8 Months Old!

Dear Lucas,

You are 3/4 of a year! How is that possible?! You are growing so much. You are wearing 6-9 month tops, 9 month pants and size 3 shoes. I think length wise you are a 2 but your feet are so fat that you will only fit in a 3. Your size isn't moving too fast but your personality is just breaking through. You are one crazy little dude. You make us laugh so much.

When you learn a new sound you can make you love to put it on repeat. Right now you know how to make a hacking sound and you think it is hilarious. You also added the up and down head nod to your side to side one. You do this a lot. We know you don't know that is yes and no but sometimes your timing could not be more perfect to things we are saying to you. Like, "you are such a cutie". Queue the yes nod. Or Daddy telling Mommy we need to do laundry. Yes nod…yes, yes you do:) I have a video of you doing it (very hard to catch) so I really need to figure out how to post it.

You have also learned to throw a temper tantrum. We thought we had a lot more time without this but nope! We know when you are tired or when you don't like something we're doing, like washing your face after you eat. This may be the thing you hate most right now but sorry buddy, you are going to have a clean face. You figured out how to pull yourself up to standing so you want to do this all the time, on everything.

We just bought you this musical table though and so far it's great!

We are very shocked that you are doing this as you are not even close to crawling. You don't seem interested in that at all. When you are on the hard wood floor you push yourself backwards on your tummy and when you are on the carpet you just roll to where you want to go.

And boy are you a mover. You would climb all over us all day if you could. Oh, and if you are in a good mood you love to jump in your jumper. You jump like there is no tomorrow. This has led to you thinking that when you are standing on your own you can jump but so far we have caught you. This past month we took you to your first zoo visit. If the animals were moving and close enough you were interested. The giraffes were pretty cool.

You also love birds. Oh my…when a bird flies over I think you may give yourself whiplash, haha! You celebrated your first Halloween as a Half Moon Bay pumpkin. You were just too adorable!

We had lots of trick or treaters and you greeted every single one of them. You love to watch people so you were pretty much in heaven. We started swim class this month. You love bath time so we were hoping you would like the pool and boy do you. You started to get submerged your first day and you are becoming a little fishy splashing and kicking almost the whole class.

I found a baby story time at the library where we sing songs and the librarian reads books. This keeps your interest the whole half hour. You love songs so I am not surprised.  We also discovered a Youtube video of a song called What Does the Fox Say?

Nothing has ever kept your attention on a screen for this long. If you are crying you immediately stop when we show you this and as soon as it stops you go right back to crying. It's crazy how much you love this video. You had a play date with this beauty.

You have become so much more aware of other babies so to have one so close up got you excited. You wanted to pull her hair and knock her over but I was there to help you stay on her good side;)

You are just loving food more and more. You usually eat a solid food meal three times a day. You have added prunes, black beans, tomatoes (mixed with other things because on their own you are not a fan yet), blueberries, green beans, cauliflower, and broccoli to your repertoire.

We also occasionally give you Puffs. At first they were literally the only thing you didn't immediately put in your mouth but you have figured it out and you love them. So much so though that when there were a few days of these and fruit it took you awhile to be ok with veggies again so we are making sure to spread out giving you them.

You also nurse about 6 times during the day and 1-2 times at night. There was a lot this month so I am trying not to drag on but one more thing…your sleep. Oh how you have changed. You have gone from 4 short naps to almost always 2 long naps (1-2 hours). You still hate going to sleep. Every time we pull out your sleep sack you start to cry but it doesn't last long and you go down within minutes. That's not to say you never freak out when going down but it has gotten so much better.

You go down for the night between 645 and 730, waking up 1-2 times to eat and then getting up for the day between 5:30 and 7 am. You tend to lean towards 530 when it's Daddy's day to get up with you and 7 when it is mine;) Oh my goodness we love you! You are such an adventurous, fun, inquisitive baby and we are so excited to be on this journey with you. Maybe next month you'll learn your name? But if not, that's ok:)

We love you!
Mommy and Daddy

Happy Blogiversary to Me!

Hi there! It has been a very long time since I have posted something other than my son's monthly updates. Last month I swore to myself that I would do at least one other post to catch up. Well I didn't know what the date was and when I checked my calendar and wouldn't you know it, tomorrow is my son's 8-month birthday…ah! I only have today to blog if I am going to keep that promise to myself. I was then thinking about how I was pretty sure that I have been blogging for a about a year so I went and checked and my first blog was one year ago today. Some things just happen for a reason;)

One of the blogs that I follow and love so much was "gone" for a little while so when she came back she thought about how she was going to write about everything that has happened. She then said, to heck with it (I am completely summarizing here) I'll start with what right now. So that is what I am going to do. With a little background;)

The hubby: He has a job! Woohoo! He was offered a job on Aug. 28 and started his new job on Sept. 16. It's been crazy with varying schedules but so far it's going well and he his happy.

Me: On Aug. 28 I quit my job. Well, I tried anyway. We had decided that for our family right now it would be best for me to stay home and take care of Lucas. So as soon as Kevin got the offer I called to give my two weeks. We wanted to take our trip to San Diego in between my last day and his first. Well my boss asked if I would be interested in working part-time. I was so caught off-guard and for some reason a bit excited. I could still work and have an income and stay home with my son?! So before I gave an answer I talked it over with Kevin and he reminded me I hate my job…oh yeah. Even though I have been unhappy for a couple years now there are still people I feel responsible to so my compromise was I would stay on until my replacement was found and trained. My end date is now Dec. 31. I have been asked twice to stay on longer while my account goes through some transitions and I considered it but my part-time is supposed to be made of 4 hours a day when I can fit it in. It is rare that I only work 4 hours in a day and that I don't do any work while Lucas is awake so I have decided I really need to stop at the end of the year. Kevin would like me to stop today but he understands that I want to go out on a good note.

Lucas: Well tomorrow you'll get most of the updates on him:) Some things I won't write to him though… Lucas has started to get a bit needy. He has been so comfortable with anyone that Kevin and I wondered if he would ever like us more than everyone else. Well, he has. We like that we finally really feel he knows that we're the ones who take care of him but at the same time we don't want a kid that can't be held by or cared for by any one else so I am trying to get us involved in more things. You know, between work, keeping up our house and other obligations;) We had a play date with an adorable friend who is the same age as Lucas  who you could tell was exposed to more than him. She was just gentler with him and easier going with other people so I have found a couple activities for us to do each week and I am going to join our community's mom's group that sets up play dates with other people who have babies in the same age group. I am putting us out there! Lucas loves being around other people so I think this will be great for both of us.

Ok, I am not one who is ever short on words so this is longer and not as interesting as I had planned in my head:) but I feel caught up. And I really want to get some more blog entries in before the end of year. We shall see!

Oh yeah, I'm hosting Thanksgiving for about 10 adults and Kevin is working that morning and not scheduled to be home until noon so please wish me luck!

7 Months Old!

Dear Lucas,
Well, you are still growing! But you are now "average" which is funny because you are such a chunkster. You are 19 lbs 2 oz and 27" tall. This past month is the first time that people have ever guessed your age correctly so I guess on average most babies your age are about your size. I'll be honest with you this past month has been a bit rough. Your bottom two teeth came in, the right one on October 2 and the left a few days later. I thought this meant we would be on a little break but you are definitely going through something, maybe it is still teething.

Since you are still a baby though and crying is just about the only way you can tell us something is wrong we don't know for sure what is going on. You are waking up multiple times in the night, screaming for long periods of time before you take a nap (don't worry, we are comforting you through all of this) and are getting so easily upset throughout the day.

I have finally enlisted in some help from sleep experts so let's hope for some good news soon! And last month when I thought we would just have a few interesting days of you rolling over when you sleep and not liking it, boy was I wrong! This vicious cycle has lasted all month and I don't see an end in sight.

Don't worry though, we still could not love you any more. You still laugh every day.  Whenever we are out people always love to say hi to you and you always give them a smile or laugh back. It seems to brighten their days and that is wonderful.

You started shaking your head no and you think it is hilarious. You aren't shaking it to say no, its just moving that way and it is so funny. You won't copy us if we do it though, you do it on your own terms. You also love to look at what is going on behind you. I think this is absolutely adorable. You just don't want to miss a thing!

You are eating solids twice a day, at lunch and dinner. This month you tried banana, pear, apple, peas and potato. You loved everything accept for the potato and I don't blame you. Potato doesn't seem to stay very well after a few hours so we'll hold off on that one for awhile. It also took you a little time to get into bananas but you're ok with it now.

You decided you do not like milk bottles anymore and we figured this out while mommy was out and daddy was putting you to bed:( So when Daddy is off work we are trying to give you one milk bottle a day. It is hit or miss at this point but we are not going to give up because Mommy needs to be able to go out and do things some times. Since your milk bottles are glass they are pretty heavy so we give you water in a small plastic bottle and that you love. You have learned to hold it on your own.

For whatever reason the new thing to calm you down is mommy singing to you, normally Wheels on the Bus. I am the most toned deaf person you will ever meet so why this calms you I have no idea and Daddy would really love if we could figure something else out;)

Your eyes are still blue/gray. They are just gorgeous and people still comment on them all the time. Auntie Angie thinks they may stay but we shall see!

Your hair! Oh, how we love your hair. It definitely has a mind of its own and we just let it fly.

You still have the cutest sneezes which occur daily. I hope your sneezes stay cute.

Please disregard the ensemble. We were just doing a nice photo shoot for Daddy.

You just started pushing yourself backwards when you are on your tummy. I'm not sure you are close to crawling but it is cool to see you trying to move, even if it is in the wrong direction.

You did get some cousin time in this month and you think they are so entertaining.

We also took you to a few pumpkin patches as we live in pumpkin country:) The first two you were so overwhelmed with the pumpkins and the hay you would not look at the camera.

Then next one you got on board with the picture taking.

We then picked out some large pumpkins to carve and when we went to pay they told us it would be $45 for two pumpkins! Daddy wanted to make sure we let you know that we spent that much money on two pumpkins because we are trying to make Halloween so special for you;) It won't take you long to figure out that Daddy does not overpay for things so this is a rare occasion. Haha!

We also went to our first Pumpkin Festival.

There was a lot for you to see but I think it was a bit overwhelming for all of us. We think you'll enjoy it more in the years to come.

Every day we tell you how much we love you and how cute you are. We hope this never gets old for you. We are excited to continue to watch you grow.

We love you so much,
Mommy and Daddy

6 Months Old!

(This was written on September 25.)

Dear Lucas,

How can you already be 6 months old?! How has half a year already gone by?! Please slow down! Don't grow up too fast! We are having so much fun with you and we know a day will come when you won't think we are so great, or funny, so please make the days slow down:) Because you sure do make us feel like we are the funniest people on earth.  You cry every day but you laugh, hard, every day too.

You still hate going to sleep. You fight it every time but you LOVE to blow raspberries so in between your cries you pause to blow bubbles.  It's hard for us to not giggle when you do this but its even harder for us not to cry when you cry.

You are still taking 3-4 30-45 naps a day but that 4th nap is starting to disappear. There were a couple of days this past month that you slept for almost 2 hours which was great for all but looks to have just been due to a growth spurt.  You go to sleep at night between 7 and 8 p.m. You wake up once to nurse and then wake up for good between 6 and 7 a.m. We would like it if you woke up closer to 7 but you tend to like 6 a lot better:) Oh, and during the day you always wake up with a smile!

You are 18 lbs 2 oz (56th percentile), 26.5 in tall (59th percentile) and have a 17 in head (80th percentile) You are sitting up all on your own. This is awesome but now you don't like to play on your back so much. You are too cool for that now.

We thought you may never consistently roll over but once again you amazed us! Last week you were on your back playing, I went to the restroom and when I came out I could hear your grunts like you were on your stomach so I ran out to you and there you were, on your stomach. I was in shock.

An hour later we were in your room and you did it again. Of course you wouldn't do it on command so it took a few days for daddy to see it and even longer for me to catch it on video but now you won't stop.  You roll over almost every time we put you on your back which would be fine but you don't like being on your tummy. It's a vicious cycle:) Last night you even woke up screaming because you had rolled on to your tummy.  I feel like the next few days are going to be interesting while you figure this out.  You are now eating food!

It's been two weeks and at first it seemed like you may not like it but now you can't get enough.  You love it! We knew you would.

You love sitting in your high chair at the table with us. You love to be involved in what's going on and it's a great view from there.

We are making your food and love doing it. So far you have gobbled up sweet potatoes, zucchini, carrots and avocado. We are so excited to keep introducing you to new foods.  Of course you are still nursing which you do about 6 to 7 times a day.  This past month you went to San Diego for the first time.

You did such a great job in the long car rides and in the hotel. You really are amazing and all of our San Diego friends loved you. We love San Diego and it seems like you will keep that tradition alive:)

You are still teething but they haven't popped through even though we can feel them. I'm ready for it though because it bothers you so much.  Sometimes you respond to your name but not always.  I think we have too many nicknames for you, like Little Monster, Buddy and Vampire Baby (you sneeze every time you see the sun and curl up like it may melt you) that it's confusing. You now fully reach for things and everything goes straight to your mouth.

You put both arms out when you really want something and that something usually is something you aren't supposed to have like our sun glasses or the buttons (that's the remote for any of you who don't know our language). Football season has started and we love football around here but Mommy and Daddy don't agree on which team is better so we're excited to see which team you choose. (Go Niners!)

Last week when you hit the buttons you changed the channel to the 49ers game so you may have already chosen;) Oh, people are always commenting on your eyes! You have big eyes like me but they are still light.  We think they will be like Daddy's but right now they are a blue/grey.  It will be interesting to see what they will be!

You also still have a full head of hair.  It's getting a little bit lighter. It's also starting to curl like Daddy's which I love. You still are so intrigued with everything going on around you. You can sit for quite awhile just watching me put away dishes or fold clothes or even while I put on my makeup. You love the grocery store with everything going on and you really love our garage and we have no idea why but if you are fussy we just take you in there and you immediately calm down while staring at every thing around you.

You are not really a fan of sitting in your stroller like a big boy but we're working on that.  I think you would rather be in your carseat so you can look at us but once you realize all the other things you can look at it doesn't seem too bad.

You also still LOVE the bath! You really are such a happy baby and we love every minute with you! You are an absolute blessing and we cannot imagine life without you.

We love you!
Mommy and Daddy