Good Friends and Lukie's Mad New Skillz...

Hi, everybody! Truthfully, I can't remember what we've been doing in the two weeks since I last wrote a real update. I've posted a few videos...and the biggest news in them was that Lukie rolled over last weekend! I've been walking around showing everybody the video. Friends. Co-Workers. Complete Strangers. You know, like a weirdo totally normal and sane human being.

This weekend has been a busy one! Since we moved down here, I've been involved in Tusculum's theater program. I've done three shows with them, and they were really a lifeline for me when we got here. I didn't know anyone, I was depressed, I wasn't working, I was staying home all day while Pete was at the school...and then he sent me a picture of a flyer for a Tusculum show. Some of our best friends down here in Tennessee have come through the program, and I'm super thankful that I found them all.

Since doing the show this fall was kind of out of the question (ya think?), we needed to at least go see this fall's offering, A Christmas Carol. My good friend Brian played Ebeneezer Scrooge and, seriously, that kid NAILED it. The show was great-- it's a technical nightmare to pull off and I left really impressed with all the actors, the costumes, and the production's technical difficulty. It's amazing what this group pulls off.

Anyway, Miss Barbara, the costumer, told Pete earlier in the week that we should just bring Lukie to the theater and she'd babysit him while we went to the show. It was a great option-- we had been nervous about leaving him with anyone (though we do have some great friends who have wanted to watch him, but their son is in the show and we didn't want to impose), and I really didn't want to take him to the daycare for their Saturday night care. He spends enough time there during the week. He likes it, I think, but he doesn't need to spend weekend time there, too.

It went really well-- Lukie didn't sleep much, but apparently he just spent the whole time watching all the crazy activity that comes with a production with such a large cast (I'm guessing 80?). I got downstairs and he had finally fallen asleep, but then woke up mad that he was awake again. He perked up, though, long enough to get a picture with Mr. Scrooge himself!

I've just accepted that for a while, until I can put Lukie on my hip, I'm gonna look like I have a beer belly. Jutting out my hips to hold him up is the only way you can carry a 18 pound baby for very long.

Today, Lukie and I went to Kingsport to have lunch with my friends Rebecca and Pandy. Pete needed some Lukie-and-Audrey-free time to get some work done on his contract renewal binder.

 I'm so lucky to have these two.When I told them I was pregnant last year, they both said, "I'm gonna be the Tennessee Grandma!" So Lukie is a lucky man. He has two awesome grandmas in Illinois, and two awesome grandmas in Tennessee to help out since it's so far to the home state.

We don't have a whole lot more going on around here this week. I work Monday-Wednesday, have Thursday and Friday off, and then I work again Saturday. Pete has invited a friend over for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, and since it'll just be the three of us plus Lukie, we'll probably just do our traditional turkey and cranberry ravioli instead of a whole bird. Someday, I hope we can have family down here for either Thanksgiving or Christmas. I sure miss it. 

Here are some pics of Lukie at 4.5 months old!

He lost the vast majority of all that hair he was born with, but he's hung on to a tuft on the top of his head and a bunch on the back. Now it's all growing back, as well, but the new stuff is significantly lighter and like peach fuzz...so he has this goofy pouf of hair on top of his head that I can't help but play with. 

I hate that this picture is blurry!!

Dixie often supervises our photo shoots, and sometimes gets...a little in the way...

Dix sure is interested in him these days. The more vocal and mobile he gets, the more she wants in on the action.

It's getting cold outside...but we might have to wait a little while for the shark hat to fit.

Developmentally, besides rolling over, Lukie is really working on sitting up on his own. He can't GET there by himself, but if he's set up with his legs apart, he does an okay job of sitting up for 30 seconds to a minute.

He's starting to reach out for things in a much more coordinated way...

...he enjoys tummy time much more now that he can roll over...

...and he's recently discovered that I am, in fact, still behind him when he's playing.

Dixie isn't all that impressed with the new skills. She'd prefer to sit and look out the window while we play in Lukie's room.

Oh well. Can't please everybody.

Singing Himself to Sleep...

I promise a longer post this weekend...but until then, here's a video of Lukie "singing" himself to sleep. He does this just about every time he gets sleepy, sometimes for up to 20 minutes. In the evening, especially, he'll "sing" at me for a long time as I bounce or rock him to sleep. Daddy's helping him sing a little bit...in his Swedish Chef voice.

He Rolls!

He Laughs!

Apparently high-pitched noises are HILARIOUS. Prepare to giggle with him.

Four Months Old!!!

Lukie turned 4 months old last weekend!

We were driving last Sunday, so we didn't get to do our traditional coconut pie dinner for Lukie's birthday, but we had my friend Suzi and her daughter Jamie over last night to celebrate a belated four-month birthday for Lukie. This post will mostly be pictures, as I really love doing the comparisons each month-- it's so fun to see how much he changes all the time!

First the pictures of fun before dinner...

He kept thinking the elephant's nose looked tasty...

...and then finding out it was fuzzy.

Didn't take any convincing this time to get Miss Jamie to hold him. :)

Suzi had to take a picture of his fat rolls. And rolls. And rolls.

After dinner we had to take our traditional photo of the family. First his first three birthday pie pictures:

One Month Old

Two Months Old

Three Months Old

AND...

FOUR MONTHS OLD!!!

Actually, this is my favorite...because I doubt it will be long before we really are trying to keep him out of the pie long enough for a picture...

We've also continued our food adventures this week. Remember the pumpkin face? Well...the oatmeal face isn't much better. We'll get there. I somehow doubt we'll have a picky eater for long.

Sad about the oatmeal...

Pete was in a bit of a car accident this week (he's fine, as is everybody else), so I stayed home yesterday. Daddy, his beat-up hand, and Lukie all took a nap in the armchair...

Daddynappin'.

And I took the opportunity to take lots more pictures of our smiling boy. I remember when it would take me all day to get one grin out of this kid; the rest of the day would be spent screaming at me. He's not even the same baby anymore...he smiles all day long and only cries when he's hungry (he's like his Daddy that way).

Finally, our last comparison. I take a picture of Lukie in a white onesie on his birthday each month...he's such a big boy now.

 One.

Two.

Three.

 Four.

And another four because I can't not use it, even though it's off-center...

A Week of Firsts!

The title says it all...we've had a week of firsts around here! Well, more like a week and a half. No time to blog blah blah blah. But seriously, it's been busy and crazy and Lukie is growing up so quickly in the midst of all of it!

Last Wednesday or so, we decided we'd go ahead and let Lukie try a little bit of solid food. By solid, I guess I mean puree'd into oblivion, but not breastmilk. Basically, our doctor recommends that babies, especially babies as big and insatiable as Lukie is, start eating some solids at 4 months. The American Academy of Pediatricians recommends six months, but notes that four is perfectly acceptable, too.

Not so sure about what's about to happen...

I really want to make as much of Lukie's food as possible...both so that I know what's in it, and so we save money. Jarred baby food is EXPENSIVE, and it's really pretty easy to make baby food, so long as you have enough time to do it. I'm working out of a really great baby food recipe book, so I'll have fun, too!

We decided to try some of the pumpkin that I had roasted, puree'd, and frozen in individual ice cubes a few weeks ago. The traditional introduction to solids is rice cereal in formula or breastmilk, but I've done my homework and lots of doctors and experts say things like sweet potatoes and winter squash are just fine first foods, as well. SO IN WITH THE PUMPKIN!

I took Lukie's shirt off, knowing that it would get ORANGED. Instead of using a spoon or something, I decided to just use a well-scrubbed finger. Lukie was...well, not thrilled with the whole experience. He didn't seem particularly excited about the pumpkin, but when you're only used to one food and then somebody shoves a finger covered in pumpkin into your mouth, I suppose you're allowed a face or two.

I think we'll try the rice cereal in breastmilk, after all. Or maybe puree'd oatmeal. But definitely something that maybe tastes a little more familiar. That said, I'm super excited to be starting him on solids. I'm so glad we stuck with the breastfeeding (a process that, to this day, is not without its difficulty, given that I'm a working mom and I have to pump four times a day to provide him with enough), but I'm also REALLY looking forward to the time we're done. I'm ready for my body to belong to me again. I don't plan to wean Lukie before one year (if he doesn't wean himself...which I don't expect given how this kid likes to nurse), but I'll be glad when the whole process is over. Sometimes the bonding is really nice...and sometimes you're sick of being a food dispenser.

Post-solid-food bath. Had to get the pumpkin off his forehead somehow...

Thursday was Lukie's first Halloween...and he's the cutest tiger I've ever seen! He was happy for about 30 seconds of the entire 10 minutes he wore the costume...but at least we got some pictures of the happy Lukie. Someday he'll look at the pictures and be convinced that he had a really fun first Halloween. Fooled ya, Lukie!

Now to the other big FIRST of the week...Lukie went on his first big road trip! We took him to Hilton Head, South Carolina over the weekend and honestly, it went about as well as it could possibly have gone given that Lukie is only 4 months old. I was really impressed with his willingness to go with the flow, especially since when he was 6-8 weeks old, half hour car trips were awful!

The first half of the drive was gorgeous...

We have friends from Iowa State University who vacation in Hilton Head every year, and more friends from ISU who live in Statesboro, GA. We all decided that Pete and I would drive to Statesboro to meet up with our friend Larissa and her two children, stay overnight in Georgia, and then we would all drive over to Hilton Head on Saturday to meet with Joe and Jennifer. I'll be honest...I was pretty darned nervous going into the weekend. I hate it when Lukie has a meltdown in the back seat of the car. I feel like there's nothing I can do to stop it, and even when we can stop and feed him and he calms down, I HATE strapping him back into the carseat afterward. However, I also really want Lukas to learn to be a road baby. My brother and I took car trips all the time when we were kids. We went to Colorado lots of times, out to Oregon, up to Minnesota. My parents never had any qualms about driving a couple of kids around the country, and since Pete and I really want to take family trips with Lukas, we need to train ourselves and him to take car trips, too. So...I guess we'll start now!

WANT. TO. EAT. HAND.

We couldn't leave on Friday until after Pete was done teaching. He took Lukie to daycare so I could get the house cleaned up so my friend Brian could house/dog sit for us, and then we left at about noon. Lukie slept about 3 hours to begin the trip, and then had a major meltdown somewhere in South Carolina. We actually had to stop at a random rural Baptist Church to feed him and change his diaper since we couldn't find anywhere else. It wasn't our only random Baptist church stop on the trip...Lukas has now had his rear end exposed in lots of church parking lots. I spent the rest of the drive to Georgia on "clown shift," as I like to call it, making funny faces while trying to entertain Lukie. We got in at about 7:30 p.m., and then we got to play with Gabriella and Nate and hang out with our dear friend Larissa the rest of the evening.

Lukie decided not to sleep all the way to Hilton Head the next morning and so spent a good part of the time completely on edge and fussy, sucking on my finger (the kid still refuses to take a pacifier). He did great the rest of the day, though. He took a nap while we ate seafood, then hung out on the pier, and then took another nice, long nap while we were at the beach...LUKIE'S FIRST TIME AT THE BEACH!!!

All bundled up-- it was a little chilly and somebody needed a nap, anyway.

Everybody's favorite picture from the trip...

We ended up going out to a pizzeria for dinner and...well...Lukie was tired.

The trip home was pretty uneventful. A couple minor meltdowns, but a lot of sleep. Honestly, he did a really good job. We did, however, learn a few things about traveling with a little one. These things will change as he gets older, but for now, we've discovered some baby car travel rules:

1. Lukie really has a 4-hour limit. Eight hours is too much for a guy of his age and with his attention span. He did a good job sleeping, but when he was awake, it was all we could do to keep him entertained.

2. Trips will just take all day out of necessity from now on. Gone are the days when we could bust through a 10-hour drive, stopping for 10 minutes at a Jimmy John's to grab lunch. We now need to look at the map and schedule stops so that Lukie doesn't get frustrated of being crammed into a car seat.

3. Restaurants are now our friends. They provide valuable wiggle time. The trick? Pick family-friendly places that won't get annoyed with a frustrated baby, and if possible, pick a slightly off time, so that you're not there during lunch or dinner rush. That way, you won't have a crazy mess of overstimulated baby on your hands. Our most successful stop was at a Pizza Hut in the middle of nowhere. Generally, I'm against such places, but this worked well because Lukie could wiggle all he wanted on the table and in the booth, the place had lots of lights and colors to look at, and we didn't have to worry about upsetting somebody's nice date at 2:00 in the afternoon.

4. Take advantage of every minute that baby is asleep. DO. NOT. STOP. FOR. ANYTHING. I had to use the bathroom for at least a hundred miles, but I figured I'd get ample opportunity when we stopped for Lukie. In the meantime...log the miles.
5. In the future, once Lukie is mobile and can run around and play, we'll plan our trips along routes that have a state park or a friend's house so that he can stop, get out of the car, eat something, and get some serious play time in before getting back into the vehicle....hopefully to take a nice, long nap.

I really can't stress enough, though, how well he did. I remember when I used to dread getting him in the car...going to a restaurant...stopping at a red light...leaving the house at all...because I had a super fussy baby and it was too stressful to try any of those things. Lukie drove 8 hours one day, an hour and a half the next, ate in 5 restaurants, stayed in a hotel, drove another 8 hours...and we all survived relatively unscathed. I mean...there sure was a lot of happy wiggling when we got home...

...wiggling so fast he's a blur...

...but I sure feel emboldened by the adventure!

That's about it for this post. Lukie turned 4 months old on Sunday, but because we were driving, we have yet to have our traditional party. We're having it Saturday! Catch you all this weekend!