a gentile family: June 2011

Ok, seriously Luke has accomplished so much this month it's crazy! 2 months ago we were in NC with Eric, Lauren and their little Elli, she was just 4 months at the time. I was able to see a glimpse of what Luke would be doing at that age and thought there is NO WAY he'll be doing those things in just 2 more months! Sure enough he's doing them. Sometimes it just baffles me to know that babies brains are developing this quickly.

Luke's big accomplishment this month was rolling over. He now rolls over all the time. For a while we were just practicing with him on his play mat and he would get it, but not really on his own. Then one day, Dave and I left Luke to play on his mat as usual, when we came back we found Luke on his belly with his arms holding up his upper body. He was looking around probably wondering how the heck did I do this?!

That night we decided maybe it was time for him to retire from his "swaddle me" contraption and upgrade to the sleep sack. Luke was getting strong and fighting his little arms out of the "swaddle me" almost every night. The first night in the sleep sack went smoothly, with no waking up in the middle of the night, he seemed to like it. The second night was a different story. He was waking up every three hours because he would roll himself over on his tummy and was too tired or maybe too frustrated to roll himself back over. I was tired and worried this was going to happen every night! The third night Luke did the same thing but this time we decided we would let him cry it out a little and after a few minutes of him rolling from his belly to his back and crying he finally fell asleep back on his belly. It was the cutest thing to watch via video monitor. He's finally back to his regular sleeping habits again but instead of sleeping on his back he now sleeps on his belly.

We learned that Luke rolling over has its pluses and minuses. The plus, he's developing and it's cute to watch. The minus, we can't leave the room he's in as much as we used too, he'll roll himself all the way on the other end of the family room. We no longer can leave him in his bassinet to get work done, he's rolled in that too. And we have to strap him in his swing. I guess we should brace ourselves for when he starts crawling right?;) By then we may have to purchase a baby fence for the house so we can get work done;)

Luke also went thru another growth spurt this month. Those always throw a curve ball. Just when we got him on a good nap schedule, feeding schedule and night-time sleep schedule his little body decides to grow again! It lasted for about a week and he ate every 2 hours again with waking up an extra time in the night. We think we're finally back on our schedule again which is nice.

Some things we love about Luke this month:

He giggles giggles giggles! He loves to look at you and then all of a sudden burst into laughter. You wonder what he is laughing at?!
He's mister personality and sociable. When we go out he's always smiling, laughing and talking to strangers.
He opens his mouth and let's out a long ahhhhh sound. It's quite pleasant and rather controlled the whole way through the sound. He could possibly be musically inclined?!
There were a few times we would be driving and he would be wailing in the backseat. Usually music stops him but for some reason he just wouldn't stop. I was looking through some of my CD's and found a song that I love and would play over and over again during Christmas. It's called, "Here with us" by Joy Williams. As soon as I started it Luke immediately stopped and looked around with awe. Out of curiousity I thought, was it the song that got him quiet or something else? I played the next track and he started to cry again, then I put the other song back on and he stopped again. I started to think, is it the sound and tune of the song? I'd like to think it's the words to the song and having to do with Jesus's birth:). I'm kind of thinking it may be the fact that I played this song over and over again while he was in my womb. Who knows, but it's pretty cool to think about!
We love watching him sleep. He looks so cozy!
Now that it's summer we love to take him to the pool and to the lake. He is so cute in the water and by the end of the day he's wiped out and takes longer naps:)
He likes to play with his teething toys, he may be teething. He's been tugging on his ear, knawing on his little fingers and drooling. Apparently signs of teething...
He holds his feet with his hands
We tried to put him in his exersaucer and he still has to grow about 6 inches to reach the bottom:)

Some of our not so favorite things about Luke this month:

The little booger learned how to throw tantrums this month. My goodness, they're loud! I think some of them were probably started because he was hungry, and me not realizing he was going through a growth spurt at the time. I felt really bad:(
He fights his sleeps. He's been doing this, but now that he can throw tantrums sometimes it can get a little exhausting. Poor little guy just doesn't know or understand he's tired and the only way to express it right now is through crying:(.
He constantly pulls my hair. Now that he knows how to grab things this is the first thing he always sees.
Still spits up alot...

And of course we can't end the blog without our monthly photo shoot with Luke. Notice the hair, it's growing back!