All about Luke

Watching the Indy 500 with his Daddy.

Luke just let out a big "yeeeehaw!" right along with Brad Paisley, singing 'Old Alabama'. Can this kid get any cuter? Yes, I know I am biased.

Today we had our first pee-on-the-potty experience. It was sort of accidental (he had bigger goals in mind, but only peed), but he was fairly animated about the Reese's peanut butter egg he got as a reward.

Luke is in his 5th week of ISR swim lessons. He stopped crying at the beginning of last week, and is now rolling from back to front to grab a hand or the bar. I'm hoping he will finish within the next 2 weeks.

He is no longer saying "itchin" for "chicken". I am heartbroken. He is also beginning to say the hard 'k' sound, so there are very few "otay"s left in his vocabulary. Devastated. There are just some things I don't want to change, ever.

Field Trips

Last week, Claire's class went on a field trip to a "pumpkin patch". You should know that in the southwest, the term "pumpkin patch" is loosely defined as a gathering of pumpkin(s) in an outdoor area. Each year I am in search of an actual field where pumpkins grow, but thus far all patches/farms/fields have been highly suspect and greatly disappointing, for me. The children, knowing nothing of what a real pumpkin patch might look like, seem to enjoy the brief time spent at them, as long as we aren't actually there for long.

Reagan and Claire are enticed by the promise of cotton candy. None of the other pumpkin patches we have visited have offered this delightful treat.

Luke and his Daddy, utilizing Luke's favorite method of transportation.

BFFs.

So glad he got to go on the school field trip, even though he was more interested in the trucks on the freeway on the other side of the fence, and refused to pose nicely in front of a pumpkin.

Milestones That Make Me Want to Cry

Need I say more?

Mum! Mum!

Translation, from Luke-speak: Vroom! Vroom! It's his favorite phrase, used when discussing the passing garbage truck, or when contemplating use of the vacuum cleaner.

The boy loves his vacuums.

He also loves his cat. Regretfully, the cat does not return the love, aside from the occasional, and oft unprovoked attack on the poor boy.

Cars have not yet become an obsession for him, but I sense us heading in that direction.

He has almost mastered the art of pull-and-release cars, of which I sadly cannot find any more. Do they call them something else? They are just so much more amusing than your standard matchbox car.

Strong genes

I'm just sayin'.

It wasn't me.

Me and my Gramma Donna.

One year old.

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to

Luke has been getting his fourth bottom tooth for the last week, and has been super crabby. I think this contributed to his "not quite right" demeanor at his birthday party last weekend. That and he seems to be suddenly allergic to strawberries, something I only surmised after several episodes of hives.

Overall, he did pretty well, interacting with the other kids, playing with the plethora of balloons, and picking at his cake. He didn't cry when we sang 'Happy Birthday' to him, and I managed to slide the cake away from him before he burned his fingers when trying to grab the lit candle.

The big sisters wanted to help with every step, especially the cake eating part.

The funniest part of the festivities came when he decided he was done opening presents, wanting to play with my pen instead. A fairly loud tantrum ensued, including a "head on floor" crying fit.

Ainsley looks on in confusion.

Happy Birthday, Baby Boy!

Dear Luke,

I'm torn on this whole you turning one thing. I love the fact that you are getting to be such a big boy, and that you are learning so many new things every day. But you are my baby, and I'm not ready for you to grow up yet!

You are such a joy to us; full of smiles, curiosity, happiness and wonder. You wake up each morning, pleased to start the day, and play quietly in your crib until your sisters or I come and get you. You greet us with a smile and "talk" to us, telling us what a good night's sleep you had. You especially love it when Kate comes in first thing in the morning. You laugh and laugh at her, as she dances and makes silly faces at you. You have her wrapped around your finger, and I often find a dozen or more toys in your crib, all gifts from her to make you happy.

Music has recently become a favorite thing for you. You have always loved Are You Sleeping?, but you are now starting to hum/grunt songs, trying to get others to sing to you. And, of course, you turn everything into a drum, with your BAMBAMBAMing. As for talking, you say "dadada" a lot, and I have heard you say "mama" several times. Your dad swears you said "ehfant" (elephant) the other day. You also say "ah duh" (all done) and "nigh nigh", and sign for milk, more and all done. And of course, you are teaching your mama about boys: your latest favorite sound can best be described as a machine gun burst of fire, "cah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah". I think it's adorable, but I'm not so sure your father agrees with me.

You started walking a few feet between your dad and me when you were about 10 to 10 1/2 months old, and you gained confidence enough to walk on your own when your dad was in Afghanistan right before your birthday. Now you motor around like a true toddler, and are even figuring out how to navigate the stairs. This, of course, means that you are rarely satisfied with riding in the stroller, which is often challenging for us. You are headstrong, and I wonder if you will perhaps be our first child to actually go through your "terrible twos" (as opposed to your sisters who were/are definitely terrible during their threes).

We are constantly amazed by how much you eat. I am learning that when eating at a restaurant, I need to order as much for you as I would order for Claire, because you will usually eat all of that, and sometimes more. You love bread, cheese, hamburgers, strawberries, kiwi, and yogurt. You aren't so keen on vegetables, unless I feed them to you from the baby food jars. You also love sweet pickles, and have been known to eat several slices at one sitting. You drink well out of a straw sippy cup, but love to try to drink out of a cup like the rest of us do.

You are fascinated by the pool, and love it when we warm up the hot tub and go swimming. You walk around and around on the bench seat, splashing and trying to take toys from your sisters.

I love you, baby boy. Happy birthday!

Mealtime staredown

I just finished downloading approximately 208 photos from my camera. It's been a long couple of weeks, and I clearly have not been keeping up with my technical obligations, to include (but not limited to): blogging, downloading photos, and email. I have also not finished writing thank you notes to all the wonderful people who sent gifts to Claire for her birthday. I am quite sorry about this last part; I do intend to write to all of you, hopefully soon.

Okay, so an update. I got antibiotics a couple of weeks ago, and took them faithfully. And then I started to get another infection. The doctor called me back before I had to go to the hospital again, thankfully, and prescribed me something stronger. It finally took care of the infection, but also wore me out dreadfully. I am just now starting to feel more like myself, and am trying to catch up on all the things I let slide in recent weeks.

We went back up to the mountain on Friday afternoon, the promise of nearly a foot of new snow incenting us to gather up our 400 items necessary for a hour spent in the white stuff. Claire cried this time again, but less so, likely because we let her wear her beloved princess pants instead of her snowsuit. On Kate and Tim's first trip down the hill on a REAL sledding device, they apparently tipped over, and Kate was disinclined to attempt further tobogganing.

Luke has found a new form of entertainment at meal time: dropping food off the side of his highchair. At some point during his meal, he will stare threateningly at you, and jut his hand out off the side of his tray, his eyes suggesting that he will indeed drop the bit of food in his hand, unless you...well, that's the part we're still trying to figure out. Everyone at the table says, "NO, Luke!" when he does it, and he stares tauntingly back at everyone. Then it's usually "bomb's away" as the food falls to the floor. Sometimes he'll put the food in his mouth and then everyone will clap. And then he'll take the food back OUT of his mouth, and the whole cycle starts again. It's very cute, but I'm starting to tire of the clean-up afterward.

Why he is willing to drop food off his tray is beyond me; the kid eats like he's a teenager, gobbling up nearly everything you put in front of him. Take, for instance, Valentine's day dinner. We took the kids to our local sushi restaurant, Luke in the stroller, Kate on her bike, and Claire walking and/or being carried by Tim. Luke ate what seemed to be 4 pounds of udon noodles, some coated in nori, a tempura shrimp and a tempura carrot, some abura age, half a bag of yogurt melts, and a cup of puffs. Although he wasn't playing his new game, a lot of food did end up on the floor, much to the dismay of the staff. At one point, our waitress asked me if I wanted a plate for him. Trust me, a plate would have been far worse. As a side note, Kate ate a bite of octopus sushi and LIKED it.

Oh yeah. I'll drop it. Watch me. What are you going to do to stop me? Hmmm?

We went bike riding over the weekend. Claire LOVES her new bike.


We also went swimming on Sunday and Monday. It was sunny and in the high 60s, so we took advantage. Luke thinks swimming is the BEST.

Oh, Dear.

He's so close. He's up on his knees all the time, and is constantly pushing himself backwards. He gets himself stuck under furniture and then complains about it. His father is encouraging this behavior.

If you listen carefully, you can hear me in the background:

Crabby

Hi, my name is Luke and I'm having a tough day. I skipped my morning nap, but slept in the car for 10 minutes, which is plenty. My mom thinks I should sleep a little longer, but I'm not gonna do it! I'd rather cry and wail. I didn't go to sleep for my afternoon nap until after 2:00, and then I decided to sleep for just about an hour and a half, which my mom says isn't nearly long enough.



The other day we walked to a restaurant for dinner. My mom gave me miso soup, which was way better than the green stuff she was trying to get me to eat. My big sister, Claire, loves "going to Japanese"; she fancies the soup with the white jell-o, too, but says she doesn't like the weeds in it. My mom also let me try something called "green tea ice cream", which was awesome! Dad looked at her kind of weird after, but I thought she was pretty cool for letting me try it. Then she let me taste the pumpkin cheesecake she made yesterday. Wow, that stuff is so good. Plain pumpkin can stay in the dish, but I'll take the sweet stuff anytime.

I didn't wake up until everyone else did this morning, which is such a bummer. I did start crying right after mom was asleep last night, which frustrates her. I think she can't figure out how I know she has just fallen asleep, but it seems like such a good time to wake up and have her come in and play with me for a bit. I also like waking up when it's super dark out and mom is zombie-like. Those are great times - it's just me and her, and she'll do just about anything to get me to go back to sleep. My cold is finally starting to go away, though, so I'm not waking up many times during the night coughing and choking. I think my mom is glad about that part; she seems kind of nervous when I make horrible sounds.

My biggest sister, Kate, is super fun. She loves to hold me, and I'm so big that we usually topple over. She makes me laugh all the time, though, and gets me toys when I cry. She makes funny faces at me and then I smile at her. She's the only one who can make me smile like that.

My dad has been trying to get me to crawl. For some reason, my mom seems reluctant to help me acquire this new skill. Dad is also cool because he helps me walk with my walker toy. Mom glares at him when he does this. She says it's something about stairs and tile floors, but I'm not sure what the problem is. There are so many things in this house to see! And put in my mouth! You should see all the cabinets that don't have "child locks" on them. It's going to be so fun around here soon!

A pickle

I didn't have any dill slices on hand, so Luke got to taste a sweet pickle instead. Sadly, he didn't make many good faces, but he did look at it with great suspicion.

After it disintegrated, he nearly choked on some of the seeds. He was a good sport, though, and is now regularly begging for what we affectionately refer to as "real" food. As much as he wants to eat whatever you have in your hand (especially if it is paper-based), he is only authorized stage 1 and 2 baby foods at this time. He now has 4 teeth, though, so chunky solids can't be far away. Four teeth. How did this happen?

He is also "rocking". All you mothers of more than one child know what I am talking about here. It's one of the last steps before you lose all sanity and your baby starts CRAWLING. Tim has been encouraging this behavior. Tim is also going TDY next week, so it is likely that Luke will choose the first day Tim is gone to begin scooting around the house.

In the midst of sickness: a pumpkin!

Last week I called one of my sickly babysitters to come infect my children with swine flu watch the girls for a few hours while I took Luke for his 6mo photo shoot. He wasn't as cooperative as he can sometimes be, and was pretty stingy with his smiles, but I think we got a few cute ones.

Coy boy in a gourd costume.

A smile! Pay no attention to the legs hovering over his head.

My favorite pictures always include drool. It's just so Luke.

Third Child

Poor Luke. He's either in his car seat, eating, napping, or playing on the crumb-strewn floor by himself, probably in a corner. I've always heard people talk about the middle child; how the unlucky kid is always neglected, and is constantly drug around from older and younger siblings' events, never getting a chance to participate in anything on his own. For us, it's the youngest child who is overlooked.

This morning, for instance, it was a rush to get the misbehaving girls ready for school. Luke got fed, but not dressed. Same for me, actually. . . but I digress. After we dropped them off, we returned home and I changed clothes to go for a run. Luke sat cheerlessly in the stroller as I enthusiastically told him how we were going to See The World! He looked at me and sighed. Half-way through the short run, I noticed he had fallen asleep. Yet another nap out of his crib. When we reached the front door, I gently lifted him out of his stroller and carried him to the proper napping locale, and he fussed just a little before nodding off to sleep. About an hour later, when I was finishing my shower, he woke up. Yay! Time to watch mom do her hair. I sat him just outside the bathroom with a few toys, and he looked at me like, seriously, Mom? These toys again? Okay, mental note to switch out the doing-my-hair toys.

After that, it was a diaper and outfit change, and back out the door to run some errands. He might have cried when I put him in his car seat. Then, to pick up the girls. He flirted pretty heavily with Kate's teacher, basking in the attention he surely feels he's missing out on. Back into the car seat yet again to go home for lunch. . .aaaand straight into the high chair so I could yell at kindly ask the girls to take their shoes off already while I made lunch. Then the girls went down for their naps and he and I played for a bit before he got fussy and needed a nap of his own.

In a short while, we'll all head to the park, where Luke will sit in his stroller (or maybe I'll be able to hold him? It's always up to the girls, somehow, and whether they can obey or not) while the older siblings play. Someday he'll get his revenge by eating all their Barbies' shoes, I'm sure, but for now, I'm glad he's patient.

Enjoying a little breathing treatment before nap. Apparently decongestant is dangerous for little ones, but albuterol is okay?

First pears. The girls kept fighting over who got to feed him.


6mo old. Over 20lb. One happy, well-fed baby boy.

I am teh cyut.

When did that happen?

I was sitting at the family medicine clinic on base this morning, playing with Luke, when he opened his mouth to babble at me and I saw two teeth poking through. The bottom middle ones, to be all scientific about it. And they are fully showing their ridges, so it's not like they just popped out last night. Or maybe they did? I feel like I haven't been paying attention to him enough to know when his first two teeth appeared! GAH. Next I'll find that he can crawl and I just haven't happened to notice it yet.

I was at the lovely clinic this morning because I have had a sore throat for more than two months. I know. The nurse looked at me the way you are looking at me right now, too. But I have three kids. Life is sort of . . . hectic . . . around here. I finally got annoyed enough this week to actually make an appointment, and because I really want to know if I have mono or strep, the only two illnesses that would sort of make sense given my symptoms. Anyway, they gave me a prescription for deconamine (because they say allergies and congestion are causing my sore throat), which after minimal research on my part, sounds like a bad idea given that I am still nursing Luke. The nurse on base said I was okay to take it, but I have a call in to my OB, *just to make sure*. C'mon, ask me how I feel about more government health care!

The girls have been making me crazy lately. Or maybe it's just that I'm exhausted (see reference to sore throat above). They are back to their nighttime antics, which include staying up until approximately 9:30pm, or sometimes even 10:00, talking, shrieking, and generally misbehaving. Then, they wake up between 6-7am, crabby but unwilling to go back to sleep. This morning Claire laid down on the kitchen floor, refusing to put her shoes on and get in the car for school. Awesome. I'm trying something new tonight: Kate will be in bed by 7:00, and will hopefully fall asleep before Claire arrives for bed around 8:00. Wish me luck. Or send me some whiskey. Someone is likely to need a stiff drink tonight.

Not! Yet!

19lbs of chub.

This bundle of joy is 5 months old today. Time is going too quickly! My baby is growing up too fast! Soon he'll be telling me he's not a baby anymore. GAH.

Luke is sleeping well, eating well, and socializing well. He loves television (third child) and chewing on things. He wakes up happy every morning, babbling to his mobile or his stuffed animals. He spins himself around in his crib, rarely waking up in the same position he went to sleep in. He can drool like nobody's business. He adores his big sisters, who in turn adore him back. He wants so badly to walk or crawl or run. He wants to be in the center of it all, and hates it when we leave him in the living room in his saucer when we are in another room. He usually only gets one good nap a day, due to his sisters' activities, but he does all right with it. I would like for him to stay this age for *just* a bit longer.

Found: 2 fists, a thumb and even some toes

Erm, that sounds a bit macabre. But this is what I mean:

Look! I have fists! Also, a wedgie. I am now wearing size 9mo, whenever my mom can remember. When she forgets, I just shake my fists at her. Or at the world.

Drooooool. There is a lot of spit around here.

Been a bit busy here. The girls started swim lessons this week. In Summerlin. So that's about a 2-hour event every day for 20 minutes worth of lessons. Not getting much else done around here.

Tim is trying like crazy to get back home. By this I mean that he is done with his work over there in fanistan, but is jumping through flaming hoops to catch the right flights. He's probably stuck in the Italian riviera right now. Love ya, babe!

How can you tell he's the third child?

It took 11.5 weeks for me to get him to the picture place for the first time.