Lukie Tukie at 4 Months

That's 17 lbs, 8 oz of handsome :)

And yes we do actually call him that :)

And sorry ladies (and all parents), this baby's not for sale. He's about the most perfect baby, with the slight exception that he can and will unload some serious spit up all over you several times a day.

A day in Luke's life

He still sleeps a solid 18 hours a day if you let him. If no one else's schedule is superseding his, his days go something like this:

5:45-6:30 - Wake up in his cradle - he more "calls out" than cries

I feed him in bed and we hang out until I need to get up. He usually then lays on his bath chair in the shower while I shower. He still loves the water and happily sits there sucking his hands. He then gets his bath.

Luke then comes downstairs to be a part of the breakfast routine. We start him with some tummy time, but he's only happy to do this for a few minutes. He then moves to his bouncy chair where, currently, he stuffs whatever he can into his mouth because he's working on his first tooth. I have some chew beads that he holds and chews on or we give him a cold ring, but he can't hold on to those very well.

By the time we are sitting down to eat, Luke's been up for more than an hour and CAN'T HANG! :) I usually feed him while I eat and that helps make him happy for a little bit longer and sometimes he will take a cat nap while we eat.

8:00-8:45 - Somewhere in this window, Luke goes down for his morning nap based on how early he got up and what's happening with everyone else.

Luke then sleeps for 3-3.5 hours and sometimes we wake him up if we need to or if it's been past 3 hours. He likes to sleep on his belly. We used to always give him his paci, but it's clear he prefers to just suck his thumb. He'll scoot around for a minute or so and then settle down with usually his right thumb in his mouth. He flipped over for the first time at 3 months and now will frequently flip himself over on to his back. He's not one for back sleeping, so if this happens, we just roll him back onto his tummy.

11:30-1:15 - This is Luke's awake time. He eats, gets dressed and hangs out with his family during lunch. He gets LOTS of Jack and Cora attention in this window and this is their most amped time of day, so poor baby. He usually participates in books before rest time and eats again. Staying awake for a full two hours is a stretch for this guy, he'd ideally already be asleep two hours after he woke up from his morning nap.

1:15-1:30 - Luke is usually back asleep. His favorite place to sleep is in his crib with the door shut and a fan on for white noise.

If we are home, he'll sleep for another 3 hours, though this nap is occasionally shorter. What most normally happens is that something is going on in the afternoon and he won't get to start his afternoon nap right when he needs it. He might take a cat nap but when he can finally get into his room, he crashes.

4:00-4:30 - He's up again and ready to hang out. He likes to be held, would be happy to go on a walk in his K-tan carrier, gets some more Jack and Cora attention, and his newest past time is being put down on a blanket alone in his room with some toys. We're still not quite to the point where he plays with anything, but I do think he likes to look at things at his eye level and, if he can get it to his mouth, he will. And his room is his favorite place, because, well, it's quiet :) A few times I'll come check on him and sweet baby is back to sleep sucking his thumb.

This time of day is a problem stretch for Luke as, remember, he doesn't like to be awake for more than 2 hours at a time, so he needs some kind of cat nap in the afternoon or he gets a little frantic by bed time.

By 7:00, he wants to have been fed and changed into his PJs. He might get a bath tub bath if he's been especially "spitty" that day :)

Around 10:00, I wake him as I get ready to go to bed and feed him once more and put him to sleep in the cradle by my bed. His cradle days are very numbered at this point as he's a big guy. One night, he ate closer to 8:00, so I tried leaving him in his crib and skipped the "dream feed" but he woke just shy of 5:00, so I'm keeping the 10:00 feeding for a while longer to help his wake-up match mine.

That's Luke's perfect schedule. The guy has had a pretty nice and relaxing life up until this point. He starts daycare on Monday and I so hope he can get good sleep there as he seems to be a baby that needs a lot of sleep. He's such a happy baby and I think that's because he's superbly rested and gets the breaks he needs between his super stimulating awake time (thank you Jack and Cora.)

I know all babies are sweet but there is something about Luke that just exudes an extra sweetness - we just adore him and can't get enough of him!