Christmas at Home

We celebrated just the 3 of us at home on December 20. Of course for Troy and I, this year was all about Luke.  We loved shopping for him and our first experience as "Santa" putting together his toys.  Luke absolutely loved hearing the paper rip.  He would squeal in delight with each gift.  Santa brought him a rather large toy that rolls balls down a chute and has an elephant, hippo and monkey to play with as well.  

Santa was also very generous with filling stockings this year.  Luke had two that were stuffed- one celebrating his first Christmas and the other that Grandma Johnson made for him (so neat).  

After our celebration, Troy and I had to pack and get everything ready for our week long trip to Kansas and Missouri to visit family.  Troy joked that the house was so clean and picked up because everything was in the car (we did have an abundance of stuff but all was necessary of course :).  We left the following morning.

Whew!!

We made it- through the holidays that is.  The last six weeks has flown by.  It is hard to believe it is already 2009.  Luke has grown so much and is learning so many new things.  What a fun time it has all been.  

Thanksgiving we spent at home with my dad, stepmom, stepsister and nephew.  We had a nice relaxing weekend and Luke had 3 tiny bites of mashed potatoes to celebrate.  It also happened that Troy put the highchair together on Thanksgiving and Luke sat in it for the first time during our turkey dinner.

The end of November and beginning of December Luke was able to try more solid foods.  He enjoyed carrots, peas and applesauce- a big hit!  At present, Luke is now also eating oatmeal, bananas, pears, peaches, prunes and we found out that he doesn't like green beans (cried when he ate them).  

The weekend of December 13 and 14 we went to Dallas to surprise Georgia for her birthday (it was a big one but we won't say which one :)  It was a bunch of driving for Luke in two days but he was a trooper.  I had managed to forget bottles of all things.  So we stopped at Target to get some but another mistake on my part was purchasing "fast" flow bottles.  Luke wasn't ready for that but we did the best that we could.  That was until Luke had his last bottle of the day and 5 minutes later threw up everything in his stomach including his dinner from 4 hours earlier. Let's just say it was a good thing he had extra pj's!!  It was everywhere and as such I will no longer forget bottles.

That weekend Luke also started to really play with his rattles.  He was able to pass them back and forth between hands and he loved it.  Now except when his hands are in his mouth (quite often) he is reaching for or playing with some sort of toy.  Maggie has also become quite a fascination within the last couple of weeks.  Luke really likes her soft fur and he is always following her with his eyes.  I know they will be best buds when Luke gets older.

First Rice Cereal

So, we had another big milestone yesterday.  Luke had his first taste of solid food although I wouldn't really say it was solid.  He got to try rice cereal.  He appeared to like it but got frustrated very quickly because it wasn't a constant flow as with a bottle.  I made it a rather liquid consistency so Luke basically just slurped it off of the spoon.  He had maybe 15-20 spoonfuls and then he was done and ready for some milk.  We tried again today and I made it just slightly more solid but he finished all that I fixed today although there was still frustration.  The doctor said to gradually work up to more solid and a couple of times a day before moving on to fruits and vegetables.  Maybe on Thanksgiving he can have a taste of some peas or carrots- YUMMY!

   

New Pictures

 Love those hands!

 Perfect shirt for me!

 Check out my overalls!

 Ready for winter!

 Zonked out!

Update

So, it's been a while since I've posted.  Life has been busy.  November is flying by and it is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is next week.  Luke was 4 months old on the 10th.  It's going so fast.  We are trying to enjoy every moment.  His favorite things right now are sucking on his hands, kicking his legs super fast, playing on his play mat, being on the changing pad and interacting with mom and dad and he loves bath time.  He also now really likes his swing and takes his naps there on a regular basis.  At Luke's 4 month appointment today, he weighed 15 lbs 4 oz (50% for his age) and he is 25 1/2 inches long (60%).  Luke is holding his head up very well and likes to sit up and stand with help of course.  He also likes to bounce and wiggle and laughs up a storm.  Monday he really found his voice and is talking nonstop when awake.  Troy and I absolutely love it!!  Another milestone happened over the weekend.  On Saturday Luke rolled over for the first time- YEAH!  Because of his reflux he doesn't like to be on his tummy much so I wasn't expecting him to roll over so soon.  Troy and I were on the floor with him and saw him do it.  I was so glad that Troy was home and able to see it with me for the first time.  Luke has changed so much the past 2 weeks- it is absolutely amazing!  We love every minute and can not wait for the next big event to happen.  

Halloween

I knew that Halloween wouldn't be too exciting this year for Luke but I was hoping to have some fun anyway.  I bought Luke a monkey costume with the hope of at least getting some great pictures.  We did get pictures but Luke was not his happy, smiley self because he refused to take much of a nap all day.  After Troy carved our pumpkin we put Luke in his costume and managed a few pictures before he lost it.  Troy and I enjoyed our little monkey even though he wasn't enjoying himself too much.

    

Topeka Weekend

We took Luke on his first trip to Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's house two weekends ago.  We were actually there for five days.  It was a very nice weekend with family.  We arrived just before dinner on Thursday and left before lunch on Monday.  Friday, Luke and I spent the day with Lowell and Sherre as Troy had to be at KSU for an alumni meeting.  On Saturday, Grandma and Grandpa took care of Luke so that we could go to the K-State football game.  It was nice to be on our own for a few hours but I definitely missed my little munchkin.  After church on Sunday, extended family came for a luncheon and to meet Luke for the first time.  I was somewhat worried that Luke would not handle it well but he slept through most of it and did just fine.  Although we when got back home he took a 4 hour nap- poor little guy.  Of course everyone thought Luke was adorable and Grandma and Grandpa really enjoyed showing him off :)