Happy Halloween!

Luke enjoyed his first holiday so much that he could hardly sleep! (Seriously, he hardly slept today. It's been a long long day.) Check him out in his cute pumpkin outfit. His dad bought it for him the day after he came home from the hospital. It took 4 stores to find an outfit that would fit Little Man!

Yep, I jinxed it

I knew I shouldn't have said anything!! I totally jinxed it! Last night and today have been rough. Luke has not gotten any good sleep since 8pm yesterday. It's my fault for bragging about what a good night he had with his new sound machine! Turns out, the sound machine is not the answer. At least not that one- David is stopping at the mall on his way home from work tonight to buy another sound machine. We're convinced it's our ticket to sleep freedom. Probably not, but we're clinging to the hope! Let us have our fantasy.

Rock the Vote

Luke became North Carolina's youngest voter today. We disagreed with some of his picks, but he was just so darn cute that we let it slide. It was fun to vote as a family for the first time!

I was going to entitle this post "Ode to a sound machine" because- and I hope I don't jinx it by saying it- David bought Luke a sound machine and, with it on to the sound of the ocean, last night was one of our best yet. (I totally just jinxed it.) Luke went down easily at 10pm and slept until 1am. After his feeding, he went back down at 1:45am until 4am. Back down at 5:15am until 7:15am, and then down again at 8am until 9:45am. That's pretty darn good. OK, it does suck compared to normal people sleep, but for a 4 week old we'll take it! Wow have my standards for a good night's sleep changed!!

Here are some pictures of Luke just for fun. Fun for us, not him. He didn't so much enjoy being stripped down for a picture.

I love my hair dryer... and so does Luke!

As those who know me know, I love my hair dryer. I wish I had the kind of hair that looks good when it dries naturally, but I don't and so I have been loving my hair dryer since middle school. David and I recently discovered that Luke also shares this love. The other night we were having trouble getting Little Man to sleep and so I turned on my hair dryer and he settled down right away. So, last night we plugged in the hair dryer right next to our bed and for 20 minutes let it run while Luke fell asleep. Ok, I know a sound machine would make more sense (and plan to buy one soon) but for now I am enjoying the fact that my offspring shares my love of the hair dryer. Since I don't have a daughter (yet?) perhaps this means he'll let me style his hair!

Here's another thing we have recently discovered that Luke loves: sleeping in our bed! I always said I wouldn't do it, but it's just so much easier to get him to fall back asleep after a 3am feeding if I let him sleep next to me in the bed. Of course, the tradeoff is that I sleep less soundly for fear that I will roll over on him, but I don't have to hear him cry or fuss as much! For now that's a tradeoff I'm willing to make.

In other news, Luke met his future wife Vada yesterday. Here are some pictures of Vada with her parents Pat and Anna. She is such a cutie!!!

Sears

We took Luke to Sears today for some portrait pictures. Luke was a champ, not crying until the very end! We couldn't be prouder of our little guy!

My dad's here- the sleep strike is over

Well, as I said in my last post, Luke goes on a sleep strike when my family leaves. Today he continued his strike, staying awake from 11am until my dad arrived at 5pm. He is now fast asleep on my dad's chest. Sigh. It's a conspiracy on Luke's part. He wants my family to think he's an angel but once they're gone he shows his true colors. Ok ok. He's an angel either way. But I prefer the one that sleeps.

Here's some proof of Luke's sleep strike. This is Luke with my dad right after my dad arrived. Notice how Luke is awake and screaming:

And here's Luke after an hour with my dad. Now Luke's pretending to sleep:


Maybe it's just me. Luke seems to sleep when his dad's home too:
Sigh. I need to just give up on sleep.

Who needs sleep anyhow?

Luke loves his grandmother and Aunts. I know this because when my mom and sisters were here Luke slept like an angel during the day. We had to wake him to feed him. However, each time one of them left, he went on a day long sleep strike. For example, yesterday he was up from the time Pam left- 9am- until about 3pm. That was a fun day. So much for me napping during the day! The only silver lining is that it forced me to figure out my own "tricks" to get Luke sleepy. I am finding that the following work: walks outside (not good after dark), his swing (only works if he is about to fall asleep first), and swaddling, holding, rocking, giggling AND walking simultaneously while in a side position with the pacifier (takes a bit of coordination).

Luke is in serious need of a bath. His hair is beyond greasy. His cord fell off a week ago, but on Thursday the doctor said to wait on a bath until the belly button had completely healed- and it has not yet. Plus, the whole idea of an actual bath scares me, to be honest, because Luke hates sponge baths and an actual bath seems trickier. But soon I will get over my fear because I'm starting to get embarassed for the little man. He's looked better;) So, no new pictures for now. All you get in this post is my sleep deprived rambling. I will attempt a solo sponge bath later today and snap some new pictures. Wish me luck.

Aunt Pam Visits

My sister Pam arrived on Wednesday. Here's picture of her with Luke:

In addition to helping with Luke, cooking, cleaning & doing laundry (I have been so spoiled by Becky, my mom and now Pam! I don't know how I'll manage without their help!! Can't they all just move here please??) she has been helpful in getting me out of the house! Yesterday we took Luke out for his first lunch:
He was a cheap date, sleeping through the entire meal:

Following the leads of my friends Jess & Anna, David and I will be taking pictures of Luke with "Bear" (who I have had for 16 years) to benchmark his growth. Here's the first shot:

In other news, Luke let me get 3 consecutive hours of sleep last night! It's amazing how darn happy I am over a measly 3 hours of sleep. But I'll take it! The previous night he was up every 2 hours to eat, which meant I only slept for an hour at a time. This motherhood thing is no joke! I wish he was as good at sleeping during the night as he is during the day.

Future babysitters

My nieces, Leah and Gabby, and my nephew, Eli, recently visited and were awesome little helpers with Luke. I look forward to family vacations down the road when they are old enough to babysit!

Big man Luke

Luke had another doctor's appointment this morning. He's up to 5 pounds and 14.5 ounces!!! I couldn't be happier. He gained 11 ounces in 8 days:) We stopped giving him formula on Sunday so it's been strictly breast milk for the past 4 days, and he's stilling gaining weight. That's a huge relief because you just never know how much milk he's getting.

In other news, he had a few firsts this week. First time in the bouncy chair:

First time in the swing:First time getting a sponge bath from Mom and Dad (my mother gave him one while she was here so technically it wasn't his first sponge bath). He didn't like it, as the picture shows:First time in a store... I have no picture but my sister Pam and I took Luke to Babies R Us and Swoozies today. It was nice for me to get out into the world again. I feel a little more normal now.

First time staying up almost all night! Boy was Tuesday night a rough night. Once he finally fell asleep- after the sun came up- I snapped these pictures. He's so cute when he's sleeping. Not so much in the middle of the night when he won't sleep and you don't know why.

We survived our first night alone

Last night was our first night without the help or nurses or family. We survived! Luke took pity on us and slept really well. I put him down at 10pm and had to wake him at 1am and then again at 4am for feedings. He woke up by himself at 6:30am for another feeding, but then went back to sleep pretty easily. I think I may have gotten 6-6.5 hours of sleep last night!! That's by far the most sleep I've gotten in a night in the past 2 weeks. My body is in shock.

A nurse came by today for another weight check on Luke. He's now up to 5 pounds 8 ounces!!!!!! We are thrilled. He even has some fullnes in his cheeks. His color is so so so much better and the skin is no longer hanging off of his legs and arms. He looks so healthy:)

In other news, his umbilical cord fell off this morning! We are glad to say goodbye to that. Oh, and yesterday David and I discovered what projectile poop is. The new carpet in his bedroom is officially broken in:)

Harley

Harley has been fantastic with Luke. She has been very gentle and doesn't seem *too* jealous. David has really come through for Harley, walking her every day and giving her lots of extra attention. All of his attention has helped a lot, but she still is a little jealous of Luke anytime I feed him. She comes up to me and puts her little head on my lap wanting attention too. As the picture below shows, sometimes I can multi-task and take care of both at once. (This is clearly not sanitary!)

The only "problem" with her is at night when Luke cries. She cannot see him in the bassinet, and when he cries she runs over to it and tries to jump up to see what is causing that noise. Once she gives his head a good sniff she settles down, but boy does his crying really excite her! This has led to sleepless nights for the furry member of the family. Here she is taking a nap during the day to make up for lost sleep at night:

Speaking of Harley, I finally ventured outside with her yesterday. David, Harley, Luke and I went to the park for a walk. It felt great to be outside! Luke slept through the entire walk, but Harley was excited enough for the two of them.

Luke Meets (Some of) His Family

Luke has been introduced to several family members in the past week. I hope he made a good first impression! We are excited to have a reason for family to visit more often (hint, hint).

Luke with Mom-mom and Pop:

Luke with Grandmom: Luke with Aunt Becky, Uncle Ken, Leah, Eli and Gabby:

Luke with Aunt Becky:

Luke with Aunt Kathy and Uncle Tom: Luke with Aunt Susan:
Luke with Lauren: