Luka at Seven Months Old

I call you Mr. Personality. You're very smooth with your actions and reactions. You know when to devilishly grin while I'm telling you not to get into something. You know when to protest with a pout while I'm sternly reprimanding you. You know when to blow raspberries on my cheek to make me completely forget what I was ...

And speaking of getting into something and reprimanding, you find everything you're not supposed to have and you try to have it. The other day I threw a pile of clothes on the floor to get sorted and put away. There happened to be one (out of about 50) piece of clothing that still had the tags on it. In that huge heap you found that one tag in about five seconds and immediately began chewing it to smithereens.

You crawl everywhere. You climb up on everything. Dad spotted you the whole way up a flight up stairs the other day. And on top of being super physical, you are completely fearless. Double trouble, if you ask me.

You have bumps and bruises all over your knees and head. 

Every day you're able to play more and more with Sister. She loves this. I love this more.

You have three favorite songs: This is the Way the Lady Rides, Patty Cake, and Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars. Any of these tunes get you moving and grooving.

Your energy is contagious.

You know how to give a High-Five now.

I've been trying to get you to say Mama for a while now. Emilija tries to get you to say Sister. The only thing we've gotten out of you is a 'Baa' sound. So now we've been saying 'baby' to you in hopes maybe that will be your first word.

You shriek and shrill ALOT. Especially when we're in a public place.

The very first night back from our Christmas in Kansas you slept all through the night. And have been doing it ever since. Yay!

You eat ALOT of EVERYTHING. You must have an appetite like Tata. You also eat like him- you scarf your food down so quickly that you barely taste it. I've never seen baby food go down so fast. We've actually started letting you suck the food right out of the pouch because you get so mad/impatient when we try to be civil and use a bowl and spoon.

Besides baby food, you've had lots of our food as well. You've liked everything. Your latest was a whole pickle while out at BW3's.

You still breastfeed many, many times a day. And we recently started supplementing with formula.

You can't eat enough. I guess that's how growing boys are. (wink)

At your latest doctor's appointment, you were 25th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height.

Your hair is growing in exactly like your sister's did- slowly everywhere except right down the middle on top. Mohawk-style.

You're pretty perfect.

This is the happiest our family has ever been.

You've swept us away.

Luka at Six Months Old

Luka Bear, you're one half a year old. Yowza!

You're a go get 'em kind of guy.  You are corps crawling EVERYWHERE. And you're even pulling yourself up on things. I just caught you today pulling yourself up the first step on our flight of stairs. Unfortunately your balance is not on par with your ambition and you usually go tumbling to one side right as you're about to stand. You roll and knock your head and whimper for about ... hmmm ... two seconds. And then you're right back trying it again.

You have no fear.

You're doing well sleeping through the night. We've progressed to sleeping from about 8p to about 6a. Once I feed you at 6a you go back down and sleep another two hours.

Two naps a day: morning and afternoon.

You took your first flight to Florida over Thanksgiving. You did very well. You slept for the entire 3 hour flight down. AND for the entire 3 hour flight back up. That's my boy.

The trip to Florida included your first visit to Disney World. You loved it! Your first ride was the carousel.

You love playing with Sister. This is nothing new.  You've loved her from the start. Sometimes you whine and whine and whine on the floor but as soon as she squats down to play you instantly get the biggest grin on your face! It's so sweet.

You eat everything that we give to you. Your latest most favorite thing was raspberry sorbet. You, Dad, and Sister all shared it. I actually think you liked being included more than tasting the sweet treat.

At your six month doctor's checkup I was told you were teething. (ouch) You weighted in at 15 pounds (25th percentile) and are 27 inches (75th percentile). Long and lean.

At your doctor's appointment, you got four shots. (ouch again) But you're a real champ. You cry when it first happens but quickly recover and go back to your normal self. Tough guy.

You're pretty perfect.

This is the happiest our family has ever been.

You've swept us away.

Luka at Five Months Old

My (and Sister's) Luka Bear.

You are snuggly, cuddly, and lovable. Just like a bear. You're the perfect Brother Bear.

You move, move, move. You never sit still.

Your love for me grows each day so I find myself carrying you alot. When you face out you shriek and jerk and talk and yell and move and ... you get the idea. If I turn you to face me (in hopes of calming you down) you are constantly grabbing my hair and biting on my chin and pulling my ears and .. you get the idea. Either way you're always having a very active, very good time.

You're in a good mood alot of the time.

You've started eating solids. You love EVERYTHING. Avocado, bananas, pears, peas, sweet potatoes, green beans, etc. And you can't eat it fast enough. Eating sessions are so aggressive on your part. We've started calling you Snapping Turtle. You are forever grabbing our hand and the spoon and helping to shove it in your mouth. All the while making a huge mess because yet again, you can't sit still. And you eat every last drop.

And after you eat your solids. You usually take down a good eight ounces of breastmilk. Emilija calls you a Beast. (wink)

You love to play. You have no time for books to be read to you or puzzles to be put together. You want to push your cars into the walls. And bite and rip your toys. You love slinging toys around and banging them against each other. You're rough. All boy.

Every time I say- give Mama a kiss. You open your mouth and lean into me. You totally understand me.

You take 2-3 naps a day. And usually only wake up once a night. All sleeping is done in your crib. You're doing very well.

Your waist is 0-3 months but your length is 9 months when it comes to clothes. Long and lean.

You're VERY close to crawling. You basically can get anywhere you want by scooting and scooching.

You're a hit in our small town. EVERYONE knows you. And EVERYONE loves you. The phrase I hear the most when someone sees you- he's always so smile-y and so happy!

You're pretty perfect.

This is the happiest our family has ever been.

You've swept us away.

Luka at Four Months Old

Luka Loo. Luka Loo Loo. Lukie Bear. Little Luka. Lucky Loo.

You are a' rockin' and a' rollin'. You're a real champ. Such a perfect baby. Such a breath of fresh air.

At your four month doctor's appointment, you weighed in at 14 pounds officially doubling your birth weight. And you were 25" long. 50th percentile for both. Way to go, bud.

You're sleeping in your crib full time now. You go to bed around 9p. Wake up around 1a for a late night snack. Then back to sleep until 5a. And most of the time you fall back asleep again until 8a. Sleeping and eating is what you do best.

You're perfecting your hand/eye coordination. Emilija helps you practice. And everything that you reach for and grab goes directly into your mouth.

You love chewing! And drooling. You drool so much that I've started putting drool bibs on you. They're bandana style so you look pretty cool.

Not to toot my own horn but you LOVE me. You are 100% a mama's boy. You stare at me. And just want to be near me. And smile at me. And coo at me. You make me feel very loved.

Sometimes when I'm smiling and looking at you I'll say, "Hi!" I'm pretty sure you say hi back.

Dad feeds you a bottle every night before bed. You've started holding the bottle yourself.

You love your feet. Sometimes I'll take your socks off just so you can have some one-on-one time with your favorite accessory.

The Bless' came for a visit from Kansas just in time for your baptism. It was your first time meeting them. You loved them and they loved you. It's going to be so wonderful seeing you and Mason grow together.

Oh, which reminds me. You're officially Catholic now. You did great for the "water part" of your baptism. Not a peep was heard.

You've started putting two fingers in your mouth much like Dad and Sister. But I would say you definitely still favor the pacifier.

Your hair is really coming in and looking good. It's nice and even all over except for a slight mohawk up top.

Looks like your blue eyes are here to stay. As if you couldn't get any more handsome.

You're pretty perfect.

This is the happiest our family has ever been.

You've swept us away.