So you know that your kid is not the only one

I have take a rather long hiatus from the blog scene. I'm almost ready to come back. But for now I will give you a glimpse into out morning so that you know you're not alone. 

Promise has this obsession with Luke's paci right now. She's a paci thief. (By the way, she still has her paci. And that is a very very long story.) She knows that if she takes his paci, she is not allowed to have hers. So this morning her paci ended up on top of the refrigerator. And this happened

And the narrative (because she narrates everything she does) went like this:

"I NEED MY PACI! I NEED IT. I'M GOING TO CLIMB UP THERE AND GET MY PACI! AAAAAHHHH THIS CHAIR ISN'T BIG ENOGUH. I JUST NEED SOMETHING TALL BECAUSE I WANT MY PACIIIIIII. IM GOING TO USE THIS BOX AND CLIMB UP TO MY PACI." 

It went on for quite a while. She did reach it. I put it back. There was more screaming. And honestly, that was the better part of the morning. Eventually I ended up holding her bedroom door closed while she had a raging fit inside for about 10 minutes. She finally gave it up and we had a long talk about the appropriate way to deal with anger and frustration, respecting other people's things (ie Luke's paci), and obeying Mommy with a right attitude. 

I sometimes laugh when I see other people's kids throwing a fit in a store or restaurant. Then I catch myself, apologize, and assure the distressed Mama that I'm simply glad to know that my kid is not the only one that acts like that. I totally judged those parents when I was single and childless. I confidently assumed that these children were completely undisciplined and allowed to do and have whatever they wanted. My children would surely never behave that way.

My children (mostly the girl, but even the boy has his moments) do act like that. I have repented of my judgement. And I daily ask God for wisdom, guidance, and forgiveness. I inevitably fall short in this parenting game. We all do. But God is faithful, and His mercies are new everyday. I am so thankful for that. 

11 Month Letter - Luke

My Lukey Boy,

You are 11 months old! And you have taken off this month.  You are really starting to individualize yourself. You are definitely not just a baby anymore. You are Luke - an active part of our little family.

Oh the Places You'll Go!

You are growing like crazy. I haven't weighed you, but you are quickly outgrowing your clothes. You are still wearing 9 month pants, but are wearing mostly 12 month jammies and shirts. You are always on the move! You have started crawling on all four now, and you can really move! You love to stand, and you pull up on everything you can reach. You take some steps holding on to things, but are not standing or walking independently yet. You also love to climb. We have had an old mattress in the playroom floor for the past couple of weeks and you love it. You climb from the floor to the mattress, then to the couch so you can stand and look out the window. You are also completely obsessed with climbing the stairs now. You have made it successfully to the top 3 times. But if Promise is in the playroom (at the bottom of the stairs), you stop halfway up because that's as far as you can see her.

Your and Promise's relationship cracks me up. She is still very jealous of you, but she also adores you. She is SO excited that you are finally starting to play with her. But, sometimes (oftentimes) she gets carried away and you get hurt. You are never deterred though. Even though she hurts you multiple times a day, you are never nervous or hesitant around her. You light up when you see her, and she lives to make you laugh.

Trying to keep up

You are a people person for sure. You love seeing people you know, especially Nonnie and Papa. You are still not talking much, but you do carry on little conversations with people. Its super cute. You also love to make people laugh. One of your favorite games right now is to try to put your paci in my mouth and then grab it back and laugh for all your worth. Best sound in the world!

Daddy's baby

You are nursing, on average, twice a day now - morning and night. During the day you have goat's milk in a sippy cup. You are doing pretty well with the goat's milk. It just depends on the day as to how much you take. You don't drink much water, but sometimes you see to be very excited about it. Depends on the cup. Haha. You have really slowed down on your intake of solid food. I'm not sure if that's because the goat's milk is more filling or just because you're not needing as much. You still like protein foods a lot, but you have also started enjoying more fruit. Pineapple (usually frozen) is one of your favorite fruits. You also like apples, grapes, and oranges. But your all time favorite is still bananas. Nothing better than a banana.

Sleep is wonderful. You are a great sleeper. And a great waiter. You are in bed for 12 hours at night. I'm pretty sure you sleep most of that, but you are almost always awake when I go in to get you. I never hear a peep out of you though. You take 2 naps a day and usually are in bed 1.5-2 hours for each nap. You sleep with your teddy bear now (he doesn't have a name yet) and you think he's really funny. After I kiss you good night, your bear kisses you goodnight and it make you giggle every time. On days that you miss a nap for some reason you handle it very well. You don't sleep well in the car anymore, so if we are on the go in the mornings you just look out your window contentedly.

Sweet sweet sleep

You are a wonderful baby! And such a blessing to all of us. You make us smile, make us laugh, and fill us constantly with joy. I don't think I could possibly love you more, but every day I do. You are so much fun, you are funny, you are smart, you are a good problem solver, a little feisty, and a the most handsome little boy the world has ever seen. Happy 11 months my little man cub!

Love,
Mommy

10 Month Letter - Luke

Oh My Lukey Boy. You are growing up so fast. I am sorry that I have not been more diligent about writing these letters. Life is flying by us! You are 10 months old and you are, as always, pure joy.

Peek-a-boo!

At your 9 month check up you weighed in at 16lbs 9ozs. That's 3rd percentile kid! You are finally back on the charts! Which, I suppose, is a result of your love of food. Not all food though. Your favorite foods are protein foods - eggs, chicken, beef, cheese, hummus, yogurt, etc. You will usually eat as much protein as I will give you. You will occasionally eat some fruits, and very few veggies. Which bugs me, but oh well. You like starchy stuff usually too, but I serve those sparingly. Those 6 teeth (with another on the way) are seriously helping you out.

You are nursing 3 or 4 times a day now. Nursing is a bit of a struggle right now. You will eat avidly for about 2 minutes and then you stop to look around at what's going on. You hate to miss anything and your sister is very distracting. But, if I decide we are done and you disagree you get very angry. You still eat really well first thing in the morning, but the rest of the day is hit or miss. We'll keep at it for a couple more months though. I do still feel like it is important and best for you!

All dressed up

You are on the move these days! Still not really crawling on your knees (you've taken a couple of strides), but you can army crawl with the best of them! You can pretty much get anywhere you want to go and you never miss out of the excitement. You are also pulling up and you love to stand! And climb - pillows, blankets, Promise, boxes - anything in your path. So cute! You sometimes take a couple of steps holding on to something, but not often.

Paci Mouths!

You are starting to talk a little bit and I LOVE it. You really don't get a lot of opportunity as your sister talks enough for 8, but you are surely making your presence known. Your current vocabulary is Mama, Dada, Ball, and I'm pretty sure you said Jake a couple of times when we were at Nonnie and Papa's house this week. You're more of an observer than a talker though. I love watching you watch what's going on. It is amazing to see your mind working and to see you absorbing new things.

You are starting to enjoy toys more... especially if you find things on your own instead of me giving them to you. You love to wander through the house exploring, and I'm getting a little nervous about how we will baby proof the stairs. You current favorite toys are the music table, bean bags, maracas, and balls! You do Independent Play in your crib every morning while I cook breakfast. You never complain about it and play contentedly for 30 minutes or so. But the smile and laugh I get when I come to get you out is always one of the high points in my day.

Am I doing this right?

Your smile is incredible! It lights up the room. And it is constant. You are not selfish with that gorgeous smile and offer one to most everyone who talks to you. But you have a special smile for me, Daddy, and Promise that is especially endearing. You are really into Daddy right now and you nearly jump out of my arms everytime you see him. In the mornings I sit in my bed to nurse you and you usually stop about half way through to look at Daddy, rub his arm, laugh, and say Dada. Its so sweet. You still adore Promise and she is really starting to take a liking to you too. This week you reached for her a couple times when she came into a room. Adorable! She loves to take care of you and help you do things. She also loves to tell you what you are not allowed to do because you're "still a baby." I'm sure you will pay her back for that some day.

BAZINGA!

I love you so much little boy. More than I would have dreamed possible. I love everything about you. You are so happy, so laid back, so pleasant, and a such a pleasure to be with. You are sweet, playful, and I am starting to see a sense of humor coming through! I am so thankful that God chose me to be your Mommy. I pray that I do it well. I pray that you are blessed beyond measure and that God will use you in great ways.

Happy 10 months, Man Cub. I love you with all my heart!

Mommy

8 Month Letter - Luke

Lukey Baby, you are 8 months old! It has been a crazy couple of months. The biggest event in our lives has been moving. It has been a chaotic move. Lots of back and forth, lots of different babysitters, lots of missed naps, lots of late nights. But, as always, you weathered it like a champ. You are happy, sweet, and laid back and those things were abundantly obvious during this crazy time in our family life.

My Beautiful Boy

We are now (mostly) settled in our new home. You have your own room now! I haven't finished decorating it, but the essentials are in working order. You started sleeping in your crib when we moved here and are doing very well. You put your self to sleep 90% of the time and you typically wake to eat once in the night. Not ideal at 8 months, but all things considered its pretty great. You are still taking 3 naps a day - 2 long(ish) naps and a catnap in the evening before dinner. You very seldom wake early from your naps, and when you do it is because you are over tired from being off of your routine (usually Sundays!) My only real complaint about your current sleeping habits is that you tend to wake up 45 minutes after I put you to bed at night. Almost every night. I have no idea why, but it always falls right around the time I finish cleaning the kitchen and am ready to sit down for the night. Conquering that will be high priority this month, kiddo.

You are eating great. You still nurse 4-5 times a day and you typically eat 3 meals. If I remember. Sometimes I don't. Sorry. You love food. But you are pretty selective. You will try everything, but you seem to be mostly a "meat and potatoes" man. You like chicken, eggs, hummus, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, zucchini, applesauce, and oatmeal with bananas. You will eat some other fruits and veggies, but don't care much for them. Some things you won't touch if I put them on your tray, but you will gladly eat anything that is pureed and spoon fed to you. Pretty funny. Oh, and you got 3 teeth this month! So I think you will be ready for steak soon.

Getting in on the fun

You are sitting very well and one of your favorite activities is to sit and empty a container of toys, then have me fill it back up, and repeat. Its cute. You were restless at church last night, so I sat you in front of my diaper bag and you were happy as could be taking things out of it and checking it all out. I LOVE to watch you learn and explore new things. You are very deliberate in the way you turn things around and look at all sides,hit it, rub your hands over it, and finally put it in your mouth. Its fascinating to watch your mind work.

You're not crawling yet, but you get around very well by rolling where you want to go. One day I laid you down in the playroom while I was fixing breakfast and you made it into the kitchen to find me. So cute. I have started baby proofing again once I realized you are so mobile. I have to keep a close eye on your sister though, because she frequently tries to give you things that aren't safe for you. Like today she shared her granola bar with whole almonds as well as pouring a bag of tiny hair elastics out in front of you because she thought you would like the colors. Sweet, but not altogether safe.

Who, Me?

You adore Promise. She's not always nice to you (though she is improving), but you almost always have a smile for her. You watch her constantly to see what she's doing, even to the point of not nursing because she's so much more entertaining! You guys are adorable in the car having secret little sibling conversations. I often hear you babbling followed by laughter or a response from Promise and back and forth. Its so cute! After 8 months I am excited to be seeing the beginnings of a relationship between the two of you.

I absolutely adore you, little boy. Your smile lights up the room and always cheers me up. You are about as close to perfect as I can imagine and I am so blessed by your cheerful nature. You love people, no one is a stranger. Though you obviously prefer Mommy and Daddy, you will happily go to anyone who wants to hold you. You have big smiles for everyone who talks to you at church or in stores. You even charm your babysitters into watching you for free! You are definitely getting more independent, which is good but bittersweet for me. You are less snuglly and much busier moving and learning. It is an exciting time as you are changing and growing so quickly, and your personality is really starting to show through.

Ooblek fun

I love you Luke! Every day I thank God for letting me be your Mommy. I am truly blessed! Happy 8 months, Man Cub.

Love,
Mommy