OK ... Walking! ... ??

Well, as I just mentioned in the post that I published this morning (and actually wrote last night) Luke has not really started walking yet. The trouble is, that we don't really know when to say that he is officially walking. Way back when he took his first steps, I posted about that. Now he is making gradual progress and taking more steps at once. We can set him down and he will walk from one of us to the other.

Before today, his record had been about 3-4 steps at a time. Then, this afternoon, he took 9 steps from me to Ryan at my parents' house. Just now as the three of us came into the office, I set him down and he took 13 steps into the room before plopping onto his bottom. So, he's walking! ... kind of. He still really prefers crawling, and he still really doesn't initiate walking, but he'll do it if you aim him and clap when he's done. So, is Luke walking? Who knows. You be the judge. I guess all we can do is to continue to update you on the progress!

P.S. Just to let you know, we are having some very frustrating problems uploading pictures. At first we only had difficulty with Snapfish, but now we are having trouble uploading pictures to Blogger.com as well. In fact, I have almost half a dozen posts that are saved as drafts waiting for pictures. But I think I am going to just start publishing them without the pictures so that at least you can have the information, even if there are no photos. Hopefully at some point, I can go back and add in the pictures. (Note: This means that some "new" posts are going to appear before some that are already up. Be sure to scroll down and look for them coming soon.)

Thirteen Months

Yes, one year AND one month old. This is how many months old I have been telling people Luke will be when his sister is born, and now he his that old. My how time flies. So, here is a brief update on what Luke is up to in his last few days or weeks as an only child.

Communication:

• He just started doing "please" (in sign language) this week. We have tried to introduce it before and it just lead to a lot of sign confusion. This week, however, I only had to show him once, and he had it!
• He has been signing "Thank You" but just in the last couple of weeks, we think he has actually been saying "Thank You" except it sounds like "dee-do" or something similar. He says and signs "Thank You" at the same time (which makes sense as this is what we have been doing all along to teach him the sign).
• We are also about 97% sure that Luke has picked up a few other words. He says them with some regularity in a way that we can be reasonably sure we know what he is talking about, but the pronunciation is sometimes such a stretch that it's hard to be absolutely certain. Also, I'm not sure of the rules for pronunciation respelling in baby language, so you'll have to make your best guess!
  Daddy ("da-da") - this is the most likely (he even calls for Matt "DAAAAH-DA" from another room)
  bear ("baaaah") - the large stuffed bear in his room
  baby ("bah-bah') - himself in the mirror or any other baby
  I did it ("de DE de") - I first noticed him saying this after I said it to him following an accomplishment (like turning on or off the light switch or closing a door or drawer)
  gentle ("deh-dow") - we just noticed this one this morning (he was petting Charley and I was saying "be gentle" and I realized that he was repeating after me!)
• He has been using all kinds of his own made-up ways to communicate with us as well. For example, he has been pointing to things or places. Today, he was using the "more" sign to ask me to do something for him. I couldn't tell what he wanted. Then he pointed to the ground right by where he was sitting. It was like he was saying, "Come over here and I'll show you what I mean." I did and he did.
• It seems that Luke is quickly learning to understand more and more of what we say to him. The other day, he was standing by my desk chair in the office. I gave him a coupon to hold. A few minutes later, I needed it back. He didn't have it in his hand. I asked him, "Where is the paper?" His eyes opened wide, he looked all around, then he spotted it on the floor, picked it up and gave it to me!
• He also knows lots of commands, like "stay in this room with Mommy," "close/open the door/drawer," "give it to Mommy," "don't smush your food," etc/

Transportation

• I was really sure that when I wrote the post for thirteen months, I would be able to say that he is walking. He almost is ... but not quite. More and more recently, we have had random episodes of two or three steps in a row, but it is clear to see that he still vastly prefers crawling.
• Luke has gotten so good a crawling and very quick. He can get around almost anywhere he wants to go. And if he is standing, he's pretty quick at cruising around holding on to the furniture, too. He can move all the way around the sofa (even the back, which really has nothing to hold on to) balancing with just one hand and moving his feet side-to-side pretty efficiently.

Eating

• Except for nuts and honey, Luke is allowed to eat pretty much anything now. His only real limitation is the consistency of a food (i.e. apples are too tough for him to handle, though he loves applesauce).
• He seems to have a pretty wide ranging appetite (from sardines to hot dogs to tomatoes and much in between) though I have heard that the scope of his preferences may narrow as we enter the toddler years.
• He has started using a spoon to feed himself occasionally. Matt's Mom gave him this really great spoon and fork set, each utensil having a big easy-to-grip handle. I let him try feeding himself applesauce one day, and he did pretty well. His biggest challenge is not getting the sauce onto the spoon or getting the spoon into his mouth with the sauce still on it (as I thought it would be) but getting to all of the applesauce that is in the deepest part of the spoon. Interesting. I guess that whole maneuver that we take for granted comes with practice!

Other

• Luke had his first bubble bath about a week ago. At first, he was a little puzzled by the bubbles and couldn't figure out how to get them off of his hands. Then, he was puzzled by the fact that he couldn't see any of his toys in the water. Finally, though, he adjusted to the new environment and was comfortable crawling around in the water - with little patches of bubble fuzz on his hiney!

Birthday Number One!

Well, technically, Luke's birthday was Wednesday, June 21. However, we actually had his party on Thursday, June 22, so this is a two-part posting: one part about what we did on his actual birthday and one part about his party!

Matt was off work on Wednesday (an extra treat). When Luke woke up, we both went in together to get him, singing "Happy Birthday!" Without discussing it in advance or missing a beat, we both sang "Happy Birthday Little Boy" (our little nickname for Lukey). We continued our special day by having waffles (Lukey got one with butter on it - new for him) and Daddy made an omelet for us to share.

Since the birthday party was not until the next night, I wanted to think of something fun and special (and free) that we could do to celebrate his first birthday, so after his morning nap, Mommy and Lukey went to the Mechanicsville library for storytime. He did a great job of sitting to listen to the stories. He was a little freaked out at the beginning when the story time lady had the kids stand for their "exercises" which involved clapping and stomping. But while she was reading, you could see him moving his head to get a good view at the pictures in the book she held up. We also signed him up for the summer reading program. I don't know what the prize is (likely something that he can't use) but we have been having some reading time together, so I thought it would be fun to document what we are reading.

Later in the day, Luke had some birthday visits from family members. Nannie, the uncles and Miss Donna came by in the afternoon. When Uncle Ryan came down, he and Luke spent some time playing the piano together. Luke loved it, and it made for an excellent photo op! Mr. and Mrs. Leonard (neighbors whom we met in our childbirthing class) and their daughter Audrey (just four days younger than Luke) came over to wish Little Boy a happy birthday and bring a really cool wooden puzzle of all sorts of planes, trains and automobiles! Just before heading to church for Bible Study, Granny and Granddaddy stopped by to give Luke some birthday wishes. Finally, that evening, we hosted Covenant Group and had a cake in honor of Luke's big day.

Yesterday, Matt had to work, so Luke and I spent our time getting ready for the party. Fortunately, since we had hosted Covenant Group the night before, there was not much straightening or cleaning to do, so we focused on decorating. Gran had sent us a whole party package from Oriental Trading Company, including everything: streamers, balloons, confetti, invitations, plates, napkins, plastic wear, etc. We even got 12 inflatable turtles, each the size of a regulation football. Uncle Ryan came down in the morning to hang streamers (no chair needed). Later Uncle Ryan, Ben and Josh came down to decorate outside with balloons, streamers and inflated turtles.

The party began at 7:00. Present were Mommy and Daddy, Nannie and Pop-Pop, Nana and Papa, Uncles Ryan, Ben, Josh and Lyle, Miss Donna, and Granny and Granddaddy ... in addition to the birthday boy himself, of course! Everyone who arrived chipped in to get snacks on the table (colored Goldfish, graham crackers and strawberries), ice and drinks out and the cake ready to go. We sang, allowed Luke to attempt blowing out the candle (which he declined to do) and gave him a piece of cake. At first, he wanted Mommy to feed him, but once we showed him that he could do it on his own, he proceeded to lift the whole piece to his mouth and shove it in. This resulted in icing all around his face, which was then wiped onto the length of his arm, which was then transferred to his forehead and eyebrows when he began to rub his eyes! Whew! What a time!

After the icing was wiped off, we had a chance to open presents. Luke sat on Mommy's lap while Mommy opened the gifts. The first thing we opened was from Uncles Ben and Josh: foam football, basket ball and soccer ball and a set of Lincoln Logs. Luke loved the foam balls so much that he hung on to the basketball for most of the rest of the present opening. He got so many wonderful outfits, and lots of great toys. We are planning to take a picture of him with all of his gifts so that we can keep track of what he got on this first of all birthdays!

Click here to see other pictures in the same album.

A New Direction in Life

When Luke was born, his car seat was one of those little carriers that can be snapped into and removed from a base in the car. (We'll be getting this out back out and strapping it into our car again before too long!) When he was about five or six months old, he outgrew this car seat and we purchased one that could be used from that point on through the next several stages of development.

The car seat was installed facing backwards and has been that way ever since. But this morning, we decided it was time for a change. Technically, a baby is supposed to be both 1 year old and over 20 lbs. before the car seat is facing forward. So, as he weighs about 24 lbs. (we can tell you exactly next Friday when he has his doctor appointment) and will be a year old in just four days (wow!) we decided this would be a good day. Today was Matt's last day of vacation and it was also the date of our church picnic, which was being held out in western rural Hanover county. We thought this would be a great opportunity for him to experience life in the "other direction" for the first time.

Apparently, he was fairly pleased with the change. He talked almost non-stop the whole way out and the whole way back. We did find, however, that there are some downsides to having your child's carseat facing forward. First, we have a new discipline to master: not looking at Luke too much while driving. Also, gone are the days when Mommy and Daddy can sit in the front seat and have a Slurpee without Luke seeing what Momm and Daddy have ... and asking for some!

Two-Step

Well, today we finally saw Luke take his first two steps. He was standing by the piano holding on to the piano bench with his right hand. I knelt down very close by and held out my hands to him. He took two steps (almost accidentally) into my arms. The best part was that Matt was standing right there with us and saw it happen. I was very thankful for this, as I had been fearing that I would miss his first steps!

I didn't title this post "Walking," as he has yet to repeat this little performance, even when the situation is arranged and he is coaxed. Actually, he is such an accomplished and speedy crawler, we think he'll hold off on actually starting to walk for a while. Matt says this is just fine with him, but I have to admit that I am hoping he'll start walking soon so that when Emma arrives, she can be carried to the car while he walks! Of course, I really am fine with waiting as well, because crawling is so good for his physical and mental development.

It's June?!?!

Yes, it is. Wow! It's hard to believe that Luke is steadily approaching his first birthday! My little baby boy is almost one year old! I felt that as we draw to the end of this first year, I certainly should add an update as to what Luke is "up to" in these days of his eleventh month. So as not to bore anyone, I'm going to do it in bullet form, rather than narrative. If you want more details, ask me, or come see for yourself!

• Going up and down stairs reliably (knows how to turn around before going down). He has also carried this strategy (turning around and going feet first) over to other places where he needs to get down from a high or steep place (getting down from the sofa or Mommy's bed, crawling down into a ditch in our yard, etc.)
• Communicating by showing, such as placing goldfish on the edge of the chair where he wants me to put them for him, or pointing to something to distinguish what he is talking about when he makes the "more" sign. In the grocery store the other day, we were headed through the produce section when he saw the bananas. He very clearly pointed to them and made the "more" sign. So, Mommy bought some. Was that a bad habit to start?
• Eating bigger things (like pieces of bread, crackers, etc.) that he has to take bites of himself (instead of Mommy breaking everything down into pieces for him).
• "Cleaning up." When prompted and guided, he can put duplos back into the truck, Peek-a-blocks back into the bin, shoes back on the shelf, plastic rings back onto the stacker, silverware back into the tray, etc.
• One-finger tasks. Instead of slapping randomly at buttons on toys or light switches that need to be turned off, he is more able to use one finger or his finger and thumb to accomplish tasks.
• Walking assisted. He loves to walk along pushing the duplo cart, a laundry basket, kitchen chair or any other mobile object. We had to make the glass-top side table in the living room off-limits after he pushed it all the way down the hallway.
• Pointing to things and hearing them named. He especially likes to point to the animals and shapes on his wallpaper boarder, which is right beside his changing table. He also likes to point to parts of the face (eyes, nose, etc.) and hear what each is called. No sign yet that he is actually remembering the names (when asked "Where is the turtle?" he doesn't seem to know which one is the turtle).
• Laying on pillows. This one is kind of random, but very cute! If he comes across a pillow on the floor (while I am making my bed, one tossed down from the sofa, etc.) he will crawl right over to it and lay his head down on it, making a kind of sighing sound (probably because whenever he does this, I find myself saying "Awwww")!
• "Nuzzling" and "loving." When I ask him to "love mommy" he will lay his head on my shoulder and/or place his cheek up against mine (depending on how I am holding him) and make the same sighing/"awww" sound as with the pillows. "Nuzzling" is technically (or at least how I introduced it) rubbing noses (i.e. an Eskimo kiss). His version, however, involves opening his mouth and licking and/or sucking on my nose as I try to nuzzle him!
• Feeling the warmth of a coffee cup. When Daddy or Mommy is drinking coffee, he loves to feel it with his face. He looks up to the coffee drinker and makes the "more" sign. When the cup is lowered, he places his face (either his cheek, or his mouth and nose) up against it. Recently, he has been doing this with his mouth open to feel with his tongue.
• Waving "hello," good-bye" and "night-night." He's pretty reliable about this with people he knows. It's hit or miss when asked to say "hi" to kind strangers in the grocery store who have tried to strike up a conversation with him.
• Playing outside. I can't believe I didn't mention this one earlier in the list. He is VERY fond of playing outside. He loves to crawl all over the yard and touch and explore everything (grass, leaves, sticks, rocks ... especially rocks). We have already started to find rocks around the house that he has brought in with him from his adventures. He's very independent while outside. He'll crawl quite a ways away from me and then, occasionally, turn and look around to make sure I'm still there. I'll say "hi" and wave to him, he'll wave back and then continue his explorations. I have to put socks and shoes on him because he will crawl until (and even after) his little toes are scratched and bleeding.
• Big-boy baths. He loves to play in the bath tub, especially now that I give him free range of the tub, instead of confining him to a baby bath tub. If I need to take a shower while he is awake, I'll plug the drain and he'll play in the water while I shower. When he gets a bath, he will stay in until he is taken out. As a matter of fact, the last time we had a nice long stretch of time for bath tubbing, he stayed in fifteen minutes after the last of the water had drained (he played in the tub with water for a good half an hour).
• "Dust-busting." He has discovered how to turn on the dust buster, and knows how to move it back and forth across the floor. I don't think he actually accomplishes anything yet, but it is a skill I am encouraging him to develop!

OK, so I guess that turned out to be bulleted in format, but narrative in content. Sorry! Also, I know I haven't included many pictures recently. I'll try to be better about keeping the camera at hand. Usually all of the things that are so worth capturing are completely out of the blue and over before anything can be done about recording it!

28 Weeks and Counting

Well, Emma and I had our 28 week check-up today and everything appears to be fine. I had some blood drawn so that my iron and blood sugar levels can be checked. I should hear back on that by next week. I am measuring at 29 weeks, which is great. The measurements are supposed to be accurate give or take 2 weeks, so that's right about where I should be.

So, I am officially in my third trimester now, and I am starting to feel it a little. I had to sit for the hymns at church last Sunday as I got out of breath so easily and I have been a little lower on energy this week than I have been for the last 4-6 weeks. My next appointment is in 4 weeks (32), and after that, we go to a two-week interval (34 and 36) and then to a weekly interval (37, 38, 38 and 40)! Wow! Can't believe the time has gone by so quickly!

More Teeth and Other Items

Well, tooth number six is officially through the gum and present. Yes, I know, I never wrote about tooth number five. Well, after the first four teeth had arrived (the bottom middle two and the top middle two) it was clear that the next to make their appearance would be those on either side of the top two - you could feel them through the gums. When the first of these (the one on the left - from Luke's perspective) officially broke through on Sunday, May 7, it seemed like the second would be close on its heels, and I was planning to write about them both. Well, number six finally arrived ... today. More than two weeks later. I guess that just goes to show you how all of these areas of growth and development are so unpredictable!

Last Saturday we (my mother, Luke and I) went to the Flea Market on the corner of Meadowbridge and Azalea. I was supposed to be looking for clothes for Luke (he's into the 18 month stuff now) but didn't find anything. Somehow I am guessing that once boys that age have finished with their clothes, there's not much left to pass on to the next fellow ... hmmm. Anyway, we did find some really cute dresses for Emma and a ride-on toy for Luke (his first). He loves to play in the yard so much and I really wanted him to have something to use in the yard. Funny thing is that when he sits on the seat, he can't reach the ground with both feet at the same time!

Luke's newest favorite pleasure is watching the ceiling fans in my room and his. Of course, you may wonder what he does if the ceiling fan is not on. Simple. He looks up at it and makes the "more" sign! It's funny, he uses that sign so frequently that there is sometimes some ambiguity as to what he is asking for. However, recently, he has learned that when I say "More what?" he can usually communicate by looking back and forth from me to whatever it is he wants. When he has food options, I can hold two things in front of him and he can tell me which he wants by looking directly at it while signing. Amazing. I'm convinced that there is so much more going on in a baby's mind than I ever realized!

"First" Haircut

Well, technically, his first haircut was a few weeks ago. The hair over his ears was getting so long and shaggy, hanging into his ears, I thought it would be simple to snip, snip and trim up just that part. So, my first experience with cutting hair was not successful. But we need not discuss that further.

This, his official first haircut, was completed with the assistance of his Nannie (my mom). OK, so maybe it would be more accurate to say that she completed it with my help, as my main contribution was supplying the fruit puffs and holding his head still. But in the end, he wound up with a cute little cut, but still looking very much like a little boy. Yes, I hated to see those little curls go, but the other option was to let it get longer and longer until Luke's daddy (ever protective of the male-ness of his little guy) pulled out the electric clippers and gave Luke a style like his daddy's! And I did save some of those little curls. Besides, as I told my mom, my consolation is that we have a little girl on the way, and her hair can get as long and curly as it likes!

"Biter Biscuit?" "More, Thank You"

Well, the next sign we have been working on with Luke is "Thank You." I figured this would be a little more difficult as it is rather abstract, compared to "more." With "more" there is a direct result. Not so much with "thank you." So, I asked some friends how they taught "thank you" and it was suggested that I hold out the item, but don't let go of it until Luke said "thank you." This was a fine idea, except that the items he usually asks for are served on a spoon (like banana) or too small for me to imagine both of us holding on to it at one time (like Cherios or Goldfish crackers). So we came up with a new plan. When he asked for "more" I would put small items on his tray, but not let him touch them until he said "thank you." (Of course, what this meant was that I was holding his hand and doing the motion for him.) The sign for "thank you" involves touching your chin with your fingers and then bringing your hand down.

Yesterday, he was sitting on the kitchen floor and I was offering him a piece of some banana bread I had made. He continued to give the "more" sign from about three feet away. I was trying to encourage him to come over to me to get the bread. Finally, he started signing "more" followed by putting his fingers into his mouth. At first, I thought he was saying "More! Right in here!" But then I realized that this was his way of signing "thank you"! Apparently, he has decided that since he has to do both the "more" sign and the "thank you" sign before he gets to eat, he might as well do them both at the same time and get it over with! Hence the second half of the title of this post.

The first half of the title of this post relates to a treat that the "Easter Bunny" brought to Luke. "Biter Biscuits" are like hard-to-dissolve crackers. It takes several minutes of chewing, gumming, gnawing or whatever a child is capable of doing to get even a piece into your mouth. However, in the meantime, baby is amply rewarded with biter-biscuit soup: a delicate combination of biter biscuit and drool. This soup not only covers the mouth, but also the nose, cheeks, bib, hands and anything touched by the hands. As you can see in the picture below, this is not at all disturbing to Luke!

In other news, Luke's fourth tooth (top right front from his perspective) has finally come in. (By "in" I mean that you can actually feel the edge of it through the gum, as opposed to yesterday where you could feel the tooth, but it was still encased in the gum. It will be some time before it shows up in photos like the other three.)