Bullety Updates

Lukey Things:

He’s popped two molars in the last two days – his left 1 year molars. This brings his total up to 10. He skipped over his cuspids, but I hear that’s pretty normal. He was a PEACH this week waiting for these two to pop. If the right side follows his usual patterns, next week shall be fun, too.
I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. Luke’s desire to understand "how things work" amazes me. It must be a guy thing. Just this morning I had a hard time getting him out of his crib because he was too busy inspecting the little aquarium on the side of it. The batteries leaked & ruined it so it hasn’t worked in a long time…but we’ve had to leave it attached. The batteries left a mark on one of the crib slats, and without the toy blocking it we fear he’d have his mouth where battery acid previously was. Anyway, he would sit in front of it, push the button, and wait for something to happen. Nothing would. He’d push it and wait again. Nothing. So he would stand up, and lean against the side of the crib to look over & behind the toy, smacking it like he was trying to figure out why it wouldn’t work. I really wished I had my camera with me to record his little mechanic act, but I knew if I left & came back it would be over. So I just enjoyed. It was way too adorable!
He’s understanding more signs. Or rather, he’s understanding what signs are, and when I show them to him he pays close attention and then immediately copies it. It may not be completely accurate, but it’s always very close. He FINALLY signs "all done" instead of clapping – I’ve had to be pretty stern about him throwing his food when he’s finished lately so I’ve been hardcore presenting the "all done" sign as an alternative he can use. He much prefers my happy reaction to him using the sign than to me saying "LUKAS, NO!" when he tosses his plate of food on the floor. He’s also signing "eat" and "water" – though they actually look very similar in the way HE does them, so I really have to watch the context for those ones. It’s really a lot of fun, though. Many times he will "forget" he knows the signs and just immediately grunt or whine and I’ll say, "Luke, how do you say ___" and you can see a lightbulb go off and he does the sign.
He has finally fallen in love with books. We’ve always read to him at night, usually 2-3 books every night, since loooong before he could understand what we were doing. He DID show preference for a few in the past, but now he is overly enthusiastic. He’ll bring me a book to read and sit there patiently while I read through it. When I’m done he’ll take it out of my hands and then hand it back like, "okay, start over". Some days we will sit and read the same book 10 or 15 times. It gets a little old lol….but I humor him.
He has become so completely lovey, it’s the sweetest thing. He gives kisses almost every time you ask (many times he’s too busy, still) and they are usually open-mouthed of course lol. He also gives hugs now! And those are usually of his own doing. It’s always when you get him out of his crib in the morning or after a nap, or when someone comes home that hasn’t been here. When you pick him up he squeeeezes really hard and pats you on the back. I love it 🙂
Lately when he can’t figure something out (like, if he’s trying to open something) he will bring it over to me and just, hand it over like I automatically know what he wants lol. It’s never hard to figure out. At times it will be that he can’t quite tip his sippy cup high enough, so he’ll hand it to the nearest adult and wait for them to give him a sip. I’m trying to show him the sign for "please" when he does this, but I don’t think he understands yet. He will copy me doing it, but he’s never said it on his own. He’ll get it.

Other updates

BFF and Monalisa came over on Monday. Luke actually didn’t do much playing because the molars were driving him nuts, but even so we made awesome progress on the invitations for Mal’s bridal shower. So much so – I was able to finish them yesterday! AND, I think we’re going to end up with exactly the right amount, so that’s awesome. Mal sent me the rough-draft of the guest list yesterday and I’m waiting for a few updates before I can address all the envelopes. I hope to get that done soon, though. There’s really not a HUGE rush, they don’t have to go out until the end of the month, but it would be so nice not to race a deadline. That’s the situation I seemed to put myself in toooo much when it was MY wedding, and now that I have the time to do these things for her wedding, I’m making sure nothing gets too far behind.
I’m pretty sure SPRING is almost here!!! I say almost, because I know that if I say it is, we’ll get a blizzard by the end of the day (gotta love Buffalo). But, it’s been sunny for a straight week (I’m getting confused….this isn’t Charlotte??) and we’re hitting the 50’s!! Which is aaaawwwwesome! Yesterday I got HOT walking the groceries in the house, I had to take my coat off. THAT was awesome. It was so nice, I took Luke for a walk after his second nap. It was great, except for the massive puddles in front of every other house from the melting snow that I had to skip around.
Working out has been really really awesome. I know I’ve said this in the past, but I always hated it because I tried to use it as a form of weight loss and when it didn’t work fast enough for ALL the effort it took I’d give up and start hating it. Now that I lost the weight and can just concentrate on toning, it’s SO much easier! Not to mention, I’m NOT carrying the extra weight to make it more difficult. After only a few days of working out, I already have more energy. And aside from my walk yesterday (and a short time on the wii fit) I haven’t even been doing a lot of cardio, so that is awesome. It’s also really fun to see Matt get all excited about having someone to work out with (and showing me how to do it. I love when he "helps" me through an exercise and he’s all serious about it. So cute). I’ve only been very slightly sore, and I’m not sure if it’s because I already use so many of my muscles carrying around a solid 25 pounds of baby all day, or if it’s because we’ve been doing little bits each day so it’s been gradual. All I know is, I feel so good about it that even on our "off" days I still want to work out somehow. And wii fit is becoming part of what I do while Luke is snoozing.
We haven’t seen any other houses since last weekend. We keep staying we’re gonna see another round this weekend, but I don’t even know that there’s any to see. I think we’ve decided the way-too-cute Pendleton house is a little too far away. It’s very close to the Transit Drive-In (if you’re from around here) and really…no one we know lives out there. Except for my ex-step-mom who I obviously never see lol. Last night I had a dream that we ended up picking a temporary house instead of our long-term one, and all my family and friends were finding pieces of furniture and decor to give us. We were having a huge decorating pa

rty or something. It was strange (when aren’t my dreams?), but when I woke up the only thing I could think about was decorating. Sigh….

I’ve had a bit of a scrapbooking break. I’m not happy about it. It’s partly because I’ve been doing nothing but getting Mallory’s invitations done, and partly because it’s been so nice out (and I’ve had a car!) that I’ve been constantly finding ways to get out. When Luke goes down for nap #1, though, I’m going to do some wii fit, throw in a load of laundry, and then scrap til he gets up. I’m up to him being 4 months old (so I’m about 10 months behind) and I don’t want the gap to get any bigger!

That reminds me. I won’t have a car this weekend. Booo, hiss. I’ve had one for about 3 weeks while Matt’s parents are out of town (while they’re gone Matt uses one of their cars and I get to keep our car at home). However, the good news is, they are only home for the weekend, and then they are gone again for about 4 weeks. It’s not even that I’m happy they won’t be around – just, that I’ll have a car again lol.

Hmm…the scrapbook talk has me thinking of posting my Luke layouts….

Yesterday at the grocery store, the old lady & her husband in line behind me were chatting me up like they’ve known me forever. This is usually the case in Buffalo, I missed it here!!! We were laughing at the he-she cashier (I know, not nice, but it he was so obviously flaming). Her husband asked me what Luke’s name was, and when I told them they cheered. They said, "now you just need Matthew, Mark & John!". I told them his Daddy’s name was Matthew and they cheered even louder! lol The woman said, "now you know what to name your other boys if you have more!". Gotta love living in an entire region of Polish Catholics. I’ve always been so comfortable here, feeling surrounded by the same types of people…and I know that makes me sound incredibly sheltered, but I think that’s partly why Charlotte (and it’s in habitants) was so difficult for me. It feels GOOD to be home!

I’m getting excited for Easter. I really need to hit the mall to search for an Easter outfit for Luke. Any takers for this week? 🙂