9 Month Well Baby

On Tuesday Luke had his 9 month well baby visit. I am happy to report that his ears looked great and he is as healthy as could be (aside from the runny nose.) He did lose one ounce since last week but was 18 pounds, 4 ounces (25th) and 28 inches tall (50th.)

Eating 3 meals? Check.

Sleeping through the night? Yep, thank goodness!

Starting to babble? Some, but mostly growling.

Crawling? No, but he scoots on his bottom and rolls. Is it bad that I don't really want him to crawl until after Christmas?

Drinking from a sippy cup? No, he is sippy cup challenged. Seriously, but I still offer it.

Luke learned how to sit up on his own from laying down this week!
He also learned to use his bed rail as a teether while sitting up. I've ordered a rail guard (2 day shipping, thank you Amazon!) but keeping my fingers crossed there won't be too many more teeth marks.
Maybe my favorite all time picture...
This is his fit! This is what happens when I take something away. Arms and legs stiff. Fists clinched. Now imagine the "Grrrrrrr" sound!

9 Months

Luke Michael, YOU are NINE months old today! And you are getting into everything...
You have figured out to scoot and spin on your bottom to reach a toy and have no fear diving to reach something. While you are not crawling, you can roll all over the place. You try to pull up, but so far can only get to one knee. You are still so, so, so happy but are sure to protest and throw a fit if I take something that you want away from you. Your fits consist of arching your back, growling, throwing your arms back, and turning red. :) Some days, though, I realize that it's bedtime and you haven't cried one single time! You love playing with your toys- your mailbox, phone, and cold teether seem to be your favorites. You also love playing with Caleb's toys, and he shares as long as you have your passie in. (He is scared to death that you'll drool on his toys!)
You are loud and make your presence known, but you can also be the most chill baby and simply sit on my lap and play for a long time. Last week you started to do a fake cough when you hear someone else cough, and that is just my favorite thing! Grandmom swears you have said "hi" twice, although I've yet to hear it. You LOVE your brother and he just cracks you up. You are also very fascinated by Rhett, and love watching him clean up the food you throw on the floor. I kinda like to think you're a Momma's boy, but Daddy sure is high up there too.
Before you got sick you were taking a bottle at 7:30am (4oz), 11:30am (5oz), 4pm (6oz), and 7:30pm (6oz). For breakfast you eat oatmeal, bananas, and about 1/2 of a waffle. Lunch and dinner is usually 2 containers of food, plus lots of finger foods. We figured out the hard way that yogurt does not agree with your tummy, so we've taken that off the menu lately. Your favorite finger foods include bread, green beans, and carrots. You also really like mac and cheese and cheese pizza, although I hate to admit you've already tried it! You are a champion sleeper, taking two naps a day and sleeping great at night. Due to an accidental "cry it out" one night, we not longer have to go to your room if you wake. I'll hear you on the monitor just talking yourself back to sleep! You always sleep with your softie and prefer sleeping on your side and tummy.

You've had some transitions and "firsts" this past month...You now ride in the big convertible car seat and like sitting up more. You spent the night at Grandmom and Grandpa's house and slept great- yay! You also had your first fever, ear infection, and antibiotic, all the while keeping a smile on your precious face!

Words cannot express how much we adore you, sweet baby! A cuddle and hug from you is the greatest feeling. And that toothy grin of yours- there's nothing better! I know that your time as our baby is limited, but boy we sure are enjoying every second with you. Love you more than words, Luke Michael!

Stats:

At your sick doctor visit you weighed 18.5 pounds and were 28 inches tall. You wear a size 12 months in clothes and fill them out just fine! During the day you wear a size 4 diaper and sleep in a size 5 at night.

Hit Hard

We were hit with sickness this week! First Luke had a yucky stomach bug Tuesday night, which meant no formula for 24 hours. That night he started running a fever and we found out yesterday at the doctor that he also had an ear infection. Poor baby! Thankfully, he has slept surprisingly well, waking mostly due to congestion. At this point he is back on formula, but we are still sticking to bland foods.

The Pedialyte pops were a hit to a teething baby!Big brother apparently shared the same germs because overnight last night he was hit with the stomach bug. He was a real trooper, and even getting sick at 4am didn't slow his talking down. He was a chatterbox even then! He is taking anti-nausea medicine today and has kept 2 Popsicles and a little Ginger Ale down at this point (5pm.) Praying that continues...

Creed and I are (so far) well, although it we are going to get sick it should be sometime tonight. It will be amazing if we stay healthy after everything, so say a little prayer for us! We are also anxiously awaiting the arrival of our "to go" plates of food from my family's Thanksgiving meal!

Thanksgiving 2011

Luke's First Thanksgiving!

Making Himself Heard

Sorry they are sideways...sure wish I knew how to rotate them!

Playing Catch Up

Whew! It's been a busy few weeks! We've had a great time celebrating birthday's- first Matt's, then sweet Hayden's, and the finally...mine. Yep, I am now in the next box, you know, the 30-39 one. For my actual birthday Creed and I went to one of my favorite restaurants in town, Mojitos. He also surprised me with a decision he'd made...a new car for me! Since having Luke, I've always said I would love to drive a Traverse, but having one was no where near the top of my needs list. But, it was such a great deal that we couldn't pass it up!

Before dinner

Sunday was also our anniversary- 6 years. My sweet husband also planned a surprise trip to Nash-Vegas for the weekend. He might have let the destination slip a few weeks ago- oops! But, the weekend and time away was amazing! We watched the first half of the Vandy game, but were so disgusted with the Cats that we left and had lunch at a restaurant where UK's alumni association meets for games! (We had no idea that was the case until we walked in and everyone was in blue!) We stayed at the most amazing hotel- I would HIGHLY recommend The Hutton if you are ever staying in Nashville- and even did a little honky tonkin that night. I always forget how much I love live music, especially when the band plays my favorite, Dixieland Delight, at the request of an unnamed gal who turned 30 that week. ;)
While we were in Nashville our sweet boys were spoiled rotten at their Grandmom and Grandpa's house. They did great- Grandmom even had to wake Luke up Sunday morning after he slept all night. Hopefully that means they'll be invited back!

Luke's Dedication

Last Sunday was baby dedication at our church. While we don't believe that anything we did has an impact on Luke's salvation, it was still a time to promise to raise him in a Christian home and be the best parents that we can be. As a church we prayed for all the little ones that day, for all the mothers, and fathers. Luke had many family members there to show their love and support of him!

Seven little ones were dedicated, four of which were boys. Of those four boys, THREE were named Luke! (Our Luke, an infant, and a four year old recently adopted from the Ukraine.)
The pictures aren't great, but I love Luke's curious expression in them all!

Fun with PeePaw

How We Roll

Oh, life has gotten so much easier in one aspect...shopping! Luke is finally big (and stable) enough to sit up and ride in the cart, which is great. I don't have boxes of cereal and breakfast bars falling on him anymore as I pile items around his car seat. Our car seat wouldn't sit on the top part so he always rode down in the big part of the cart, which also meant there was hardly any room for groceries. And, the likelihood of Luke shoplifting eye shadow at Target because it fell into his seat and under his leg is slim now, so that's always a plus! ;)

Our Jack

I love pumpkins on our front porch! This year we had quite a few...all with a story.

But first, here are our two precious boys!

Our family of 4! ;)
The pumpkin on the far right is our prized possession from Huber's, the one I won't let anyone touch! After all, it was not an easy pumpkin to acquire!
And finally, our Jack. Why Jack? Well, after PeePaw carved it we forgot to put a candle in it. Caleb informed us that since it didn't have a lantern, it was just simply a Jack. Have I mentioned that I LOVE how his mind works?!!

The Zoo

This year we made it back to the zoo for their annual Halloween party, even though it took a couple of tries! (Boo rainy weather in October!) Buzz and Woody had a great evening spent outside and getting candy. Yes, Woody got candy. And yes, he happened to only get candy when it was one of my favorites. ;) We met cousin Ava, I mean Snow White, there too, and Buzz and Snow White were too cute together. They walked and talked, even holding hands at times. Creed went in costume- a grumpy husband, and pulled it off perfectly. Just joking...kind of. The only real issue of the night was getting home to find that Caleb's "wipe with a damp cloth only" costume was filthy. After two "hand wash" cycles in the washer, it was clean again and still holding up! Whew!

I have to explain this picture...You see, Caleb thinks these are the real characters from Toy Story. He loves all of his Toy Story figures, so you can imagine how exciting this was for him. Even when our turn was over he wouldn't stop talking to Buzz. And whoever Buzz was, bless his heart, because he could tell Caleb's excitement and didn't want to disappoint. He continued to talk to Caleb, even during the next child's turn and threw in a few "To Infinity and Beyond!" which Caleb thought was the coolest thing ever. I LOVE a three year old's mind!

Fall Festival

One of the Halloween festivities that we always love is our church's fall festival. This year they had it indoors because of the rain, so it wasn't quite the same, but still fun. Buzz Lightyear played games, wore himself out in the bouncy house, and loved getting candy. He also was super excited to see the Chickfila cow and Clifford! (Because in his mind, that is the real Clifford!) Grandma Beth pushed Woody around in his stroller and he was as happy as could be just people watching.

Introducing...

the unstoppable duo, of WOODY and BUZZ LIGHTYEAR!

Can you quote movie lines from Toy Story too?

A moving buddy- If you don't have one...GET ONE!
That's not flying! That's falling, with style!
You are one sad, strange little man.
I could go on and on! We love Toy Story around here (1, 2, and 3) and don't mind watching it every now and then. Caleb loved his Buzz costume and actually thought people might think he was the real Buzz! Luke made the perfect Woody, at least until he lost his hat! And, as you know, what's a cowboy without his hat? :)