5 Months Old

Little Lukey,
You are 5 months old!  Your little personality is beginning to surface and we're starting to get a peek into the kind of kid you might be.  For the most part, you're laid back and happy most of the time.  You get a little fussy when you are hungry, gassy, or tired but you're pretty content otherwise.  Here's a little more about you...

• I'm not sure of your exact weight, but if I had to guess I'd say you're around 18lbs or so.  You are growing so, so fast and you are so, so big!  Your little thighs are chuuuunkyyy and I love it!
• You wear size 3 diapers and size 9 month clothing in most things - though you're starting to outgrow that size.  I feel like I can't keep you in clothing for more than a couple of weeks.  Your daddy cut the toes out of a couple pairs of pajamas earlier this week, haha!
• You are sleeping a little better!  Yay!  You go to bed around 7:45 - 8, wake up around 2 or 3AM to eat and then go back to sleep until 6:15 or so.  You are nursing about 4 times a day and get four 4-4.5 oz bottles of breastmilk a day. 
• You began eating rice cereal about 10 days ago.  We started giving you a bottle of breast milk mixed with a tablespoon of rice cereal in addition to your before-bed nursing session to make sure your tummy is full and it has worked wonders!
• Your first little tooth is poking through!  It's your bottom right tooth (when looking at you). 
• You're starting to sit up on your own.  You're not quite so independent with it yet, but you can definitely hold yourself up (in a lean over on your hands kind of way) for a couple of minutes. 
• You still love to be held and to watch Cade play.  No one makes you smile and squeal like Cade!  You have gotten back into sucking your fingers and playing with your feet and you love to reach for and hold toys.
• You have the most kissable cheeks and thighs! 

We love, love, love you!!!

 

4 Months Old

Sweet Lukey,

You are 4 months old and getting sweeter and sweeter by the day!  Here's a little more about you at 4 months:

• You weigh 16lbs, 15.5oz - 80%tile.
• You are 26 inches long - 79%tile.
• Your head circumference is 17.25 cm - 82%tile.
• You wear size 9 month clothing and size 3 diapers.
• You are a very happy baby and you smile a lot, but you have your share of fussy days too. You're starting to get mini dimples that are super cute! 
• You like to suck on your fingers and you grab anything within your reach and put it in your mouth.  You've starting pulling Mommy's hair - hard! 
• You love to be talked to, to be held, to watch Cade run around and play, your glow worm, playing in your exersaucer, and getting baths. 
• You talk very loudly when you first wake up for about 15 minutes and you're a little quieter for the rest of the day, but you coo to us a lot.
• You eat every 2.5-3 hours during the day and we've gotten somewhat back on track at night - you wake every 4-5 hours.  You moved into your crib (from your basinet) this month.  Go Luke!
• You have crazy, crazy hair - long, dark and curly, especially around the crown of your head, and your love to pull it and play with it. 

We love you so very much!

You were really into grabbing your feet for about a week or so...

Christmas 2013

We had a wonderful Christmas!  Todd's family was here to celebrate with us.  This year was extra special because Cade understood a lot more and I can tell that the magic of Christmas is starting to unfold for him.  We had fun making cookies for Santa, sprinkling reindeer food outside, being with family, and of course...opening presents!  He was so excited to see what Santa brought for him and had fun tearing into his wrapped gifts.  Luke spent most of his first Christmas being showered with love and attention - every baby's two favorite things!  There are few things in life more precious than experiencing Christmas with your babies! 

 

 

3 Months Old

Little Lukey, you are 3 months old!   I'm certain that you keep getting sweeter and sweeter by the day! This isn't a check-up month for you so we don't have your official weight and height, but here are some other fun facts about you at 3 months:

• You wear size 3 diapers and size 6 months clothes.
• You eat every 3 hours (about 4-5 ounces a feeding).
• You have started to wake up more frequently at night to eat - you have been sleeping in about 4 hour stretches.
• You are a very happy baby and you smile all the time! You have started laughing and it is so sweet.
• You are a very, very easy baby to take care of. You don't cry very often - only when you get too sleepy or too hungry...and sometimes when we first put you in your car seat. You get a little fussy throughout the day, but rarely do you break out in a full blown crying fit.
• When you do put on a frown, you stick your bottom lip out sooo far. :) It's truly one of the cutest things I've ever seen.
• You are learning how to use your arms and hands. You grab onto things and bring them to your mouth. You also reach out to swat and touch things.
• You like to coo and you do so very loudly! :) You are especially smiley and talkative in the mornings.
• You love to watch Cade. No one makes you laugh like he does! :)

We love you sweet Lukey!

 

Two Years Old!

Sweet Cade,

You are two years old!  I wish I could capture the two year old you and put you into a bottle so that I could bring you out anytime I wanted to in the years to come; I know that I'm going to miss your two year old self in the worst of ways.  You have brought so much joy to our lives and I feel like the luckiest mommy in the world to call you my son.  At times, you can be quite difficult to manage, but truthfully those days are few and far between.  Most of the time you are happy, funny, playful, sweet, energetic and irresistibly adorable.  Here are your two year stats:

• You weigh 27.3 lbs (39th %tile)
• You are 35.25 inches tall (73rd %tile)
• Your head circumference is 20 cm (93rd %tile)
• You wear size 2T clothing and size 7 shoe.
• Your favorite foods are pasta, yogurt, fruit cups, pizza, and rice.  You like to drink milk and apple juice, but you drink mostly milk and water.  You aren't quite the eater that you used to be and have gotten a bit pickier.  You turn your nose up to most vegetables, unfortunately. 
• Your favorite books are Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site, Welcome to Our Town, If You Take A Mouse to School, and a Thomas the Train book.  Your favorite TV shows are Bubble Guppies and PAW Patrol.
• Your favorite things to play with are toy trucks (namely fire trucks and trash trucks) and trains.  You also like to build with blocks and you're still pretty into cooking.  You demand that you take a toy (it varies) everywhere we go - whether it's in the car or upstairs for bath or to bed...something must go with you.  I think it's your way of controlling something.  You still sleep with Snuggle Bear but you don't seem to be very attached to him. 
• You are a happy kid and you smile and laugh a lot.  You like to be silly and make others laugh also. 
• You become excited quite easily and for some reason, when you get really excited your first instinct is to run and then hit someone/something or throw things.  I'm certain you'll grow out of this...or I hope you'll grow out of this, I should say.  :)  
• You LOVE to cook with Mommy and you also like to help Mommy with chores around the house (sweeping, putting groceries away, etc.)
• You go to bed around 8 and wake up around 6:15 during the week and around 7:00 on the weekends.  You still sleep well for the most part, but sometimes you'll wake up and throw a major tantrum.  That's pretty rare, though...thank goodness! 
• You are very smart and communicate very well.  You speak in 5-6 word sentences and I can understand most of what you say, but I'm not sure everyone else does.
• Your favorite thing to do is watch TV - though it's definitely not Mommy's favorite thing to let you do (but I do appreciate the mini-break it gives me, I have to admit)! 
• You are an AMAZING big brother.  Just tonight you sat on the floor in front of Lukey to entertain him for a full hour while Mommy made a nice dinner for Daddy.  When he cries you sweetly say, "Don't cry Lukey."  You give him your most prized toys and you make silly noises to try to get him to laugh.  I can only pray that the love and acceptance you have for your brother remains the same forever and ever!

For your second birthday we went to Build-a-Bear.  You made a stuffed dog named Lennox.  Later in the day we had the Power and Burrous families over for a mini birthday party.  We ate pizza and cupcakes, opened presents, and played with friends.  You seemed to have a great time!  I am so excited to see what your 3rd year brings for you, Cade.  We LOOOOOOOOOVE YOU!

Happy Halloween!

I was certain I had written about Halloween...goodness gracious! We had an awesome Halloween! It was a weekday again this year, so Cade spent the day at Ms. Debbie's and Luke stayed at home with my mom. Cade was a pirate and Luke was a pumpkin. The kids dressed up at Ms. Debbie's and thankfully she snapped a few pictures as we couldn't get him to keep his full costume on for more than a few seconds. :) We spent the evening with the Burrous-Ewanowski fam. We ate pizza and trick-or-treated. Cade and Olivia were so sweet...I caught myself tearing up several times. They held hands as they raced from house to house. Olivia whispered to Cade a few times not to worry, it was all make believe. SO SWEET! Lukey spent his evening strapped to me in a baby carrier and slept through most of his first Halloween. Looking forward to next year!

Crazy, Beautiful

O.M.G. This mommy of 2 under the age of 2 while working full-time thing is NO JOKE! I've been back at work for about a month now and it's hard. I'm having a difficult time balancing home and work and while I'm doing my best to meet the needs of everyone on both ends, I'm not doing so very gracefully. I'm constantly guilt-ridden over none of my roles being fulfilled very well. But, such is life. I'll adapt. I hope. Millions of other women are doing it...and so can I (my daily mantra)! :) My mom came down for three weeks to help with my transition back to work and I couldn't have been more thankful for her presence. She cooked, cleaned, packed lunches, washed laundry and most importantly, took care of sweet Lukey so he didn't have to go to daycare quite so soon. She's been gone for a week now and we're doing our best to hold everything together on our own. We had lots of fun while she was here, too! We went to the pumpkin patch, carved pumpkins, baked, rode trains, and made way too many trips to the mall! Thanks again GJ!! We miss you tons! As crazy hectic as things are right now, I have to admit - I'm not sure I'd have it any other way (aside from going back to work so quickly). I'll get the hang of things - or I won't. Perhaps this is our new normal. It's messy, stressful, and overwhelming at times...but so, so worth it. My heart is intensely full of love for the root of all of this craziness - our two baby boys!