first word

Luke's first word: "Uh-Oh!"

He's been saying it all day & loves repeating us when we say it.

mmmm...frosting

We were at Uncle Alex's graduation party - and Luke reached out and grabbed Uncle Peter's cake...he really liked the frosting!!!

Little Swimmer

We took Luke for his first swim over Easter - in my parents new pool. It took him a few minutes (and a lot of funny faces) to get acclimated to the water - but then he started having a grand time!

Luke's 6 month check up

Luke had his 6 month doctors appointment last week. He is up to 18 lbs & 14 oz!! Definitely growing crazy :)
He was a super trooper through his shots & is finally done with them for a little while.
We are trying new foods now - one at a time to check for allergies. So far Luke has had rice cereal, oat cereal, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, apples and bananas. He eats everything right up - he is a good eater! His first tooth also popped through - I guess he's getting ready for better food soon!
He is still waking up a lot at night - about every two hours, especially because he doesn't eat well at day care, so he makes up for it at night. While he usually falls right back asleep, its still tough never getting a good night of sleep. I can't even believe its been over 6 months since I got to sleep all night! I'll be happy when he gets a little older and eats more solid foods, so maybe he'll only wake up once at night - that would be wonderful. :)
Here's some new pictures.

Happy 1/2 Birthday!

Luke turned 6 months old this week!! I can't believe how fast the past couple months have gone. Here he is, doing his favorite thing of late - playing with his feet.


He just got a beautiful blanket from some family friends in Nashville, and he enjoyed rolling over on it!



He is starting to fit into his 12 months clothes - here's a picture for his Uncle Damon.

Roll over, roll over!

Luke has become an expert at rolling over this week, although he can still only go from his back to his tummy - not the other way yet. It is funny - he rolls right over - and then fusses because he doesn't like being on his tummy. Silly boy! We are trying to get him to spend a little more time on his tummy to get stronger and more comfortable with it. Here he is with daddy.

I also put together our jogging stroller and we went out for a couple runs this week - taking advantage of the lovely weather we had! Luke really enjoyed it - he happily looked around, then fell asleep. I, being quite out of shape since I haven't run in about a year, pretty much huffed and puffed along - not enjoying it quite as much!!!

Time for a High Chair?

Here is a more recent picture of Luke - he's playing with his little duck. It is so cute, he has learned how to grab things and hold them in his hands, and is starting to enjoy his toys.


This is Luke's little hat - some one made it for him, and I thought he just looked so cute in it, I had to take a picture.

Well - Luke is starting day care for full days this week, so I thought it would be good for him to start on a little cereal since he isn't that crazy about drinking out of the bottle. He is taking to it really well - he is slowly mastering the ability of keeping it in his mouth and swallowing. And he smiles and grabs my hands & the spoon trying to get more. It is such a messy process, though...as you can see. And yes, he is in a swing. Maybe its time for a high chair! ;-p

Luke is 5 months old

Hmmm - I am really bad at keeping up with this blog. I'm trying to pawn it off on Matt. Hopefully he'll take over and be a little better than me! I guess with trying to write my thesis, keep up with the little guy, and all the other tasks that life requires, this poor little blog falls to the bottom of the list.

Lukas continues to grow up & just keeps getting cuter by the day!! He turned 4 months at the end of January, and helped us cheer the Steelers to their 6th superbowl victory a few days later. It is actually becoming a bit of a family tradition. Matt was born in 1979, and the Steelers won the superbowl in 1980, too.

He had his 4 month doctor appointment at the beginning of February. He was not happy at that appointment (maybe he remembered the trauma of the shots from his 2 month appointment?!). He weighed in at 16 lbs and 12 oz. Here is a photo of him at 4 months.

Shortly after his 4 month doctor appointment, Luke got his first cold. I came home from school around 9 pm - and Matt asks me if Luke looks red. His poor little cheeks were burning up & he had a fever of 102.2. So - I gave him some tylenol and called the doctor. She said to keep an eye on the temperature, and if it doesn't go down, to take him to the hospital. Well, normally I wouldn't be so worried, but we were planning to leave for Savannah the next morning & I was quite nervous about taking Luke for his first plane ride while sick! So, to be on the safe side, we went to the hospital at 6 in the morning before our flights. They diagnosed Luke with a little cold - and it turned out I wasn't giving him nearly enough tylenol for his size (I was using the age to determine dose...instead of size, he needed more than double what I was giving him!).

So, comforted that it was just a cold and not an infection, we headed off to Savannah. Luke did super well on his first plane rides (just slept the whole way - I'm sure much to the relief of the people on the plane around us). We had fun in Savannah and got to visit with our friends Chris & Christi. Due to his cold, poor Luke was pretty fussy and sleepy and didn't have much of an appetite (which left poor me quite engorged all weekend!). However, he was a trooper none the less, and hung in there as we shlepped him around. It was great to get some fresh air and sunshine.






After we got back from Savannah, Luke started going to day care two afternoons a week. He seems to be doing alright with it, although he isn't too crazy about eating out of the bottle there. So, he has "reverse cycled" - and doens't eat much during the day, and wakes up to eat about every 2 hours all night!! In some ways its nice, because I don't have to worry about pumping as much, but I miss the sleep. I think that we might have to start him on some cereal soon - although I'm trying to hold off until he hits that six month mark (but I'm not sure how much more sleepless nights I can take!).

He is five months now - but he didn't really have a five month birthday because of being born the 30th. He weighs about 18 lbs now (according to the scale when I weight myself with and without him - so I don't the exact amount). He has outgrown all this 6 month clothes, and is into 9 or 12 month clothes depending on the brand. We moved him out of the infant carrier car seat into a rear-facing convertible one because it was just too heavy to carry with him in it, and the belts barely fit, and with a winter coat on they couldn't buckle at all!

He can almost roll over - he gets all the way onto his side, but not quite over to his tummy yet. He is so strong, too, he "stands" really well. I think once he starts moving around, he's going to trouble!!! He has been teething lately, too - lots of drool and loves to chomp on my finger. No teeth have broken through yet, but, I'm sure its just a matter of time. He has also started to be able to grab at things that peek his interest and hold onto toys. He just loves to look around at everything. Here is one last picture, at about 4 and 1/2 months old

Hopefully Matt will be adding more updates & new pictures soon!!!

3 Months Old!

Lukas had a very busy first Christmas! On Christmas eve, we went to Matt's parents house for a party, then went to midnight mass (which sadly, I had to spend half of in the cry room!) and stayed up late to open our gifts. Christmas morning we went to Matt's grandma's for brunch & gift opening. Then, Luke & I headed to OH for Christmas with my family. Christmas night we went to the Cav's game - my parents had box seats, which was a lot of fun. The next morning we opened all our gifts, then I got together with Sarah, Melissa & Joe (and their son Finnegan) - which was super fun. We also got to stop by & visit with Erin, her family, and meet her newest little guy - only a few weeks old and oh so cute! That night my mom cooked a FEAST and some of Peter's friends came over, so we all ate and talked and laughed into the night. Finally saturday we met up with Sarah, Sprite & her girls for lunch - then I loaded up the car with all our gifts and tons of left overs, and headed back to Pittsburgh.

So - after all the holiday excitement, Luke turned 3 months old on Dec 30 - he weighs in a wopping 15 lbs now, and is getting more talkative and playful. He loves attention and being held, and enjoys looking at lights - especially christmas tree lights.