Luke @ 4 Months

Luke's 4 months old!  

This month's picture describes him perfectly ---  

He almost always has his fingers in his mouth, 

rubbing two tiny little bumps on his lower gums. 

He loves to clap his feet together as he rolls on the floor.  

(Yes, he can roll from his belly to back now)

And, he has the biggest eyes that light up as soon as he sees our faces! 

Luke's learned and accomplished so many new skills this month, on top of being introduced to lots of Halloween traditions. 

 He watched It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown with Brendon and Owen.  As you can see, he loved it (or maybe he just liked being held by Daddy, either way he got to be a part of the fun!)

Owen is crazy for trains, so we drove down to Boulder City to ride the Halloween Train.  The kids were encouraged to wear their Halloween costumes during the ride, but our costumes were made for cooler temperatures and this particular Saturday was quite warm.  Instead, Owen went as an Engineer, wearing his bibs and Thomas Hat.  Luke dressed up as, well...  a little brother, but he played the part perfectly. The train ride put him right to sleep and he spent the entire 45 minute ride in my arms. 

For Halloween, we ate pumpkin donuts, carved our pumpkins, and the boys dressed up as Mike Wazowski (Luke), Sulley (Owen) and Art (Brendon) from Monsters University.  There was supposed to be a mom costume in the mix, but I ran out of time and therefore went as "just a mom" ... That's my favorite costume anyway! 

Owen couldn't get enough of the Trick or Treating.  He loved the candy part, but was very worried about the scary houses.  He wouldn't step foot onto a driveway or walkway that looked spooky.  Even with skipping the scary houses, he ended up with way too much candy! (Well, too much candy for a 3 year old.  So, Mommy and Daddy stepped into help eat the extra!)

Luke didn't quite understand why we were walking outside in the cool evening air, but he was happy as long as Daddy was carrying him.  He fell asleep as soon as we got home and put him in his jammies.  He's wearing the same Halloween onesie that Owen wore for his first Halloween!  One of my favorite parts of having two boys is dressing them alike or putting Luke in outfits that Owen wore 3 years earlier. 

Luke's a great little brother.  He went to Owen's classroom Harvest Party and watched as Owen ate pizza, fruit, and shared his classroom songs with us.  It was so sweet to see Owen with his friends from school. 

Little brother is always happy to watch Owen.  He especially loves watching Owen play outside.  We put Luke's swing outside and he coos and goos as big brother jumps on the trampoline or digs in the rocks. 

On a very rare occasion.... Owen decides to hold Luke.  I was quick to pick up the camera and finally got a picture of it.  Owen loves his brother.  He's likes to help him... sometimes he brings him a pacifier or toy, other days he sings or makes funny noises to get Luke to laugh. My favorite thing is when Owen says, "I think he needs his mommy!" while Luke is crying.

This month Luke has gotten much better at napping.  He's set a pretty consistent schedule for himself... 9 a.m., 1 p.m., and 5 p.m. nap times, unless we do something fun like a playdate, grocery shopping, or go for a walk.  Luke loves to see what's going on and never wants to miss out!

  The nighttime routine is in full swing!  He gets a bath, a little baby massage, and pjs, plus he wears his sleep sack or swaddling blanket. Just recently we went back to swaddling him at night to see if it would help him sleep longer . NOPE So far it doesn't make a huge difference and we get to see his sweet little face a few times each night.  His sleep pattern goes something like this ---  easily drift off to sleep alone in his crib at 7 p.m., nurse at 11 p.m., again at 3 a.m. and round it off with a 5 a.m. feeding. This early morning feeding is always in our bed, because I'll do anything to get a few extra minutes of sleep before Owen wakes up and our day gets started.

The picture on the left is Luke on the first day he took a long nap in his crib.  He slept for almost an hour, which is a long nap for a baby that refuses to sleep unless he's being held.  The picture on the right is how he'd prefer to sleep --- cuddled up with Daddy.

Not only have we learned a few tricks for getting Luke to sleep, this month we learned how to grocery shop with both boys!  Owen loves riding in "The Pouch" and talks to me the entire time.  Luke was looking forward in my arms, which is his favorite way to see the world!  He very much prefers to be held this way.

Owen was covering his ears as a jet few over and Luke was watching the pigeons.  Getting a picture with everyone looking the same direction is almost impossible!  Seriously, trying to take our Christmas photo was a joke.

Even if the photos are out of focus or no one is looking at the camera, we're still doing fun things! While Brendon spent the weekend in Florida, I took the boys to see Uncle Si from Duck Dynasty.  The line to meet him was around the building and out the back door.  I decided to save my sanity, take a picture to prove I was there, and get out of that zoo as quickly as I could! 

Since Brendon was gone (and the evenings are very quiet), Crystal & Bill invited us over for dinner. It was a nice relaxing evening.  Owen loves playing with their kids (and all of their trains) and Luke settled in to the extra large recliner!  He was perfectly content in that huge chair and looks extra small.  

Even though he looks tiny in that huge seat, he's actually growing and changing so much.  Our home scale says he's about 12.5 pounds.   His cheeks are fuller, which makes him look older. 

And, his clothes are either too small or so big they fall off.  He's wearing 3 month clothes mostly.  The waist fits, but the legs are never long enough. Six month pants fall straight to the floor --- he's a pretty skinny guy. 

This month, I've taken out all the baby things --- Bumbo, Exersaucer, Jumperoo, and all the rattles and taggie toys.  Our living room is packed with baby toys again!

Luke loves to roll over.  As soon as I set him down on his belly, he will roll over and smile at me.

Unless I put him down in front of other people and try to show off his new trick--- then he just stays on his belly and cries for someone to pick him up!  He's not a performer. :O)

We can't get enough of his sweet smile!   

Just last Sunday, Brendon and I went on a date --- a real, actual, no-kids-in-tow DATE --- Can you believe it?!!  The boys went to, my friend, Mary Cate's house and played with her little ones, Ryan & Leah.  We went to see the new Hunger Games movie, Catching Fire, and had dinner at Lucille's at Red Rock Casino.  The entire date was perfect and seeing the boys' faces light up when we came back to pick them up made our night!  Mommy and Daddy couldn't have asked for a better date!