Two months (four days late)

Oh, Luke, I'm so sorry about the craziness that you were already born into! Yesterday the receptionist at my doctor's office asked to see a picture of you, and I fumbled around in my purse until I pulled up an already outdated shot from my phone. Ridiculous!

But you are two months old already, and you are such a sweetheart! You like your pacifier, watching your brother and sister, and "talking" to us, especially after a full belly. You are still sleeping pretty great (although as your bedtime creeps earlier, you're getting up to eat closer to the middle of the night rather than wee hours of the morning). I'm keeping fingers crossed that you will continue to sleep on the move in the mornings and be satisfied with your afternoon crib nap for now, because we've got a busy fall schedule coming up.

At your well visit this week, you came in at 12 pounds, 10 ounces (75 %'ile) and 23.5 inches (70%'ile). That's about a pound smaller than your brother was at this age (which by the way, I knew there was a mistake when they told me David was 55%'ile at two months.) You are in great shape, already dodging a fever/sore throat/body rash of a virus that circulated among your siblings. We talked about the fact that you aren't raising your head very well when placed on your belly, but I think that is my fault, because I've been lazy about putting you there (bad therapist!).

This video might not look like much, but to those of us who are related to you, it's pretty amazing stuff that you've learned in 2 months.

Accomplishment of the Week

(First, let me get a little pouting out of the way. We're supposed to be at the lake with our friends for our annual trip (there ended up being FOUR more babies since last year), but Katy woke up with a fever and a sore throat, so we couldn't go. After being home-bound with David's fever this week and because I was really looking forward to this, I am feeling super bummed about not going. I'm also wondering if she might have strep again, based on her symptoms. If she does, we'll be referred to an ENT. But ANYWAY.)

For quite some time, several months at least, we've been trying to land a playset on criagslist. It's not as easy as you might think. We had several criteria which we were looking to meet, not the least of which was a pretty small budget (did you know that you can spend thousands - plural - of dollars on a USED playset? I did not.) In addition, apparently the market for used playsets is tight in our area, because on multiple occasions, Brian contacted someone within 24 hours of the ad being posted and the set was gone. One day during his paternity leave, he made it his mission to hit "refresh" every time he walked past the laptop in order to catch a playset before it was gone. Still to no avail.

Finally this week, the stars aligned. Found one in the budget, met the criteria, located close to our house, and we were able to get a quick truck and several helping hands to hurry up and claim the thing before someone else did. Results:

We're going to mulch around it, but you can use your imagination for that part.

I also didn't anticipate the number of hours it would take for Brian (and friends) to go over to the old place, disassemble it, bring the parts to our place, reassemble it, level it, ground it, and attach the parts. But finally, it's ready.

The kids are SO excited about it and have already spent hours out there. David calls it The Park. ("Can we go to The Park, Mommy?") And I love how it draws excitement in the neighborhood kids: one stopped on his bike and shouted to Brian, "Are you building a TREEHOUSE?!?"

So come on over!

Bring It: Two questions on parenting

It's your favorite time and mine: time to give me parenting advice!! I have two questions, which may or may not be related.

1) For those of you who have two kids who are old enough to play together, I'm assuming that they fight and bicker. How much do you intercede as a parent? Do you let them work it out on their own? Or go running everytime one of them screams "Mom! He pushed me! She took my car! It's my turn!" or just plain old crying.

2) How much of the time are you engaged with your kids in play? I guess what I'm asking is...in a given day, how much of the time do you encourage or let them play on their own and how much do you organize their play and get down on the floor with them?

All thoughts are welcome and appreciated!

Different river, different woods

We had a great visit with Brian's family in Kentucky this past week. I actually think that age 6-8 weeks is a small window of opportunity for traveling with an infant. They are far enough past the feeding-every-two-hour stage to make traveling at least possible, but they still sleep a little in the car seat and aren't aware enough to realize that they're not in their own crib so they sleep ok for naps and nighttime, too. Our biggest bump in this road was a fever from David on Monday-Tuesday. He was pretty miserable at certain points, but by the grace of Dora and ibuprofen, we were able to drive the five hours home without too much trouble.

So the kids swam their little hearts out (with floatie vests, a wonderful invention), and went down the slide like crazy (even David!). When they weren't swimming, they played lots of hide and seek with their cousins. Good times.

Can you believe that Luke is 8 weeks old? I can't. He's smiling lots more, and starting to be more awake and responsive. He's sleeping so well at night that I won't even write it for fear of stone-throwing. And as of right now, he usually takes one nap per day that is 2-3 hours, usually sometime in the afternoon, and then the rest are cat naps throughout the day. He likes his sleep, that's what I can tell about this boy so far. (again, won't last...I'm sure, once teething and rolling starts)

Over the River and Through the Woods

Growing up, my Grandma Martha lived five minutes away from us, so I spent countless hours at her house. She lived alone and never drove, so our adventures were limited to wherever our feet or the city bus could take us. That wasn't a negative in my childhood memory, however. It was just that much more exciting.



This weekend my Grandma turned 90, and we gathered to celebrate her. As I put together a list of my favorite memories with her, I thought of sharing it here. I won't bore you with the details or the background stories, but just to paint a little picture of my time with Grandma.





Walking to the bank, the drug store, & to get lunch at Taco Bell or Burger Chef.

The smell of Charlie’s Donuts.

Field trips to Jack’s Aquarium.

Carnival rides at Immaculate Conception.

Calling you to ask if you would babysit me.

Sleeping on the pull-out bed in your room.

Eating buttered saltine crackers and Nutri Grain cereal for snacks.

Writing on the chalkboard in the basement and playing with the mannequin and extra rolls of toilet paper which were stored there.

The night of the car accident in your front yard while you were babysitting me, and the big chunk out of your front porch.

The creaking sound that the rocking chair made while I watched TV in your lap.

The books and toys that were stored under the loveseat.

Constantly bugging you to “write letters on my back.”

Going into the front bedroom to try on jewelry or play with dolls, and the rush of cold air when we opened the door.

Staying with you for a few days when mom was sick (pregnant with Melanie).

Watering the grass in the backyard and the rhubarb in the garden.

Your neighbors Debbie, Ken, Theresa, and Chuck.

Walking to your house from the doctor’s office once when I couldn’t find Dad.

The old Fridgidaire in the basement containing extra pop.

Riding the bus – sometimes even downtown.

Walking on “the wall” in your driveway.

Happy 90th Birthday, Grandma! (and happy 25th to Mel, too!)

Silliness...

I was so busy gabbing with my cousin Abby during their visit (we had 8 months of catching up to do) that I didn't get one single photo of her younger son Nate. Now THAT is silly. You'll just have to take my word for it that he is super cute. Gabe and Katy had a fabulous time.