Not Quite One Word Wednesday

It's Luke's six week birthday and my first day back to work, so I can't quite keep it down to one word today. This morning went really smoothly. His eating schedule worked out well- he was hungry around 6 which left me plenty of time to get him fed and me ready and out the door by 7. Grandma was in absolute heaven when we got there and I was happy to be back with my dad and sister. It's hard to go from seeing your family every day of the work week to sporadically here and there for three months. I had my first case of daycare provider envy today :) My mom said she got a great big open mouthed grin out of him. I've never gotten a smile that big... the first of many things I'll be missing out on. But, I got to go upstairs and give him hugs and kisses a couple times so I can't complain. He really liked the little activity mat my mom has and looking at everything hanging above him. I'll get pictures of him on it tomorrow. He's getting so big! Tomorrow I'm going to get on the digital scale at my parents and weigh myself and then weigh myself holding him to try to get an idea of where he is because it's driving me crazy not knowing what he weighs! Okay, well I'm going to go try to get some stuff done before I crash!

In honor of my mom's first day watching Luke I let her pick Wednesday's word and she chose...

*BLESSINGS*
a little smile for Grandma

checking out his new daytime friend

I Can't Believe It's Over...

My last day home with Luke, back to the real world tomorrow. I've been home for 12 weeks between bed rest and maternity leave. I'm not really "leaving" Luke though because I have a pretty sweet setup that most moms would probably envy- I work with my dad and sister downstairs at my parents house and Luke will be upstairs with my mom. So, I will at least get to visit him a couple times a day and if anything's wrong, I'm right there. I'm going back tomorrow just in time to close out the fiscal year so there's no easing back into work, it's going to be a very busy day. Here's just a few pictures from our last few weeks together

the first time I saw my baby boy

Lynsi meeting him for the first time

cutie pie

playing on the floor with daddy

I am a happily well rested mama as I write this! Oh my goodness I hope Luke is turning over a new leaf and is going to sleep as well as he did last night. Saturday he cried all evening and had me up pretty much every hour of the night. I started getting really anxious because I'm going back to work on Wednesday and I was thinking there's no way I can be up like this all night and function at work during the day. So, we'll see if he keeps it up. Yesterday was my cousin Amanda's bridal shower and he was such a good boy the whole day being passed around. We were teasing my cousin Katie at the shower calling her the "Baby Whisperer" because she's now a teacher but has always babysat and had a way with children. My Aunt said she can potty train a child in a day. So, she walked over to Luke and whispered "okay Luke, you have to be really good for your mom and dad tonight and sleep for five hours." He didn't quite sleep for five, but I got a stretch of almost four at one point which is unheard of in this house! I'm asking Katie to move in today :) He woke up around 2 and was fussing a little and I got him back to sleep and then decided to put him in his crib for the first time. He's been sleeping in the pack and play right next to the bed since we brought him home and I haven't moved him into his crib because I'm up with him SO much it was just easier to have him right there. It took me a while to get back to sleep listening to every little noise on the monitors, but he did great and I slept really soundly once I got there. I'm hoping for many more nights like last night! The shower was really fun and I got to see some family who hadn't gotten to see Luke yet so that was nice. I won the "who knows Amanda best" game and a Yankee pumpkin candle. I love winning anything and so does Tommy so I feel like Luke's going to be competitive :)

Kevin's mom and Amanda with mouths full of bubble gum. They had to chew a piece of gum every time they got a question about Kevin wrong!

Sarah and the girls. Love them!

Some family pictures (I know... Luke doesn't look so happy. He doesn't know how to "work the camera" yet)

Then and Now

Last night I put Luke in his little froggy sleeper and then was looking through pictures and saw one of him wearing it on his belly on Tommy's arm. So, I made them recreate the picture for a comparison.

Here he is at one week old. His feet are nowhere near the bottom and his hands are about halfway up the sleeves! It's baggy on him all over.

Now, at 5 1/2 weeks his feet are all the way at the bottom, hands are out of the sleeves, and he fills it out everywhere :)

One Word Wednesday

*Mesmerized*

Tummy Time

Luke isn't too crazy about his tummy mat. Actually, Luke isn't too crazy about anything other than being held or being in his swing. But, today I got a few minutes where he was content and my strong little man can hold his head up really well. I love it when he's really awake and alert and not crying!

This one is just because he's so cute even when he cries... check out those wrinkles!

Hey Ma, this isn't so bad!

okay, I'm over it now...

aahhh... don't have to hold that head up anymore!

time for a bath!

One Month Old

Luke spent his one month birthday at Sarah and Brad's end of summer party. I can't believe it's been a month already. Although some days seemed never ending, the month as a whole FLEW. I have maybe two more weeks off, if I can stretch it that long, and I'm not looking forward to going back to school or work. Today Luke had his first real smile. I say real because it was the first time his eyes were wide open, he was fully awake and aware, and was smiling as a reaction to his Grandma making noises and tickling him. His other smiles have been while he's asleep or half asleep and are obviously not because of being stimulated. It was so cute! Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough with the camera. He won't be seen by his doctor again until he's two months old, so I don't have any weight or height stats on him. He's been doing really well eating every two and a half to three hours and sleeping well most nights. He does have some gas issues that make him a very fussy boy sometimes, but that seems to be getting better week by week, too. Luke made his first trip to the fair on Friday, but in a very bad blogger move, I forgot my camera and didn't get any pictures.

Luke sleeping through the party

Danielle and Kenleigh Kash

Claire Bear! (Sarah and Brad's 10 month old)

Katie checking Luke out. Katie turned 2 on Friday!!

One Word Wednesday

*Ferocious*

Weekend Chatter

This weekend has been really nice and Luke has been a great baby. There was a little concern in the hospital about his circumcision (sorry to put your business out there, Luke) and my doctor didn't feel comfortable completing it without the opinion of a urologist. We couldn't get in with the urologist until Friday and he said it looked just fine and completed the procedure. Needless to say Luke was a little fussy and moody on Friday, but he recovered really quickly. He slept great that night. Yesterday his Great Great Aunt Dot came to visit. He slept through the visit with her and his cousins. Then, we went to Marsh Hall for dinner. He slept great last night, too! I was feeding him around 10:45 last night and as he was finishing up I said "alright buddy, now I don't want to hear a peep out of you until 1:30 at the very earliest! Do we have a deal?" I looked down at him and he had a great big grin on his face like "yeah right, Mom." It was so cute... I love when he smiles. Today we went out to Target and the grocery store. He's been on a bottle for a few days now and it makes me much more relaxed bringing him out in public. So there's some highlights from our weekend, I hope tonight Luke sleeps as well as he has been! It will make me a veeery happy mommy!

With his sweet "Mommy" tat. Maybe one day he'll have a real one :) Do you see the wrinkles in my boy's big forehead? It makes him look worried all the time... but still adorable :)

Mommy and Luke watching the Skins game

Unfortunately Luke comes from a divided household... here's his Steelers jersey and his Redskins outfit. Both are too big for him at the moment!

Luke's first "1st Christmas" ornament from Aunt Dot. I love it! It has his birthstone, name, and birth date and is beautiful!

Luke being held by Marg and admired by Aunt Dot.

One Word Wednesday

*Snugglesaurus*

Here's a few pictures from the past week. Luke has definitely been testing my sanity a little bit with his eating schedule. He only goes an hour and a half, two hours TOPS between feedings. But, gotta feed my growing boy!
Luke and Mommy

we have so many pictures in his swing... he loves this thing!

in his little activity thing. He lasted about 10 or 15 minutes in there, I was surprised he didn't cry earlier!

Two Week Appointment

I love his Dumbo outfit

after a bath

Daddy and Luke

forehead wrinkles

peaceful baby

I wanted to do my first "One Word Wednesday," but I have to talk about Luke's first doctor's appointment, so maybe next week. Luke went to Dr. Miller's office in Leonardtown and was a very good baby. I was starting to get really anxious because he only goes about two hours between feedings and I was waiting and waiting and I just kept thinking by the time I get into the exam room he's going to be hungry and freaking out! But, we were seen just in the nick of time and even though he got a prick in his heel he really didn't cry very hard. He's 7 lbs, 2 oz so he's gained about five and a half ounces since birth. Makes me feel good because you really do wonder if they're getting enough food when you're nursing... although the milk coma that usually comes after eating is a pretty good indication. The hospital measured him at 21" long at birth and today they measured him at 19 3/4." I guess the hospital measured him wrong, too bad I've already ordered announcements with 21" on them. I thought he was really strong for only being two weeks old, and the dr. agreed that he is very strong. He holds his head up really well, kicks pretty hard and can roll from his back to his side a little bit already. So, overall everything looks great and he's a healthy growing boy!