Lukey is 9 Months Old Today!!

"Hello?"

Trying fresh whipped cream for the first time - yummy!

Fun Facts About Luke

Fact 1
Luke is a roly poly little fella weighing 23 lbs.  He wears size 4 diapers and 18 month clothing just fits him -- next week it might not!  He is also wearing 24 month clothing, and I am buying 24 month and 2T clothing for the winter months.

Fact 2
Luke likes to move.  Constantly.  The only time he is still is when he is sleeping.  His constant movement makes it difficult to take pictures other than when he is contained! 

Fact 3
Lukey got a new swing!  He's still not totally sure about it because it is unfamiliar at this point, but I think he will come to really enjoy it over the next few weeks.

 Fact 4
Luke does not like being outside, which may be why he is not totally crazy about the swing yet.  I don't think it's so much being outside that he doesn't like, but that he gets very annoyed when he gets hot and starts to sweat.  He doesn't like grass either.  We have beautiful, soft zoysia grass which feels yummy on the feet.  But not Lukey's feet.  I like to sit outside with him on a quilt in the shade of the tress in the evening.  He'll crawl over to the edge of the quilt, take his little pointer finger and barely touch a blade of grass.  He acts like it has shocked him and quickly recoils!  Then he'll crawl to a different side of the quilt (because you know that the grass might be different over there) and do it all over again.  I get such joy watching him discover the world around him!

Fact 5
It happened.  I am mortified.  Luke put dog food in his mouth.  Someone (who shall remain nameless) was feeding the dogs their dinner and didn't pick up the bowls in a timely manner.  I came in to the kitchen and put Luke down not knowing that the bowls were on the floor on the other side of the bar stools.  Lukey crawled out of my sight, I quickly went to fetch him, but not before he could pick up a piece of Purina One Beef and Rice and put it in his mouth.  Ewwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!  Thankfully, it was not swallowed.  He was rather miffed when I fished it out of his mouth -- must have tasted good!

Fact 6
Luke loves to hit things, people included.  It seems to be his way of showing excitement about something.  When he is happy to see me after he wakes up from his nap, he smiles big and hits me in the face a few times when I pick him up.  When Tom picks him up, he smiles big and clobbers him in the face a few times.  When his siblings greet him in the morning when we all gather in the kitchen, he smiles big and beats the air several times in their direction.  When we go to church and the all the little people come up to greet him, he smiles and tries to sock 'em a few.  When he likes the food I am feeding him, he tries to give the spoon a good knock.  When he picks up a toy, he beats it on something.  He just loves to beat the snot out of everything!  Obviously, this is not good behavior, so we are working on being gentle.  Andrew didn't get his drums until he was in high school.  Might have to get Luke a set much sooner!  In the meantime, anyone who knows him well knows that as you approach Luke, you grab his hand or you are going to get clobbered!

Fact 7
Lukey loves routine, especially the night night routine.  I always give him his bottle in the same position while rocking in the chair in my room.  After he finishes the bottle, he climbs up on my left shoulder and lays his little head and down.  Then we rock and rock until he lifts his head up and lets me know that he is ready to lay down in his bed.  I pray for him, then I lay him down in his bed and he always moves into the same position -- he lays on his right side, left leg out in front of him, right thumb in mouth, left hand clutching blankey, but not just any part of the blankey.  It has to be the corner.  He will shift and shift that blankey until he finds a corner, and then he'll grip it until just the tip is sticking out of his fist.  He does this three times a day (morning nap, afternoon nap and night night time) without fail. 

Another routine is diaper changing.  Because he is so wiggly, I have to give him something to play with while I change his diaper.  He knows that when he lays down, I will give him the yellow Burt's Bees comb to play with.  The when we are done, it goes back in the drawer.  This might be TMI for some, but I am going to share it anyway because I think it is funny and I will forget someday.  Lukey knows that when he has messed his diaper that he is going to get a reaction from me.  The only time he lays still when I put him on the changing pad is when he has messed his diaper.  He lays there looking at me smiling, knowing that I am going to make a big deal of how messy and stinky his diaper is, which he thinks is funny stuff!  (My favorite thing to say is, "Lukey made dukey and it is shooey shooey!"  Lame, I know.  But he loves it!)  Sometimes, he has made just a tiny little mess and I am not aware of it until I lay him down.  I know because he just lays quietly smiling at me like, "Guess what I made . . . . "

Fact 8
Lukey's experiments with new foods are going well.  The only thing I have found that he didn't like was taco meat.  He begged and begged for it, so I gave him a little piece.  It wasn't spicy at all (because I can't handle it) but he did not like it and went into very melodramatic antics to get it out of his mouth.  Everything else, he eats and swallows.  The worst thing to me about babies learning to eat is that they seem to choke on everything.  Luke's answer to choking on a piece of food is to shove more food in his mouth.  Oy!  He is doing very well with his fine motor skills and can pick things up easily with his thumb and forefinger, but he has found his fist to be a much more efficient way to shove large amounts of food in his mouth.

Fact 9
Language recognition is definitely taking place.  I am sure that he said "mo" to me yesterday, meaning "more."  I have been working on that word with him, and I really do think he repeated it after me yesterday when we were eating dinner.  He knows his name -- and not just Bubby either!  He responds to Luke and seems to recognize the names of family members and the dogs.  He makes lots of speech patterns, his favorites being "mo," "da," "ba" and "th."

Fact 10
Lukey's schedule looks something like this:
6:00 a.m. - Start making noise
6:30 a.m. - Start making a little more noise
7:00 a.m. - Stand up and holler so mom can hear me  :)
7:00 - 7:30 - Play in bed with mom (and dad if he's home)
7:30 - Diaper change and bottle
8:00 - Breakfast in the kitchen with family
8:30 - 10:00 - Play time
10:00 - 12:00 - Bottle and nap time
12:00 - Lunch
12:15 - 2:00 - Play time
2:00 - 4:00 Bottle and nap time
4:00 - Play time
5:30 - Dinner time
7:00 - Bottle and bed time

It is 12:10 and I hear Bubby hollering for me to come get him for lunch!