Luke: 3 Months

(I started this post in February, but was getting ready for our trip to TX/NM and never got it finished.)

Height: 25 in.

Weight: 12 lbs. 3 oz.

Well, I made the mistake of bragging about what a good sleeper I had when Luke was tiny. He is not really a fan of sleep right now. At the beginning of the month, he was sleeping in his own crib for 6 hours at at time when he went down for the night. Last night, he was in my bed the entire night and woke up 5 times. I really need to work with him to get back on a good schedule, but we're flying to TX and NM next week, so I feel sure his schedule will get wonky with that trip anyway. 

His naps are only 30-40 minutes long, which is not enough time for me to get much done! Plus, he takes a long time to fall asleep. I have to swaddle him and bounce on the yoga ball and get him completely asleep and then VERY carefully lay him in his crib so he doesn't wake up. I'm looking forward to the days when he can fall asleep on his own, or at least with less help.

Despite being a bad sleeper, he's really not a fussy baby. He only cries when he's hungry, sleepy or needs to be changed. Granted, that happens many times in the day, but when he's awake and fed and clean, he's content to just lay on a blanket or bounce in the bouncer. 

He is rolling both directions now: mostly front to back, but he has done back to front probably 5 times now. He really likes tummy time and is pretty strong. He can hold his head up for what seems like a very long time while laying on his tummy. I'd hoped that he wouldn't reach the physical milestones quite as quickly as Peter (rolling, crawling, walking), but it looks like he's going to be another early bird with all of that.

He got his first shots just after he turned 2 months and they were not a big deal at all. I was so grateful for that! He cried right when they gave him the vaccinations and then stopped as soon as I picked him up. He didn't cry again and didn't act like he was bothered by them at all.

He's started to put his hands in his mouth ALL the time. Inevitably, this leads to people asking if he's teething. Babies this age start drooling and chewing on their hands, teeth or no teeth, so I think it's more developmental than anything. He's still a very smiley baby and loves for you to talk to him or make faces with him.

Luke still won't take a bottle or pacifier or drop the nursing shield--he's a stubborn little guy. I had really hoped to have at least one of these things mastered by the time we flew to see family, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen.

I can't help but compare him to Peter at every stage. Luke has more hair than Peter did. His head isn't as big as Peter's and he seems to like cuddling/being held much more than Peter. They've both been SUCH smiley babies...it is good for your self-esteem when they smile every time you make eye contact! :) 

Peter has started getting a little more aggressive towards Luke, so I spend a lot of time protecting Luke from his big brother. I think it's when Peter is wanting my attention and I've been busy working around the house or on my phone or with Luke more than Peter would like. Thankfully, Luke is a pretty tough little guy and he doesn't cry unless Peter really hits him hard. One of these days, he'll be big enough to fight back! 

I really love this stage of babyhood. He's still small enough to hold and rock and cuddle, but is getting quite a bit of personality and it's fun to interact with him. It's definitely going by quicker the second time around--the last 3 months feel like a (tiring and wonderful) blur!

Quotable #4

"Wass dat Mommy?" ALLLLLL day, every day. It usually means he heard a noise, but when we're driving down the road, he asks it every few seconds and I have no idea what he's asking about so we just talk about the other cars and buildings and scenery that we're driving by. This is the question that tests my patience more than any other right now.

Peter asked to watch Bible stories and I asked what Bible story he wanted to read. He replied, "No No Satan!" and wagged his pointer finger. When I figured out it was the temptation of Jesus, I couldn't help but laugh at his description.

Peter said his first prayer all on his own before we ate lunch one day and I want to remember what he said:
"And my God. Mommy rock and sing. Thank you my Bible stories. And Jesus Bible Stories. and Jesus. AMEN!!!"

A few current favorites:
ba-ba-boon: balloon
Wass you doin' Mommy?: This is on constant repeat with "whas dat, Mommy?"
Where's are you?: If we're not in the same room, he'll come looking for me while shouting this.
See dat, Mama??: When I don't respond, he'll say, "See dat, Wuke?" or Daddy or even Sky if he's really not getting the attention he wants
Turn it on dark: turn the light off
ma-matoes: tomatoes
minchamadas: enchiladas
I color a beseball you?: Do you want me to draw a circle for you?

Me: Let's do some cleaning. Can you help me pick up?
Peter: "Ah fwiends ah comin' ovah?"
Me: Ummm...no, our house is just dirty so we need to clean.
Peter: "Ah fwiends no comin' ovah?"
Me: No, we just have to clean sometimes, even when people don't come over.
Peter: "Oh. Mommy and Peter only clean up when ah friends ah comin' over. Hurry hurry they comin' ovah!"

I was fixing my lunch when I heard Peter saying over and over, "Where's are me? Where's are me?" I finally turned around to see him in his high chair waiting to play peek-a-boo with me. :)

Luke: 2 Months

Weight: 11 lbs. 4 oz. (20th percentile)

Length: 24 in. (84th percentile)

Head Circumference: 16 in. (86th percentile)

Just like his Mama, Luke is a night owl! He doesn't like to go to bed for the night before 11:30-midnight, but then sleeps for about 6 hours straight. I feed him and he goes back to sleep for another 2-3 hours usually. (This all changed when he got sick, but thankfully he would go back to sleeping well when he got over the sickness.)

Having another baby has helped me see that some babies are good sleepers and some are just not. I think Moms take too much credit and/or blame for this. Luke is just a better sleeper than Peter. It's not my own doing, but I AM grateful for it. I'm still exhausted, but I keep reminding myself that it would be much worse if he were up every couple hours in the night (or if Peter were a really early riser). 

This was a tough month for Luke, health-wise. He got RSV at 5 weeks (on Christmas Eve/Day) and then got a stomach bug at 7.5 weeks and spent a couple days vomiting. He got another cold/maybe RSV again a few days after the stomach bug. When he was sick, he wanted to be held all the time and wouldn't sleep for more than a couple hours at a time at night, but he really wasn't too fussy. 

He eats about every 2.5 hours in the day. He does cluster feed in the evenings (which leads to that long stretch of sleep!) and I sometimes feel like I am nursing from dinner until bedtime!

He started smiling this month. Oh, how I love a baby smile! It changes everything! He feels like a real person now. It's so cute to listen to his coos and squeaks as he discovers his own voice. 

I feel like I'm out of the "newborn fog" and things are more fun every day! It's easier to leave the house now. I can get more done when I don't need a nap every day (or I can hold a peaceful, sleeping baby while Peter is napping).

Luke outgrew newborn clothing at about 1 month. 0-3 month outfits fit best and he can wear some of our smaller 3 month items. Like Peter, he doesn't really have many baby rolls--he's a pretty skinny kid. 

We are using disposable diapers that we were given before Luke was born and still have a couple boxes to go. I must admit I love the convenience of disposables. My hope is that Peter will be potty trained by the time Luke is ready for cloth diapers, so I'll still only be washing diapers for one kid.

The beauty of the second child is that I know it just keeps getting more fun from here on out! I don't really feel too sad at his growing up because I know that it's an incredible blessing to have a healthy, happy baby. I'm so excited to see who you become, Lukers! :)

Quotable #3

Peter asks MANY times per day, "Where's Daddy's goes?" After I answer a time or two, I usually ask, "Where do you think?" or I say "You tell me". One Saturday, Kory was out mowing the lawn and Peter asked me his standard question. When I turned the question back to him, he responded, "Daddy vacuuming outside".

I was really confused when Peter asked me, "Mommy go down belly button?" It took many guesses before I finally understood that he was asking permission to go down the slide on his belly.

Similar confusion ensued when he requested fish food for lunch one day. I could NOT figure out where he'd gotten ahold of fish food and then was not too thrilled that he actually liked the taste of it. Turns out, he was asking for goldfish crackers.

Peter asks to see Luke a LOT. I told him he could go look at Luke in the bassinet while I got ready one morning. I walked in the bedroom to hear him saying, "I yike your footballs Yuke. They are awesome!" (Luke was wearing pajamas with footballs on them.)

I was working on wrapping Christmas presents when Peter asked me if he could color. I agreed and told him to bring the colors to me and I'd help him. (I usually have to open the box for him.) I assumed he was going to get a box of crayons and a coloring book. He brought me a blue Sharpie and a roll of masking tape.

I called Peter a silly goose one day. He looked at me very seriously and said, "The goose is a bird." He's been paying very close attention when we read this book. :)

We were FaceTiming my parents one evening and I told them that we took Luke to the Doctor that day. My mom asked, "What did the Dr. say?" and Peter immediately responded "No mo' monkeys jump on bed! One fall off and bump his head!"

"Mommy, where's my pew-pew?" "Umm...your what?" "My pew-pew!!" Imagine his frustration when, ONCE AGAIN, Mommy didn't understand what he was asking for.

I can now report that we have a letter "L" similar to this in Luke's room and Peter uses it as his personal hand-gun. You know, his pew-pew.

My parents got us a year-long pass to Wildlife Safari, a local drive-through wild animal park. As we were driving past the elk, we suggested he say "Hi!" to the animals. He was shouting "Hi!" and waving to the elk and then turned to me with a look of frustration on his face. When I asked what was wrong, he said, "it's not waving!" Those elk are very rude!

Luke: 1 Month

The passing of time is such a strange thing in relation to your kids growing up. One month feels like such a short time to know Luke and yet it feels like quite a long time ago that I was giving birth. I definitely understand why people talk about how fast time goes once you have a second child. With my attention now split between two little ones, I feel like the days go by even faster (and I'm usually left trying to remember what we did all day). 

9 lbs 10 oz

22 in.

Luke is a really laid back baby. He sleeps a LOT and doesn't really cry much at all. That's been really helpful in this transition to two kids because I feel like I still get quite a bit of one-on-one time with Peter each day. 

He sleeps 3.5 to 4 hour stretches at night and eats every 2.5 to 3 hours during the day. I've been much more flexible this time around and am feeding him when he's hungry, rather than watching the clock, which has been much less stressful for me. 

At 3 weeks he had a pretty big growth spurt and started eating a LOT in the evening, which led to one 6 hour stretch of sleep for us! It was a one-time event, but it was still worth celebrating. 

Peter hated swaddling, which made sleep really difficult for all of us, so I was bound and determined to swaddle Luke. So far, so good! I don't know if he's really strong or if I'm just bad at swaddling, but he busts his arms out of a swaddle blanket every time. The velcro/zip-up swaddlers seem to work much better for us.

 He had a lot of trouble passing his hearing test in the hospital, which we think was caused by gunk build-up in his ears. He did eventually pass in one ear but not the other (I can't remember which one).  We have to go see an audiologist now but they don't have an appointment available until the end of March. I really don't feel like he has major hearing issues since I can turn on white noise and the sound immediately calms him down. 

Luke, you're such a sweet addition to our family. Your big brother loves you SO much that he literally can't handle it most days. I'm sorry for all the times my reflexes are too slow and you get attacked with love. You're the kind of baby grandparents really love because you make me want to have many more babies! I'm so happy to call you mine. 

Peter: 2 years

Oh, how I want to freeze time right now!! I absolutely love this age with Peter. Yes, he's turned 2 (and gained a sibling) and occasionally has some meltdowns, but he's playing pretend and talking really well and it's just all SO fun. 

Height: 34.75"

Weight: 25.6 lbs

Favorite Books: "Cow Jump Over Moon" (Goodnight Moon) and "Charlie Book" (Charlie the Ranch Dog)

Favorite Food: Cheese and yogurt and applesauce

Favorite Game: "Watching Bible Stories" (The Kids Bible app)

Favorite Color: Green

Favorite Songs: "Jesus" (Jesus Loves Me) and the B-I-B-uh (The B-I-B-L-E)

Favorite TV Show: Football (Especially if he can watch "Go Cowboys!" and "Go Dak!")

Favorite Questions: "Where's Daddy's goes?" (Daddy can be replaced with any of his friends or our pets or our friends' pets) and "What's that, Mommy?"

Best Friends: Zuna, Tzeitel and Chip are the ones he asks about almost every day 

Typical Sleep Schedule: 8:30 p.m. - 9:00 a.m.

My Favorite Words of His: Et-e-tant (Elephant), Baby Yuke, Peek-a-koo, and Pasketti 

Learning: He's just started picking up on colors and ABC's in the past couple weeks. He counts 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10!

Favorite Toys: Balls! (Spider ball, football, basketball) Stickers and bubbles and his stool.

Peter is an awesome big brother! He's sweet and helpful and loves to take care of Baby Yuke. I can't wait to see how he grows and changes in this next year of his life.