An Early Birthday Present

Luke was really enjoying cruising around the furniture, etc. so we thought he might like to have his walking toy a few weeks before his birthday. He and Harry became best friends right from the beginning.

Watch Out Jasie!

These first 2 pictures were the warnings that change was coming :0) They were taken a week or two before Luke became an official crawler.

On November 17th I was doing some laundry while Luke was in the den playing. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that he was moving across the floor....

Gone are the days of just giving him a couple of toys to play with....he wants to see more! He also found the blinds which make such a great noise!

I was on the phone with Matt during this video...

So we stopped by the nursery the next Sun. (5 days after becoming mobile) & we asked if they needed to watch him to see if he was ready for the Crawlers room. We thought maybe he wasn't quite up to speed yet & might get to stay in the 'safe' room 1 more week, but they had already seen him jump crawling (you know- jumping his knees forward just a little bit at a time) for a couple of weeks. They knew he was ready. It was SO sad! They all came and told him goodbye. (I was SO sad we didn't get a picture of it!!!) They loved him :0)

He likes his new room. I don't even check on him between services anymore! Matt told me they know his name when he goes to drop him off, and they always say he was good. I'm just hoping he doesn't bite anybody :0)

Sitting up high

Spoon feedings took place in his bouncy seat for over 2 months. Since we had moved beyond rice cereal, there was potential for a real mess. We said good bye to this...
and hello to this. I remember thinking he looked so grown up!

Bumbo time

Sitting up is fun, but even more fun with toys! Maybe they could come up with a way for the toys to be attached to the tray. I guess they know momma or daddy will be close by to pick them up :)

Notice anything missing? That's right, he's been without a feeding tube for 5 1/2 weeks now!
Instructions for how to sit in a Bumbo come in 16 different languages!

Happy 4 month birthday

Luke turned 4 months old on June 27th. Here are some things that happened in his 4th month of life that haven't already been blogged about......

He outgrew newborn clothes.

He started Books and Babies at the Smyrna library. I believe he was always the youngest there. They would read 1 story, sing several songs, use the flannel board for a story, and have a puppet show. He liked the songs and when they would bring the puppets by him the best.
He started sucking his thumb while on his belly and then while sitting up.

We thought some teeth might be starting to come in since we saw some white bumps on the front part of his gums.
He got new toys to play with at MeMa and Pa's.
Jasie got new toys too.

Daddy turned 32! He had 2 parties, each with his favorite cake (yellow with chocolate icing), but as you can see he wasn't really the center of attention :)

He slept in his pack and play for the first time while we were at MeMa and Pa's. The second picture shows his tube out, that he rotated himself, and removed his blanket. (He became very good at pulling his tube out since he discovered how to use his hands.)

He started "Your Baby Can Read!". He loves the video and is very attentive. Daddy may even be learning something :)

Last, but definitely not least....He had lots of animals waiting on him in his crib, so he decided to pay them a visit....not all of the animals wanted to stay (see the 3rd picture). The first time he slept in the crib was for a nap. I just moved the basket part of his bassinet into the crib since he was still going to sleep in our room that night. Once he started sleeping in the crib at night, we took the bassinet away. He still slept on an incline since he had reflux problems.

Happy 3 Month Birthday

Luke turned 3 months old on May 27th. We are amazed at the changes that have taken place in the last month! For starters he has gained about 2 1/2 pounds! By the middle of the month he was finishing 1 bottle a day, ALL BY HIMSELF. He finished 2 in a day, a couple of times, at the end of the month. My favorite thing to see is his smile, and he shows it to us all the time :) Below are some pictures from 2-3 months old that I haven't already posted before.

This was shortly after coming home from the hospital. Notice the difference of his size in this picture and the ones at the end of this post.
He is enjoying bath time, and is getting baths more frequently now that his casts are off. This towel was given to him as part of his newborn going home souvenirs from Vandy.

The fact that he LOVES his "jungle gym" is an understatement! He is so happy when he's playing with the toys and looking at the lights. If we hear him crying while he's on his play mat, he has probably spit up or is tired.

He spent several times outside in his sun dome while I planted flowers. It's so nice to have trees that provide shade. However, one day Jasie was sniffing around and discovered such a wonderful smell under this tree that she needed to "bathe" herself in it. Once I discovered that she REEKED of a dead animal, I called Matt to say that she would need a bath OUTSIDE. I can't believe that I didn't get a picture of the first, and hopefully last, time that she got a bath in the driveway.

During this month we stopped swaddling him. He would usually get his arms free anyway. He wasn't crying if he fell asleep without being swaddled so we guess he has adjusted to living outside of the womb :)

This was his last newborn diaper. He is now wearing size 1. So GOOD, but so sad- he's growing up!

Luke was invited to his first birthday party. It was for cousin Elijah who turned two. Aunt Lydia made a very fun dirt cake. Elijah loves being outside, playing with his wheelbarrow, and collecting sticks. Luke and cousin Haven let Elijah open all the presents himself this year, but next year it may be a different story :)

This month we started having family time before bed each night. It is one of our favorite times of the day! Jasie sits in my lap on the floor. "I Love You This Much" is our favorite book right now.

Luke went to get his shoes the day he turned 3 months old. He went 10 days without his casts on. You can see in the second picture how his feet had already started to turn back in some. We would stretch them several times a day, but he needs something to hold them in place. The doctors have all said that the shoes are the hardest adjustment for children because you have to tighten them so much and they don't allow the legs to be as independent as the casts do. (Since I'm 2 weeks late in posting this update, I can tell you that Luke doesn't really mind his shoes at all. He only cries sometimes when you put them on, and that is for just a couple of minutes. He moves his legs around all the time and is such a HAPPY baby!! When we saw the shoe fitter this week he said that he's never seen a child do so well :) We prayed that Luke would not mind the shoes and praise God that He answered that prayer!!)