Miss This Face?

Luke is 10 months old today

The Blog is Back and It's Gonna Be Fu-un!
Blogger was down this week and I lost all access, which made me worried.  Today it's back! Yay! I don't have much time, so I'll just post a few things.

Bearded Man at Bridal Shower

Luke continues to be very, very interested in hair - on other people's heads, faces or his own, 

which he grabs and pulls at while nursing.  

At a bridal shower Saturday, our friend Brian good-natured-ly let Luke play with his beard.  

Luke was fascinated!

Going back for more.

Standing Tall
This is one of Luke's favorite things to do now.  It usually brings out his talkative side too. :)  I often stay pretty close by, though he's getting more steady all the time.

Proud boy!

Can you see his chubby thighs???
He's gaining weight!
Yesterday we stopped by Matthew's office for the weekly weigh-in. He was 18lbs. 2 oz.!!
Praise God!  That puts him at about the 8th percentile.  He's gained 1lb. 14 oz. in three weeks.  My strategy is 'FEED HIM FAT!", so I'm adding olive oil, butter and avacado to most of his foods. He's also eating ground meat really well.  Next Wed. is the appointment with our doctor Cynthia and we're hoping he hits the 10th percentile and gets out of the 'danger zone' which would require bloodwork (not fun according to other mothers).

And Now We'll Leave You With Some Entertainment...

One way to keep him occupied for 15 or 20 minutes is to give him his Basket-O'-Fun.  Beth gave me this idea. He pulls out each toy and examines it. Some he tosses aside pretty quickly, but others he enjoys for a while, as you can see.

Luke still really loves the Exersaucer we're borrowing from Aunt Kelly.  A few encouraging words like, "Do ya wanna jump?" can really get him going. 

That's all for now. Have a wonderful weekend!!

Love, 

Laurie

Weigh-In Results and Video for Fun

Here's the picture of Luke with his toys from Mimi.  Thanks Mimi!

And here's my first try at uploading a video. I hope you enjoy the clip the way Luke enjoyed the water!

Finally, we just got back from Luke's weekly weigh-in, 

aaaaaaand (drum roll).....

He gained 6 oz.!

He is 17 lbs. 11 oz.

Yay!!!!

Have a great evening!

Painting Day!

Look what I'm doing today!  Finally painting our master bathroom.

My mom came over to help and provide motivation.  Thanks Mom!

Luke loves Grandma!
We did spook him, accidentally, when I sent her to wake him from his first nap.
Sorry, Luke!  He got over it once he was fed and changed and fully awake.



Check out our little cheerleader/entertainer...

Gumming it.  Are more teeth coming? 


The way he's been biting, it sure seems like it!  


He bit Matthew's shoulder and face pretty hard, and you can guess where he's gotten me. 

I love nursing, but this part isn't so much fun. 

Can't.     Quite.    Reach.    It.     

Contentment personified.
He couldn't always see us, but wasn't bothered. He just rolled around, played with his toys and talked. 

Fun painting 'toys'.  Plastic tray liner!

The eye rub means nap-time-now!

Leg Kicks Amuse Mommy 

One of the things he does that I find the funniest is the strength and vigor with which he kicks when on the floor or in his crib.

Legs together.

Straight out.

Heels into the carpet/bum in the air.

Huge smile.

(It was hard to capture the movements, but you get his joy in his expression.)

Rub-a-Dub, This Boy's in the Tub!

Luke really likes his baths. He kicks, grabs for his toys and generally LOVES water. :)

This expression is waaay better than it was at 3 months. Yay for baths!

Does he see it coming?

Still coming.....

It's here!

Wow, this is fun!

Thanks for reading! Finally a big THANK YOU to Mimi for the very awesome toys you sent Luke this week! (I've got a picture of Luke with them, but am having trouble loading it.)

We're taking Luke for a weight check tomorrow. He's been eating lots of avocado and high calorie baby food and seems to have chunkier legs, at least we think so. Hopefully it will be good news.  This really does feel like the opposite of The Biggest Loser TV show. I'm thinking about his weigh-in already.

Also, we were thrilled that he's been taking steps while holding onto our hands. Hopefully I can get some of that action on a future blogpost.

Have a good evening!

These are a few of my favorite things.....

What does Luke love?

1.  His hands.  He waves them, chews them, sucks his thumb and grabs at whatever interesting things that are near him.

2.  Faces!  Maybe it's teething, but Luke is often eager to give open-mouth 'kisses'. 

This was my Mother's Day embrace from my little guy.  The awesome egg omelet was from Matthew.

3.  Toys......with lights.......and noise.   This particular gift from Mimi is a hit.

4.   Hair.  Check out Luke's expression as he delights in holding onto Matthew's hair. 

And he's going for a dive - yum, yum!  Matthew truly has a wet patch of hair when Luke's finished.  :)

The Biggest Gainer

That's what we're hoping Luke will be.  At Luke's 9 month well-child check last Wednesday, he was under the 5th percentile, weighing in at 16 lbs., 4 oz.  Granted, he had been sick and threw up all morning, which lowered his weight a little. Still,  he should weigh a little more.  

So, we're spending a lot of our day working on e-a-t-i-n-g.   

This can be slow and frustrating when he's just not interested in the solids I'm offering. 

Our strategy is to increase how often I offer solids, make sure we're giving higher calorie foods and to let him nurse as often as he's interested.  Some days he's more interested than others.  

Luke was an eager eater after his morning nap.  Yay!

But,
then he got tired of it,
so I used my 'hair' trick.....
I lean down so he can grab my hair.  As he opens his mouth to put my hair in, crafty mama shoves a mouthful in!  Usually works for 5-6 mouthfuls.
My hair may be messy, but it's worth it! 

We're also giving extra breast milk from my friend Ha's freezer.

The plan is to beef up Luke, then go back to the doctor's in one month and see what he's gained. We pray he'll be 10th percentile or above.

Finally - 

Happy Mother's Day!

My lovely mother, Elaine, with her children!  Love you Mom!  Being a mother myself now gives me a much greater appreciation for all my mom and all moms do. 

Welcome to Luke's Blog

Dear family and friends, 
I've been looking for a good way to stay in touch with family long-distance ever since Luke was born. Recently blogging was recommended to me by my friend Sonya.  She's mom to a baby boy Luke's age and she found this to be easier than facebook.  
The content is private and people need to be invited to join this blog. I thought I'll give it a try and see how it goes. Let me know what you think!  So far, I'm  inviting close family and friends to read the blog, but if you have someone you think would enjoy it, let me know. 
Love, 
Laurie 

My little helper  and inspiration for this blog

Yummy thumb.

Reality bites.  Luke's new activity is playing face-attack, chest-attach or as shown here,  Mommy's-leg-attack.   I really have to be careful of his two very sharp lower teeth.

On the Move  - Besides rolling, he's starting to wave his arms and legs in the direction he wants to go, like near the computer, and inches a teeny bit closer.  This photo also highlights his interest in anything techy (the camera, computer and my cell phone). 

 Lastly, I'll leave you with some fun photos I took in our backyard this morning to send to our mothers and grandmothers for the upcoming Mother's Day.  It's so much fun to see him explore the world. 

Dandelion fun 

Mmmmm.....gotta taste test it.

Smell it ......

...and taste it!
This is his face after trying to taste the fuzzy yellow part.
Notice the drool from trying to spit it out!