July 8- Luke is 2 months old

Still mostly just eating, sleeping, and pooping. I love his cute, nekkid body. He's a pretty good sleeper, consistently sleeping 4-5 hours at a time a night, eating and going right back to bed.

He's still eating a ton although we've been able to cut back on some of the extra bottles. But still, at his 2 month check up he weighed 14 lbs and was 24 inches long (he has a big head, like his brothers)

He is perfecting his smiles and is so ready to show them off.

And he celebrated his first 4th of July. Luke is incredibly jumpy (more than any of the other boys), so he hated the fireworks.

 I started to realize that I wasn't taking enough pictures of Luke, so I'm trying to be more conscientious about taking pictures of him.

Luke's Baby Blessing

On June 23, Luke was given a name and a blessing by his dad. It's always such a wonderful experience to see the power of the priesthood used to bless my family. We were so grateful for all who made an effort to be there that day.

We managed to have my parents and brother and Jeremiah's sister here.

Our complete family of 6.  (SIX!!! holy cow, we have 4 kids).

Such a cutie.

Mommy Brain

I forgot the best story from Luke's first month.  After a week or two, I got brave enough to leave Luke on his playmat on the floor, with his brothers while I would brush my teeth or other small tasks.  Once he started screaming, and I ran, certain that a brother (one in particular) was torturing this baby.  I arrived at the scene to find everyone on the couch engrossed in TV, and Luke all by himself screaming.  I picked him up, only to realize that he had a vice-like grip on his hair and he couldn't let go.  I laughed as I pried his fingers apart and released him from his self-inflicted torture.  This happened several times this first month until his arms relaxed more to his sides and he got more control of his hands.

June 8-Luke turns one month old

One month with a newborn goes by really fast. And they don't do a whole lot except eat, sleep and poop. So I'll give you a quick run down of those (well, minus the poop, you don't need to hear about that)

Eating:  This kid is a bottomless pit.  It started almost as soon as we got home.  He would nurse on both sides and then 20 minutes later be starving again.  I knew I was producing enough so we just started giving him a bottle after he had nursed.  Here is a picture of Jeremiah doing the honors.  He was so happy and content after we started this routine.  It made feedings very long, especially at night, but it also allowed other people to participate in feeding him, which is nice.

 

He left the hospital with his bilirubin a little high, so we had to take him back to the hospital a few days later for a recheck.  I hate those heel pricks.  They just squeeze the blood out, until they have enough.  Anyway, it wasn't bad enough for a light bag, but he spent the first several days taking naps, naked in the sunlight, trying to catch some rays and bring those numbers within normal.

Sleeping: He has been a great sleeper from the beginning.  Four hours at a time.  Sometimes he would be up for a couple hours at night, but that just gave me time to catch up on my NCIS.  And by the time I was all caught up, he stopped staying up at night.                 

He started smiling at 3 weeks old.  It's hard to get a picture of those quick smiles, but man they just melt your heart.  And below is him at one month.  He still needs a little meat on those legs. And the net result of all that eating and sleeping was that at his 2 week appointment he had grown 2 inches!

Overwhelmed

As it turns out, 4 kids in 6 years is a little overwhelming. I wouldn't trade it for the world, but it does mean that my time is at a premium and I must prioritize what I spend my time doing. I struggle with where blogging falls on this list. It's my family journal, a record of who we are and what our lives are like. On the other hand, my children won't be hungry or naked if I don't blog. And so it sits, always in the back of my mind. We're trying to get Jack in a big boy bed, so that means several nights sitting in his room helping him learn, so maybe, if we're all lucky I might get a few stories written. No promises.

Jack turns 2

Jack turned 2 a month after Luke was born, so we kept things pretty low key this year.  I didn't make a cake, just got the All-American chocolate cake from Costco.  (Yum-O)! I took him to Carl's Jr. For lunch since they have the best play place and we had pizza for dinner.  Then Grandma and Grandpa came over, Laura was here visiting and we facetimed all our long distance family.  With all the iPads going, parties at our house are quite the nerd-fest. 

Jack got a bead coaster that he hardly ever puts down, lots of balls, and a tricycle that can be pushed.  He wasn't interested in blowing out candles or ripping wrapping paper, but he loved the cake and ice cream and playing with new toys. 

Some things about Jack at 2:

He still loves to wrestle on the ground.  He is really good at hide and seek, mostly because he keeps his eyes open while the boys hide.  He also loves to play Red Light, Green Light and What time is it Mr. Fox with his brothers.

He still loves Mickey Mouse, but has recently discovered Thomas the Train and is obsessed.  He watches it a lot and plays with the trains all the time.  Good thing we've done the train thing before and have all the toys.  There are trains all over the house, all the time.

The only thing that can distract him from Thomas is the sound of the back door opening and someone going outside.  He loves outside.  He has mastered the skill of jumping, so he isn't so timid on the trampoline, he is also very good at the slide.  His feet don't get caught underneath him, like some kids.  And of course the sandbox.  Both my mom and sister commented this summer about how much sand gets brought into my house, but at this point, it's just a part of out lives, it really doesn't bother me. As long as they play nicely, the sandbox is cool and shaded and the perfect place to play on a hot day.

He's still a picky eater with peanut butter sandwiches and pizza, topping the list of favorite foods, along with chicken nuggets, quesadillas and macaroni and cheese.  When it is something he likes, he will eat a ton of it, but he would rather be hungry than try something he doesn't like.

He doesn't talk a whole lot.  We're working with a speech therapist to help home out.  But he does say Go! a whole lot, and he can count to ten, although the actual numbers are hard to understand.  He says ilk for milk and we've gotten him to say iPad a couple of times.  Still no mama or dada, but at least he has the important things. 

He continues to be easy going and happy, just a good with the flow kind of kid.  He lots of fun to have around.

Meeting the new guy

I forgot to mention one anecdote from Luke's birth.  As he was making his way out, he grabbed on to the umbilical cord.  And he would not let go.  The doctor asked a nurse for help in prying his fingers open, while the other nurses looked on and laughed.  I told them that in the last couple of days I had intense pains, like he was trying to claw his way out and one nurse commented that after what she had just seen, she can totally believe in.  Needless to say, he got a perfect score on the grip part of the Apgar test. 

The brothers came to visit the new guy in the hospital.

Jeremiah was so excited to hold Luke.  He's a pro at this big brother stuff, and just like last time, he was prepared with a story to tell.

Ryan was pretty excited and loved Luke's soft hair, however he was more excited by the bed that went up and down.

This was about as close as Jack was interested in getting.  He was kind of intrigued, but again, that moving bed was far more interesting.

Once we brought Luke home Jack decided he wanted to hold Luke, so he tried to pick him up himself.

It didn't last long so the picture is blurry, but Jack finally was interested in his brother.  In fact, whenever we get ready to go and I put Luke in his seat, Jack stands by the car seat, and won't move until I come to get it. He really does love his brother.