Luke's 11 Month Update

How in the world is it possible that Luke is 11 months old already!  This little boy is busy busy and into everything.  Luke has gotten really great at walking this month, has gotten two more teeth, and is eating like a man!

Luke has absolutely taken off this month with walking.  He is getting so fast and his balance has improved a ton.  He absolutely loves chasing Rowdy around, poor dog is so screwed when Luke figures out how to climb up on the couch.  As far as teeth go, Luke has gotten four teeth on the top over the last month, lots of teeth in a short time, poor kid.  I don't know what happened, but this month I have not been able to keep this boy full!  Luke has three full meals, three good sized snacks, and breast feeds 3-4 times a day, some days I swear, all I do is feed him.

Luke's Typical Menu

Breakfast: Oatmeal with a fruit or veggie pouch mixed in or an egg

Snack: Half of a banana

Lunch: Leftovers or lunch meat with cheese

Snack: String cheese

Dinner: Sometimes what we eat, depending on if it is spicy or homemade baby food.

Snack: Puffs

This is a typical menu for one day, there are of course variations depending on what we have leftover.  Lunch is hard, I am constantly racking my brain for new ideas so Luke doesn't get bored.  Luke doesn't really like meat lately so I hide it in homemade baby food, I will steam chicken breasts with apple and sweet potatoes so I can sneak some meat in.

Last week was Luke's first Thanksgiving, it was such a fun day.  We celebrated on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  We spent the day with family playing outside, watching Last Man Standing, and eating good food.  Luke loved dinner, he had stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie, the kid was in heaven and slept like a rock when he went to bed.

It has been so cold here for the past week so we are really ready to go to Hawaii!  Only six more days!

Countdown to Vacation!

Yes... I know my palm tree is under water... I never claimed to be an artist.

The countdown is on!  We are off to Maui for vacation in less than a month and we are so excited.  This will be Luke's first time on an airplane and I have to admit, I am a little bit nervous.  He has been walking really well over the past two weeks and he hates being still and confined, so this should be good (insert sarcasm here).  I have been searching Pinterest and asking all of my friends with kids what they do when they travel so I can attempt to be prepared for 5 hours on an airplane with a walking 11 month old.

Besides being nervous for the flight, we could not be more excited for Maui.  Maui is a really special place for our family, we went on a lot of family vacations there when my sisters and I were growing up, my youngest sister, Haley went to massage therapy school there, Zack and I's first vacation together was to Maui, and Zack and I got married on Secret Beach in Makena.  I can't wait to play with Luke at the beach and pool and take him to all of our favorite spots and restaurants .  It's going to be so fun watching him explore and be in a new environment.  

There are so many things we want to do while we are in Hawaii, we are going with the whole family and I think everyone has a little list.  All I want to do is hang on the beach and by the pool, eat a lot of fruit, play with Luke, and get a picture with Zack and Luke on the beach where Zack and I got married.  Low key and relaxed is what were going for.

I have already started packing Luke's suitcase, which is totally not like me, I am more of a "I have to throw my shit in a suitcase right now because we are leaving in an hour" kind of gal, thats just my style.  But with Luke, I can't help myself, all of his little board shorts and rash guards are so freaking cute, I can't wait to put him in all of them.  My packing will still probably happen at the last minute, but at least I know Luke will have all of his cute stuff.

The weather has been really cold for the past couple of weeks so we are more than ready to leave, we are just counting down the days... We can't wait!

Luke's 10 Month Update

My boy is 10 months old!! Oh my gosh! He is so funny and keeps me laughing constantly.  Month 10 has been a big month for Luke.  He took his first steps, got his two top teeth, has been eating a lot of what we eat, and started sleeping through the night!  

These photo shoots have turned into a complete rodeo!  I told Zack he needs to record us one day because it is usually me holding him against the back of the chair then jumping back, rapid firing a bunch of pictures, then jumping back to catch Luke before he bails off the front of the chair.  Lots of fun!

Luke decided it was time to start walking!  He started out taking one or two steps and now he can take about 6!  He looks so cute walking, he is still so small and it is hilarious watching him carry his toys around.  Luke had been really fussy all of a sudden last week and I was starting to wonder if he was getting a little bit sick, thankfully he wasn't, but he did get his top two teeth!  Teething is such a bummer, I feel so bad for my little guy when he goes through it.

I have tried really hard to give Luke a lot of what we eat lately, he loves feeding himself (and Rowdy) so it has been a lot of fun.  Zack and I eat a lot of spicy food so I have to try to remember to cook a little bit more mild.  I still get nervous feeding him some things sometimes, but he does really well.

And, probably the best thing that has happened this month... Luke is sleeping through the night!  Up until about three weeks ago, Luke would play downstairs with us until about 8 when he started to get fussy and tired, then one of us (usually Zack) bounced with him on the yoga ball until he fell asleep then he would sleep in our arms until about 10 when we went to bed, he would wake up and I would nurse him and put him in his crib, but he would always be restless and be up and down 2-4 times a night.  This was NOT working, nights were awful and none of us were getting a decent night of sleep.  So finally, after a particularly horrible night, Zack and I decided we were going to let Luke cry it out.  We gave him and bath and put him in his crib at 8, he cried for 35 minutes (while I watched him on the monitor crying) but then he slept all night long!  Every night after that first one it has taken Luke 10 minutes or less to fall asleep and he sleeps all through the night.  Another thing to add to the "why didn't we do this sooner" list.  Better late than never, but you can bet your ass we will be doing this sooner with our next kid.

I love this little boy's personality, he is so funny and full of energy, has the biggest cheesy smile and keeps me running and laughing all day.  He is turning into such a little boy!  He is rough and tough and loves to destroy toy towers and ram his walk behind toy into the wall.  I love this age, part of me wants him to stay this little forever, but I just love watching him grow and learn every day.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was very low key for us.  My parents got home in the morning so we wore our costumes to pick them up from the airport then went out to breakfast.  For the rest of the day we just hung out, ate dinner, then went trick-or-treating at a couple close friends houses and the fire department.  Luke was actually already falling asleep when we were on our way to the first house, so he was over it pretty fast, but we managed to get a few cute pictures and a handful of candy for mommy and daddy to snack on, so I say it was a win.  

My sweet little Superman!

Happy Halloween! Love, Superfam!

I love matching family costumes!  I didn't want to go all out because I knew we wouldn't be out and about for very long so I just got Zack and I t-shirts with capes so we could match, it was a lot of fun and I love having these fun pictures.  My sister, Charley and her husband, Matt got Batman and Robin t-shirts with capes to go along with us, it was a lot of fun!

I am already starting to think about what our family costume will be, I am using Neil Patrick Harris and his family for inspiration, because their costume game is on point!  I can't wait until next Halloween!

Halloween Fun

  I love this time of year!  Cool fall weather, fun decorations, pumpkin spice, costumes, and of course, carving a pumpkin.  If you know me at all, you know that I am absolutely addicted to Pinterest, I mean, who isn't... amiright.  Anyway... I went to Pinterest for some fun fall activities for babies who are not yet old enough to paint or carve a pumpkin and I found the idea to pre-carve a pumpkin, scoop out the seeds and slime and put it into a gallon zip-lock bag so baby can safely play with the pumpkin guts.  Genius!  Luke was all about his bag of pumpkin guts for approximately 3 minutes, so  we moved on.  

I am always on the search for a hilarious picture to take of Luke, so of course I am going to cut holes in the pumpkin and make him sit in there for 10 minutes while I try to take a picture fast enough to keep him from trying to eat the edge of the pumpkin.  We took quite a few pictures, got a few pretty cute ones of just him and a few with all three of us, none of them Pinterest quality, but good enough for me!  "I'm more of a capture the memory" kind of girl rather than a "I have to have the perfect picture" kind of girl.

On another note, I love reading Luke books, even if he is crawling around and playing and not really paying attention.  I have found a few really cute halloween themed books and have been pretty much reading them on repeat this month.

Goodnight Goon // Love Monster // Frankenstein // I Need My Monster // Dracula

My parents get home on Saturday morning, Halloween!! So we are all going to the airport in our costumes to pick them up, I can't wait!  Another post will be coming soon with all of our halloween fun.  

Happy Halloween!

Luke's 9 Month Update

 Lucas turned 9 months old on September 30th, not a ton has changed since I wrote his 8 month update but I like keeping track of the little things.

At Luke's 9 month Dr. appt he weighed 18 pounds and was 27.5 inches long, he is getting so big!  Our Dr. also gave us the go ahead to start giving Luke small soft pieces of what we eat, so far he has just had cheese, lunch meat, kiwi, and a few other fruits.  I'm just easing myself in because I am honestly just nervous to give him much when it is just him and I  at home.

 Luke still isn't walking but he is getting so so close!  He can now stand up without holding on to anything, he kind of does downward dog then stands, it's pretty funny to watch.  We have a little push around walker for Luke and he has recently been pushing it up against the couch and climbing up the front of it, he is absolutely all over the place!  He has been saying "dada" for a few weeks now but over this week he has started to say "mama", which I LOVE!  Even though I know it's just sounds to him at this point, it makes me feel so good every time he says it, he's so sweet.

Luke has been getting really good at waving when we say "hi" and "bye" and every once in a while when Luke hears Zack's truck start in the morning to go to work he will turn and wave at the door, I don't know why... he started doing it on his own, it's pretty funny.

Fall is in full swing here and I love it!  Alaska doesn't really have the greatest falls, they are really short and this year we have had tons of rain, but it is my favorite time of year so I try to soak up every bit of it while it lasts.  The weather has cleared up this week so Luke and I have gotten out and taken a few walks.

This week I realized that I am totally one of those moms that constantly tells stories to anyone that will listen about how awesome my kid is, and these stories almost always include pictures.  Oh well... #momlife

Lucas' 8 Month Update

Oh how this little boy of mine has changed so much over the past month!  I can't even believe the amount of new skills he all of a sudden just knows how to do. He loves to clap when we say "yay!", walk around furniture, and tries to play with Rowdy.

Lucas is now fully crawling and let me tell you, he is quick!  I called it from the beginning, he is so much happier now that he can get where he wants to go on his own.  He loves to chase our dog, Rowdy, around and he thinks it is really funny when Rowdy jumps up and runs to the couch and sits just out of reach.

Zack and I are pretty sure Luke is going to start walking in the next couple months.  I almost hate to say that because I don't want my baby to be able to run away from my cuddles!  Seriously though... I can't believe how fast he is growing up.  Luke can pull himself up on anything then he lets go and stands on his own for a few seconds and looks back at us with the biggest smile, then very slowly sits down, my sister calls it "ass to grass, the perfect squat form."  The kid is strong!  He has also mastered walking along the furniture.  We usually keep Luke confined to the living room because we have stairs going upstairs and downstairs, but I was sitting with him on the stairs one day and I sat him down and he just started hauling ass up the stairs like he had done it every day of his life!  I was a little shocked at how fast he made it up ten steps and when he made it to the top he looked back and he just looked so proud of himself.

Luke is always making new faces and cracking us up but his newest, most hilarious face is his "turtle face," oh my gosh!  I don't know where this face came from, but we laugh so hard every time he makes it.  He also has the most adorable baby belly laugh I have ever heard.

So a few months ago I thought for sure Lucas was getting his bottom teeth, well, he wasn't.  But a couple weeks ago he finally got his two bottom teeth and I have to say, he handled it like a champ.  I never really noticed him being extra cranky, he just took longer naps and breastfed slightly more often.

Poor Rowdy doesn't stand a chance, but he is so sweet and patient with Lucas.

Hello turtle face!

Up those stairs!

We Have A Mover!

Luke has been army crawling around for a few weeks now and actually moves really fast but  last week he actually started crawling on his hands and knees!  Time to go baby gate shopping.  He is such a happy boy, you can just tell that he is so proud of himself.  We will put him on the floor and he will take off across the room and look back at us and just start laughing.  Since he can get where he wants to go by himself now I have found myself extra busy because of course, he is now tired of all his toys, instead he thinks chords and the vacuum are the best!  He has been keeping Zack and I (and Rowdy) on our toes these past few weeks.

Along with crawling, Luke has been sitting on his own like a champ and has started to pull himself up to stand.  I was so not prepared for all of these milestones to happen at once!  It amazes me that he just knows how to do these things, he is such a big boy!

Zack and I have started to use some baby sign language from This Book here and there with Luke so he can start to communicate a little better with us.  We try to be really consistent but neither one of us knows sign language so it just doesn't come naturally to us.  Luke thinks it is hilarious every time we sign anything, especially when we say "no" and do the sign, we may be in some trouble...

Luke is 7 months and I am absolutely loving this age! I can sit on the floor and play and read books and interact with him and I feel like he is actually getting into it, for a few minutes anyway.  He is generally in a good mood, loves to eat, and of course loves to move around and be outside.  I am hoping for a mild winter so we can take Luke outside to play a lot.

Hallelujah, My Baby Is Eating!

When Lucas was 4 months old our Dr. told us we could start feeding him some baby cereal and slowly add in some fruit and veggie purees, I was stoked!  For about a week and a half Luke ate baby oatmeal once a day and loved it, I planned on adding a second feeding at the two week mark, but one day, Luke just decided that he wanted nothing to do with food.  I wasn't super worried, our Dr. had said that at 4 months, it wasn't super important that he got solid food, it was just practice to get him used to eating off a spoon, he was still getting most of his calories from breast milk.  I still tried to feed him oatmeal two or three times a week but he never ate more than a spoonful, and usually it was by accident and he would spit it out.  Looking back, I think the reason Luke stopped eating his oatmeal is because I fed him some sweet potato about a week in and he ate it fine, but later that night he threw it all up and I think he just was just like "Nope! Not doing that again."

Fast forward to Luke's 6 month appointment, Luke had dropped from the 50th percentile to the 20th percentile for weight, I kind of panicked a little... even though our Dr. told me it was fine, just that breast milk was not enough calories anymore, I need to start sitting down three times a day and at least try to get Luke to eat.  For the first week or so he still didn't want to eat any food.  I tried mixing fruit puree with oatmeal, putting avocado in the mesh fresh food teether, and finally I froze some fruit puree with a spoon the the container to make a popsicle.  The popsicle is what ended up breaking the ice, I think he liked having the control to feed himself.  After the popsicle, I cooked a sweet potato and mashed it up and he ate almost the whole thing and from then on, all of a sudden, it seemed like he liked everything!  

I feed Luke mostly Plum Organics pouches and a few kinds of Beech Nut Organic jar food.  The reason I chose these brands is because there is a very simple ingredient list.  There are not a ton of gross preservatives and dyes and additives, they literally say "pureed sweet potato and water."  I also recently made some of my own baby food, I started with sweet potato and honey-nut squash, they turned out pretty well, Luke eats them with no problem.  I want to find some more recipes and make my own food more often, I had fun with it.

Luke's Typical "Menu"

Breakfast: Fruit puree mixed with oatmeal

Lunch: Fruit and veggie Puree, something like Sweet potato and pear

Snack: Cereal puffs or yogurt drops

Dinner: Veggie puree 

Snack: Cereal puffs or yogurt drops

I also still breastfeed 5 or 6 times during the day, usually right when he wakes up then after each meal and right before bed.  I really don't have a set schedule for breastfeeding, if Luke wants to breastfeed, I let him, I want him to have as many calories as possible.

And now... a thousand pictures of Lucas eating!

Luke loves when Zack feeds him!  He is always smiling and laughing.

This was the popsicle, Luke loved feeding himself but he would start crying because his hands would get cold and I noticed later that day that it made his face kind of raw because the way the food froze was kind of sharp and he was rubbing it on his face.

I couldn't resist!  His feet always look so cute when he sits in his high chair!

Luke's Torticollis Update

This week we had an appointment with a physical therapist to start woking with Luke on his torticollis.  Overall, I am happy with how the appointment went.  They taught us several exercises and carrying positions to do to try to correct Luke's tight neck muscles.  Along with the physical therapy, we are also going to take him to a rolfer in our area who uses the blue laser technique and treats babies at no charge.  Hopefully we have really good results with the rolfer so we don't have to go to a ton of expensive physical therapy sessions.

Since going to the physical therapist, I have become much more aware of how tilted Luke's head is, especially when he is in his car seat.  It has gotten better since he was born, but not as much as I thought.

Luke's Six Month Update

I cannot believe my little baby Lucas is six months old already!  It is so fun and exciting to watch him grow and learn but part of me wishes he was still a tiny little baby who just wants to lay on my chest and sleep.

Today Luke had his six month well child appointment, he is 15.9 pounds and 26 inches long and had to get two shots.  I hate when he has to get shots but he actually did pretty well this time around (aside from the mean stink eye he gave the nurse when she came at him with shot number two), he only cried for a few minutes.  He hasn't gained much weight since his last appointment but he still doesn't want much to do with food. I think we have him figured out though, he doesn't like being fed, he wants to do it himself.  Our Dr. gave us a few ideas to try and get him to start feeding himself, I am excited to try it out.  I just have an independent kid.

When I was pregnant with Luke he was all scrunched up on the right side of my belly with his head up under my ribs, and he was in that position for the better part of the pregnancy.  When he was born our Dr. told us that because of the position he was in, he had torticollis, which just means his neck muscles are really tight on one side and he has a hard time turning his head to one side.  She told us that if it hadn't fixed itself by the time he was six months old he would need physical therapy, it has gotten better, but its not completely fixed so we are looking into physical therapy to correct it.

Aside from Luke's Dr. appointment, he is really starting to become more mobile.  He can roll back to front and front to back in both directions, he is starting to be able to sit by himself for longer periods of time, and he is starting to scoot a little bit.  I know he is going to be crawling really soon and it has me thinking about baby proofing.  He is always into everything so I just know its game over when he starts moving around on his own.  I really think he is going to be a much happier kid once he can crawl, he just loves to move.

Luke's Favorites:

Being outside

Being carried in the Ergo 360 facing out

His Sophie Giraffe Teether

Bath Time

Being Naked

Petting our dog, Rowdy

Kisses from my sweet baby boy

Busy Week And Weekend Fun

Over the past week we worked on our shop and got it ready for in-floor heat and concrete floor.  Monday through Thursday we laid insulation and ran the pipe for in-floor heat and on Friday we had concrete trucks come and we laid the floor.  I have never been in on a concrete floor that wasn't mixed in a wheel barrel, it was kind of a chaotic shit-show!  Luckily we had tons of help all week; both of my sisters, my mom and dad, some of our amazing friends that were visiting from Wisconsin and of course, Zack and I and our little mascot, Luke!

We have had record breaking heat here in Alaska over the past week, were talking 80 degrees every day for over a week!  We have been loving it.  Since it has been so nice, we wanted to do something outside all weekend, so Saturday Charley (my sister), Luke, and I took our friends from Wisconsin fishing and Sunday the whole crew went floating down the river.  We try to float the river at least once every summer, we make a whole day of it, take lots of food and beer and float for about 5 hours.

In other news, a few months ago Zack and I noticed a few discolored spots on our ceiling in the basement, we checked them out and felt them but it didn't look like there was any water damage, it just was a slightly yellow color, so we kind of forgot about them.  Fast forward to a couple weeks ago, we noticed another yellowed spot, but this one was in our kitchen, so we called the plumber to check them out.  Turns out, we have three separate leaks in our in-floor heat. UGH!!  The plumber figured out that, when the flooring guys were installing subfloor in the bathrooms and laundry room, their staples were too long and punctured the in-floor heat tubes. Unfortunately, to fix this problem, the plumber had to cut holes in our ceiling.  It's a bummer, but at least it was caught before it got worse. 

My Teething Baby!

Luke is teething!  Not in the "his teeth are breaking through the gums" way, but in the "his teeth are moving up toward the surface" way.  He has had a couple of miserable days, these are the days that I just give up on trying to get anything done, post up on the couch and cuddle my boy while watching a whole season of How I Met Your Mother.  

Since Luke has been teething I wanted to note his side effects because I was surprised by a couple of them.

-Flushed cheeks

-Lots of saliva

-Runny nose

-Has started to refuse to eat baby food and oatmeal (this one really surprised me, Luke went from loving his oatmeal to gagging on it and refusing to eat it.)

-Putting anything in his mouth that he can get his little hands on
Of course he has the normal increased irritability that usually goes along with teething as well.
Breastfeeding has changed for sure, Luke is still eating really good and often but instead of just relaxing and snuggling while nursing, he wiggles around, kicks his legs, and pushes on my chest.  I'm not entirely sure why he started doing this, I have it narrowed down to a teething thing or him just turning into a busy little boy.  Either way, it makes it interesting to feed him sometimes.

Sofar we have given him Hylands teething tablets here and there and on one particularly miserable day, a half dose of tyelnol (Dr.'s suggestion).  Other than that, I just have continued to nurse on demand, sometimes that means we hang out in the living room all day, but oh well.  I know when he is older I will miss these times, so I am trying to soak up every last cuddle!

This was a rough teething day for my sweet boy, so I took advantage of the snuggling opportunity and wrapped him up in my Solly Wrap (goldie) and he relaxed and slept.  Thank God for Solly Wraps!

We spend the money for "the best teether" and all he wants is to chew on Grandma's kitchen table!

The Munchkin fresh food teether with an ice cube is pretty messy, but he settled right down when we gave it to him.  It's the simple things...