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.

Luka at Three Months Old

Why don't you like to smile for your monthly pictures? Always so serious. No matter how crazy Sister and I act behind the camera, not even a grin. And I love you for it.

You are a Roly Poly- always rolling to the right, to the left, back to belly, belly to back. You're going to be athletic just like Dad and Sister. The three of you are going to give me a run for my money.

You are a big-time chatter. I've got videos upon videos of you on my phone of you chatting away. I get footage of you almost everyday talking to me. And most of the time I don't even need to be talking back to you. You just go on and on and on. And I can tell when you say something funny because you'll laugh. That's my cue to then laugh and then you continue on. Again, between you and Sister talking you're going to give me a run for my money.

You're very popular. I know we live in a small town and you can't help but run into someone you know everywhere you go. But no matter the place - playground, E's school, Foss Field, grocery store, post office - you name it, people know you and talk to you. I can't imagine how well known you'll be by the time you're 1 year old. You might have a VERY BIG first birthday party. (wink)

The weekend you turned three months old Aunt Ashley was visiting us. That first night she was here you slept through the night until 5a. Then the next night you did it again. I thought maybe it was a fluke but turns out it wasn't. You've been sleeping 9p-5a for two weeks now. When you wake up at 5a you'll eat and then you go right back to sleep for 3-4 more hours. You're a sleeping champ.

Naps are hit and miss. Sometimes you take them. Sometimes you don't. Keep in mind we are far from homebodies so you're consistently being toted around. But regardless you're a very happy baby.

One of your favorite things in the world is when Sister plays with you. If I lay you on your play mat and she sits on the floor with you, you are completely content for as long as she'll stay there. You love her so much.

You are still sleeping in a bassinet in our room. And mainly because of the necessity of the guest bedroom. The guest room will be changed into your bedroom once ... everyone stops visiting us. (That's a good problem to have.) And as of right now we have visitors still coming through the end of October. So looks like you'll be Mama & Dad's roommate for a little while longer.

You're not a cryer but more of a shouter. Dad & I laugh when you get in a mood. There's never any tears or lip quivering. You just shout at us and we can see the anger and intent in your eyes. You're yelling at us because you're bored or want to be picked up or want your favorite plush green monkey moved closer to you.

You have blue eyes. Dad always wanted his kids to have blue eyes and he got his wish.

It is nearly impossible to change your diaper with all of your wiggling. And I'm pretty sure you know how much harder you're making it for me because you laugh the entire time.

We are still breastfeeding. You love it. So do I.

You're a big boy weighing in at 13 pounds. And you're up to 6 month clothes, needed mainly for the length.

You're good at sitting and standing with assistance. And you'll even take steps if I hold you under your armpits. I've got a feeling you're going to be all over this house before I know it once you figure the whole crawling/walking thing out.

You're favorite song is MMMBop by Hanson. An oldie but a goodie. Sister and I sing it to you all the time.

When you smile, the cutest dimples form in the line creases that extend from the sides of the mouth up to the sides of your nose. I think it makes you look handsome.

You're pretty perfect.

This is the happiest our family has ever been.

You've swept us away.

Luka at Two Months Old

Two months. Wow, big boy.

You are growing so much. Every day when I see you first thing in the morning I swear that you have doubled in size overnight.

At your two month checkup, you weighed 12 pounds and are already two feet long.

You have dinner every night around 8p. Dad feeds you a bottle of freshly expressed breast milk. After that, you fall right asleep in Dad's arms. You sleep right on to 3:30a. And that's when you start your three hour feeding routine.

You started socially smiling on your two month birthday exactly. That day it happened to be raining and Dad came home early from work. We decided to take a drive to Nashua to visit Grammy and to take you to meet Teta Emmi and Cousin Anthony for the first time. What a treat for them because you smiled at everyone the entire time we were there. It was such a happy day and they fell in love with you instantly.

Aunt Heather just visited for a week and she was so impressed with your athletic ability. You move and shake every time you're not sleeping. You love to kick and punch. You love to be pulled up onto your feet and you'll even take a few steps while someone holds your hands.

You're also a big chatter. You'll talk to me anytime I talk to you.

You love Big Sister. Yesterday I went to pick her up from preK. When we enter the classroom her entire class runs over and circles your car seat. You hear shouts of, "Luka! Hi Luka! Hi big boy!" You smile and laugh. But as soon as you spot your sister your eyes don't leave her. You stare and reach for her. It's amazing how out of all of those kids you can pick her out.

You enjoy car rides. Not so much for sleeping. But you love looking out the window. I see you watch the trees go by. And you really enjoy yourself when it's raining. As much as you like watching the world on the outside of the car, you like even more staring at Sister whose sitting right beside you on the inside.

You're starting to like baths more and more.

You're pretty perfect.

This is the happiest our family has ever been.

You've swept us away.

Luka at One Month Old

You're one month old today! We've been a family of four for one whole glorious month.

You're a busy-body. Between Sister's activities and your mama's social life, you are always on the run.

You were born two weeks early but still came in at a strong 7lb, 3oz and 19.5 inches long. At your two week doctor's appointment you had already grown two inches and today on your one month birthday you're up to 9 pounds. You're a good grower.

It took a day for you and I to figure out our breastfeeding collaboration. But once you latched, you never looked back. You're good. Real good.

You have put yourself on an every-three-hour schedule with no help from me. When you wake up from a nap, you eat for 30-45 minutes. You can usually hold your eyes open for about 15 minutes of wake time. And then you're back asleep for a two hour sleep. This cycle happens at midnight, 3a, 6a, 9a, noon, etc. And you don't skip a beat.

Everyone always asks if babies are starting to sleep more at night. That's a no-go for you. I think it's because you like to eat so much. You would hate to miss a meal. (wink)

I can tell you recognize all of us. You know when I'm holding you. You know when Dad walks into the room. And you definitely notice when Sister talks/sings to you.

We get lots of compliments on your name. And as much as we love your name, it doesn't stop us from giving you a million nicknames. Buddy Boy. Bubba Boy. Buddy Boo. Buddy Boo Boo. Baby Brother. Brother. Babe.

We think you're perfect.

You remind me alot of Dad. Which is a very good thing. You're calm like him. And sincere like him. You have soft eyes and a relaxed disposition.

You're a mover and a shaker. Lots of arm movements and constantly kicking your legs. We've even actually seen you roll over a handful of times. I think you're a future athlete.

Your favorite things are eating and sleeping. You don't like to have your diaper changed. You don't like to put clothes on or take clothes off. You don't like to take a bath. 

You're pretty noisy. Not so much crying but lots of little grunts and groans while you eat and sleep. Dad says you sound like a baby dragon.

You've done so much for our family. It's amazing how much you, a newborn, have added to our family. I really can't imagine not having you around. I think I speak for Dad and Sister when I say, this is the happiest our family has ever been.

You've swept us away.

Music Class

Every Thursday morning at 8:45a Emilija has music class with Mrs. Nieman.  There's lots of marching and singing.  We beat on the drum and shake the bells.  Sometimes the BIG BALL comes out and the kids roll it back and forth to one another to the beat of the music.  

But E's all-time favorite part is near the end.  The lights dim and out come the hammocks (beach towels).  As a soothing lullaby fills the air E lies down on one of the towels facing me, and Mrs. Nieman and myself gather up the ends creating a hammock.  We sway E back and forth.  She becomes completely placid in this moment.  Her expression is tranquil and her calmness is effortless.    

We stare at one another and become consumed in each others presence.  And this soon becomes my favorite part of music class too. 

#everydayemilija

Elevator Button

It happened the same way for .. as long as I can remember.

Walking onto the elevator to ride up to Grammie's second-floor condo,

I would swoop the length of my arm under one small armpit and then the other.

Pulling Emilija up the wood-paneled wall so that she could light up the small round button labeled "2."

And then everything changed this week.

Following her tiny footsteps over the threshold,

I was looking down and sidetracked by my ringing cellphone.

I heard the doors close behind my back and felt the start-up nudge of the conveyor.

(No swooping required.)

I turned to see one little index finger repeatedly hitting the second button up from the bottom.

#everydayemilija

Begin at the beginning...

"Begin at the beginning ... and go on till you come to the end: then stop."

I love books.

I really love vintage books.

 I really, really love vintage children books that match the color scheme of E's bedroom.

Mother's Day 2014

Dearest Emilija,

If I was without my hearing and sight, I would still know it was you by the way you feel in my arms.

Please always remember that.

Love,

Mama

Soccer Superstar

 Stop the ball. (check)

Kick the ball. (check, check)

Look like a soccer superstar. (check, check, check)

#everydayemilija

You're Gonna Miss This

E goes to "school" every Wednesday,

and I miss her like crazy every Wednesday.

So I got a little sentimental,

when I heard this song today:

You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days
Hadn't gone by so fast

These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this

Trace Adkins

#everydayemilija

Fishing

 "Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after."

Henry David Thoreau

...I think this Tata is after a little girl's heart.

Grammie Kisses

Most Monday afternoons are spent with Joe's mom.

Grammie.

Today was no different.

And after finishing a good lunch.

Grammie surprised E with a new puzzle.

And after finishing the puzzle.

E surprised Grammie with a peck on the lips.

#everydayemilija

A View Like This

I read a statistic today (source: GALLUP Economy) that New Hampshire is fifth on the list of states where the fewest residents would leave if they could.  Only 1 in 4 residents of NH would leave if they could.  Just one percentage higher than Hawaii.  

With a view like this, I wouldn't want to move either.

#everydayemilija

Pineapple Yogurt Happy Face

Emilija LOVES yogurt.

And she really loves pineapple yogurt.

She says- 'Me want pineapple yogurt, Mama.'

And after she finishes it.

She looks like this. 

#everydayemilija

Grief

I've experienced great loss recently.
I am beat. down.

One was my furry companion of 17 years.
(A punch to the stomach that brought me to my knees.)
One was a woman I had known all of my life. Who helped mold and shape me.
(A kick to the back that left me laying face down on the pavement.)
Another was a tiny soul I hadn't even met.
(The sole of a boot sandwiching my face to the ground so that I could barely breathe.)

My only saving grace-
The faint cheering and encouragement from the crowd around me.
Through tear-filled eyes as that boot stepped down on me,
Were outlines of faces.
Friends. Family. Complete strangers.

Grief does not change you.  It reveals you- and everyone around you.

Turning 2

Like last year.

And the year before.

January 12 proved to be an amazingly beautiful day.

We actually opened the windows.

It was so nice outside.

And that's saying-

ALOT-

for New Hampshire.

The theme was blue/orange GOLDFISH.

The gift was a new kitchen set.

The star was Emilija Lisa.

(Click the picture above for party details.)

Emilija Does Disney

It was Mimi's dream to take her first and only namesake granddaughter to Disney World...as soon as possible.  As said granddaughter's mother, I said to myself (and indirectly to E)- please be good, please behave, please don't have Mimi regret spending all this money.  Guessing the mood of a soon-to-be, 2-year-old is like taking a shot in the dark.  Every day is a 'surprise.'

With previously set plans of spending Christmas in Florida, the Dearborns decided to treat the Madzars to a weekend at Disney to cap off an already exciting 2013.  And it was (pardon the trivial term) magical.  Emilija mingled with Minnie, rode every ride her height restriction allowed, and determinedly stayed awake for the nighttime Magic Kindom Electrical Parade down Main Street.

She was a trooper, to say the least.  And what's more, I'm pretty sure she had the time of her life.  There were no temper tantrums.  There was no whining.  She just smiled and moved along and enjoyed everything that was going on around her.  And because of that, I think Mimi has already started to plan round two.

One of E's treats was the opportunity to try on many princess dresses and pick one out.  Our sporty chick opted for Princess Jasmine, the only Disney princess whose outfit includes a cropped top and harem pants.