Morning Jogs

It's been 7 months, so I figure that I have no excuse for not exercising a little bit every now and then. Being a mommy is physically a lot harder than I thought it would be - nobody tells you this stuff. I haven't had an exercise routine in over 7 months; I eat pretty well but it's usually interrupted by something Lucas needs; I probably don't get around to drinking enough water; and you all know that we don't get enough sleep around here. Anyway, Lucas and I started our new exercise routine this week. We went for a morning jog almost every day. We couldn't leave Tyson behind, so he rode in the pocket underneath Lucas. I will have to get a picture, but for now here is a picture of Lucas and me after a run. Lucas falls asleep almost every time....he had just woken up in this picture...

Baby Halloween Party

Lucas had his first Halloween Party last weekend. All of his play group friends came over in their costumes. For some reason Lucas loved his monkey costume. During the pictures he was giggling and throwing himself all over the couch. The dads were standing behind the couch and kept having to set him back up.

The Blueberry, Tiger, Butterfly, Pumpkin, Lion and Monkey

Lucas arching his back and nearly throwing himself off of the couch...

He kept pushing his legs straight so that he was standing up... "Hey Mom, over here...get a picture of me!" "Hey Mom, get a picture of me with my best friend..."

"Whoa Charles, your big lion head is tickling my face."

This week in mobility...

Lucas has figured out that he can use his roll over skills to move him across the room. He'll roll until he hits some furniture, then roll the other way. Then he realizes that he's on his belly and fusses to be rescued (I'll have to get that on video this week). He prefers sitting to being on his belly. This week he is really moving onto his hands with his eye on a toy just out of his reach, but he's still working on the next steps of crawling. Here is a little video...


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Pumpkin Farm

Lucas had a really busy Saturday. My aunt, JoAnn, flew into Raleigh for the day just so we could take pictures of Lucas with pumpkins. The local farm that we found was amazing - there were tons of pumpkins, hay rides, goats, etc. We had a fun time and Lucas humored us while we made him look like a little country boy....

Peas are GROSS!

Here is Lucas trying peas for the first time. I should have stopped after these first couple of bites, but I figured that I'd see if he got used to it. After we turned off the camera I gave him two more bites. After the first one he gagged and after the second one he THREW UP all over his high chair! I felt bad, of course. Jeff hates peas too...hopefully we'll have better luck with green beans and carrots. I never thought my kid would be a hot dog/mac-n-cheese kid, but we're not off to a good start!

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Determined

Lucas was serious about getting these toys into his mouth yesterday...

This week...

This is how Lucas is getting to things he wants this week. He very much prefers sitting to being on his tummy, so this crawling thing may not happen as quickly as I thought a couple of weeks ago (fine by us!)...unless he just surprises us and reaches for a toy like this and takes off one day.


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More Teeth

Poor baby, look at these teeth that are coming in! I guess he's been sleeping pretty well considering how uncomfortable this must be...

 

Time to lower the crib...

I was putting away laundry yesterday when I looked over and saw Lucas peering over the side of the crib! I had put him in his crib in the sitting position, which he can't get into yet by himself...but it's only a matter of time.


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Patience

We are working on teaching Lucas how to be more patient...


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Play Group at the Park

I love the park!

Charles wanting Naomi to turn around and look at him...

Lucas and Christopher swinging together...
Naomi
There's that tooth again!

No Sleep Buddy

Lucas: "Wait, you're telling me that you get up every 20 min and your mommy comes in and rocks you every time? I was stretching it out to every hour, but I'll have to try that 20 minute thing!"

Charles: "Yeah, Lucas, that's right...she comes in there every time!"
Charles: "Oh nothing Mom, we're just talking about toys..."
Lucas: "Yeah, Miss Wendy, we're not talking about anything important..."

Three little boys..

Lucas's 2nd cousins were in town this weekend with their parents and their grandparents. They were only here for one day, but we had a great time. Max is 3yrs old and Ben is about 16 months. It was good for Jeff and I to see what we have ahead of us. And we thought we had it hard now...

The boys in the tub...so cute...

Hunter and Lucas

Lucas got to meet his little friend Hunter on our way back from Atlanta....Hunter was so focused on Lucas in these pictures..these boys will be good friends one day...

Hunter was saying, "Come on Dad, hold me up so I can look like a big boy!"

Miss Gina

Here is little Lucas with one of his favorite ladies, Miss Gina. When Gina came over after we got back from Atlanta, Lucas started to jump up and down in his exersaucer - I think he was really glad to see her. Getting back into work has been so easy with her around...

Gina took these pics of Lucas today. Here he is eyeing a toy that he would like to have in his little hands...
Here he is going after it. I see that Gina put the pillow by his feet so that he could use that to push against...

Here he is on all fours, not sure what to do next!

First Tooth!

Lucas has cut his first tooth. We first felt it last weekend, on October 1st, but it's just now broken through enough to see it.

The only way I could get this pic was if he was laughing or screaming - screaming came first and I took what I could get. This, however, allows me to share another little "Lucasism" with you - see how his upper lip is pointy in this picture? Whenever he is starting to get upset we say that "Lucas is getting pointy" because his upper lip always gets pointy. He has done this since he was born - it's so cute.

6 Month Poses

One more...

6 Months Old!

Lucas turned 6 months old on October 4th. He is officially a little person now with a personality all of his own. After living with Lucas for 6 months, it totally makes sense that his heartrate sped up to 203 bpm during labor and everyone had to work harder to bring him into this world - he has lots of energy and demands our attention at all times. I told the doctor this week that Lucas is "very" everything - very happy, very excited, very hungry, very tired, very mad, etc. When we were in Atlanta last week I must have heard 100 times that we're going to be in trouble when Lucas starts walking. He is constantly moving his arms and legs and hardly ever sits completely still. Atleast nobody can say that Lucas is boring...

We have seen Lucas develop into a smarter little boy this past month. He clearly knows what he wants and is beginning to "manipulate" us to get it. An example is the other day when I took away a ziploc bag from him because he was chewing on it. He screamed, I gave it back, he smiled.

Last week in Atlanta Lucas viewed it as a social opportunity for him. He figured out that he is "cute" and that if he smiles at someone they will smile back and talk to him. You could see him "working the crowd" by looking at everyone's faces and smiling. If he didn't get any attention after a few minutes he would let out a squeal that was sure to get someone's attention.

Physically, Lucas is trying really hard to crawl. We fear that once he gets it there will be no stopping him. He is now moving from the sitting position to all fours, rocking, and then falling..but he rocks for a little longer each day. He just needs a few more days to build up his arm strength, I think.

Lucas has been eating solids for a little over a month now. He's had rice cereal, oatmeal, acorn squash, sweet potatoes, banana and apple. I am making him some butternut squash and pearsauce to try this week. We've only been feeding him twice a day, but I think we're going to start three times a day this week...in hopes that he'll sleep better!

So the sleep..ugh..not much better. We've tried every possible thing but letting him cry. We're not there yet because he seems to be thriving developmentally, even though he wakes up a lot. When he is cranky during the day due to no sleep is when we'll talk more about letting him cry. I've been bad about a schedule because of him getting a cold, having to go to Atlanta, etc...but starting tomorrow we're going to try really hard to get him on a schedule. Everyone says that babies thrive off of schedules...I hope they are right.

Other than not being a good sleeper, Lucas is perfect in our eyes and we simply adore him.

He saw the doctor this week and the doctor said that he's looking good. He weighs 16lbs 10oz, which is 40% among other boys his age. He is 26.5 in long, which is 55%. His little head is 35%.

Every month we take pictures of Lucas in his room or on our bed...I hope to get that done tomorrow...so check back to see his "6 month poses"...

Here is a picture of him "hamming it up" before we went to his 6 month checkup...

Progress towards mobility...

Lucas is making progress each week. Last week he was pushing up into sort of a push-up position, or "plow" pose if you're into yoga. See picture below. This week if you put your hands against his feet he uses them as leverage and pushes forward..and sometimes pops up onto all fours for a few seconds. If we place him on all fours he rocks back and forth a few times before falling on his face. I'll try to get a video later today. Why are we encouraging him??!!

Lucas with his cousins...

The good thing about last week was that Lucas got to hang out with Wesley and Ty. They grow so fast that we're thankful for every opportunity to get them together.

Jenn and Ty trying out the sling...

Jenn, Bryan and me with our boys...
Wesley is growing up so fast..he's 2 1/2 now...
Ty and Lucas. Ty is 3 1/2 months old...he's a big and healthy boy!
Ty wasn't too sure why Lucas was in the bathtub with him...
Lucas with his Uncle Bryan and Aunt Angela

Lucas hanging out with Uncle Neil