Catching Our Breath!

This is the best view...sweet boy looking up at me from his walks!

Where to start? I am so far behind in the Luke updates! I have to admit that Facebook makes it super easy for me to upload pictures for updates for most, so the blog updates fall behind. A dear, dear, dear woman in our lives told me tonight that she was glad to be able to keep up with him through the blog, so after reading her email, I am sitting down and making the time to update, just for MA!

Luke is UH-MAZING! He gets more and more giggly and fun every day. He is 8 and a half months, and at last weigh and measure, he was 18 lbs., 5 oz. and a little over 27 inches. Those are not official stats, as we are using a different scale and way to measure his length, so we’ll get the officials at his 9-month appointment on October 6. His two little bottom teeth are growing nicely and so.darned.cute! The top two look like they are about to pop through any day, but they’ve looked like that for months, so….I have to say---teething has been SO not a big process for us and I am so grateful. Once or twice in the last few weeks, he’s had a couple of rough night patches, but for the most part…he’s a solid 12-hour or more a night sleeper and I am so lucky! Even when he wakes up some, he’ll talk himself back to sleep.

That boy is a talker. I do not know where he gets it.

Oh, yeah. I do.

Anyway…he’s definitely crawling more, but still not the full-on crawl. He’s more mobile (and REALLY mobile!) with his back-arch crawl, but after spending the morning in the base childcare center while I took a class the other day, and watching a 6 month old crawl, he has decided he’s at least interested in trying to do it the normal way. It won’t be long before we start putting the fences up because he is definitely a mover. He (like his daddy) does not necessarily love being still!

Yeah, diaper changes are SUPER fun! This is how he crawls around everywhere...including during diaper/clothes changes!

He’s getting a really funny sense of humor! When daddy reads his favorite book (Mama Llama books!), he’ll laugh. For instance, John will read a page and then stop…and when he stops, Luke will look at the pictures and sort of giggle at them as if he completely understands the funny of it all.

What in the WORLD is daddy reading?????

He loves to laugh. I love that. I love, love, love that my boy loves to laugh, because let’s face it, so does his mama.

Grateful for the many, many opportunities to do so that I am given.

We’ve started brushing his teeth with him at night as part of his bedtime routine and he LOVES it. Loves holding the toothbrush and sucking on it…loves the taste of the toothpaste (Weleda) and boy, does he have a GRIP! Again, like Mama, I think he’s going to be an overachiever with brushing and I’m thrilled!

Don't try to take the boy's toothbrush. It's not happening!

He’s eating more solids, but still not a fan of the veggies. He likes oatmeal more than rice; sweet potato more than yam; peaches more than plums and, to quote the day care worker the other day, “Puts a HURTIN’ on some PUFFS!”

His puff-to-mouth ratio is still in need of some work, ha ha!

Yes, he LOVES those Puffs! I’ll put a couple on his tray as I’m preparing his food and it’s hilarious to watch those chubby little wrists go FLYING for the Puffs! They are my go-to fixers of just about anything that is making him unhappy.

Would you STOP giving me VEGETABLES????

What the heck do you expect me to do with THIS? (We thought letting him try broccoli on his own terms might be fun. Ummm, no.)

Which, still, is not much. He is just such, such, such a good-natured baby. I will say, however, that some of his little temper DOES come out when he’s eating. If he doesn’t want it—he DOES.NOT.WANT.IT. He will grunt, groan, and GROWL! It’s so funny, I have to admit. I decided to try a whole pea the other day with him when we visited ECU and met up with Lindsay and Collen. We shared a pea with Luke and I thought we might have hit on something when Luke took the pea, put it in his mouth, and then didn’t growl or grimace. I was so excited!

Then I tried to give him a bite of applesauce…and the pea was still there. SEVEN TIMES I thought he’d swallowed the pea and I gave him another bite of applesauce. SEVEN times he managed to swallow all the applesauce but keep the pea in his mouth.

And (TMI warning) here’s the kicker…a day and a half later, that pea…came back out in his diaper. IN TACT. Seriously. I’m not lying. The pea was IN TACT.

That boy is something else. I just adore, adore, adore him.

Here are a couple of pictures from the last few weeks…I’m going to try to be better about them because I am feeling like I am getting behind and don’t want to….but I have to say, he’s so darned cute—there are tons and tons of pictures I COULD post!!! Good thing he’s so ok with me having the camera!

Getting to meet sweet little Collen! Let me tell you, that boy has (like is Mommy and his Papa!) some heartbreaking baby-blues! He was trying to get Luke to interact with him the whole time! Love it!

Umm...dad? It's flipping HOT! THIS is college football? (Yes, son, sometimes it is!)

It was hot as heck initially and that sweet boy was so tired, so he just napped in my arms for the first 40 minutes of the game (which, by the way, we won!)

He had a BLAST! All the people around us told us he was so well-behaved and that he looked like he was having so much fun. He WAS!

On our way home (we ate at the yummy deli in the background before the game!)...Daddy and Luke look like they had a tough time sweating that game out!

Yeah, 8 months sure.is.fun!

"Does anyone else wonder why I often find myself sitting next to this froggy???"

He loves his Dixie Belle (and she loves to lick him!!!). He thinks she is the best thing in the world!