Bed Time

Usually bed time at our house is crazy and wild, dinner, baths, reading stories, crying....tonight was completely different than the norm.  And nice.  Luke went to sleep early by 6:45.  Seems like day care wears him out by Friday and he is done.  Sophie didn't nap today at day care, so I figured bedtime would be bad since she was crying on the way up the stairs.


Instead it was totally relaxed.  Sophia took her medicine and we brushed her teeth.  Then it was time for books.  She looked at me and said, "chair." I sat down and pulled her up in my lap.  We read Put me in the Zoo, which I would say she knows at least 75% of the words to.  Next, she wanted The Lorax.  I thought to myself, gosh, that s a long one, but started it anyway.  She pointed out a couple things to me in the book, and then suddenly I looked down and she was asleep!  Really?! This never happens.  She was snuggled up to me and I loved it.  As I sat and rocked her, I thanked God for such a wonderful, crazy, busy, loving, happy child.  I thanked Him for letting me have her and asked Him to help me be a better Mom.  I also thought back to reading her books 2 years ago, and how excited she was to open the Peek A Boo flaps to see the different babies in the pictures.  Lots of things have changed in the last 2 years, but I am so blessed to have such a great girl.   I honestly wanted to freeze this moment in time, snuggled with her and The Lorax.  Finally I said the end, she woke up enough to say, "Bown bear, mommy" in the sleepiest voice.  I simply said "Sophie, it is time to get in your bed." She hopped down and went straight to her crib.  I covered her up with her blankets and told her how much I love her.  She said, "mommy, mommy" in the sweetest voice, and I left her to have sweet dreams.

WOW!!!  Luke is 1, hard to believe this time a year ago we were praying all would be ok for our little preemie.  All is fine for sure. After our visit to our pediatrician last week, Luke weighed in at 23 pounds and measured 32 inches.  All great stats for starting in the lowest of percentiles.  He is so cute and sweet.  Luke smiles and laughs so much!!!  He just seems to be having a great time all the time.  Like most preemies though, he is a little behind in some developments such as crawling which he only started doing at the end of June- almost 11 months and sitting - he was eight months before he got that down without sliding over.  He is not walking yet- which is fine with me.  I think when he starts walking, he and Sophia are going to be big trouble.  Luke loves to follow her around now, I can only imagine what it will be like when he can walk/run.  He did start to pull up on everything once he started crawling.  In the last couple days, he has started to stand alone, so maybe walking isn't too far away.  Luke does say a few things- 'da-da' is his favorite and has been saying it the longest.  "Goo" "ga" and "nah" are his other sounds.  Luke is really a great baby, seems like once he got past 6 months when he started sleeping through the night on a consistent basis and we changed babysitters, he has been wonderful. 

We had a huge party for Luke at our new house.  We were so happy to have all of our families here to celebrate.  The weather held and we had an outdoor party with a bouncy house and water activities for the kids.  Luke thoroughly enjoyed his cake and ate EVERY bite!!

In other news, the summer is coming to a close.  It has been by far the BEST summer ever since I have been teaching. It was also the longest :~)   In all seriousness, we have done so much!  We moved into our new house, Sophia and I have been to the zoo, the pool, the park, and the library just to name a few fun places that just the girls went. I found it was much easier to manage one kid at a time when they are both so little.  We all also went to visit LeeAnn in Ohio for a couple days. 

                                                       First Haircut

                                                   

 

                         Checking out the elephants at the Louisville Zoo

Speaking of Sophia, she is doing great!!!  She is really starting to talk a lot.  She will imitate almost anything we say, except her name.  On the rare occasion she does attempt it, it always comes out, "Fofa".  She mastered Mommy this summer, instead of "mimmys" as I was called for months and she has replaced "Da" with "Daddy".  Sophia had her first ever haircut in June, and already needs another.  Her hair has the most beautiful curls.  She loves Luke and gives him lots of hugs and kisses each day~ she does that for Mommy and Daddy too.  She tells him goodbye when I drop him at day care.  She still will not attempt to eat any veggies, but does love fruit.  She loves to listen to books being read to her and she loves Curious George both books and TV show. 

All in all, the last year has been great, trying at times, but still great.  We look forward to many more great memories!!!

Time Flies

Time is flying by as we watch Sophia and Luke grow! Sophie is getting taller all the time, I look at her and think she is not a baby anymore. It makes me sad. I wish I could make her this age for a while, but I would also want her to talk to us more. Having said that, her speech is growing more and more all the time. She knows some shapes and colors, she identifies what she needs more- milk, book, "melmo" aka Elmo and Cooookie, outside. She calls me Mimmy and Da-da still for Daddy. She is not as busy as she once was, but still is on the move a lot. She loves to sit in my lap and read books or say what are in the pictures. She loves us- always kissing and hugging. It is so sweet, especially with Luke- she loves him and always wants to try to help me with him. At Sophie's 2 year appointment, she was 35 inches tall and 31 pounds, and everything checked out fine.

Luke is a happy, happy baby now. He is very easy going, he loves to watch what is going on around him. He laughs a lot- and smiles just as much. He has started to roll around everywhere. He also is starting to sit unassisted. He has 2 teeth on the bottom and I think another will join those this week. He bounces in the Jumperoo like a pro~ now when you stand him up, he thinks it is time to bounce. He is eating lots of baby food and four 8oz bottles a day. He also sleeps through the night on a regular basis from around 8:00pm until between 5:00 and 6:00am. From what I can tell Luke weighs about 21 pounds-WOW!!!!

It is so busy at our house, some nights Marty and I just sit down after they are both asleep and laugh because the night has been a complete whirlwind!! I love it and can't wait for Sophia and Luke to play together, and I think Sophia is just as anixous.

6 Months!

So our little preemie must not realize that he is a preemie and should small. Luke weighed in at 18 pounds and 14 ounces and 27.5 inches!!! Really?!?! How did he get so big? He really is a chub. In the last couple of weeks, he has really started to eat baby food and cereal. Before he was just pushing it out as fast as I was trying to put it in. Luke is not the best sleeper, but he is by no means the worst. As of late, he has been up at least once a night to eat usually around 1:00am then up again at 5:00am. I think it is just separation anxiety and we are just going to attempt to break him of it soon. He has also come around from lots of crying and impatience to smiles and laughter in the last 2 months. He rolls over both ways, but has not attempted to sit up on his own longer than 2 seconds. Luke has no teeth, but we are convinced they are soon to come as he is DROOLING like crazy!

Sophie will be 2 on Saturday, so I will post lots of pictures this weekend or soon afterward.

Luke's 4 month

Luke's 4 month appointment was quite the milestone. He is 15 pounds and 3 ounces which puts him in the 55th percentile and 24.5 inches landing him in the 34th. WOW!!!! He has come such a long way since arriving in early in August. He was so little and is now such a chunk! We were also allowed to take him off the preemie formula. Since changing this, he has become a happier baby. He does, however, cry often. He is a very impatient baby which makes it trying for Mommy and Daddy while we are trying to determine what is wrong. He really makes up for the crying when he smiles and laughs though. Luke is holding his head up very well, and has started to eat rice cereal and sweet potatoes. I can't really tell if he likes it or not as he gets about half in and half out of his little mouth. He does smile and start to giggle when he is eating. He has rolled over once from his belly to his back. Sophie loves Luke she has started to say, "Bay-ee" and "Loook". She loves to kiss, hug and pat him and wants him to sit in her lap lots and gets upset when he doesn't want to be held by her. Luke is also sleeping through the night 80% of the time making us even more happy!

More Fall Fun

Trick or Treat, Monkey Joe's, the zoo, and Thanksgiving are just to name a few of the fun adventures we have had this fall. Lucas is 4 months today and goes for his check up on Thursday, so we will know more about where he is growth wise then, but I think he is close to where Sophie was at 4 months.

3 Months

Today I took Luke to the doctor, I was amazed at his weight. I knew that he had been growing at a rapid pace, but still was shocked. He is now 13 pounds and 5 ounces~ wow!!! He has gained almost 4 pounds in a month at his 2 month checkup. A few updates about him~ he is still not sleeping through the night, but only gets up once about 2:00 am. Hopefully, he will hit the great place where he makes it through the night soon!!! He has started to smile some at us, this has just happened in the last week on a regular basis. Also he has started to coo at us a lot~ it is so sweet to hear. Luke's cry is also ear piercing, coming a long way from where he would just grunt. Luke is awake more of the time, too. Sophie is doing great. She is jealous of Luke and will bring you a book toread to her if you are holding him. She does want to kiss him and hold him which is so sweet. If I put him on her lap and then move him, she gets upset and pats her lap as if to say put him back! All in all, we are all doing well, taking one day at a time and enjoying these sweet babies.