Is He Getting Teeth?

Taking a look at Luke's gums this weekend we are pretty sure we saw the eruption of his first tooth.  You can see it as just a little while speck underneath his gum line.  If you feel the white bump you can definitly tell that there is something hard down there.  Three months seems a bit early for a baby to be getting its teeth but infact such an occurance is normal.

Two is a Coincidence Three is a Trend

Last night Luke slept through the night for the third night in a row.  Technically it wasn't through the night.  Luke goes to bed around 8:30 and wakes up around 5:00 - 5:30.  I try to get up for work at 5:50 so it isn't too terribly early for me.  The best part about Luke only waking up one time a night is that we can now alternate our nights.  So every other night Mom or I can get a full nights sleep.  At this point being the parent of a newborn becomes much much easier.  It is amazing how much easier life is on an uninterrupted nights sleep.  As you can see below Luke is happy about sleeping through the night too.

I've already jinxed myself for tonight.  Luke fell asleep while we were cooking dinner and failed to get up for a bedtime bottle.  We even tried to wake him up but he would have none of it.  While putting him to bed was super easy tonight I am afraid that he will wake up at 1:00 a.m. and not want to go back to bed.  So tonight will break the trend, but I think it is fluke and tomorrow we will be back to normal.

Update:  Well I didn't jinx myself.  Luke ended up sleeping till just before 5:00 a.m.  So baby Luke must have been a tired boy.  He was crazy hungry when we woke up but didn't really scream about it.  It was very nice.

Not So Hungry

Luke's food intake is starting to slow.  He used to eat 4 oz at a shot then an hour later want 4 more.  Now he can eat 6 oz and last around 3 hours until he wants 6 more.  Even better than that he is now drinking out of level 2 nipples now so that cuts his feeding times in half.  He is a bit messier when he eats but it is a small price to pay for speed. 

If anyone out there cares we feed Luke out of Dr. Brown's bottles.  We are a big fan of these but don't have anything to base it upon.  We started using them with Alyce and weren't going to change for Luke.  The design is pretty smart to cut down on air with the only downfall is that there are a lot of pieces to clean.  Anytime we fed Alyce and Luke we typically get one burp and they are done.  We still have to fight to get Luke to burp but in a few weeks he will be belching with the best of them.

Slept Through The Night!!!

Coming out of left field in a total surprise, last night Luke slept through the night! The holy grail of any parent. I put Luke to bed around 8:30 p.m. and he slept until 5:00 a.m. for a grand total of 8.5 hours of sleep. At 5:00 when I woke up to him crying softly I said "was it 5:00 already?". I went on to ask Mom why time she got up with him as I most likely slept through the whole thing. Mom responded "I didn't". Apparently Luke did wake up around 3:00 a.m. but fell bask asleep after only a few minutes of complaining.

This comes as a complete surprise because up until this point he hadn't slept longer than 5.5 hours in a single shot. The only reason I can point to as to why he adjusted his sleeping habits is that at the doctors office yesterday he had some vaccinations and that probably knocked him out a bit. I'm hoping that this will provide a starting point to get him to at least wake up once a night 2:00 a.m. or early morning 5:00 a.m on a consistent basis.

Update: Well he woke up twice last night so there goes the hope of sleeping through the night on a consistent basis.

2 Month Checkup

Luke just had his two month checkup (even though he is 10 weeks) and he is continuing his meteoric rise in weight and height. Luke's current numbers are.

At 10 Weeks:

• Height 23 3/4 inches: 75%
• Weight 16 lbs, 1.6 oz. 95+%
• Head 42 cm 95%

Look back at his last checkup 5 Weeks we can see that his numbers continue to climb. His height dropped from the 90% to 75% and his weight increased a bit. While that is probably not what you want when you have a toddler or young adult it isn't anything to be concerned about from a newborn. To put his size into perspective he is wearing a 6 month old's clothing at 2 months.

One problem area that has arisen is that Mom and I need to get Luke to turn his head to the left some more. Apparently he is favoring turning to the right and if it continues he will eventually develop a flat spot on that side of his head. So we have to start feeding him in our right arm *ugh* and turning his head to the left while he sleeps.

This checkup is also the checkup where they tested his eyes for Strabismus. Strabismus is the problem we had with Alyce where her eyes didn't line up. Luckily Luke's eyes are just fine and doesn't require any additional care.

Beyond those two items Luke had a standard checkup with a few vaccinations and no other complications.

He Is Getting Happier

Here are some more pictures of Luke. His attitude is improving with each passing day. A month ago it seemed that if he was awake he was unhappy. A lot of this was probably attributed to his insatiable appetite and corresponding gas. Now that he can eat around 6oz for some feedings and easily burbs while away his personality can shine through.


Luke is definitely less needy than Alyce was. Luke likes to be held but only for limited periods of time. After a while he starts to get fidgety and a position change can help but more often than not just putting him down makes him happy.


Luke's sleeping is definitely improving. A few nights ago we had a five and a half hour stint between feedings and it isn't uncommon to go four. Getting him to bed is getting easier too. While it still takes forty minutes we almost always end in success whereas in the past after the same time he had a 50/50 chance of being asleep.

Gideon's Baptism and Family Pictures

Last weekend was a busy weekend for our family. On Saturday we went to an open house and Gideon's 1st birthday. On Sunday we attended Gideon's baptism. It was a busy weekend for Gideon too. The baptism was a very nice affair however Mom almost missed it. Earlier before the service started we got to the church early to drop Alyce off at the nursery so she could get use to it and the caretakers before we had to leave her. We thought that after 20 minutes or so she seemed well enough to leave alone. We had Luke with us in the sanctuary and he was more than content sleeping throughout the entire service.


Right before the baptism was about t0 start the nursery attendant found us and told us that Alyce's wheels had fallen off. The wheels term is one we use when she just loses control starts crying and needs a Mom or Dad to get her back to normal and put the wheels back on. So Mom leaves the service with Luke to take care of Alyce because I needed to stay and video the ceremony. I thought Mom had missed the ceremony but thankfully they watched and heard it through a window in the cry room. Mom stayed with Alyce the rest of the service and appears to have had a good time doing it. Later on even Gideon decided to join in on the fun in the nursery.



After the service everyone was visiting outside the sanctuary and the weather was really nice. Since the family was well dressed and color coordinated we decided to get a family picture taken with the church's grounds being the backdrop. Of course our usually smiling cheerful 2 year old wouldn't smile for the camera but that is the way things are sometimes.

A Great Saturday

Luke in the past I would say wasn't a very happy baby. It seemed to us that unless he was sleeping or eating he was unhappy. That isn't to say that he was crying the whole time but that he would get irritated if left in any one place too long. A good example is that we would hold him in our arms and that would be good for 5 minutes then he would want to be repositioned. Thankfully I think those times are fading away. Last Saturday provided a great opportunity for Mom and I to see what Luke will be like.

Last Saturday the family attended two different events. We went to an open house for one of Chris's friends and to Gideon's birthday party. We started our outing at roughly noon and got back home around 7:00 that night. Throughout the entire day Luke was a perfect angel. At the open house we were able to hold him, lay him down, or sit him in our lap and he was cool with it the entire time. He would quietly fuss if he was hungry or needed changing but he never really got wound up. On top of that he wasn't overly hungry so we didn't have a bottle in his mouth the whole time.

After the open house we journied to Gideon's 1st birthday party. Gideon being the son of our friends Josh and Tammy. Luke slept the entire way which was good because he needed a nap. While at the party Luke continued his angelic ways. It probably helped that there was a line of people ready, willing, and able to take him off our hands. Even when we were holding Luke he was content to be sitting up looking around or up at the sky.

So what changed to make Luke a happy baby? It could be any number of things or a combination of them all. Mom and I think Luke likes to sit up. He doesn't seem content to just lay there and see the world . When we hold him sitting up in our laps he just takes in as much of the world as he can. It was very cool in both houses and the car. With it being spring moving into summer it is starting to get hot in our house. Typically we keep the thermostat at 78 and while the room is comfortable I wouldn't call it cold. At home when we pick Luke up sometimes he is rather sweaty where he was laying. Perhaps he just runs a bit hot and needs to be cooler to be comfortable. Most of all I think it is time that is making the biggest difference in his personality. I think he is learning how to get along and calm himself when needed. Alyce was like this too, but it has been so long ago I've forgetten what it is like with newborns.

Smiling!

I finally got some pictures of Luke smiling! So here they are!

Enjoy!