1 Year Photos

This weekend my friend Wendy, Charles's mommy, acted as our professional photographer and took pictures of our little 1 year old. Pictures are just a hobby for Wendy, but these pictures are so much better than the ones an actual professional took that we hired for Lucas's 6 month pictures. Maybe it's just because she knows Lucas, but she was able to capture a familiar expression in just about every picture. She captured perfectly how Lucas is as a 1 year old. Click here to see the slideshow.....

"I can't breathe!"

I had a dream last night that I couldn't breathe. In the dream I was with some friends and I had on a t-shirt with a sweater on over it. I felt like the shirts were too tight and were constricting my breathing so I was trying to take them off. I don't know if they wouldn't come off or if I got them off and still couldn't breathe, but either way I kept dreaming the same thing over and over again. If you've ever had a dream where you were drinking water and it wasn't quenching your thirst, you can relate to how I felt. My brain finally got a message through for me to wake up and open my eyes and guess what I saw... Lucas Bryant was sleeping across my chest. His little belly was laying on the top of my chest and part of my neck while his little arms and legs hung limp on each side of my body. No wonder I couldn't breathe!

More Park Pics

These are from a few weeks ago. Charles's mommy, Wendy, was nice enough to take them for us...

Mr. Serious again...

Lucas with his Mommy...

Big boy climbing up the stairs...

Lucas and Blane taking a break for a sip of water...

Mr. Serious

We see a lot of this face lately. We still see the toothy grins and happy laughs at home, but when Lucas is out in public we mostly see Mr. Serious. When I look back at the past year I laugh at how confused Jeff and I were about Lucas's behavior. When he was 5 weeks old we thought he had reflux (and maybe he did, we'll never know), but we think now that that was probably just his intense personality coming to life. We were both serious little kids, I think, I know I was. I've seen the same look in some of my baby pictures, and even see it now sometimes. We joke that Lucas is all business from the moment he wakes up. Our bed is low to the ground, so when he wakes up now he doesn't play around like he used to. Instead, he goes right over to the edge of the bed, turns around, and backs off onto the floor. He then goes straight to the drawers or phone to start checking them out. If he's "busy" and you pick him up he throws his head back and goes wet noodle on you until you put him down...then he toddles off to check out more things. He has his own agenda...

Swim Class with Mommy

Jeff was out of town for the swim class before last so Mommy had to fill in as L's swim partner. Charles's mommy took some pics for us. Here we are practicing L's kicking. The babies in the water go kick, kick, kick...

Last Swim Class

Little Lucas had his 6th and final swim class for this session on Saturday. He really seemed to love the experience. They sing a song in the class to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus" that uses the words, "The babies in the water go reach and pull, reach and pull....and The babies in the water go kick, kick, kick...". This week on the drive to the pool I started singing that song and Lucas squealed and bounced up and down. When we arrived at the pool he got excited when he and Jeff were walking to get in the water. There are several indoor pools around here that charge just a couple of $ for a drop in swim, so we say we're going to try and take him once a week. Here is a short video of Lucas practicing his relaxation and back floating skills...

Happy 3rd Birthday Wesley!

Lucas's cousin, Wesley, turns 3 yrs old today. He got a puppy named Toby for his birthday. Isn't he a cutie? There are a lot of times that I see a resemblance between him and Lucas.

Toddler Lucas

Yesterday was the first day that I didn't see Lucas crawl. He's toddling all over the house, and he knows how to climb down the stairs now, so he really can go anywhere. Last night Jeff and I were watching American Idol and Lucas was walking in and out of the family room and the kitchen. Jeff and I were cracking up because he went into the kitchen and pulled out the Ziploc baggies...he would pull a few out of the box, look at them, and then throw them aside really fast. It was hilarious because he was so serious about it. He's getting so independent and funny. We're having a great time with him.

He's not crawling much anymore, but he still falls some. This video was taken last week, so he's not quite as wobbly now...

New Sleep Stuff

We have yet another bedtime routine with Lucas. The bath, playing in room, and storytime is still the same. What's changed is the last step. Lately when I rock Lucas or lay him in his bed he fidgets and tosses very restlessly. I'm trying to put him to sleep, but he isn't completely ready. I know that he can go to sleep in our bed on his own (sometimes I turn my back while he tosses to get comfortable), so I figured I'd try that approach in his room. Each night we make a little pallet on the floor. I lay my head on the pillow, hum Rocking Horse, Rocking Horse and close my eyes. Lucas will plop down beside me and close his eyes for a few seconds, then push up and walk around, then plop down again, nurse, tickle my face, stare at me to see if I'm really asleep, bite my nose, etc....but finally he lies down and goes to sleep. Every time he falls asleep perpendicular to me, with his head against my belly. Once he goes to sleep he transfers easily to his crib.

All this happens around 8pm. He then wakes up around midnight to nurse and again at 4am. I go to his room the first time and Jeff brings him to our bed the second time. This sounds like a lot of work, but we enjoy having him next to us and having him wake up next to us with a big grin on his little face. He usually sleeps later than we do. I heard him rustling around yesterday and when I went into our room he was standing beside the bed - I guess he can climb off of it now (it's low to the ground).

Here is the little guy after falling asleep last night...

North Hills Park

Lucas has a tough life. On Saturday morning he had swim class (mommy was his partner this week because Daddy was out of town). After class he took a long nap and then headed to the park to play with his best friends for a couple of hours.

The moms in our playgroup are going to try and go to a new park in Raleigh every weekend. We used to get together once a week when everyone was on maternity leave. We still meet once a month for dinner, but we'd like to hang out more. The weather is so nice and there are a lot of neat parks in Raleigh, so hopefully we'll get to see each other more often.

Blane, Charles and Lucas

"Hey Mom, how about a pair of shoes?!"

"Hmmm, how do I get out of here?"

Sweet Lucas

Playing in the sand...

"What's up Mom?"

sandy bottom

Lazy Easter Day

We were kind of burned out from all of the birthday celebrations, so we just took it easy on Easter Day. Here we are hanging out in Duke Gardens.

1 Year Appointment

Lucas had his 1 year appointment with Dr. Wiles yesterday. Here are his stats:

Weight: 21.4 lbs, 30% among other boys his age

Length: 29.5 in, 45% among other boys his age

Head Circumference: 18 1/8 in, 40% among other boys his age

His little head is finally in line with the rest of his body! Lucas has always been 40-50% with weight and length, but the doctor said that his curve looks normal, so it's not a big deal that he's only 30% in weight now.

The rest of the appointment was pretty uneventful. Lucas is waking up twice a night again - Dr. Wiles said we can either let him cry until he learns to put himself to sleep (again), or get up with him when he wakes up. Pretty simple. He said what is important is to make a choice and not be tense about it...for example don't let him cry if we really don't want to. Lately I go to bed around 10 and get up at 7, but lose an hour with getting up with Lucas. There were several months in a row when I'd have done just about anything for 8 hours of sleep, so it doesn't seem that bad right now. I guess it's all relative.

He told us we may want to start working on using the pacifier less and that it may be more of a crutch for us than Lucas. Today we only let him have it for naps and it was just fine. Well, I did let him have it for one of his diaper changes, but afterwards we stood by his crib and I sang, "Binkies away, binkies away, time to put the binkies away"...and then we threw it into his crib and Lucas laughed. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

Lucas didn't even make a sound when he got his shot. What a big boy!

1st Birthday Party

Little Lucas had a great time at his birthday party this weekend! He had his Grandma, his SaSa, and a few of his friends over for the big event. We did typical birthday stuff, but one extra fun thing that we did was have some Kindermusik activities. I didn't think the babies would be able to sit still for the songs, but they seemed to really like it. Lucas got some Baby Einstein DVDs (can't have enough of these), some educational toys, an outdoor swim gym, a tunnel, and a dump truck full of legos (thanks Ty!). I've posted a lot of pictures!!

Since the party was the Saturday before Easter, we had a bit of an Easter theme. Here is the cake that I made for Lucas. My mom used to make our cakes, so I'm keeping the tradition alive.

Lucas's very own cake!

The Birthday Boy!

Lucas had 3 little friends that were in town and able to make it to his party. The first picture is of Christopher and Lucas - trying to decide who gets to go through the tunnel first. The second is of Sophie and Lucas in the Kindermusik hammock. The third is little Katie.

And what a lucky boy to have his Grandma and SaSa come in town for his party!

Grandma and Lucas

SaSa with the Schroeder Fam

Mommy and Miss Kristen swinging Lucas and Sophie

Mommy and Lucas having fun playing and dancing to the music...

All of the babies and their mommies' playing with instruments...

Lucas enjoying one of the musical balls...

Lucas trying to bum some quiche off of Daddy's plate...

Mommy and Lucas reading a card...

Lucas (and Sophie) opening up the present that Miss Gina gave him...

"Hey Mom, are there anymore presents over there?"

Daddy helping Lucas blow out his candle...

Lucas wasn't that messy. He just scooped up the cake and put it in his little mouth. He probably ate the equivalent of three pieces of cake, but luckily we saw no hyper side effects...just his usual level of hyperness...

sweet 1 yr old baby

Well, maybe there was a bit of a sugar high...(video to follow)

Happy Birthday Lucas! We love you!

Birthday Photographer

Our good friend Gina was the one that took all of the pictures of Lucas's party. It was such a wonderful thing for me to not have to worry about taking pictures that day. We just got to celebrate with Lucas and didn't have to worry about capturing the day with pictures since Gina was doing it for us.

THANK YOU, GINA!

Art Musuem Park

On Friday, the day before Lucas's big birthday bash, we went on a walk/hike at the art museum. This is becoming one of my favorite places in Raleigh. Here is Lucas having some quality time with his daddy....

Lucas with SaSa

Jeff with our first baby...

Art on the trail at the museum...

Just hanging out on a pretty day...

Lucas playing chase with Jeff...

Tyson with the breeze blowing in his face...