I Promise, I Love Him Just as Much

You may not be able to tell it from the blog entries, but I promise I love Luke just as much as Jackson. Really, I do. I think that by the time Jackson was Luke's age, I had detailed most of Jackson's life, from eating, to pooping, to smiling, to....well, I'm not sure what else 3-month olds do, but I recorded it for Jackson!

I guess I'm feeling guilty about this now that the holiday season is upon us, so in an effort to catch "the record" up to speed, here are some things to know about Luke:

- He drinks 8 oz. bottles, about 6 per day (plus or minus one bottle), with the last one of the day containing rice cereal.

- He sleeps through the night, usually from about 9pm or 10pm until about 6am or 7am. He still likes to be swaddled from the arms down. Don't you dare try to put those arms in! However, I think the swaddling is about over since he can very easily kick out of it during the night and because I don't have many baby blankets big enough to swaddle him in. The next size blaket is a queen comforter and being swaddled in that doesn't sound like much fun. ;)

- He has a smile that melts his Mommy's heart. And, I suspect, his Daddy's too.

- He is learning to use his arms and hands. He can hold onto objects that you put in his hand and he is learning to reach for objects for himself. He can reach out for toys hanging in front of his face and grab them, but you can see on his face that he is concentrating really hard to do it. Growing up is hard work and takes a lot of concentration!

- He has lost a lot of hair. It is mostly just stringy right now, except for that patch below the skull-line on the back of the neck - he's kept all that. I think he's trying for a baby-mullet. If he breaks out into singing "Achy-Breaky Heart", then I'll KNOW he's trying for a baby-mullet.

- He's super easy-going. Like really, just goes with the flow almost all the time. My sister thinks he resembles my Dad in appearance. I think that he resembles my Dad in attitude: He's happy as long as he's fed. Do you think maybe he'll grow up to love Menards too?

- He's damn cute when he giggles. If you laugh at him, he laughs back at you, as if he knows what you are laughing about.

- He has found his thumb and gets caught sucking it more and more each day. Of course, he sucks it mostly when he's tired though. On the one hand, Mommy thinks this is great because I won't have to chase down pacifiers anymore. On the other hand, Mommy thinks that, when the time comes, thumb-sucking will be a lot harder to break than the pacifiers. I guess we'll see how strongly he takes to this thumb-sucking....
- He startled easily as a newborn, and he still does - back arched, legs straightened, arms thrown above his head (if he's laying down), quick turn of the head, and surprised eyes.

- He sleeps on almost every car ride that is over 5 minutes long and been known to keep sleeping in the car carrier for several hours after getting to our destination.

- He is watching Jackson and following him with his eyes more and more each day.

- He smiles (most of the time) when his big brother gives him kisses - which happens a lot. He frowns/cries when his big brother pokes him on the forehead with his index finger - which happens a lot too.

- He's gassy. Really gassy.

- He looks at our mini-schnauzer Venus very curiously when she is near. I have a feeling she's "in for it" when Luke gets better at moving, reaching, grabbing, etc.

- He tolerates being on his stomach pretty well. He starts to lose it when he gets tired or if there's nothing interesting (like you, for example) for him to look at.

- He laughs when you play "bicycle" with his feet. Or roll him from side to side on his back. Or tickle his feet. Or play peek-a-boo. Or grab his hands and play patty-cake. Or sit him on your lap facing you and laugh at him.

For Luke's sake, I promise I will try to be a better archiver in the coming months...