Excuse Me Miss, There's Spit Up On Your Shirt.

For the past week Luke has been teething. It's not as bad as I thought it would be. He sleeps most of the day actually. And when he's awake, he's just very quiet and observant. If his gums really start to hurt, he'll definitely let me know, and I'll rub them down with some soothing stuff. Easy enough.

Today was a wonderful day. Luke and I read some stories together and marched to some toddler action songs (Thank you Etta). And then ate a nice meal of rice cereal. He got it all in his mouth and wasn't spitting it out! I was too excited! I'm officially that crazy mom that oodles over her kid and thinks it's absolutely amazing when he does something "new"... which is not really new. Every other kid has done it. It's just part of the process.

Anyway, Luke also met his little buddies this weekend. Ethan, who is 4 months younger to the day, from our Trex family. And Jaedyn, his some-sort-of cousin, who was born 4 mo. and 2 days after Luke and had the SAME EXACT measurements!! Am I getting baby fever? I hope not.

All About Luke: Visits, Bouncing, Eating, etc.

I admit I overuse this line, but... we were so busy this weekend! We decided to visit Papa, since he hasn't seen Luke since his dedication at church. You could tell Luke wasn't completely comfortable with his surroundings; he kept looking for Mommy whenever someone else was holding him and he wouldn't talk or squirm like usual. Cranky boy. Most of our talk revolved around Luke's current condition of reflux (more on that later) and getting our car working again. Time flew. We did, however, get to watch some past episodes of Rugrats... I never realized how bad those babies are...


Sunday we went to church of course. But then my sister volunteered me to join in the dramas for the upcoming Conference. Now I have to find time to practice those. Although I took dance for several years, I'm not like I once was... can't remember as much and I'm not as limber. So I started exercising in the mornings. Would rather not pull something.

Monday was Luke's Four Month Check-up! I figured it would be a quick in, get the new measurements, walk out. But noooo. He had to get his shots. And I wasn't aware. Well, for starters he was cranky because he was hungry. And I didn't know if you could feed a baby before shots or not, so I had to hold off. When the doctor came in, he said I could. So I fed him. During that quiet time the doc told me that Luke is now 15.4 lbs. and 25 and a half inches long. I guess that's pretty big. Apparently he still has reflux by the way he sounds congested and his nose runs all the time. To help with that we can start feeding him rice cereal with a spoon! And last, we can start putting Luke in the bouncer to help him further his development of his manly muscles and stuff. The doc also said we should prepare for him rolling/crawling. And if he gets irritated, he's probably teething.

 Luke's first time in his bouncer.

Luke's first spoon-fed meal.

Today I took Luke to the Baby Storytime at the library. All of the other babies were older and could at least crawl. Poor Luke had to sit on my lap the entire time and play with only the toys I picked out. But he did enjoy the songs where we clapped or raised our hands. I think I'll sing the "chin, cheek, nose song" at home to him. Anyway, beforehand I fed him so he wouldn't interrupt the story for the other kids. I must have jiggled him around too much because he spit up three times! One, projectile across the library entry-way. Poor baby. Proof that he does have reflux. So starting today, he's going to be fed even less. 4 oz. buddy. Please don't be mad at me. I love you!

Oh, and p.s. He took the shots like a champ! I was feeding him the rest of his bottle and that mean nurse just jabbed him in both legs. He waited 10 seconds before he screamed at her, and then went back to his eating with the smallest tears in his eyes. 

And this is because I just didn't load pictures fast enough...

      

The Little Man in the Mirror

I finally got us out of the house!! This morning Luke and I woke up extra early to pick up the car at Abuelita's. It started up real nice, but then once we turned on the highway, the engine light came on again. Pooh. I thought it would be fixed forever. I'm debating returning it because I really want to go in search of some winter outfits for Luke and some post-pregnancy work clothes for myself (things are a bit snug at the moment). I was also going to start on Luke's Halloween outfit tomorrow. I know what he's going to be!!! So excited!

Well, like I said we got out. First we were at Abuelita's. We watched Despierta America! with her all morning. I must say, my Spanish is improving. I think I understood quite a bit. And last night I was messing around with Spanglish... Aldo says it's a sign of a fluent speaker. Take that Señor G-! But mostly I was doing it to teach Luke something of his foreign native language. Afterwards, we attempted to watch Dancing with the Stars while Cousin Alex and Noah played with cars, climbed on each other, threw fits and blew whistles in our faces. There might have been too much stimuli... which is why we hightailed it outta there. Bought some groceries on the way home and Luke took a short nap before going to the neighbor's. All in all it was a productive day.

As for baby, he's found a friend. Himself in the mirror! If he's getting squirmy, I'll just pick him up and hold him in front of our dresser mirror and he goes nuts. At first Luke sees the face looking at him and smiles. Then he starts to jump up and down and coos because the face smiled at him. It's really sweet. So I'm looking forward to storytime next week because I know he will definitely enjoy the other babies' company.

Before I go, I must mention Aldo's failed attempt at making a homemade pizza for dinner last night. I'm sorry honey, it was just too funny. The "bread dough" was "unleavened"... meaning as hard as a rock. It seriously reminded me of the muffin weaponry on Charlie's Angels. Pizza = Fail.

Through My Son's Eyes

When I have the cutest subject, I just love taking pictures. I could do this all day.

It amazes me how much he is learning. And how he experiences the world, all for the first time.

Life is extraordinary.

Empachada

If you don't know what that word means, it's ok; I think Aldo made it up. I've been having this pain below my bellybutton for a week. Every morning right after I eat. And Aldo, being the chiropractor/home-remedy specialist that he is told me that I'm "empachada". In other words, have indigestion. There's a ball of (probably pizza) something in my tubes and it hurts. I'll just drink some chamomile tea for it. :O) hehe

It was a pretty hectic weekend. We managed to find a place that will solve all of our car problems for less than half the estimated price. Really excited about that. AND we got the car there in one piece. Even better.
Other than that I really don't have much new. I worked every day this week and I'm very proud of myself for not going stark crazy! Now all I need to do is get this health insurance taken care of and see my doctor!

Luke is still trying to move around, but still isn't there yet. Grammy says that as soon as he starts, he's going to move FAST! Aw, my precious baby boy! And also, he's just playing with his feet more and more, and trying to grab stuff. He's pretty good at it. It's interesting watching him develop all of these small things.

Two Minutes

I have two minutes to quickly write what's happened today (the two free minutes I have at the library).
Luke and I hung out all morning. We watched Babies, but he wasn't too interested; he fell asleep. And we also read a ton of board books. In the afternoon, we had to get out of the house. So I took him into the garage to meet our poor hurt duckie. And when she quacked he started crying. So we went outside and sat on the front porch for a few minutes instead.

Biggest happening of the day: Luke found his feet! I've been waiting for him to grab them, and today he did. Of course, he didn't know it. Not too long before they are in his mouth!!

After Lucky the Duck Died

I forgot to mention that last Friday we were going to get Directv. Well, we didn't. And never will apparently. Our walls are concrete and any other way of getting the cords in our old-fashioned, country house are against their policies. We will always be watching one TV series behind on DVD (bonus of no commercials) and random movies that I check out from the library. On top of that, our youth pastor has asked us to withdrawal from watching movies that take the Lord's name in vain. In case you aren't aware, here's some of the movies that do: Australia, Avatar, Ever After, Iron Man 2, Legally Blonde, The Notebook. You can check at this website: http://www.hollywoodandgod.com. Thankfully I hooked up the VCR this weekend and so we have the entire girly part of the Disney collection to choose from. I think we may have to hit some garage and consignment sales before the weather gets bad. I can only watch Kung Fu Panda so many times (three in one day to be exact).

 Watching movies in his Pooh chair.

Today I didn't get as much done as I wanted to. Ran a load of laundry, cleaned the dining room table, and constantly checked on the chickens and ducks. Speaking of ducks...
Yesterday was quite a day. On my way out the door to catch my ride to work I found a dead chicken in the front lawn, under our tree. Apparently the neighbor's dog (my aunt and uncle who live across the street) ripped apart the coop and had a little "playtime". Now we are down to 7 ducks and 7 chickens, one who is living in our garage until she heals. Our named animals are still in tact: Jiggles, Chester, Elvis and Priscilla, Betty and Wilma, Duck (who's really a chicken that just thinks she's a duck), and Crooked Toes.

I would love to get out of the house more often. When Luke gets upset, we just go outside and watch the animals lay around and cars speed down our gravel road. I'm hoping that Aldo will take off this Friday so we can continue our search for a trusty vehicle. And in the future I can venture to the park, to the store, and to anywhere else I please. The morning storytime for babies sounds interesting.

There's Always Something

Friday I was taking my sister to the bank to get some cash for her homecoming fingernails. While we were in the drive-thru smoke started spewing right up out of the hood. So much so that the drive-thru lady asked if someone was smoking in the car or if it was the car itself. I immediately took it to the car shop, where they told me that I couldn't drive it any more or else the whole thing would fall apart. So all day Saturday, Aldo, Luke, and I were looking at cars for sale (and didn't find out til later that they weren't really for sale because all had major things wrong with them like blown engines).
I have no idea what to do now. There's always something going wrong. Is that too pessimistic of me to say?