He'll Be Walking in No Time

Ok, so maybe he won't be walking anytime soon, but Lucas loves to "jump" and "stand". He is constantly pushing up with his legs. We have been doing lots of tummy time lately, and his arms are getting much stronger too. I started doing one "exercise" with him from our Mommy and Me Yoga video. Lucas is lying down, and I gently pull on his arms to bring him to a sit up position. The teacher on the video said that if the baby wants to stand up, they will do so - and he does!! Sitting is boring - he wants to stand!! He pushes up with those chubby little legs. I am afraid he will be "on-the-go" way before I am ready for it! Below is a video of him doing his "exercise". (The squeaking in the background is Nala playing with a toy). Lucas was a bit distracted by the tv - there was a baseball game on (MLB Network - Wally's favorite channel) or maybe he just loves watching the colors. NAH! He is a baseball fan already!

My Baby Mozart

Last Sunday when we were at Stacey's, my Aunt Kathy mentioned how she noticed that Lucas was really watching the tv and would probably like one of those Baby Einstein DVDs. Well my mom had gotten us the Baby Mozart one for Christmas so I thought I would pop it in this week and see what happened....Lucas seems to really like it! We put a blanket down on the floor and watch together. He makes silly sounds while he is watching and smiles, and I point out all the different colors and shapes...it really is quite amazing to watch him be so intrigued. The music is also the same as the music we listen to at night before bed (Baby Mozart cd)...maybe we have our own little Mozart on our hands - Grandma Z. says he has long piano-playing fingers! I think Lucas' daddy might have other things planned for him, but you never know!

Here are some pics of Lucas enjoying the show!

Day at the Shedd

Lucas made his first 2 trips to the city this weekend. The first was on Sunday afternoon - we went to Aunt Stacey's to celebrate her birthday. The second was yesterday to the Shedd Aquarium. Wally was off school, and we wanted to get out of the house for a bit. We didn't realize that the Shedd was free that day and with a lot of kids being off school, there was a pretty big line to get in. We stuck it out - Lucas was all bundled up in his stroller. Wally and I on the other hand weren't quite prepared to wait outside - I definitely could have used some gloves! We finally made it in though and soon realized that Lucas is a people watcher just like his Mommy and Daddy! He was out of his stroller, and I was holding him as we were walking around - he was eyes wide open just taking it all in. We put him up to the glass so he could see all the fishies swimming around. After awhile though, he had enough and was fast asleep in his stroller. It was a fun outing (though a little crowded)! We want to go back this summer though because the Oceanarium is closed for renovations and that is where the belugas and dolphins are.

I'm so excited!

Look how tall I am!

And spent!

The aquarium is in the background - too bad you can't tell :(

hhhmmm...is there a little boy I know that spends some time in the crab lab?!?!

Lucas' new shirt!

Doctor's Visit

Yesterday Lucas had his 2-month doctor's visit - this visit meant the beginning of shots! Aunt Stacey came along for the appointment. The visit started off at the scale and Lucas is already 12 lbs. 3 oz. and he is 24 inches - he gained just under 3 lbs. and grew 2 1/2 inches since his last appt. a month ago! Everything else is looking good and so it was time for the shots. He got 3 of them. Stacey held his legs still, and I held his hands. The nurse was very fast. I couldn't watch the needles go in, I just focused on his face. The poor guy - as soon as the needle went in he squeezed my fingers and his eyes just got really wide (and of course he screamed). It was over pretty quickly, and we just cuddled him and he calmed down. He took a nice long nap when we got home, and never got a fever. He woke up and was as happy as usual. He slept very well last night too - 7 straight hours in his crib (I woke up about 3 times during those 7 hours to check on him - I need to stop!). Today, he is his happy little self so I guess shots aren't too bad...we go back in 2 months!

No pictures from yesterday, but here are a few recent ones. He is holding on to toys now!

I got the keys - wanna go for a ride???

Who you gonna call?????

Transitions

Transition #1

Well, we have finally began the transition to the crib from the bassinett part of the pack-n-play in our bedroom. For the past couple of weeks, I have been putting Lucas down for his afternoon nap in his crib. So on Monday night, we began putting him in his crib at night. We made the decision because I go back to work in 2 weeks, and I figured it is better to do it now when I can wake up and check on him as I need to (you know make sure he is breathing, etc. - all new mother worries) and not worry about having to function 8 hours at work on little sleep. Now if you recall in a previous post, I was somewhat raving about what a good sleeper Lucas is...well he still is a good sleeper, but these last few nights have been challenging. I am partially owning that up to Lucas not feeling the best (I think he may have had a bit of the flu) so I am still confident that we can get this sleeping in his crib down and go back to those longer stretches of sleep. He has been waking up much more frequently, and I believe it may have to do with the fact that the crib is so much bigger than the pack-n-play. I think he opens his eyes, and he gets freaked out. But again, he has been a little under the weather so we will just have to see how it goes. I think within the next week or so both mom and baby will be sleeping pretty well at night (hey - one can "hope").

Transition #2

Yesterday morning, Lucas and I took a quick visit to the daycare he will be going to when I return to work in a couple of weeks. It is an in-home daycare center - the whole first level of the woman's home is the daycare. We found out about this place through our baptism class we had to take at our church. The teacher was also a 3rd grade teacher at the Catholic school that is attached to the church so I thought that she might know of some daycare options for us. Sure enough, she suggested this woman, Punky (yep, that is her name and it totally fits her). Punky and her family are parishioners. She has 3 kids (5, 3, and 18 months) and one on the way (due in mid-April). Wally & I went to visit in November, and we both really liked it. I think I talked to my mom on the way home from there and I told her that was the place - I just felt it. We had visited several other daycares before this one, and I just didn't get the same feeling. The only problem was that there were no openings at that point in November, but Punky thought that there might be a family that was moving and we would stay in touch. Luckily, about 3 weeks ago, I called to follow up with her, and she said my ears must have been ringing because they have an opening and it is ours! I was so excited - I knew this would make my transition back to work much easier. So our visit yesterday went very well and I still feel very comfortable with our decision. Punky has 3 other workers there so we were able to meet them, and they are all wonderful. I think Lucas will really enjoy himself there and learn a lot! Grandma Z. is coming for 3 days to babysit when I start work, then Grammy Laurie for a week and then we will start daycare. I am sure there will be lots of tears those first few weeks at work, and especially that first week of daycare, but I know we will get through it.

No further transitions at this time, but Lucas, Nala, and I did go for our first walk together around the neighborhood on Monday (when it was 60 degrees out). There are some pictures below - as you can see, Lucas missed the whole thing!

"Hey buddy, wanna go for a walk?"

Pretty exciting, huh???

Nala is leading the way! She knows this neighborhood very well, Wally takes her for a walk just about every morning (rain or shine, hot or cold).

Lucas' Baptism

Yesterday was Lucas' baptism. Wally and I felt so lucky to have so many family and friends there for this special moment in Lucas' life. There were about 40 people there, none of whom live within 30 minutes of us so it meant that much more that so many people were willing to travel for this occassion. We really are so grateful to have to such great people in our lives!

Lucas was wonderful - as I mentioned in my previous post, he is always good in church - and this day was no exception. I was wondering how it was going to go since on a normal weekend we are only there an hour...but he was an angel. He basically slept the entire time and didn't make a peep when the water was poured over his head. It was a special day!

We had lunch and cake at our house following the baptism, while 40 people was a houseful and a little hectic in the beginning, everything turned out very well.

I have to say all 3 of us were exhausted that evening, but it was a wonderful day full of lots of love for Lucas - he is one lucky little boy!!




What a handsome little man!

Let me catch you up....

Since I am just starting this blog, and Lucas is going to be 2 months in a couple of days already, I will do a little catch up for you.

Lucas Walter was born December 11th at 11:19 AM. He weighed 7 lbs. 9 oz. and was 20.5 inches long. The labor and delivery went very well - no complications. We brought Lucas home on the 13th and Nala (our dog) gave him lots of welcome kisses. Is Nala still as impressed with Lucas or excited about him????? That's another story, but we are giving her lots of love so she doesn't feel left out!

We celebrated Christmas here in Monee. Both families brought Christmas to us - presents and food - we didn't have to do a darn thing (thank you!). We took Lucas to church Christmas morning, this was our first outing, other than a doctor's appointment. He was so good through the mass and still is to this day. He comes with us every Sunday, and either sleeps through mass or just sits quietly in his carrier looking around and listening to the music. Hopefully he will continue to be this good in the coming years (I am sure there will be a post on a future meltdown in church within the next few years!).

At Lucas' one month doctor's appointment, he had grown an inch and gained just under 2 lbs. He certainly has no problem eating - he sure does love his milk! Around 6 weeks, we started to get smiles - these smiles came with some coaxing from Wally and I, but now he smiles freely and it just melts my heart everytime I see it. I love that he just looks at us and smiles now - there is nothing better! He is also full of fun sounds lately. He has certainly discovered his voice. Wally likened it to our dog Nala and her "finding" her bark. He remembered that Nala never barked when we got her until we took her to the vet for the first time. In that room, was her first bark, and believe me she hasn't stopped since!

As for sleeping, we have actually been very lucky. Lucas has been a pretty good sleeper from the moment we brought him home. I think that first night he only woke up two times. I think within the first 2 weeks, we had a 5 hour stretch of sleep. Of course the problem with those long stretches so early on is that as new parents, we are so paranoid that the baby is ok and breathing so we are constantly checking on him or waking up to every little sound he makes in his sleep. Wally was especially paranoid in the beginning, but somehow that quickly faded for him and now he doesn't even hear me get up at night with Lucas....interesting how that works for dads.....we have certainly had our share of some bad nights with Lucas, but honestly, I really can't complain - he likes his sleep! Right now, it seems that he only wakes up once usually sometime between 2 and 4 am (so about a 6-7 hour stretch), but he goes right back to sleep after he eats for another 3-4 hours. I can't say that I enjoy interrupted sleep, and I am sure there were a couple of nights where Wally thought I was going to lose it because I seemed so mad to have to get up, but once I pick up the little guy, I could care less that I am up in the middle of the night - he is so warm and snuggly then - those are the moments that you can never get back! I find myself cherishing those moments even more every night!

Well I guess that gets us up to speed - now I just need to keep up! Here are some pictures of Lucas from the past 2 months. Enjoy!

Jumping on the Blogging Bandwagon

So I have decided to join the blogging world...this will be a great way for everyone to keep up with what is going on in our lives and mostly follow Lucas as he continues to grow and change. This is also a great way for me to document all the little things that happen in the day of the life of Lucas! Wally and I are so blessed, lucky, and overjoyed to have Lucas in our life that I don't want to forget one minute of this journey we are on. So I hope you enjoy and continue to check in periodically. Let the blogging begin...