Irish Baby

After some heckling from a particular aunt and some of my own heckling, I am finally posting again. I told myself I would post at least once a week and well, I've failed that already. I would love to post two or three times but I don't think our lives are that interesting enough to post all the time. I'm sure you feel the same way and thank me. So, without much to report, here is what we have been up to.

Thursday was Luke's six month well-baby check-up and he is in great health thankfully. He weighed 17lbs and 8oz and was 26.25 inches long. He is in the upper 40th percentile for weight, height and head size (I forgot to ask why they always measure the head) so just a hair below average. He gained the most weight around four months and tapered off at six months. He received four vaccinations, three shots and one orally. He didn't even notice the first jab in the leg and the second and third triggered his Irish redness to come through. His face started to glow like a tomato and let out a big wail of a cry. The nurse was very quick so I was able to comfort him immediately and he calmed down. Thankfully after watching him get shots at his two, four and now six month appointments, I have developed a higher tolerance for it. Yes, I got tears in my eyes when he first got shots at two months. I was NOT expecting him to cry so hard at that appointment. I had never heard him cry like that before and it broke my heart. I certainly do not like watching him get the shots and cry but I know it's for the best and tell myself to suck it up. Luke is the one getting the shots! I guess it just reminds me of when I was in the hospital for Luke's birth and they gave me a shot in my thigh muscle and my response was, "OUCH! That really hurt!" The nurse said, "Yeah, that's why I didn't want to tell you beforehand." Nice. I know what Luke feels like.

Jamie is in Wolverine, Michigan this weekend (left on Thursday morning) for a lumberjack show and will be home tomorrow morning. Luke and I have figured out how to get by by ourselves until Jamie returns, and then leaves again a few days later. I have been busy feeding him lots of "solid" food, and by solid I mean pureed veggies and fruit. He has been eating rice cereal for the past two months but just recently we have added veggies and he is really liking them. So far, we have made carrots, sweet potatoes, avocados and zucchini. He eats the carrots well, doesn't really enjoy the sweet potatoes (I think it's kind of blah for him) and LOVES the avocados. We are trying the zucchini tomorrow. I'm thinking he'll like those. Doctors now suggest giving one new food consecutively for at least three days to see if the child has an allergic reaction so it takes a while to get into all the food. I can't foresee him being allergic to any vegetable but it's better to be safe than sorry. I have the pears ripening on the counter though so he can have those in a few days! We purchased a new chest freezer (I told you our lives are not exciting) so I'm excited to store all his food in there and hit up Costco and stock it full with goodies for us. I am going to have to resist getting ice cream from the Schwann's man though.

Luke has been sitting up on his own now more than ever. He can sit for a couple minutes before he topples over to the side or backwards. He likes putting everything from toys to toes in his mouth.

See??

Nothing beats Great-Grandma O'Brien putting Luke to sleep outside.

Haha!! I wonder what he was thinking with that face?!?

Of course, a dog is in the photo.

And another dog... with a really cute Luke!

See? He eats my shirt too.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Love,
Luke and Jill

.5, or as some say, 6 months old

Today, Luke turned 6 months old! I know every parent says this and probably because it's true - time flies with kids (or kid in my case)!! I cannot believe Luke is 6 months already! He has been such an amazing, joyful, happy, easy, pleasant, cute, fun, playful, smiley, chunky, squishy, soft, lovable, kissable, sweet baby, I can't imagine life any other way. I love kids, but I never would have believed that ours would be this awesome. Yes, our baby is awesome. Frankly, I could probably end this post with that, but I'll talk more. :)

Jamie is getting a dually truck for his work and hauling logs around, so I am taking over his Durango. Unfortunately that means I am selling my fun Malibu. I think it's partly fun because it's name sounds fun. If it were named Duluth, blah, not fun. I posted it on craigslist.com last night and within 20 minutes, I already had a serious buyer who is looking at it on Sunday and have another interested person too. I'm a little nervous because I don't know how private party car sales work and don't want to get screwed, so I'll have to call up Steve or my dad to be there with me this weekend since Jamie is in Kansas. I hope they don't mind! Plus, I'm not setting myself up for getting abducted with Luke in the car if they want a test drive. No thank you. So where I was going with this.... this morning we spent outside cleaning out the car while Luke watched the birds and played in his exer-saucer. When he started to fuss, I just turned the vacuum on and he was amused. He loves being outside and thankfully, didn't cry while I vacuumed and cleaned everything out. It's nuts how much stuff you accumulate in your car. I found Q-tips (??), old paycheck stubs, black boots, Trivial Pursuit (yes Peggy, Jim, Carolyn, Maureen, and Meghan, it's still was in my trunk even after we played it last summer at the Talbot's), french fries (definitely from pregnancy since I frequented McDonald's multiple times a week), Christmas CDs (my favorite Jew, Neil Diamond's, Christmas album), and very expired coupons. At this point too, even if it doesn't sell for a few days, I'm definitely going to enjoy my spic and span clean car!

After cleaning and some boring errands that Luke napped through, we hit up Connie and Mike's pool. Wow was it warm and nice! I think it was the same temperature as Luke's baths! He LOVED it and we stayed in the pool for close to an hour. He splashed himself, kicked around and was very content. I love how calm and easy going he is. It certainly makes my life easier!

Since I had to work tonight and Grandma O'Brien is watching Luke tomorrow while I work (Grandma Fischer is in Kansas with Jamie), Meghan babysat! I was nervous just because it was someone new watching Luke but since Meghan is probably more responsible than me, I got over it quickly. When I came home from work, I was pleased to see our house had not burned down. Just kidding! Luke was sleeping and Meghan was watching a movie. Perfect! Just how it should be when you come home to a babysitter! I babysat for years, including babysitting Meghan, and that's one of the best parts (yes, I know, play with the kids is the BEST part!), sitting on the couch watching TV after you successfully put the kid(s) to bed. Meghan did an awesome job (Luke will give me the full run-down tomorrow so I'll post something if he says different) and she said it was a lot of fun. Haha okay! She said he was happy and giggly and only cried once. Sounds successful to me! We will definitely have Meghan back soon to babysit.

Here are a few photos from the last few days. Have a great weekend and Happy Father's Day to all the Fathers, Grandfathers and Great-Grandfathers!! Especially you, Jamie! Happy 1st Father's Day!!! xoxo

Taking a nap at Grandma and Grandpa O'Brien's house in Mom's old crib with her old friend, Floppy the bunny.

He loves playing with his feet and this time showing off his flexibility to Great-Grandma O'Brien.

Chewing on Sophie the Giraffe. Unfortunately, I suspect Sophie will have a short life in our household. They designed her to squeak just like a dog toy and smells like rubber just like a dog toy. I should have just bought Luke a dog toy instead of this "amazing teething toy".

Happy Thursday!

I don't have much to report on besides the latest on Luke (which is most of my life at this point) so we'll run with that!

He rolls over from back to tummy a lot and occasionally will roll from tummy to back. He's not as frustrated anymore when he gets to his tummy since he is getting stronger and can use his arms to reach for toys. He is also sitting up on his own for about 30 seconds and then starts to lean or topple over. He really likes sitting up though and playing now whether he is batting at things or hitting toys. He smiles more than ever with more giggles coming out. I am just waiting for the big belly laughs. There will be videos when that happens!! Here he is in action!

Jack manages to get in the pictures just in time.

Gotta see how it tastes!!

He still loves playing with this playmat but now he has a different vantage point to see his favorite animals!

Back to Luke being most of my life right now, I am open to suggestions for a new hobby. I may default to running but I'd rather not, since that involves running on a regular basis. Remember, it would need to be something Luke and I can do together or at my house while he is around since Jamie is gone most of the summer and I can't use my baby-sitters up on my hobby when I need them for working. :)

Part 2

Two baths in one day and it isn't even from getting dirty?? How did I manage to do that? Well I suppose it's because I needed my usual tub cleaning but then it was my baptism! I woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 5:15am just for mom. We got ready and headed to 7:30 Mass and somehow managed to be late so we sat in the back with the guys. Mel the fisherman kept smiling and waving at me, I liked it. I wonder if his hands always smell of fish? Hmmm, maybe next time I'll try to lure him in with some smiles for a wiff. Anyway, after Mass, mom and I went to a friend of hers house to watch the marathoners. While I thought it was boring, she really liked cheering the runners on. We watched the 20 milers and the full marathoners before heading to Grandma and Grandpa O'Brien's house for a hello. We didn't have too much time before my second bath but mom wanted to catch the ending for the half marathoners since it was in front of their house. Mom said that she ran a half marathon with Tonia in January of 2008, which was WAY before my time. Maybe she'll find a race for us to run together sometime, you know, so she can push me in the stroller and she can run. I can't run yet, silly!

My baptism was really nice. I was the only little babe getting baptized by Fr. Valit and while I had no idea what was going on, mom let me turn around so I could look at all my family sitting in the pews while Fr. spoke and I'm pretty sure I kept them well entertained. They put a beautiful white apron-like thing over me and blessed me then mom held me over the big tub, or baptismal fountain I suppose it's called, and Fr. pour water over my head. It wasn't exactly warm water like my bath earlier so I squirmed, but didn't cry cause I'm a big boy-at least that's what Grandpa O'Brien always says! "How big is Luke? SOOO big." It didn't last long but then he put some manly smelling oil on my head and I was all baptized! Great-Grandma O'Brien was all smiles!

We went for a very informal lunch at Jimmy John's after and everyone had some subs while I chilled in my car seat. I think I will speak up next time and pick some place fun for me too. We had dinner at Grandma and Grandpa O'Brien's house and I watched mom and dad play croquet before the rain had to post-pone their game for a while. Great-Grandma O'Brien fed me my rice cereal though and that was pretty cool. She loves spending time with me and watching me grow. She says I change every time I see her, but I think that's weird cause she doesn't change every time.

On Monday, we went back to my new favorite place to spend warm days, the Talbot's pool!!! This time I brought my swim suit and my little swimmers diapers so I could actually get in the water.

They bought a really cool ducky that kicks the water just like me!

And you're right, those aren't mom's strong arms, those are Meghan's, my personal swim coach. Mom wanted to take the pictures so Meghan's showing me around, she did great!

After swimming, I was happiest sitting with dad and showing off my white, squishy belly for everyone!

That's all from me for now. It's time for bed. Good night and sleep tight. Don't let the bed bugs bite.

Love,
Luke