What's The Matter With Boys

Lately I've been thinking about the day I found out I was having a boy. Just before, my mom told the nurse, "We don't WANT boys. We don't LIKE boys." I don't know what she was thinking... I only wanted a girl because I had more experience with girls, I had a name picked out, and she would have been the first (new clothes and lots of attention). But by no means did I have anything against boys.
I think about that day when I see Luke's eyes light up when he sees his Grammy and reaches out for her. When they're playing on the living room floor. When she's taking pictures and showing him off. When she volunteers to babysit for the night. He's certainly changed her mind.

When Luke was little, Aldo brought to my attention that boys are rough. That Luke's going to be coming home with scrapes and bruises. As a mother, I feel protective and always worrisome. I don't want to see that little guy hurt. The other day he was helping in the chicken coop and the space heater fell on his head. Thankfully I wasn't there to freak out. And also thankfully, he didn't have a bump or sign of it anywhere. Lucky. He also had his first temperature this weekend. It got all the way up to 101.2 in his armpit. I, of course, took it to the extreme and had Aldo call the nurse hotline, thinking Luke was going to be in ICU or something. Turns out babies can spike a temperature from about anything.
All in all, I don't think I'm ready for the roughness. I'm not ready for scrapes and bruises. I don't think I would mind to have wimpy kid. It hurts me to the core when I have to let him sit there and cry on the floor, instead of running to his side for help.

This feeling has probably come around more and more with Luke exploring and testing out new things. The other night I was relaxing on the couch while he was playing on the floor with his toys. Usually when he's tired of them and wants me to pick him up, he'll crawl over to me and just look up. This time he came over, lifted his hands to my pant legs, and pulled himself up to his knees, almost his feet. When they stand, they fall. I hope I can just get through this.

Second Chances

Thank goodness for quiet mornings like this.. my few minutes of relaxation and deep thought, otherwise I'd be driven to insanity. In the last seven days, I have entertained friends that came back from Afghanistan, planned a surprise sweet 16 party for my sister (and even better - it was a hit!), and repaired both of our vehicles drastically. Just reading that, it doesn't sound like much, but I'll put a little emphasis on it for you...
We had friends from out of town to entertain. How entertaining is making signs and shopping for your little sister's birthday party? And the whole time not having working cars? I have no idea how we managed to do it, but we did. I'm ready for March.

Among those times, there's moments that keep me going. When Luke was a baby, he would only sleep with us in bed, in my arms. But after we moved in with my mom, he started sleeping in his own crib in the room next to ours. It wasn't too hard to do, because I enjoy sprawling out in my bed and sleeping all night. Well, a couple days ago, Luke was having the worst night ever. He just kept crying and crying, and finally I had to send Aldo in because I just couldn't do it. He was in there a while and then came to the doorway and said, "This is only for tonight." He brought Luke over to the bed and set him down gently next to my side. I remembered when Luke was first placed in my arms at the hospital. How small he was, and how emotional I was. This was like a second chance. So I could take in the entire moment, enjoy the whole blessing. I snuggled up real close, pulling the covers up, and he fell right asleep. It just melts my heart. 

Maybe it's because I see Luke growing and showing personality to where I'm thinking that one day he won't rely on me any more. So I enjoy this time where he's still my baby. And it's great.
Here's some pictures to make your day a little brighter. Be blessed.

Superman

Luke looking in the mirror for Mommy. And then back at me. Wondering how I moved so fast.. or are there two Mommys?

Who doesn't love a cute baby bum?

Playing with Tia's party hat

Snowpocalypse

Nothing much has been accomplished today. I passed a few levels of Super Mario with my husband on the wii, beat everyone at pinnochle (but I'm an awful player, so I have no idea how that happened), and googled John Stamos to see if he's available for my mom. I think I might have moved some laundry to the dryer, but it's not folded so I'll have to do it all over again. Lazy days like this are fabulous. We'll see if I think the same thing tomorrow.

Luke has changed so much. He has three teeth and one more popping through on top. The other day we got a free board book from Aldo's work. While we were there, I let him "read" it, which was basically him sucking on the pages. I wasn't paying attention to him until I felt a whole bunch of drool in my hand. I took the book out of his mouth and an entire chunk was missing out of the corner! Goodness, he's in the stage where he starts eating the things that probably aren't safe... like marbles, pennies, and game pieces. I know my sister and I have some stories. I'd rather he not have any.

He also army crawls everywhere; rolls; and sometimes gets on his hands and knees, rocks back and forth, and then plunges forward. He is quick! I have to keep an eye on him because he finds every little speck in the carpet. Who would've thought we still have fake Christmas tree needles around the house? 

Aldo's work also gave us a maraca, which Luke absolutely loves. He shakes it perfectly. And hits his head with it too. He has a bunch of other toys, thanks to Christmas, but I think this one is his favorite. All the others he'll either grab because he can suck on the strings or tags.

Oh, and he's learned some phrases and words. He can't say them, but I know he understands. While he's eating, I'll ask, "Mas?" and he'll turn away from whatever he's looking at and open his mouth to take the next bite. When he's playing with balls (pelotas), I'll ask for it and he'll put the ball in my hand. And then take it back and suck on it. It's a back and forth game. Recently we've been trying to teach him "No". I'm afraid that will be the first word he says. Who wants that to be their child's first word? Nobody. But we have to say it because he likes to grab onto the glass sliding door on our tv stand.

There's other things he does and I can only think of a few (sitting here as I watch him). He likes to crawl to the linoleum in our kitchen. It's just so much cooler than carpet! He nods his head... I call it "rocking out", but we haven't quite figured out why he does it. He gives kisses, only to a select few. He likes to look at your feet. Weirdo. I use that sometimes if he starts getting fussy before we have a bottle prepared. He'll be sitting in his bumbo, and I'll just play peek-a-boo with my feet over the side. And what I love most, he'll sing himself to sleep. It is so precious. It just reminds me how sweet and innocent he is.
It reminds me of myself when I was little.

Welcome Back Grammy!!

My mom got in late last night, in the middle of our blizzard. We surprised her with a "welcome home" sign and a video I've been adding to all week. (Since she was gone, I knew she would miss out on Luke and the new things that he's been doing, so I compiled pictures each day and some video footage into a short film for her. I knew she would love it.) Afterward, she went downstairs to see Luke in bed and he ended up waking up. He recognized her immediately and gave her a tired little smile. I'm happy for her. I can only imagine how mom might have felt as she was traveling, and thinking that Luke might forget who she was. What a relief to know you're not forgotten, even by a precious baby. What joy.

She also brought back things like purses, shirts, a chess set for Aldo, and jewelry for us from all of the different places that she stopped. It sounded like she had a good trip overall, but ultimately she missed us and said that the next time she goes anywhere, we're going too. Whoo! That's right! I've been planning it all out, and I think for sure this coming summer we'll go to the Kansas City Zoo with Luke. By then he'll be into the animals and it's not so far a ride for him either. I guess we're just waiting on the weather.

Crawling & Biting

It's been hectic as of late because I've been taking care of the house of course, and also I took on a few more hours at work. Thankfully it doesn't decrease my time spending with Luke (it more or less affects the house cleaning... but who wants to do that anyway?) So I have some catching up to do on this blogging business.

Luke started crawling last week.. the night of January 6th to be exact. I walked in the door from just getting off of work, and there he was on the floor. Trying to grab a nasty, old rag. He couldn't reach, so he just army/belly scooted and had just the amount of arm length to get the dirty thing and put it in his mouth. Boys...
Now he can pop up on his knees. Sometimes he'll stay there for a while rocking back and forth, and then he makes a daring nose dive towards a toy or something. It's very fun to watch. Seems that's basically all I do... the social life goes completely out the window when you become a mommy.

Second, Luke has got some teeth in that cute little mouth. Dollar amounts keep going off in my head because when I see them, I notice they're crooked and I know we'll have to pay for braces. I had them for four years on and off. Hopefully, though, his other teeth will push them into place. 

Aldo was nervous that once Luke would get teeth, he'd somehow turn ugly. Nope. He's still as cute as ever. The negative side is whenever he gets ahold of your finger, you better move fast. He bites! Last night I was watching a movie with him and man, he bit down hard. I wanted to cry! And smack him for doing it! But I couldn't. I didn't want to know that a baby made me cry, and two I'm not ready to punish my son for anything yet.

Home Alone

Since this past weekend, we have been home alone, taking care of the chickens and ducks and such, while my mother went on a cruise to Panama with my granddad. So far it's been going pretty good. I wish it hadn't snowed so much, but the positive side is that Luke and I have had some quality time with Aldo and my sister.
Right before my mom left Luke started army crawling. I'm really happy she got to see that. I think he'll be all over the place by the time she gets back. I really miss her.

Some people say that they'd rather not live with their parents, or in-laws, after their married. Some think it would be awkward and/or there would be conflict in the household, etc. I absolutely love my mom. Sometimes I think that she's bossy and always ruins my plans when all I want to do is sleep in! But you really don't realize how much you miss a person until they are gone. I am blessed with such a beautiful, loving family. Aldo is amazing and understanding, and there has never been any conflict in our home. Eventually we'll get our own house, but for now I'll enjoy this time together.

Down Time

    

           The Night Before Christmas... with Granddad.

(I think he might suspect something...)

Luke's First Snow

The holidays are over and Luke was a CHAMP.
Aldo's family has this crazy tradition where nobody can open presents until midnight. Luke was rubbing his eyes around his regular bed time, but there was so much noise and commotion, I knew he wouldn't be able to sleep. The next day we woke up bright and early for morning church service and made it to my aunt's in time for breakfast. I figured Luke would be cranky all day. But he wasn't. The presents seemed to keep him busy.
This year the theme must have been monkeys. He got a small monkey from two Santa's (my mom and myself), a monkey bag, and a monkey/zoo noisy toy. Many cute outfits and some more toys, but not so much to spoil him.

 

 Luke loved opening gifts. Mostly for the paper.

For dinner we made it to my grandma's, however, we couldn't stay long because all of us were sick and Aldo's allergies were going haywire (cats). Sunday after church, we went to Dad's for belated Christmas. We had been so busy the past two days, Aldo and I were pooped. Even now I don't know how we did so much. I think next year I'm limiting us to two houses on two separate days.

All the Cousins

 Grandma & Grandpa

 

Held by His Big Girl Cousin (who decided to do her own makeup... that is not a black eye...)

    

Papa, Having Fun, and The Crazy Aunt

I wasn't planning on doing anything for New Year's and then last minute Aldo found somewhere to go. We went to a church friend's house and played games until 1 o'clock in the morning. Just when I thought it was over, they broke out the wii. Luke stayed up the entire time. So I'm thinking he's one of those if your not in bed, I'm not in bed babies.

This down time has been nice. I've enjoyed Aldo being home and having the family spend the day together, whether it's watching a movie or going to the store. I don't want him to go back to work. And I don't want to go back to work. Tomorrow I think I'll take him out on a date. It's been a while and I want him to know how much I appreciate him as a husband, a daddy, and my best friend.

On my little blog break, Luke has changed so much. He has a tooth coming in on the bottom and has learned how to kiss. I better start watching him real close!!!

 Seriously... who wouldn't want to smooch on that?