Farewell

Dear Aunt Carrie,
   
     Little did I know, when we first met, that we would become fast friends.

    I just wanted you to know how much fun I have had with you over the past 2 1/2 months. I know things started off kind of rocky when you and mom had to find a good bottle that kept me from being gassy and while you guys tried different schedules for me, but in the end we've had a good time together. I have a really good schedule and with your help I have learned to fall asleep on my own. I'm sorry that I pooped on you that first day, but I just wanted to make sure you could handle me. I knew everything would be alright when you laughed it off even though you didn't have a change of clothes ;) You took me on walks, read books to me, did tummy time with me, sang to me, fed me, rocked me, and played toys with me (I think my favorite was the wind up rubber cars that made me giggle really hard).

                 

     I know I've done my fare share of crying, but you have really gotten good at figuring out what I need and for the most part I just get fussy when I'm hungry or tired. Since you started watching me you and Uncle Jason found out that are expecting your first baby. It's going to be so much fun having a cousin nearby. I think I did a good job helping you practice. I know you'll be a great mom to your new baby.

     Mom, Dad, and I wanted to thank you for the sacrifices you have made in order to come watch me. Since you live an hr away, you have stayed at our house during the week. I'm not gonna lie, we have all gotten pretty used to you being around. It's going to be sad not having you here. Every night I go to sleep and every morning I wake up you are here.

     I know I'm enrolled in a day care, but mom is trying to find any possible alternative so I don't have to go. She is so worried about my schedule and whether or not I'll get the attention I deserve...oh and sleeping with all the other commotion going on (you've spoiled us;) I know I have it pretty good here at home in my own bed where its nice and quiet with my own clean toys, but I just want mom to know I'll be ok. I've come a long way the past couple of months and besides, I think I'll have fun with the other babies (can you see I'm still trying to convince myself of all that).

     I love you and I'll miss seeing you every day, but at least your not too far so we can come see you.

Here are some pictures that you and mom took of me while you were here

This was the very first day that mom had to go back to work. She said that was a pretty traumatic day for her, but knowing you were here made it a whole lot easier on her

I'm trying to show Aunt Carrie that there are other channels besides Lifetime :)

 

Aunt Carrie is helping me learn how to sit

Aunt Carrie lets me hold my own bottle. Aren't I such a big boy now?

 

5 Months Old

My Dear Lucas,

 

  You are FIVE months old today

Stats:

Height - ???

Weight - 13 lbs 8 oz

Head Circumference -

Food:

You currently eat 5-6 times/ day. 7a, 10a, 1p, 4p, 6:30p, and 4:30a (sometimes you are gracious to skip this feeding) I have been at work now a little over 2 months. Fortunately you are still a breastfed baby. I am able to nurse right before I leave for work, you take 3 bottles during the day(which I pumped the day before) and you nurse again right before bedtime and then sometimes you wake up around 4-4:30 which is a killer since I have to be up at 5am anyway.  I continue to be amazed at how flexible you are at going from bottle to nursing each day, although I do think you prefer the nursing over the bottle 

Clothes:

You are still wearing some size 0-3 months, although it is just about time to retire them.  For the most part, you are pretty much wearing anything that is 3 months or 3-6 months. Depending on the weather, you wear cotton feety pajamas, or fleece feety pajamas under your grobag at night.

Diapers:

Within the past week or so, I have officially transitioned you to wearing size 2 diapers full time, day and night. I am blown away that just a few short months ago, you were wearing newborn diapers. While small, you are growing at a very steady rate.

Milestones:

You continue to amaze your dad and me at how much you connect with the person you are looking at. You focus and lock your eyes on every object you come across. Pretty much every person who sees you comments on how alert you are

You had your first Thanksgiving which was spent with my side of the family down in Fredricksburg. We go down every other yr for this Holiday. As your first road trip, you did great. You slept and kicked your toys. There were times when you got cranky, so your dad and I would get silly singing to you which usually held you off until we could stop for me to feed you. It is a pretty big family and since you have never been around so many people, I was a bit worried about how you would handle it, but you were amazing. You went from arm to arm to arm without batting an eyelash.

Within a day or two of returning home from Thanksgiving, you came down with your first cold. It was heartbreaking to see you hurting. It was also scary that your nose was so stopped up, and because that is how you breathe, we had to be diligent on keeping your nasal passages as clear as possible. (Yay for the NoseFrida) You grew to hate us cleaning out your nose, especially at 2am, but it had to be done. In addition, we propped up your mattress to aid the drainage and we put a humidifier in your room, which seemed to help. You had a couple of choking/gagging  incidents and were starting to scream and resist nursing which really scared me so off to the Dr. we went. It was a fri so I wanted to get you in before the weekend. Your doctor said it was good we came in as you had the potential to develop a sinus infection. He prescribed you an antibiotic in case things got worse, and thankfully they did not lasted about 10 days and overall while you woke up at different times throughout the night, you still slept quite well, and when you did wake up I didn't mind as I knew you just needed a little extra loving.

You have started wanting to hold your own bottle. While I have still never given you a bottle, I have seen you insist that Aunt Carrie let you hold it when she's feeding you. You look sooo grown up.

Your hair is still making a come back, slowly, but surely AND your eyes are still Blue

You have started a new thing, but I was not expecting to happen for a few more months... if you are in someone else's arms and I walk in and out of the room, you start  crying. You can get really mad. It seems to happen when you are really tired. I'm not going to lie, it is flattering, and I'm sure it always will be, but I can guess that at some point it might get a little old. Since I work at home a couple of days/week, I do my best to keep my distance and leave you with your Aunt Carrie, but I think you seem a bit confused sometimes which at times leads to you being a bit fussy.

Sleeping:
You are still doing really well at sleeping. For the most part, you take 4 45 min naps/day. Lately you might take a 1 1/2- 2 hr nap once or twice/ week. When you got sick, while you would wake up a few times at night, you still kept the same schedule. I play with you a bit when I get home from work and then at about 6, I bath you and get you ready for bed so that I can nurse you around 6:30 and put you down to sleep.

I want you to know what a joy it is to have you in our lives. I'm still surprised when I see myself holding you in a mirror. Your dad and I both feel so blessed and couldn't imagine life without you.

Watch Me Grow

 * Unfortunately, our little guy wasn't in the best mood while taking his pictures.

12/14/11

4 Months Old ( 11/14/11)

Dear Lucas,

     You are FOUR months old today

Stats:

Height - 24 inches (25th percentile)

Weight - 12 lbs 10 oz (10th percentile)

Head Circumference -15.75 in

Food:

You currently eat 5-6 times/ day. 7a, 10a, 1p, 4p, 6:30p, and 4:30a (sometimes you are gracious to skip this feeding) I have been at work now a little over 1 month. Fortunately I am still able to nurse you exclusively. I am able to nurse right before I leave for work, you take 3 bottles during the day(which I pumped the day before) and you nurse again right before bedtime and then sometimes you wake up around 4-4:30 which is a killer since I have to be up at 5am anyway. I was a bit worried about how you would adjust to the bottle vs nursing but you do great going back and forth.

Clothes:

You have pretty much grown out of size 0-3 months and are pretty much wearing anything that is 3 months or 3-6 months. You are now sleeping in a grobag every night. Depending on the weather, i am putting you in either a long sleeve onesie, feety pajamas, or fleece feety pajamas. its a shame how many clothes you have never worn. Since you were so small at birtyour here were a handful of cute 0-3 month outfits that you couldn't wear because it has gotten cool outside now.

Diapers:

You are in size 1 diapers during the day. Within the past couple of weeks you started waking up soaking wet so I have started putting you in size 2's at night which has worked quite well. It just seems like yesterday that you were wearing the newborn swaddlers.

Milestones:

You have grown so very much in the past month.You have become so incredibly alert. You love to be held facing outwards now so that you can see what is going on. I have started putting you in the K'Tan and Bjorn facing outwards and you really seem to enjoy it. Whether we are running errands or throwing fetch outside with the dogs, you are just a happy little camper. You still like your mobile and have taken to being put in your swing and chair for longer periods. You like looking at the objects circling above your swing now.

You have started getting MUCH better in your car seat. You like looking at your little animal toys on the handle... You even like to kick them which keeps you a bit distracted. A couple of weekends ago we took our first overnight trip to GiGi and Pops' house in McKinney. We ended up having to drive separately from Dad which made me really nervous as that was the farthest I have had to drive with you on my own. I said many prayers that you would do well. You did GREAT going there and back home. It made me feel so much better for the longer trip we will be taking to Fredericksburg for our family Thanksgiving that we do every other yr with my family. I hope that trip goes just as smoothly.

Last month you lost most of your hair, but this month it has been growing back. Your dad and I are taking bets on what color it will be. So far your eyes are still blue. We are wondering if they will change or not

Morning time with you is by far my favorite. You wake up in such a happy, playful mood. I hate that I don't  have much time with you in the mornings, but I'll take what I can get. If you are not up already then I wake you up around 7a to feed you before I leave for work. Because you are so refreshed you just want to "talk" to me which is the cutest thing. You still love the changing table, but it also allows us to be able to see each other. I like to stand over you and make noises clicking my tongue. As I make these noises, you stare intently and start moving your lips and your tongue as if to mimic me. I'm blown away at how alert and inquisitive you are. for the past month we have thought you were teething. You drool like crazy and love to put things in your mouth and gnaw on them/ gum them...especially your hand.  You have started finding your voice this month with some giggling, screeching, and talking

Sleeping:
At your 4 month Dr's appointment I learned how lucky we were to have such a great nighttime sleeper. Typically I start your bedtime routine around 5:30 to include a bath (every other night), massage, and getting dressed. Then i feed you and put you down around 6:45-7p. You will usually sleep until 4:30a, wake up to eat, and then go right back down to wake back up around 7a. Sometimes you will sleep all the way until around 6. During the day

I want you to know what a joy it is to have you in our lives. I'm still surprised when I see myself holding you in a mirror. Your dad and I both feel so blessed and couldn't imagine life without you. 

Watch Me Grow

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

Faces

       As Lucas continues to grow, his features are slowly starting to come out. He is changing almost daily. When he was first born, he was a clone of Doug. I was starting to wonder if he was even mine. But, within the past month he has really started to look like me. What amazes me though, is how much he looks like both of us.

What do you think?

He definitely has my eyes and ears

He has Doug's nose and eyes as well

3 Months Old (10/14/11)

Dear Lucas,

     You are THREE months old today

Stats:
Height -unknown since we don't go to the Dr. for another month
Weight -11 lbs

Food:
     I have just gone back to work (1 week ago) which means that I had to let someone else feed you. As tough as this was, there simply was no other option. Luckily, you take to the bottle pretty well which has made this transition a bit less painful (but not much). As of right now, I get to nurse you twice/ day (once before I go to work and once when I get home, right before you go to bed) and then you get three bottles of breastmilk each day. I am fortunate to be good at “making milk” as I usually only have to pump twice while at work in order to provide enough milk for you for the following day (12 oz). After the first 3 days of taking bottles, you seemed to have a really upset tummy which we attributed to taking in too much air. I decided to switch your bottles from Medela to Tommee Tippee and so far you seem quite a bit happier.

Clothes:
     You have definitely grown out of your newborn onesies, so they have been packed away. You are now fully wearing size 0-3 months and I expect you will be in them for a bit longer, but you are no doubt growing quickly. At night I have been putting you in feety pajamas which you seem to really like. As of last night I have started to put you in a grobag (sleeping bag) whenever you sleep which keeps you warm and prevents us from having to use a lose blanket in your crib. And last night it looked like it may have kept you from flipping over on your back when you first resisted being put in your crib for bedtime.

Diapers:
You are in size 1 diapers full time

Milestones:
     You have grown so very much in the past month. It seems that once you turned two months old your features started to really change from a newborn to a baby. You have become so much more alert and aware of your surroundings. It is so much fun to watch you fix your eyes on an object and just watch it. I realized that it was time to get a mobile for your crib and you love it . I can lay you in your crib and you just love laying there watching and "talking" to it. 

      You have found your feet. I was holding you one morning at the kitchen counter and you suddenly started to kick your dad's lunch bag. Once you realized that you could touch it and make it move, you kept doing it with great intensity which was pretty cute. I found a set of toys that attaches to your car seat to try and keep you entertained (because you don't really like your car seat) and you found that you can touch one of the toys with your feet so you love to try and kick it.

      You have now mastered rolling over from your tummy to your back. This is pretty neat except that it can cause problems when putting you down to sleep. When you fight this process you continually push with your feet and flip yourself over which sometimes makes you even more angry. Your dad and I have to keep flipping you over on your tummy otherwise you won't go to sleep.

      Interestingly, you LOVE your changing table. I don't know if it is because your know you will be getting cleaned with a new diaper or if you like that angle to be able to talk to us. Either way, you could be screaming, but once we lay you down to change you, you usually stop crying and start smiling and start talking.

 
Sleeping:
      At first you were taking pretty good naps (2 1hr naps and 1 2-3 hr nap), but suddenly as soon as I went back to work you started cutting back on the length of your naps. In the last week or 2 you have only had 1 or 2 long naps. Not to mention that it has started to get more difficult to get you to go to sleep. There is a book called Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child that your aunt Meg recommended to me which I have started reading. It focuses on setting routines (which I have been doing for a while) and getting you to sleep before you are overtired. This is tough especially now that I am back at work. But when we get you down before you reach that point of being overtired, you do go to sleep a bit easier without much, if any crying. In order to do this in the evenings, we start the bedtime routine as soon as i get home. This is tough since I don't get to spend much time with you, but it is worth every penny to get you down early and have you sleep all night. I will bathe, massage, dress you, and feed you. Then if your dad is home in time, he will rock and soothe you and put you down to sleep. This allows both of us to get a little quality time with you.

      I cannot believe you have been in our lives now for 13 weeks. The past few months have flown by. Your dad and I have been so blessed to have you in our lives we just couldn't imagine it any other way. We can't wait to see what the future holds