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This past weekend we spent some time with family. Thursday we headed down to Bonney Lake to spend a couple days with Howie's brother and sister, Chris and Holly. We decided to take Luke's bouncer with us. He loves it and it keeps him entertained for quite awhile. If he's not jumping he sitting and watching everything else that's going on. We were pretty proud of ourselves for packing Luke so well, with his jumper, toys, books, even a towel if he swims! Then we went and forgot his pack and play! Kind of important for sleeping. So Luke ended up sleeping in our bed, which now we are paying for.
Thursday night we had a BBQ with Chris, Sam, Emily, Holly, Sean, and Jade. We let Luke taste oranges and play in the grass. Luke loves playing with Emily. Friday afternoon Holly offered to watch Luke while Howie and I went to see a movie. We haven't done that in a long time. We had a good time and it was obvious Luke did too. He's such a happy guy and you can tell he likes Aunt Holly. Luke has just begun to laugh at things you say. I have been singing him a camp song, "Boom Chick-a Boom" and he laughs hysterically. Holly kept saying the word "shrimpy" and he thought is was so funny. Then Friday night Luke was copying Sean. Sean would lean his head sideways and Luke would lay his head on the jumper. It was fun to see him start to copy.
Each year my mom's family has a big party to celebrate my Grandparents birthdays and anniversary, so we headed to Tacoma for that. This year marks 91, 88 and 67 years married! This year was a Mexican theme so we had a Mexican potluck, then hit pinatas. You'll see that instead of blindfolds they made everyone wear bags on their head. Notice in the photos everyone is wearing bling from the pinata, including Luke's great grandparents! :) After an afternoon of fun, Luke was sitting in my lap and suddenly his head went limp in my hand. He was so tired. Lastly, we took a family photo all wearing stick on mustaches. I think Luke in his mustache is the funniest thing ever! All in all it was a great day and a great trip.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Father's Day
We celebrated Howie's first Father's Day by heading to IHOP before church. We had to wake up way too early for that...I had to be to church/work by 8:00...but Howie loves going out to breakfast. So we left the house at 6:45 and had a good, filling breakfast. We gave Howie a card and Luke got him a book called "Daddy Loves Me" to read together. We went to the 8:30 service together where Pastor Shawn gave a great message about what God has taught him through his journey with his Father the last year. It was a powerful message. (If you'd like to check it out go to ctkbellingham.com, click on Sermons, then click on "My Friend Josh, part 4".)
After church, Howie picked Luke and I up and we went to Best Buy to let Howie pick out a DVD player for Father's Day. We headed home and took a much needed nap, had dinner, and went to Howie's softball game. Luke was ready for the game with his baseball uniform and "Go Daddy" sign. It was a full day but a lot of fun.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Always Moving
Luke is ALWAYS moving! He's just figured out how to jump, so now he goes to town in his jumperoo. And no matter where he is, he is always moving his arms and legs. I fear he is going to keep us quite busy when he learns to be more mobile. Here's a few clips:
New Foods
Luke has been fascinated watching us eat. So we've given him a few tastes of fruit juices. We had pineapple one night, so we put a bit of the juice on our finger and let him taste. Too sour for him. Howie tried oranges, he liked that. I let him knibble a piece of mango, he liked that too. Watermelon doesn't have much flavor in the juice, so I don't know that he noticed. Then we moved on to actually feeding him rice cereal. He really didn't like that. Although I think he was probably too hungry so it just frustrated him. We tried applesauce after a bottle, which he tasted but really wasn't interested in eating from a spoon. I think he likes that he can hold his own bottle, so why move to being spoon fed? BubbleShare: Share photos - Find great Clip Art Images.
Friends
We've spent time with friends a lot lately. Here are some photos of Luke and his friends. In these photos are Jackson and Jaden, both 2, Kayla born January 5th, Kameron born January 11, Olivia born January 14, and Luke, the odd one out, born in Febuary. :)
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Sleeping Update
Luke's doctor told us we should encourage independence by putting Luke to bed before he is asleep. He recommended we start when he is over his cold. But that evening when rocking him to sleep, he just squirmed and cried anyway. So I put him in his crib instead of dealing with his squirming. His crying got more intense, of course. I went back in after a couple of minutes, gave him his pacifier, rubbed his back (he now rolls over to sleep on his tummy), and left. I went in every couple minutes repeating that process. After quite awhile, Howie went in wanting to calm him to sleep and picked him up to rock him. I was a mean mom and took him away from daddy and put him back in his bed. We went in every couple minutes for 45 minutes and finally he went to sleep.
The next night I braced myself for the long haul. But it only took me going in twice for him to go to sleep!
The night after that, I put him down, he cried, I went in after 3 minutes, gave him his pacifier, he calmed down. I went to check my email and realized after 20 minutes that he hadn't cried...I couldn't believe it!
Now, that is about the extent of it. He cries when we put him down, but usually it only takes going in after a few minutes to give him his pacifier and he goes to sleep. It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
Now I've just got to get him to go back to sleep at 4am. He has been waking up that early and won't go back to sleep unless I pick him up. Last night I tried doing the same thing we do at bedtime. But I am just to tired to fight him for 45 minutes, so he ends up in our bed. Gotta work on that.
The next night I braced myself for the long haul. But it only took me going in twice for him to go to sleep!
The night after that, I put him down, he cried, I went in after 3 minutes, gave him his pacifier, he calmed down. I went to check my email and realized after 20 minutes that he hadn't cried...I couldn't believe it!
Now, that is about the extent of it. He cries when we put him down, but usually it only takes going in after a few minutes to give him his pacifier and he goes to sleep. It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
Now I've just got to get him to go back to sleep at 4am. He has been waking up that early and won't go back to sleep unless I pick him up. Last night I tried doing the same thing we do at bedtime. But I am just to tired to fight him for 45 minutes, so he ends up in our bed. Gotta work on that.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Four Month Check Up
Luke is four months today and had his check up with Doctor Wisner. He did so good, I am so proud of him! We got there and he flashed his smile for all the receptionists. Then we sat and filled out a developmental questionaire to which Luke passed with flying colors! He even plucked the flower right off the pen while I wrote! The nurse called us in and measured and wieghed him: 27" tall (95th percentile), 15.8lbs. (75th percentile). Dr. Wisner came in and checked him out...all good. He said we could start him on solid foods especially since he is facinated watching us eat and tries to grab our food. Apparently that is a sign of being ready for solids. We also talked about sleeping since we've had some trouble there. He encouraged us to transistion him to falling asleep on his own. So when he is over his cold we will try putting him down, leaving him, and going in after a few minutes to reassure him. Then after 3 nights of this we will increase the time before we go in. Not looking forward to all that, but if it helps him sleep through the night on his own, we'll climb that mountain.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Flip Flops and Swaddlers
Luke has met some milestones this week. He's now rolling from back to front and front to back with ease. I think he is much happier now that he can mobilize himself instead of watiing for someone to do it for him. He actually likes being on his tummy and able to see everything. Its fun to watch him learn new things and really get the hang of it. I will forever stand in awe of the power of God to create such a thing and cause him grow.
However, (there's always pros and cons to everything) he's gotten the hang of rolling in his swaddler. This is a problem because once they can roll while wrapped in their swaddler, it isn't safe to swaddle them anymore. And this is a problem because Luke's recipe for a easy bedtime routine is a bath, a book, swaddle up, and plug with a pacifier. His eyes roll back in his head and he is out in minutes. Now that we skip the swaddle, it has become a recipe for a long, draining fight to relax enough to let sleep come. We had settled into this routine, so I have to admit that I have no idea what to do now. Last night I spent 45 minutes trying to help him get to sleep. He fought every bit of the way with arms stretching and legs kicking, back arching and pacifier spitting. Then, just when he is finally asleep and down in his crib without my tight grip on his limbs, he startles and wakes up. If you've ever had a dream that you were falling and then your body jerks and you wake up, that what he does. After laying him down and having him wake up, I tried consoling him in his bed. Finally, he rolled onto his side and just like that, fell asleep. He only woke up once through the night but ended up in my bed again. (The last few weeks he has been increasing his night wakes ups to two, three, four, even five times a night. And spending fewer and fewer hours in his own bed. He began refusing to return to his bed at 3-4am. Then it became 2am, then midnight. Desperate for sleep, I take him to my bed and he sleeps soundly. But I don't.) I suppose sleeping without the swaddle will get easier as he gets used to it, but for now, I'm at a loss. Though it was quite a feat to get him to sleep, it was precious to see him sleep. The sight reminded me how fast he is growing. It was only four months ago that he was brand new, swaddled in a blanket in a bed next to mine.
On a lighter note, he's sporting the summer fashion trend of FLIP FLOPS! I went into Payless to grab myself a pair, and was reminded by the clerk that its BOGO season again...Buy One Get One half off! After reviewing the selection and only seeing one pair that I prefered, I hit the baby section! So CUTE and so FUNNY! 
However, (there's always pros and cons to everything) he's gotten the hang of rolling in his swaddler. This is a problem because once they can roll while wrapped in their swaddler, it isn't safe to swaddle them anymore. And this is a problem because Luke's recipe for a easy bedtime routine is a bath, a book, swaddle up, and plug with a pacifier. His eyes roll back in his head and he is out in minutes. Now that we skip the swaddle, it has become a recipe for a long, draining fight to relax enough to let sleep come. We had settled into this routine, so I have to admit that I have no idea what to do now. Last night I spent 45 minutes trying to help him get to sleep. He fought every bit of the way with arms stretching and legs kicking, back arching and pacifier spitting. Then, just when he is finally asleep and down in his crib without my tight grip on his limbs, he startles and wakes up. If you've ever had a dream that you were falling and then your body jerks and you wake up, that what he does. After laying him down and having him wake up, I tried consoling him in his bed. Finally, he rolled onto his side and just like that, fell asleep. He only woke up once through the night but ended up in my bed again. (The last few weeks he has been increasing his night wakes ups to two, three, four, even five times a night. And spending fewer and fewer hours in his own bed. He began refusing to return to his bed at 3-4am. Then it became 2am, then midnight. Desperate for sleep, I take him to my bed and he sleeps soundly. But I don't.) I suppose sleeping without the swaddle will get easier as he gets used to it, but for now, I'm at a loss. Though it was quite a feat to get him to sleep, it was precious to see him sleep. The sight reminded me how fast he is growing. It was only four months ago that he was brand new, swaddled in a blanket in a bed next to mine.
On a lighter note, he's sporting the summer fashion trend of FLIP FLOPS! I went into Payless to grab myself a pair, and was reminded by the clerk that its BOGO season again...Buy One Get One half off! After reviewing the selection and only seeing one pair that I prefered, I hit the baby section! So CUTE and so FUNNY! 
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