Squirmy Worm

Hello All!

I’m super duper (how long has it been since you’ve said super duper together?!) excited for Amber’s upcoming visit! She flies in tomorrow morning (Thursday) and I am so looking forward to it! We both may have a hilarious experience to report back about navigating through the airport in Atlanta – it’s huge! It’s been years since either of us has been there, and we can’t remember how it’s set up. It’ll be fun though – an adventure. =) We plan to relax and enjoy these next few days. I’m sure there will be a little bit of shopping and a lot of catching up. We’re also going to meet Scott and Shelly and the girls at the South Carolina Zoo on Saturday and we’re all really looking forward to seeing each other again – I can’t wait! I’ll definitely blog about our fun experiences and post lots of pictures.

Chris is on the mend from his cold – and other then the occasional evening when his allergies flare up, he’s doing well. He’s been working hard the last few days on a big paper for school, so that’s consumed much of his time. We still have nothing to report on where we’ll be heading after this, but when we know something, we’ll post it.

I managed to catch the cold over the weekend, but it seems to have quickly cleared up (Praise God!) I thought I was going to get out of getting this one, but apparently this was a different strain from the 5 others I’ve contracted since moving here. =) I am much better though, so I won’t complain too much. =)

Luke is still slowly recovering. I’m thinking he might be getting an ear infection, so I’m trying to keep a close watch on that. He’s also got a rattley cough. He seems to have an appetite though – and for the most part seems to be feeling fine, so I think it’s just going to take some time for this cold to clear his system.

In other Luke news, he’s growing and changing on a daily basis. It’s becoming more apparent that he’s learning to do things on his own – and we’re seeing a very defiant, independent, strong willed, active little boy emerge.

He’s doing a great job at self-feeding and I’m about ready to strip him down to his diaper, put a drop cloth on the floor and hand him the spoon and let him dish out his baby food. I’ve put this part off because of the huge mess I know that will follow, but he’s getting to the point where he wants to do things for himself…now if only he was able to change his own diaper and get dressed on his own! =)

He has become the squirmiest of fellows and it takes 5 times as long to change his diaper and clothes as it used to. He twists and turns and kicks and squirms. I’ll get one pant leg on and while I’m quickly trying to get the other one on, he’s kicked his leg out of the first one! The worst times are when he’s got a dirty diaper and he pulls his squirming and twisting tricks – that’s when things get really complicated! I won’t go into details, but let’s just say it’s not a pretty sight. =)

He’s definitely figuring out the concept of cause-and-effect and he’s mimicking our actions more and more. If we push a car around the floor, he’ll do it too. If we make a clicking noise, he’ll try it too. It’s so cute! It’s been a really gradual process, but it’s really apparent now how much he takes cues and learns from what we show him. It’s just amazing to see how far a baby comes in 9 months time. They start out as completely helpless and within a few months, they’ve developed into a little person –with a unique personality and all!

Let’s see, what else about Luke can I fill you in on…He’s standing for longer periods of time. He LOVES holding on to the couch and trying to jump up and down on his own. He doesn’t really clear any height, but it’s great exercise for his leg muscles as he lunges up and down. Oh yeah, and he’s giving hugs now! It’s the cutest most adorable thing! He’ll squeeze your neck, and then if you squeeze back, he’ll give you another big squeeze. It makes your heart melt, that’s for sure! He still isn’t sleeping through the night. I’m beginning to take one night feeding away – I know he doesn’t need it; he’s just in the habit of getting it. So I’m weaning him off of his 2am feeding. I’m sure our neighbor’s aren’t excited about it, but I think Luke and I both need to start sleeping through the night. So my plan of action is to gradually lessen the night feedings. Once he’s use to not getting his 2am feeding, I’ll start to wean him off his 4am one…and so on so forth.

The weather here has been fantastic! Not to rub it in to anyone who has been having bad weather, but it has been perfect here. It’s warm, but not humid and most days there’s a nice cool breeze. I know this won’t last long, so I’m trying to enjoy it as much as possible. Pretty soon I’ll be blogging about how humid it is, and how our air conditioner won’t keep up with the heat – but until then, I just want to say it’s really really nice here. =)

Before I sign off, I’d love to get some recipes from ya’ll. I’ve started cooking (I know this will come as a shock to a lot of you) a lot of new recipes of late – and would love to get recipes of some of your favorite dishes to add to my growing recipe book. I got a great start in Manhattan and would love to keep adding to it. So if you have a good dish or a favorite recipe, please share!

I hope everyone is having a fantastic day! I’ll blog more next week!

Oh, and here is your favorite part- pictures! =)


These are two pictures of Luke in his not-so-sweet moments...





Luke likes to get out of his cage once in awhile and get into things...he seems to know we'll clean up after him!









Bath time! We bought some bubble bath and Luke seems to like it a lot, although he can't figure out exactly what the bubbles are. He wants to eat them, just like everything else!









Daddy and Luke playing together. Luke crawled into the laundry basket and got to go for a ride.







This is Luke jumping on the edge of the couch. He LOVES jumping, either in Daddy's lap or on the couch or bed. He's going to be a handful when he starts walking!



And the parting shot!