Luke's Second Month

Wow...  Luke is two months old! Where has the time gone?! I have my hands way busier than I could've imagined (coincidentally, I love the little one who keeps my hands busy way more than I could've imagined)!  It is not lost on me that I am completely, totally, and utterly biased and consumed with my baby.

Luke is, how can I say this.... Perfect. That doesn't sound biased at all, does it?! Sorry, I'm a head-over-heels-in-love momma over here! Let me tell you a little about this precious babe.

Looks: As a newborn, he was my little mini-me. Now that he is a little older, I think he is more balanced between Carl and I. He is tanner than either of us are, which caught me by surprise. Carl has some Italian in his blood, so perhaps that is where Luke's color comes from.  I see glimpses of my dad in him, and I think he has my grandmother's nose. It will be interesting to see who else we see in him down the road. As you have undoubtedly seen in photos, he has a ton of hair. He gets that from me. Everywhere we go, everyone comments on his hair! It always makes us laugh. It sticks up in a little mohawk that we simply can't (and don't want to) tame. Even Luke's doctor said "That's the most hair I have ever seen on a baby!.....well, a Caucasian one...." Haha!


Communication: Luke is a vocal lil boy. He coos and chats with us constantly. He only cries if he is hungry. Now, he does holler out if he has another issue, but he only CRIES if he is hungry. (And hunger hits him fast and hard, so when he gets hungry, he goes from being perfectly content to wailing in a matter of seconds- which earned him the nickname "Zero" from my dad, Luke's Poppa.) Otherwise, to communicate, he will holler (sounds almost like "Hey!!") if he is lonely or wanting to be repositioned. If he gets sleepy, he will fuss for a minute or so before zonking out.

 After hollering ("Hey!") I always make sure I respond so he knows he can communicate without crying. Some people would say "He isn't crying- you can leave him there" but I don't want him to only cry for attention. If he is happily cooing by himself, I'm fine letting him be. But when he starts calling for us, I believe we need to come. That's my opinion! And I could be wrong but I believe that is why he doesn't cry for anything but hunger (okay, and gas). I suppose you could say he cries when he is physically uncomfortable. (Speaking of physically uncomfortable, Luke had his first cold.  Poor baby took it like a champ and stayed mostly happy.)


Sometimes he will fuss and he is saying he feels over stimulated, so we back off and allow him to lay back and look at the ceiling. Then he starts cooing again. That's harder to do when we are out and about though. When we are out, I just hold Luke against my chest and he listens to my heartbeat. He will become very quiet and still before feeling ready to be social again. And often, he will take an unexpected nap during his little retreat. I can relate to the over stimulated feeling because I get like that, even as an adult. If I am forced to make small talk with people for a long time, or if there is a lot of noise, I get frustrated feeling inside. I think that is the introvert in me. I tell Carl, after church on Sundays, I need to go recharge my batteries and I go rest. Sometimes I fall asleep, sometimes I just read... But I almost always need a couple hours of downtime. I think that is how I recognize that Luke feels over stimulated as well- it's a feeling I know all too well.


He spends time on his activity mat a couple times every day. He will go between fifteen and twenty minutes by himself, happily cooing at his toys until he hollers ("Hey!") for us to come get him. He has cood since he was...sheesh, two weeks old?! I know that is extremely early but we have it on video! He is so sweet sounding and will sit and coo and carry on conversations with us. He also uses his eyes to communicate a lot. We absolutely love how expressive he is! He is also excellent at making eye contact! I'm not sure if the cooing and eye contact is because we have talked with him from day one, or if it is just his little personality, but people have commented on how he communicates, and how he has eyes for his momma! :) (I am also told we will be in trouble when he gets older... Some of his looks he gives us appear quite mischievous!)

Smiles: Luke also smiles a ton!! Most of the time, when I tell him I love him, he smiles. And my heart melts. He also smiles when he gets kisses (again, melting my heart)! Carl and I have both heard him laugh a handful of times (I know, you probably think I am crazy because babies don't typically laugh this young.)

Words: Something else they don't do this young? Speak. But Luke does. Just kidding! Sort of. The other day, he was hollering after I just laid him down and as I went to get him, Carl and I both heard "Mama!!!" Carl nearly jumped out of his chair, and I immediately had tears in my eyes. We know (deep down) that it was just a coincidence that he made that sound, but it was such a sweet sound to hear! Another time, I was carrying Luke into the office and as I entered, Carl had his back to me. I said "Hey" and Carl responded "Hi!" And then Luke said (or so it sounded) "Hello!" And Carl and I both laughed so hard. Then, last night, I had just finished feeding Luke in my room and Austin knocked on the door. "Im going to take my shower now, okay?" He asked. "Okay!" I answered. And then Luke said "okay" as well. It was so funny! He's just adorable.



Eating:  When Luke was in the NICU, Carl referred to him as a hungry hippo...which is funny because when Luke was in my belly, I told everyone "This boy is gonna like his food!" He would get squirmy in my belly whenever he got hungry.  Then, soon as I would start eating, he calmed down. Never failed. I just couldn't let the babe get hungry. Now, he is the same way. Luke, as Carl affectionately calls Lukapotamus (hippopotamus), wants to eat when he wants to eat. None of this "Hold on a minute" business... When the boy wants to eat, I have to drop what I am doing and feed him!


As I mentioned, the boy likes his food. He lost about six ounces the first three days he was home, but immediately started gaining. He was born 7 pounds 6 ounces and he now weighs 12 pounds, 12 ounces! (Go check my web history searches and you'll see a lot variations of "Can you overfeed a breastfed baby?" inquiries.) The boy likes to eat. When we were initially getting the hang of breastfeeding, I lovingly dubbed him the milk man. After those first several feedings, he looked like he got beat up and attacked with milk. He would come up from being fed with milk all over his face, in his hair, everywhere. And he would be completely passed out. It was quite the sight to behold. We all laughed.  In fact, here he is in a milk coma.


Breastfeeding could be a post all on its own- but I'm going to keep it brief here instead because I do want to remember this time.  I don't think I am alone when I say breastfeeding is the hardest thing I have ever done. The first few weeks were tortuous. I remember telling Carl that the pain was so great I would rather go give birth again than work through the breastfeeding pain (although, I did have an epidural so take that with a grain of salt). I still cannot fathom how on earth something so completely natural can be so amazingly difficult. I had friends that warned me that it would be hard but I only half way believed them. I thought maybe it was hard for them but it wouldn't be hard for me. (Motherhood was my calling in life, therefore everything would come natural!) Boy was I wrong. I knew I didn't want to give up, but there are a lot of obstacles that I had to overcome. I'm so glad I persevered and we are now feeding without any issues! And now I feel like it is super easy and convenient. I was able to get to this point because I had an AWESOME support network. While I have made a conscious effort to savor every moment with Luke, those early breastfeeding times (when my fists would ball up and tears would roll down my face) are something I do not wish to repeat. Now Luke eats every two hours like clockwork!

Routine: We aren't forcing Luke into any type of routine. As he gets older he will have a tentative schedule he will have set on his own, but for now, we are feeding on demand and just going day by day. There are some days that he wants to nurse for over an hour at a time, and from everything I have read, that is fine! He is wanting to nurse that amount of time most likely due to a growth spurt! I'm thankful I get to work from home so Luke can eat as he needs to.   The only "routine" we have is our bath time routine. In the evening, I get in the bath and Carl hands Luke to me after getting him undressed. Luke sinks into our garden tub with me and completely kicks back and relaxes. He LOVES his baths! It is quite adorable how he just lets his little legs float around after a few moments in the tub. I bathe him and play with him in the water while Carl stays within earshot. After a little while, I hand Luke to Carl (and Luke always fusses at this point) and I quickly bathe and then get out of the bath. Meanwhile, Luke is having his daddy diaper and dress him. We then hang out for a bit, waiting for Luke to get hungry. When he does, I feed him, then swaddle him, and lay him down for the night. Side note- as I mentioned, Luke fusses every night when he gets out of the tub. I told Carl I thought it is because Luke was getting cold but he said he thinks it is because he doesn't want to get out of the tub. Well last night, Luke and I were just sitting in the tub after he was clean and he was happy as could be. I said "I'm ready for you daddy," as I always do (speaking for Luke) and Luke started fussing! Carl gave me a "See? I told you he fusses because he doesn't want to get out" look.

Sleep: He sleeps differently every night- sometimes he will go a three to four hour stretch not being hungry, but most of the time he wakes every two hours to eat. He doesn't open his eyes, so after feeding him, I change his diaper and I lay him back in his cradle. Then I try to fall asleep before the next two hour mark approaches. Last night I let him sleep unswaddled and he did great! He talked himself to sleep while I was hanging out in bed with him, and so I moved him to his cradle. He hadn't eaten in an hour so I expected him to sleep for an hour before wanting to eat but he actually slept two hours! Maybe he will start going longer in between eating now!



Luke sleeps in his stroller when I go to the park and exercise a few times each week. He loves sleeping outdoors. (Since day one, the outdoors have calmed him down!) We took a walk on Monday to go get Carl from work. Austin was at a school function so Luke and I walked with the dogs. He quickly fell asleep in his stroller again. Sugar also had the luxury of riding in the stroller (in the basket underneath) because she couldn't keep up with Belle and I.



Dogs: Both dogs still love Luke more than I expected (and I am so glad)! Sugar always wants to kiss Luke on the face. I let her do it once or twice but then have her back away. Now she often licks his head. The other day she licked his head for a good minute. I told her I would be bathing him shortly and really didn't need her help, but she insisted. I swear she is like a little mama hen, and if she could talk she would be saying "I just wanna kiss the baby!" Belle gives him "drive-by" kisses. She kisses him on the hand or cheek once as she is walking by. She will also lay down against Luke (back to back or back to side) which I think is so sweet. Last week Luke grabbed her hair and held on tight. I was watching closely, concerned she might want to snap at him but she turned and looked at me like she wanted to say "Do something!" Soon as I untangled her hair from his hand, she moved just out of his reach and laid down again.




A few firsts:
First time being "worn" in a wrap:

(He fell asleep right after this was taken! He LOVES the wrap!)
Below, he's sleeping in the wrap while we are out to lunch:

First Sunday at church:




First time hanging out with a friend:
Luke and Jack hanging out in the backseat of my friend (Jack's mom's) car.  Bethany drove us on an errand and to visit her mom.  Aren't the boys adorable?

All in all, I'm just so thankful that Luke is a healthy and happy baby. I couldn't ask for anything more!