Baby Luke Turns 2 Months Old

Wow... has it been two months already?!  Actually it's been 9+ weeks since Luke was born and as you can imagine the changes from week-to-week are significant.  Obviously he has been eating well as can be seen by his growing body (and cute chunky little cheeks!).  Most of his 0-3 clothes are already too small - or very tight.  The pediatrician says that most babies double their birth weight in 4-6 months... Luke has nearly done it already (see Fun Luke Facts at the bottom of this post).

Luke enjoying  his "bouncy" chair with vibrations, lights, sounds and dangling toys

The second month has included new milestones and a greater awareness of the world around him.  Luke now follows objects/sounds with his eyes and turns his head to observe things that catch his attention.  He has more interest in toys and stimuli that are nearby.  He has also started to give "social" smiles that are in response to something he sees or hears (not just from gas as happened a few times in the first month!).  We've also heard a few laughs from the little guy but we're not always sure what's so funny.

A favorite early evening activity for Luke and Mom - snoozing in loving arms

Big sister Maddie continues to thrive in and enjoy her new big sister role (hierarchy) in the family.  She's learning lots about babies and frequently wonders: "Did I do that when I was a baby?".  She particularly enjoys Luke's bath time... and no longer is worried about "what if he pees in the water?".

Maddie delays her own bath by making sure Baby Luke is squeaky clean!

Each month we're reading about baby's developmental milestones so Maddie understands how Luke is growing and why Luke (and all babies) do certain "baby things".  There is definitely a special connection between Maddie and Luke that is quite different from the parental bond Luke shares with Tom and Angela. 

Luke "relaxes" with Maddie as she plays a video game before the Home Depot kid's workshop

Maybe it's the tone or pitch of Maddie's voice, maybe it's because Maddie is "little" too, or maybe Luke just knows (feels) that Maddie is destined to become his first, and best, lifelong friend!  Maddie can almost always quiet a fussy moment by just soothing Luke with words (Dad runs for the pacifier!) and Luke saves his biggest and best smiles for Maddie.  As parents, witnessing this interaction is so rewarding and never ceases to stir emotions in Angela and Tom.

Luke enjoying the musical flashing star on his activity mat

Luke showing Dad the musical flashing star - "isn't it cool, Dad?"

Fun Luke facts at 2 months old...
Favorite food: Formula (5 oz per feeding - sometimes more!)
Favorite pastimes: Eating, Stroller walks, Laying on Activity Mat
Least favorite activities: Diaper changes, Putting on PJs, Tummy Time
Favorite Book: Five Little Ladybugs
Longest continuous sleep: 7 hours
Weight: 13 lbs, 15.5 ounces

Labor Day Weekend

A busy fun filled Labor Day weekend is in the books.  Lots of progress was made in completing the last few big things to get Luke's new room finished and to move the toy room into the new toy/guest room.  Final touches are still needed in both rooms, but the bulk of the work is done.  Phew!

Between all the errands and work, we still made time to have some fun.  Friday night we went to see the movie Nanny McPhee Returns.  Movies are a little bit challenging with Luke, but overall he does very well and Tom and Angela are able to share "break times" so nobody gets stuck in the lobby for the whole movie.  After the movie we grabbed a bite to eat for dinner and a trip to the ice cream shop for dessert.

Maddie investigates a star fish at the aquarium touch tank

A shark and other fish in an aquarium exhibit

On Sunday afternoon we visited the Sea Life Aquarium (using tickets that Grandma left for us when she visited in July - thanks Grandma!).  Of course, Maddie was completely excited to brush up on her marine biology knowledge and to see all of the sea creatures.  For Luke, it was his first trip to an aquarium and we're not quite sure if he liked it or not (to be fair, he spent most of his time snoozing in the stroller).

Maddie enjoys a big view of a big tank

Angela and Maddie experience sea life all around as they view the aquarium from a bubble window

Maddie, Luke and Angela pose near the aquarium playground

After the aquarium we ate dinner at the RainForest Cafe.  Our table was near some rowdy gorillas and some raining clouds.  More than a few times a noisy herd of elephants "disturbed" our meal.  There was lots of neat "wildlife" all around the restaurant so there was lots to see while we waited to eat.  The food was tasty too... Maddie ate Python Pasta and Tom and Angela ate some overpriced cheeseburgers.  Luke snoozed and woke up mid-meal to have a bottle (none of the wildlife seemed to bother him at all).

Dad, Luke and Maddie waiting with a tree frog to be seated for dinner

It was a busy weekend but a fun weekend... tomorrow it's back to school, work, and the regular schedule for everyone!

Proud Parents

Maddie completed her 5th week of kindergarten last week, marking the half-way point of the first quarter.  Progress Reports were sent home today evaluating the students' progress in academic subjects and behaviors that promote learning.  We're proud parents!

Maddie's Mid-Quarter Progress Report (click to view larger image)

Letter grades are not given to kindergarten students.  Instead, academic standards are categorized as:

• "Meets Standards" meaning student would grade between 80%-100%
• "Progressing" meaning student would grade between 70%-79%
• "Area of concern" meaning student would grade at 69% or less

More than the academic achievements, we're especially proud of Maddie's exemplary behaviors and the teacher comments.

The impact of five weeks of kindergarten has been noticeable.  Maddie's reading skills and confidence have increased significantly.  Her writing has improved so that letters are more consistently sized and aligned with spaces between words and she has a greater "endurance" to sit and read or write for longer periods of time.  When she writes, more words are spelled correctly, and even misspelled words are close enough to be deciphered.  New mathematical and scientific concepts are being explored, grasped, and applied (how many of you know what a Venn diagram is... ask Maddie!).

Best of all, Maddie is enjoying kindergarten and has expressed that it's mostly fun.  We hope that she keeps having fun and the learning will take care of itself.

Baby Luke Turns 1 Month Old

It's hard to believe that Luke is already one month old!  (Have we been waking in the middle of the night for 30 nights already?).  It seems like just yesterday that we were driving to meet him.  Every day we're reminded how blessed we are.  Luke has already brought so much joy and happiness to our lives.

Luke in the hospital

Maddie is embracing the role of big sister and enjoys "helping" with Luke's needs - changing diapers, shaking bottles of formula, and finding lost pacifiers.  She even helped Dad put together the baby swing and crib.  She's also very affectionate toward her new little brother - giving him lots of kisses on his head.  She's anxious for the day when they can play together in the toy room.

Maddie doing what Luke likes best - feeding him!

Mom and Dad are now fully back in "baby mode" and we've relearned everything that we forgot from 5 1/2 years ago.  For the most part caring for newborn Luke seems to be easier than it was caring for newborn Maddie.  However, changing baby boy diapers is a little more challenging than changing baby girl diapers - boys squirt!

Luke concentrates on his target... ready, aim, fire!

Only one week after settling into his new home Luke met "Grandma" (Angela's mother) when she visited for a week.  Of course he instantly charmed her and she fell in love.  We have a trip planned to visit Grandma in Lousiana in the fall - Luke's first airplane ride.

Grandma + Baby = Smiles

Fun Luke facts at 1 month old...
Favorite food: Formula
Favorite pastime: Eating
Least favorite activity: Diaper changes
Longest continuous sleep: 5 hours
Weight: 10 lbs, 9 ounces

Maddie starts kindergarten!

Last week Maddie started kindergarten!  The eagerly anticipated day was Monday, July 26th.  Tom took the day off from work to participate in this momentous day.  Together with Angela and baby Luke, Tom drove the "mom bus" to school, and after wiping Angela's tears and wishing Maddie luck, we left our big girl at school.

Maddie and teacher pose for playground photo before school

Maddie arrives eager to start her first day!

Maddie and a new friend compare first-day fashion

Maddie survived (and even enjoyed) her first week... it's a success!  Every day was a new experience and the dinner table was abuzz with stories of the day's activities.  Maddie's favorite things about kindergarten after one week: making new friends and PE!

Summer Fun

Summer started with several camping trips.  For Maddie, these were her first real camping adventures (she had proven her skills earlier in the spring by sleeping in the tent in the back yard with Dad for an entire night).

Family photo from first camping trip of summer 2010

Our first adventure was a two-night trip.  The cool temperatures and fresh air made it easy to leave the "city life" behind.  Our campsite was along a flowing creek that provided recreation during the day and lulled us to sleep at night. 

Maddie and Dad look for critters in the creek

Mom and Dad took turns playing in the creek with Maddie and she soon made several new friends who also joined us in our splashy (and cold) fun.  Maddie was most interested in finding and catching "critters" which included some water bugs (which she called "whirly-gigs"), minnows and crayfish. 

Mom caught a "whirly-gig"!

At night, a collection of racoons and skunks would visit a large twisted tree near the camp office to snack on treats left out by the office staff.  A crowd of curious campers would gather each night to watch the feeding, but the animals didn't seem to mind. 

Part of the nightly racoon visit

The first camping trip was a huge success and loads of fun.  Maddie was disappointed when Dad started packing up the tent on the last morning so we knew it wouldn't be long until our next camping trip.

Maddie and Mom relaxing on some rocks in the creek

Our second adventure was a three-night trip further north (seeking cooler temperatures) to a different campground.  Some family friends joined us for this trip which meant that Maddie spent the weekend with two of her best girlfriends.  

Maddie and girlfriends

This time our tent site sat atop small canyon walls that overlooked a lake.  With our friends just a few camp sites away, we passed the weekend relaxing, visiting and having fun. 

View from campsite

Meals were cooked and shared together, and after dinner smores were enjoyed (although Maddie prefers to just eat the chocolate - skipping the graham cracker and marshmallow).  This camping trip had lots of excitement.  On the first night Maddie lost her first tooth.  It had been loose for many weeks and with encouragement from her girlfriend Maddie pulled it right out! 

Maddie proudly showing where her tooth once was

Yes, the tooth fairy does make house calls to tents in campgrounds and Maddie awoke with $5 under her pillow in the morning.  Maddie also went fishing for the first time on this trip.  Although she didn't have any luck (but had lots of nibbles), it was lots of fun and she plans to make the fishing pole and gear a regular part of our future camping trips. 

Maddie's fishing line gets a nibble

Maddie with snake skin found near campsite

During the weekend we saw two snakes - a garter snake and a bull snake.  As you might guess, this gave Angela "the creeps" but was one of the highlights of the trip for Maddie.  Probably the most fun and exciting part of this camping trip for Maddie was (drumroll please...) the tire swing at the camp playground!  She and her girlfriends spent several hours at the playground (mostly on the tire swing) throughout the weekend.

Maddie relaxing in the hammock with a book

Girlfriends sitting on some rocks at sunset

After two camping trips, Mom and Dad were ready to go somewhere that didn't require a tent and sleeping bags.  San Diego seemed like the perfect destination.  Again escaping the heat (notice a theme here?), we enjoyed the cool early summer temperatures of San Diego... okay it was a bit too cool.  The hotel pool was heated enough for Maddie and Dad but not warm enough for Mom (but she did enjoy the hot tub).  During our seven days in southern California we visited three theme parks: the San Diego Zoo, Sea World and the San Diego Wild Animal Park. 

Ready for a day of fun

Ready for another day of fun

A day at the animal park isn't complete without mermaid face paint!

Maddie feeding nectar to a lorikeet

Mom and Maddie doing their best imitation of the bat-eared fox

Maddie's favorite animal of the day... a roly poly crawling along the sidewalk!

The dolphin show at Sea World

Maddie and Dad love adventurous thrill rides (Mom not so much).  Even though it was only about 70 degrees and overcast the day we visited Sea World... we couldn't resist this ride.  At the risk of being cold, wet and miserable all day, we eagerly lined up for a chance to ride it (and did it again three more times).

Maddie and Dad celebrate surviving Shipwreck Rapids boat ride

Preparing to get wet on the Shipwreck Rapids ride

Mom's a good sport to ride Shipwreck Rapids  (that smile is NOT genuine)

Journey to Atlantis ride at Sea World - Dad and Maddie in back row

Maddie with baby elephant statue at the San Diego Zoo

Mom and Maddie in "seal holes"

Maddie investigates saber tooth tiger skull

Between visiting the parks, we enjoyed some walks on the beach, a bike ride along Mission Bay, a visit to the seals (wild ones) and just relaxing around the hotel.  What made the trip most memorable however was a 5.7 magnitude earthquake which rattled the hotel one night, waking us up and sending lots of tourists (but not us) into a minor panic. 

Biking around Mission Bay

Maddie investigates ducklings on the resort property

California seals relaxing on rocky beach

Just when we thought our summer couldn't get any better... it did.  In a BIG way.

We had just walked out of the movie theater around 4:00 PM on Saturday, July 3rd (saw Toy Story 3 - really great movie) when Tom received a voice mail and text message from the adoption agency.  Of course we called back immediately.  We were told that a baby boy had been born in a city a few hours away and the birth mother had chosen us to be his family!  We were so excited.  After a brief conversation with the birth mother and the agency worker, we were headed to the hospital. 

Baby Luke in the hosptial, July 3rd 2010.

Around 7:00 PM we arrived at the hospital and saw baby Luke for the first time.  As our hearts melted we knew that our prayers had been answered.  That night the maternity waiting room became our home as we slept with our new baby boy, waking for feedings, diaper changes, and nurse visits.  We were tired, not too comfortable and just a little bit shocked by everything that was happening... but we couldn't have been any happier that night.  Our lives had just changed forever.

First photo with baby Luke

The following day before leaving the hospital we were able to meet the birth mother and spend some time talking with her.  What a blessing that was to us.  As best we could (although words alone are not enough), we expressed our gratitude to this young woman.  We learned a little about her and she learned a bit more about our family.  We walked away from that meeting with a deep sense of admiration and respect for this woman and we just couldn't believe how lucky we were that she chose us.

Baby Luke in the hospital checking out the big new world

So I guess you could say it was a pretty great summer... one that our family will NEVER forget!  Lots of new adventures, new memories and new experiences... but the best of all?  A new baby that joined our family to live, love, laugh and learn.