Lunch with the Family

Luke is hanging out with Grams and GiGi during lunch. Luke is a big fan of GiGi. He is a big fan of everyone really.

The Magic Number is 5!

Last night Luke woke up around 4:15 in the morning. He wasn't super fussy, but he was loud enough to keep me awake. So, I went to check on him and changed his diaper. Well, as soon as I put him back in his crib and walked away he started to really fuss. So, we decided he probably needed a bottle. Daddy went down to make a bottle and Luke started to cry, so I went in to calm him down until his bottle was ready. I gave him the bottle and after that I didn't hear him again until about 8:30. While I fed him his bottle I realized that during the day yesterday, he only had 4 feedings when he usually has 5. I guess in order for him to sleep through the night, he needs 5 feedings during the day.

He Knows His Name

Over the past few days Luke has developed a new skill, he knows his name. I'm not sure when he learned it but the first time I noticed was a few nights ago while I was feeding him. He was off staring into space and I said "Luke" off to his side. His head turned, his eyes immediately made contact to mine, and he held his gaze for a few seconds. After a few seconds Luke went back to Normal. A few minutes later I said something else in the same tone of voice and he didn't respond. Finally I said Luke's name again and was greeted with the same reaction as the first test.

4 Month Checkup

Mom just got finished taking Luke to his 4 month checkup and he is doing just fine. This time he was checked out by his real doctor and not the med student they have on staff. Luke received a few vaccinations that he wasn't a fan of but cheered back up soon after they were done.

Luke's height and weight continue to increase at an astounding rate.

At 4 Months:

• Height 26 3/4 inches: 95%
• Weight 21 lbs: 100+%

At his last checkup at 2 months Luke weighed 16 lbs and was 23 3/4 inches tall. That means in two months time he gained 5 lbs and grew three inches. The doctor said that even though his weight is off the charts she is pleased that his height increased to the 95th% from the 75th% two months ago. She went on to say that babies hit their peak around 4 - 6 months and that his weight gain should level off soon.

So what does this mean? Well I guess Mom and I are going to have to shop for a car seat this weekend. The limits of his current seat are 29 inches in length and 22 lbs in weight. So we have 2 1/4 inches and 1 lb until he out grows his seat.

In closing Luke is one of the biggest and heaviest babies ever. At least as far as statistics are concerned. I'm confident that his weight will level off. He is going longer between bottles and eating less when he gets one. You can't continue to add weight with less energy going in and more energy going out.

Luke Growing at an Astonishing Rate

Coming up this week Luke has another checkup with the doctor. While I think his weight gain might be slowing I know his growing has not. Luke is growing faster than Alyce ever did. Just a few weeks ago Luke celebrated 4 months and he is now wearing 9 - 12 months clothing. At times we can jam him into 6 - 9 months but it is stretch. Surprisingly his ample girth isn't what is tight it is his length. His torso is simply too big for his outlets.


His accelerated growth presents a real problem for Mom. With baby clothes going in the same cycle as adult clothes you have to buy one season in advance. Well when your baby is 8 months ahead of schedule what do buy? Do you assume that he will stay ahead of the curve or perhaps slow down and let the other kids catch up?

Another area that has me concerned is car seats. Luke is fast outpacing his car seat and I think he will be out of his pumpkin seat long before Alyce was. With his sister there was about a two week period where Alyce couldn't sit up and also couldn't sit in a pumpkin seat. This made eating in a restaurant quite interesting. With Luke, he isn't rolling over yet let alone sitting up on his own power (Mom is helping on this picture). Before I jump to conclusions I guess I should wait for his numbers from the doctor. Perhaps we are just imagining his rampant growth and in reality all his clothes are shrinking in the dryer.

Swimming Pool Part 2

While Mom was feeding Luke I took Alyce into the kids play area. The play area consisted of a big bucket that would constantly fill with water and then dump itself out. There were water shooters of all sorts of which most of them could be controlled by turning valves which I thought was a nice touch. Alyce was mystified and terrified at the big bucket of water. From a distance she would watch it go through its cycle, however, when up close she would jump every time it dumped. She got over her fear and she and I walked around the kids area playing with some of the water shooters. While in the area Alyce must have been really tense as she never let go of my hand if I could even manage to put her down. There was a tunnel that ran from one side of the tower to the other and Alyce was drawn to it. Once there weren't any other kids in the tunnel I brought Alyce over then she and I crawled inside. While in the tunnel the bucket above us emptied its contents right in front of us. This must have been more than Alyce was ready for; she started shaking and yelled "mommy!" at the top of her lungs. She never broke into tears and didn't run away from the play area so it must have been more surprise than fear.


After our time in the kids area I noticed that the skies were starting to darken. I knew that Mom wanted to ride the water slides before we left so I went to relieve her of Luke duty. Right about the time I got to Mom over the loud speaker we heard that swimming was to be suspended due to weather. The pool rule about weather was that when no thunder was heard for 30 minutes swimming would be resumed. We decided to stick around for a while since it wasn't too terribly hot, Luke was asleep, and we were enjoying ourselves. Mom, Grams, PaPa, and I relaxed while Alyce examined every square inch of deck chair and the surrounding area.


The thunder continued for a while and after some time Mom and I made the command decision to call it quits for the day. We were going to get our hand stamped just in case the weather were to improve. It turns out that we didn't need the stamp. While exiting we were presented with two rain checks good for another admission before the end of the season.

Swimming Pool Part 1

On Sunday Mom and I brought the kids along with Grams and PaPa to the pool. We wanted to get in the water a few more times before summer was over and the outdoor pools close. This time we decided to forego our usual pool and went a little farther to another municipalities pool. This pool is a bit more expensive (1$ extra per person), but it does give you your monies worth. This pool has a big kids play area, two water slides, and a lazy river with inner tubes (for free).


The weather map on Sunday didn't look too encouraging. Mom and I thought we should give it a shot since we there weren't many days left in the summer. A lot of people must have had the same dilemma and decided to stay home. When we reached the pool the parking lot was almost empty and there was only a handful people inside. With the pool being so empty we were able to stretch out and everyone got their own lounge chair. Luke didn't need one since his chair had wheels. We got Alyce into her life jacket and we were in the water.

It took a little while for Alyce and Luke to get used to the water. Alyce walked right into the pool and kept walking right to the point she couldn't touch anymore. I wasn't nearly as worried this time compared to the past as she was wearing a life jacket. I have to give PaPa and Mom some credit they got it to fit Alyce perfectly. The jacket didn't come up and strangle her even though she was relying upon it for buoyancy. Once we got Alyce off of her back, her feet underneath, and calmed down she wanted to swim towards the ladder. She did her best doggy paddle and with some help she made it up to and on to the ladder. Once Alyce was on dry land she would turn around and want to come back into the water. I would help her back in, she would swim towards Mom, sit down, and the process would repeat. Mom was holding Luke while in the water and it took him a bit to get used to the cool water. When first placed into the water he would arch his back in protest. Anytime more of his body was submerged he would protest anew. By the time I was holding Luke he was more than content to sit in the water and even kicked his feet and bit.


After the pool we wanted to try the lazy river. I would say the lazy river is the best part about this pool. For the cost of admission you can get an inner tube and ride all day in a big circle while going underneath two waterfalls to cool off. There are single and double tubes available and for those with small kids they make a double tube where one of the tubes is solid so the kids can't fall through (brilliant!). Mom took Luke and I took Alyce with Grams and PaPa following behind. We had a great time taking a few laps around the pool. Alyce wasn't a big fan of the water falls and wanted me to "go around" rather than get her wet. I made half hearted attempts to keep her dry but I wanted Alyce to experience getting drenched. After a few laps Luke was getting hungry so Mom, Luke, and I got out while Grams took Alyce for another two laps in the river. By the end Alyce wanted to get out.

Rattle

Luke was having a good time during dinner playing with his rattle. Check out the use of two hands working together.

The Fair

On Sunday the family went out to the fair. Luke is a bit small to be riding the rides or petting the animals but he didn't hinder the amount of fun we had. Sunday was a hot day, the hottest day of the fair with temperatures hitting 96 degrees. Mom and I were worried about Luke being in the heat for so long. We knew to keep him hydrated but we were wondering how he would react to being hot and in his car seat for so long.


We had Luke in his car seat attached to the stroller. The walk from the car to the fair grounds must have been enough to knock him out. He fell into and out of sleep for most of the time we were at the fair. During the time he was awake Luke looked around and didn't fuss that much. When it came time for a feeding we gave him some watered down formula to replace what was lost through perspiration.


Luke continued to be a good baby for us even while Alyce was riding her rides. The midway was the hottest place in the park since there wasn't any shade and Luke started to fuss after a few rides. We can't really blame him though, we were able to catch a breeze and rearrange our clothes while he sat unable to move with a sweaty back. After the rides with everyone back in the car we had our air conditioning and everyone was happy. Luke seemed none the worse for wear after we got him cooled off. Mom and I couldn't have asked for more from Luke as he was an angel pretty much the whole time.

Starting to Baby Talk

Developing in the last few weeks is Luke's baby talk.  He is starting to make coos, whistles, and gurgles in response to our actions or on his own accord.  When Mom or I look at and my eye contact with Luke he usually gets really tickled.  He gets a big smile on his face, gurgles, and kicks his legs / swings his arms.  His enjoyment from something so mundane as a look can be intoxicating.  You keep wanting to go back for more and more.  In contrast Luke is a lot more vocal than Alyce was.  Luke is almost always making some sort of noise while Alyce was usually just content to sit silent taking it all in.  I'm not sure if Alyce's eye condition had something to do with it but it is obvious that Luke is going to be different than his sister.

This is the best part about babies and this is when they start to become fun. They get enjoyment from you and others, they don't cry for no reason, they stay right where you leave them, and sleep through the night.

Fair Parade

On Sunday after the trip to the park we went to the fair parade in my hometown.  We were blessed with great weather and Luke enjoyed it as much as we did.  Throughout the entire two hours and thirty minutes of the parade Luke happily laid in his car seat or sat in our lap watching the world go by.  Just like earlier at the park he seemed most content looking up at the sky.  I'm not sure if it was the blue color or the clouds going by but he seems to enjoy looking up more than at anything else except Mom, Alyce and I.

After the parade we met up with Grandma for dinner at the local Bread Co.  By the time dinner was on the table it was 8:00 and already past Luke's bed time.  Luke was very well behaved while Mom ate her dinner and only after her meal did he start to make some noise.  Once Luke's belly was full Mom handed Luke over to Grandma to play with for a while.  By the time we left to go home it was past 9:00.  You would think that Luke and his sister would be exhausted after such a full day and fall asleep in the car.  Well that didn't happen.  Both Alyce and Luke stayed awake for the entire ride home.

A Year Ago Today

A year ago today was when Mom and I told everyone that she was pregnant with what is now our son Luke.  We had known for a few weeks already but kept it to ourselves until after the first doctors visit.  I remember telling Grandma that Luke was coming over dinner at the fair and here we are a year later with a family one bigger than before.  Luke has come a long way in the past year from a Twinkle in My Eye to a happy and healthy baby boy.

Lunch

On Sunday the family went out to my hometown for the parade that precedes the fair.  The fair comes to town every year around this time and going to the parade is part of the experience.  Leading up to the parade the kids already had a full day.  For lunch we took advantage of the unseasonably great weather and ate at a local park.  Mom and I had Subway sandwiches, Alyce had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or as she likes to call it a "jelly sammich", and Luke had Similac soy formula (yum). 

After lunch Mom and I took turns watching Alyce as she took turns on the play ground equipment.  Alyce rode on some slides, climbed through tunnels, swung on the swings, climbed ladders, and for the first time rode a merry-go-round.  Alyce didn't ride the biggest slides.  She tried but upon sitting at the top she said they were too hot and didn't try again.  I can't blame her, the slides were warm and I'm glad that she made a decision based upon information (feeling the slide).

 

While one of us was with Alyce the other was with Luke.  Luke had a pretty good time at the park too.  While we were eating Luke was in his car seat looking up at the sky through the shade trees above us.  After some lunch he drifted in and out of sleep enjoying the cool breeze in his car seat.  Two hours at the park then we had to get the kids off for a nap in order to go to the parade later.

Mom and I really enjoyed the leisurely Sunday all thanks to an empty schedule and great weather.