7 months (that's a touchdown and an extra point!)

Luke at 7 Months

Jack made the football reference to Luke's age :)

We are savoring this baby. He's both the baby that would make you want to have babies forever (if they are this sweet and easy) but also the baby to make you want to stop having babies, because how could you top him :)

Wait, what's his name?

If you ask Jacob, "Lutey!" "Lutey-lou," "Big Lou," "Chubby"

If you ask me, "My precious Lukie," "My preciousest Lutey," "Lukie Tukie," ... "Chubby"

Cora knows the child as "Chubby Bubby" or "Chubby." She'll call him that anywhere without blinking an eye.

Jack is the one most likely to call him Luke!

What's he up to these days?

A little light reading

Hello Gorgeous

Weighing in at 19 lbs 9 oz, our littlest chubbiest baby :)

Some coyness?

No, just about to fall over :)

He loves to sit in his high chair and slap his hands on the tray. He loves the noise and it's obvious he feels like such a big boy.

He likes taking part in meals.  Here he is with a carrot with dill.

He likes to push up on all fours and rock back and forth. He can rotate around like a clock dial but can't really go forward.

He lights up when he sees any of his family and he'll laugh at his brother and sister if he's in the right mood.

:) :| :(

He can sit up!

He likes to chew on things.

He loves to suck his thumb.

He spits up and spits up and spits up. I generally feel pretty gross by the end of the day.

Diet

Ms. Larita, his teacher, refers to his nursing sessions as his main course. In the last week, I feel like we are starting to make some progress in the table foods arena. He's gone from 100% breastfed to maybe 96% breastfed?

It takes a lot of effort to introduce solids! On the mornings when we all need to be out of the house by 7:40, it's a big deal to put Luke in the high chair and know he's basically going to need a bath before leaving the house. It's also a challenge when he's ready for bed at 6:00 and we're not yet ready to eat dinner. But we're working on it. We try to offer him foods twice daily, but at least once.

The biggest hits have been pear slices, broccoli, squash, pizza crusts at Pizza Domenica, and banana. We've tried some purees and oatmeal, but he's not the biggest fan of swallowing. He prefers to eat by sucking so he loves to suck on a broccoli stalk or a chunk of banana. He also likes something he can gnaw like a semi soft pear slice that breaks down in his mouth.

Your baby doesn't sleep?

Don't call us, call Luke. He holds the secrets, but whatever they are the baby sleeps 12 hours a night no matter what time he goes to bed. He was also sick this month and that didn't affect his sleep either. 102 fever? Incredibly stuffy? No problem. 12 hours of sleep.

His ideal day would be:

6:15 wake, nurse
7:00 eat breakfast
7:45 nurse
8:00 nap
11:00 wake, nurse
12:00 eat lunch
1:00 nurse, nap
3:00 wake, nurse
6:00 nurse, goodnight!

Playing with the ladies (not sleeping) at school

Overall, he's still not taking great naps at daycare (many morning naps lasting only 30-45 minutes - ahhh!!), though hope was restored to me when he took two 2-hr naps last week at school. My solution is to make sure at least one day a week he's able to take his full morning nap at home.

And I still wake him for a 10:00 feeding every few nights, either because his last feeding was early, I feel my supply might need a boost, OR because I just miss him and want to snuggle. As soon as I bring him into our room, Jacob can't help but come over for a snuggle too and then I feel like Luke is the luckiest guy in the world as he gets some nice warm milk in a quiet room with both of his parents snuggled in close. He's just so incredibly loved.

Cora's Turn

I wrote some Jack vignettes a few weeks back. And then there was Luke's 6 month post. It was actually Cora who was inspiring me to want to capture what the kids are each up to these days, but...the few free moments I've had recently happened to be ones where the child was KILLING me and my desire to expound on her sweetness was being squashed :)

My special baking helper :)

But then we had this weekend. And it was so sweet! We spent two days mainly just the two of us. And I have been enjoying her so much. She is something to be enjoyed, I tell you. But, she will also undo your sanity. As Jacob says, "she lives at the extremes" and there were several months where it seemed like an equal split. Half the time, she was just so winsome and precious and the other half of the time we were all wanting to scream. (She would actually be screaming; we would usually (usually) just want to scream.)

But Jacob and I both think we are turning a corner. (So now it's not 50-50, it's like 80-20?  75-25?) I remember some incidents when Jack was 3 and change when we felt really tested, so I think it's a natural stage of the 3 year old experience.

But screaming, refusal to sleep, and willfulness aside, I'm just so in love with this sweet girl and I ENJOY her so much. Why?

• She's so genuinely excited about life. You know when adults mimic excitement? Well, that's just Cora about anything that interests her. All mouth agape, hands on cheeks, head nodding to underscore! I couldn't love these moments more.
• I love, love, love the way she talks. She doesn't say "we", she says "our."  As in "Our going to read books now, okay?" She doesn't say "they," she says "them." As in "Them need to stop driving so fast!" Why would I ever correct such consistently cute grammar?
• She can take a year to make a point. When she's got an adult's attention, she will oftentimes make lots of clucks and sighs and "um guys" and slit her eyes to the side and take forever to make a point. It's cute.
• When I spend time with her, I'm usually chuckling because she's just amusing. She's expressive and funny and witty and imaginative and interesting and it's fun just to watch her.
• I feel so lucky to have her, my little girl. Playing with her is different than with Jack. She's bossy (he is too) but the games are different and it's always inventive and evolving. She perches on the table in the dollhouse and says "Guys, here's what our going to do next." She likes to fix my hair and every time introduces a new tool (a wooden person, a plastic telephone). If you suggest an adjustment to the game, expect to hear "No" unless it's a REALLY good idea.
• She shares with me, usually without hesitation.I like this about her nature.
• She's silly. She has learned to be goofy from her daddy.
• She's smart. Her smartness is so street smart, so emotionally aware. She notices when you are sad and probes to find out why. She'll later reference these moments too. I love how aware she is of feelings.
• She's freakishly attached to small things. There are no less than 250 small things in her room (buttons, jewels, coins, rocks, shells, broken things). She organizes them. Lines them up. Puts them in jars. We step on them. We've been counting down the days until we have a small baby on the loose. For now, we alter Jack's (and thus Cora's) favorite show Paw Patrol's theme song to be "Luke Patrol, Luke Patrol, be there on the double!" to make them help us make sure the floor around Luke is safe whenever he is put down. Since he can't really move yet, this is working for now.

She is currently sleeping on her floor - long story

If she could only stop her Groundhog's Day routine of EVERY NIGHT acting like going to bed is this new, hugely inconvenient, intolerable request we are making of her, then we'd be good.

Love you Towa-Wowa, Cora-bell :)

Jack LOVES to read. I was worried it was too much to hope for a second passionate reader, but I was wrong - she loves her books too!

I bribed them to hold hands. I wish they were normally this sweet to each other!