Summer Lovin'

WHEW.

I'm tired! Summer is disappearing at an ALARMING rate, and though we are busy, we are loving EVERY.SECOND.OF.IT! My boy is a lot more like me than just in looks... (though seriously, looking at these two pictures, it's pretty obvious he's my boy, huh???? Right down to the lip-suck thing I did until I was easily 5 or so, and even now, John says, when I am anxious or nervous. Don't know when he'd have any time to witness me being like that or anything...just sayin'.) In this picture, Luke is having a ball in his bath last week, while I am about 3 and pretty worried about something. Luke and I are a lot alike in picture taking as well...either we are worried about something or the whole darned picture is taken up by our gaping, laughing mouth!

Anyway, as I was saying, he is a lot like his mommy (and daddy too, though daddy could live without the beach if he had to choose beach or mountain and I'd pick BEACH every time!) because the boy likes warm water and loves the beach! He has had such a great time over the last few weekends...it's so nice to be able to hop in the car and head to the beach for the day...I have to say that the week is SO busy in that John is working a lot, but we are enjoying not really having too much responsibility or obligation but hanging out together during the weekends!

He loves the beach so much, he didn't even fuss a bit when he went head first into the sand (for the record, dad slipped on this one, but who's keeping score???).

Daddy telling some water secrets, no doubt!

Sand is SO yummy! (Yes, those of you who know me so well...there's nothing that cures OCD like immersion therapy, let me tell you....)

He is really enjoying being a little social butterfly (again, not sure where he comes by that)...and we had a family day here in Jacksonville. He was such a trooper, in that even though it was cooler than it had been, it was still HOT. HOT. HOT! Let me repeat, hot. He just walked around with us, took in the sights and people, and had no problem letting people hold him and play with him. He's starting to really come into the whole stranger anxiety phase, especially when tired, but for the most part, he'll still be amiable to those who are interested in him. Getting more and more clingy with Mommy, but that's ok...I love it and it's a sign that he is developing just as he should be!

Some MAG 26 Family Day shots....

I adore this foot. Believe it or not...when he was born, it was SO big, compared to his body...just like his brother's! Now, though, at 7.5 months, it is STILL not as big as Matthew's was...AT BIRTH! Crazy, huh?

He weighs about 17 pounds, 10 oz. He's not really had any major growth spurt, and I guess he's eating ok because he looks fabulous and seems healthy. He's not nursing as much, much to my dismay, and not really even because he's more into solids, though he's getting decent servings of those...he is just TOO DISTRACTED and too interested in other stuff to nurse much. My plan is to wean him in October, after I get back from the Anchored By Hope memorial, and I am pumping to give him more breast milk when I've weaned him. There's a story behind that...but for another day and time. I'm not happy about weaning him earlier than I wanted (I'd keep him nursing for a lot longer than I thought I would, and certainly longer than a year, if I could...) but I know he's gotten a lot out of what we'll have done (he'll be almost 10 months). He likes solids, but he's pretty picky about choosing sweets over vegetables. Now his Grandma will tell you that he gets this pickiness from his mommy (love you, Grandma!!!!!!!) but that's not true because though I DO LOVE the sweets...I love the vegetables too. Except for peas, lima beans and sweet potato or yams. Which seem to be the veggies he likes (well, sweet potato and yams) so go figure. He LOVES peaches and bananas and I make sure he gets avocado and banana every day because he likes that and avocado is so good for him. I'm taking a Photoshop class (oy! I can't keep up!! My brain is FRIED!) and left Luke with John the other night for three hours. He was to feed him from a bottle and go through the night routine.

Luke was having NONE OF IT. Texts back and forth declared that Luke was all about Mommy. Period. He did not want the bottle. Period. This will present a big problem in a few weeks when I go to the Women of Faith conference with Nanci, so we bought Podee bottles and so far, I can get him to drink apple juice like a champ, so hoping that breastmilk will soon follow. We'll see.

My favorite part of that whole night was that John, the next day, talked of me leaving him with 'experimental food' for Luke.

If BREAST MILK in a bottle is experimental, we're in big trouble!!! John cracks me up sometimes!

Still sleeping well, though not really regular for naps except he needs them...and when he needs them, he NEEDS them! He will not fall asleep nursing anymore--if he's tired, he'd prefer to sleep rather than eat, and he will pull off and fuss and fuss until I put him in his crib to go to sleep. Who can complain that he's so used to his crib that he WANTS it????

A mommy who worries that he's eating enough, that's who. Sigh...there's always something, right?

I wish I had more time to write. I hate going between posts so long and my goal is to get better...mostly for me and our documentation. I take pictures and video ALL.DAY.LONG, but I want to remember little things that he does and that happen that I don't always capture in pictures. My dear friend Heather started doing this with her Liam (a boy we just love, love, love...he is four days older than Luke and his mommy and I were blessed to go through our pregnancies together being just days apart!!!) and I want to do this with Luke also. Not sure that I'll be good at keeping up, but I'll try.

So...I'll start with just a few things I miss:

• How small and helpless he was...he is SO independent these days, it seems...so much a "I want to do it MYSELF" kind of kid, I think. I miss his needing Mommy more.
• This look he would give John when John would turn him on his side in the bath to get his back...Luke would look back over his shoulder at John with the most trusting and innocent eyes...and then SMILE...just makes me melt thinking about it!
• 3 AM feedings. Yes. I knew I would. I said I would. I always said I would like some solid sleep (and won't lie, it is SO nice that he's sleeping 11-12 hours straight!) But I miss just him and me...in his room...looking at Matthew's nightlight (a very special little boy named Bricen is going to get his nightlight to match his room perfectly!)...those were very special and priceless times. I miss that.
• Telling people how old he was...in DAYS. I remember someone at the doctor asking how old he was and I said, "Six Days." SIX DAYS. Ohhhh...I wish I could freeze time sometimes.

Okay, I'm getting weepy typing. And it's late. So...here are some pictures from the last two weeks. We had SO much fun at the Sneads Ferry Shrimp Festival--I saw lots of friends and can't wait to see more. Plus, we had some photo shoot mornings that made me laugh because he was so funny. He's a camera ham.

Again...don't know where he gets any of that.

Just wait, Froggy...I'm gonna catch you SOON!

TOES ARE YUMMY!

Taking his morning play sessions seriously!

Daddy wore this outfit when he was a baby. Luke is a little 'fluffy' for it....

Channeling Jack Nicholson...

Loves the pool!

Going into the Shrimp Festival....sound asleep!

But all smiles when he woke up!!

One of my SWEEThearts from years ago...so love seeing my 'babies'!!!

New pair of Babylegs!!!

His eyes were blue-green that day, but really are more brown/dark hazel consistently.

SUCH a great baby at the beach...gets tired...puts himself to sleep. Seriously, he's SO low maintenance!

Getting ready to stock up on fall/winter hats...this was just for fun!!!

More Beach fun!!!!

LOVE this..