ears whenever it got too noisy.

Saturday, we got a long walk in with the dogs and enjoyed the lovely weather. That night mom and Luke hung out with Skye and Angie while dad played cards. I think that Luke and I had more fun - it was really interesting to watch Luke stare at and try to figure out what a nearly 2 year old was doing. He was really interested in everything that she did and she was super sweet to him - taking care of his toys and giving him his blanket, etc...cute. I really enjoyed hanging out with another semi-new mom. We had lots of fun talking about how your world changes and just about random things - other moms are fun, too b/c they don't mind being interrupted every 30 seconds by a child and they help you remember what the heck you were talking about...

Yesterday and today we just got some things done around the house and enjoyed being together. Got some good walks in, some stuff around the house and even a little shopping so it has been a great weekend. Steve and I enjoyed a quick date last night for dinner at a new Italian place and Luke enjoyed some fun with Gma Jackie. The restaurant was good, and it was funny to sit near a family with a loud (and fairly annoying) toddler. We both said Luke won't be that kid....I am really not into children and bad behaviors out in public. People are paying for a fun night out, but I guess I could have a whole new idea about things in a couple of years...

Gma Susan and Gpa Paul came by tonight to visit since they just got back from a fun trip to Vegas. Luke ate his cereal really well for Gma, and was really really happy to see the two of them. Not only do they adore everything about him, but his mean mom and dad were trying to put him down for a nap (not very successfully) so that they could eat dinner when they showed up so he was rescued from nap time and got to play instead. Life is good!

Tennis matches start tomorrow and it is going to be a busy week so it is really nice that we got good family time in the last few days :) Another positive is that I have pretty much mastered nursing Luke in my sleep so I end up just sleeping with him on the futon in his room when he gets up in the middle of the night...even waking a couple of times is so much less of a strain when you are in the same bed. I wake up with him feeling like I slept through the night - woo hoo!