52-week highlights:
- Luke is eating most things we put in front of him now. He loves gogurt and chocolate chip cookies (who wouldn't?!), but he's also eating different kinds of meat, bread, fruits, and vegetables too. I feel like he's finally getting the majority of his nutrition from food instead of from me!
- I am beginning the weaning process with Luke. He's now eating when he wakes up, around lunch time, and before he goes to bed. He was nursing in the middle of the night too, but the last 2 nights we've let him cry it out and he slept until 6:15 and 5:00am respectively. I think I am FINALLY going to be able to stop nursing him at night now. We have come so far!
- Even though I nurse Luke to sleep at bedtime, he usually wakes up when I lay him down, but he is able to put himself back to sleep, which is huge for us! It's funny because we aren't trying anything new, it's just that Luke is finally ready to sleep.
- Luke loves to play outside! He loves the dirt, mud, water, and swing. If he is grouchy, taking him outside almost always cheers him up.
- Luke's sweet personality is really starting to come out. He smiles a lot and makes me laugh constantly. My heart just bursts with love for him!
- Luke is doing so well in the nursery at church, CBS, and exercise. I can't believe how far we've come in this area!
- Turning one has been a good thing for Luke, we've overcome a lot of challenges in the past few weeks, and it finally feels like he is hitting his stride in life. He is such a sweet little guy. I just love him so much!
51-week highlights:
- I feel like Luke is a totally different kid than he was last week. It's like he's grown up right before my eyes! He is beginning to fall asleep on his own when we put him to bed at night, which he most definitely was NOT doing before. He's also sleeping in his crib longer at night. One night he was in his bed until 5am and the next until 6:15! Progress is being made!
- He is eating lots of different foods all of a sudden. Tonight we had spaghetti with roasted carrots and he ate some of everything! He's eaten eggs, muffins, bits of apples, and, of course smoothie. His absolute favorite thing to eat right now are graham crackers. If he's fussy I can just hand him a graham cracker and he will calm right down. He also likes drinking out of his sippy cup. Last week I felt like weaning him was such a long way off, and now this week I feel like it's right around the corner. Such is life with a baby, I suppose!
- Luke is walking EVERYWHERE. His favorite thing to do is try and be anywhere Henry and Charlie are. Unfortunately his brothers are not as excited about this when they are playing legos or CARS baseball or football :(
- Luke LOVES to play outside. He loves to climb into the playgarden and use any rake or shovel he can find and move dirt around. He also loves to play in the water table.
- In general, I'd say Luke seems to be happier now that he's walking. I'm happier too, less strain on my back ;)
- I can't believe our Lukers is almost 1! What a joy he is. I can't believe God has blessed me with 3 boys. What a privilege!
50-week highlights:
- We have made small strides in the sleep department this week! Luke actually put himself to sleep in the crib 3 times this week. Once with almost no crying and the other 2 times were with lots of crying :(. But he did it! All 3 times he actually fell asleep LAYING DOWN rather than his usual sleep sitting up thing. Hopefully we are getting somewhere now! One night he stayed in his crib until 4 am, the next night 3am, and the past night 1am. My goal is 5am, but right now if he can put himself to sleep at least once/night I'll call that a victory. I'm not going to focus on how long he stays in his crib. Baby steps :)
- Luke doesn't seem to consistently love eating anything in particular. He does get pretty excited about smoothies in his sippy cup, but he certainly doesn't drink a ton of it. Although I suppose that's how Henry and Charlie started with their smoothie drinking too. He certainly isn't eating enough for me to wean him yet, so we'll continue on with the nursing until he can eat more solids.
- Luke is starting to get angry with Henry and Charlie sometimes. For example, if they quickly pick something up off the floor so Luke won't get it (legos, playmobil, etc.) Luke will throw a fit and sometimes even pull their hair or try and tackle them. Obviously he's a normal child so, just like the big boys, there will be no shortage of discipline for our sweet Luke :)
- Luke is officially walking!!!!! He talks lots of steps now and can stand up in the middle of the room if he falls (which he definitely still does a lot of :) He is so proud of himself it is just adorable. It won't be long and he will be keeping up with Henry and Charlie!
- Only 2 more weeks until we have a 1-year old! Crazy!
49-week highlights:
- He is taking more and more steps everyday, pretty soon the whole walking thing will just click!
- Changing Luke's diaper is the worst! He will not stay still!
- Luke is making progress in the nursery. He loves playing in the sandbox at church during exercise, and he even stayed in the nursery for an entire church service this past Sunday. Go Luke!
- Luke still isn't eating a ton of solids. He'll eat some of what I give him, but we certainly aren't at the point where he could get full nourishment from solids if I weaned him. Oh well, we'll get there eventually!
- Luke is still fighting the sleep. I have been able to get him to take naps in the stroller somewhat consistently. He will also sleep on the couch if leave him there after I finish nursing him. So, I'd call that progress!
- Luke has the sweetest smile I've ever seen! When he gives me his big gummy grin I just about melt. We love him so much and can hardly believe he'll turn one in 2 weeks!
48-week highlights:
- Luke is cutting a top tooth, but it's not one of the front 2 teeth, it's on his left side of the mouth. Maybe that's what's been causing all of his horrible sleeping :)
- Speaking of horrible sleeping, we've realized that often when Luke wakes up crying at night and cries off and on for extended periods (like 4 hours!) he is actually falling asleep sitting up and then his head will bob and sway and he'll wake himself up and cry again, only to fall asleep sitting up and repeat the whole process. We can't figure out why he won't just lay down. It's really strange.
- Luke is taking lots of wobbly steps. I'd say no more than 3 at a time right now, but he's getting pretty sturdy. He can even bend down and pick something up and then stand back up. It won't be long now!
- Luke is starting to drink water from a cup and even hold it himself! This is HUGE! I've been feeling like I will never be able to wean him, but this is such a big step towards that goal. Yeah!
- He's slowly starting to eat more food. Tonight we ate dinner at church and he LOVED Grandma Sharon's pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (who wouldn't? ;)
- Luke loves to stand in front of the refrigerator and pull out food and throw it on the floor. If I am desperate to keep him occupied I will let him do this and make sure that there is nothing breakable/spillable within reach.
- He is starting to enjoy playing with the play food for the play kitchen.
- Luke is doing much better in the nursery lately. I haven't been called out to pick him up in 3 weeks. Big improvement!
- We love our Lukers so much and can't believe he's almost 1!
Week 47 highlights:
- Luke is starting to take steps! I think he's taken 3 at the most (at least that I've seen). He's so close to walking!
- Luke is starting to eat more food. In the last week he's eaten pancakes, yogurt, crackers, and is finally starting to drink out of a sippy cup. Yeah Luke!
- Luke has had a cold this past week, which has led to a runny, crusty nose and even worse sleeping habits than usual :/
- On the subject of sleeping, I am not sure how we will ever get Luke to sleep through the night. We tried to let him cry it out again and he literally cried for 4 hours straight! From 1:30-5:30 he was crying. We just don't know what to do with him.
- Luke loves to play in the bathroom. If I lose track of him for even a second the first place I always look is the bathroom, and I usually find him there. His favorite part of the bathroom is the toilet. He thinks it is his own personal water table.
- Luke loves to play with anything that Henry and Charlie are playing with. Legos, cars, duplo, it doesn't matter what it is, if they have it, he wants it.
- I find that this stage is very wearying for me. It's really hard that Luke won't nap (except on me) and that he won't sleep through the night. Sometimes I feel like I just don't have any time to myself. I know this stage is short in the grand scheme of things, but right now it seems like it's SO LONG.
- Despite my weariness I am so thankful for our little Lukers! He brings joy to my days!
46-week highlights:
- This week all 3 boys were sick, so not much time to type an update!
- Henry had allergies, Charlie a double ear infection, and Luke a cold. It was a long week!
45-week highlights:
- Luke is starting to eat some more food. He seems to like spaghetti sauce and he ate a ton of avocado last week at the beach (although that night he was sleeping with me and woke up and threw up all over me twice, so maybe the avocado didn't agree with him...or he ate too much?)
- I'm working on trying to get Luke to drink out of a sippy cup and he isn't really interested. He does, however, LOVE to drink water out of my glass.
- Diaper changes...oh my. They are the worst! SO.MUCH.MOVEMENT!
- Luke loves to stand at the fridge when it is open and pull things out. He would seriously do this all day if I'd let him.
- Luke loves to play on the patio and swing. Unfortunately for him, it's been way too hot for either of those things right now!
- Luke is still only napping on me. I'm hoping it will cool off soon so that we can walk to pick up Henry and then maybe I can get him to fall asleep in the stroller.
- Now that Henry is in school, Charlie is really turning into a wonderfully kind and protective older brother to Luke. I love watching them together!
- Luke is such a speedy crawler. He is beginning to think about taking steps, so the walking should come soon.
- This current phase Luke is in is so exhausting for me, but despite the exhaustion, he is such a sweet and funny little guy that I can't stay frustrated for long :)
44-week highlights:
- When Luke smiles his 2 bottom teeth show and it is just the cutest thing I've ever seen!
- Luke is finally starting to eat some solid food. Tonight at dinner I cut up a banana and broke apart a muffin and he actually ate some of it! We are making progress!
- Luke loves to stand up and walk around the furniture while holding onto it. I think he could take steps any day now!
- He loves to play in the toilet. Obviously we try to prevent this from happening, but sometimes we fail :)
- Changing Luke's diaper requires a strong arm and a whole lot of determination. He is so wiggly it seems impossible sometimes!
- His naps are still pathetic :( What would work out well for me is if he just fell asleep in the stroller on the way to pick up Henry from school. He actually did that today, but I'm not going to get my hopes up that this will happen again. We'll see.
- He is still nursing every 3-4 hours. Hopefully we can keep increasing his solids and spread out his feedings even more.
- His night nursing is getting to be too much. He wakes up and literally the only way I can get him to go back to sleep is to nurse him. If we try to rock him he'll just wiggle and move and stare at us, but not go to sleep. Since we know that moving into Sharon's Aunt Alma's house on Justin Court is a likely possibility, we aren't wanting to make any drastic changes with the sleeping arrangements until that happens. This means that right now the night nursing is what we're sticking with. Ugh. It's getting old. We need to try and let him cry it out again, but we have to wait until he isn't sharing a room with Henry and Charlie to do it. So complicated.
- Luke hasn't been too keen on the nursery lately. The church nursery has been horrible and the aerobics nursery hasn't been much better. We start CBS tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes.
- We love our Lukers!
43-week highlights:
- Oh Luke, the lack of good naps and waking up all the time at night are getting pretty old :( I've dealt with all of this before (thanks Henry and Charlie!) so I'm no stranger to it, but it still doesn't make it any easier. What I wouldn't give for a couple of hours to myself everyday! I know this stage is short, but right now, it just feels like it will never end. I am tired! And now that Henry has started kindergarten (which he LOVES!) I can't just lay in bed with Luke until 7 or 7:30 when he wakes up. I have to get up to get Henry to school, so Luke is waking up significantly earlier than he ever has before. We will adjust, but it just feels so hard right now.
- Despite the sleep issues, Luke really is a sweet little guy. He has THE BEST smile ever. The two little teeth on the bottom show when he smiles and he just makes me want to hug and kiss him over and over again. (In these moments I forget about the whole not sleeping thing :)
- He's still not totally into solid foods. He loves cheerios, but anything else we try to give him usually ends up making him gag and throw up. One day I will not be his only food source, but now is not that time.
- He loves Henry and Charlie and does not want to miss out on anything that is happening with them!
- Oh Luke, we love you, but could you please sleep a little more!
42-week highlights:
- Luke made it through his first week in Carpinteria. He ate ALOT of sand, which made for some interesting diaper changes ;) He loved crawling into the water and playing in the holes Grandpa Royce dug. I'd say he had a great time! (John and I are tired though!)
- We are still working on the sleep training thing, although I think we might put it on hold for awhile. John is getting up for 6am tennis practice right now, and we are trying to help Henry sleep as well as possible as he prepares to start Kindergarten next week, so letting him cry for 2+ hours every night isn't really helping anything. And, most importantly, the whole "crying it out" thing isn't even working! He just doesn't seem to want to fall asleep! And I feel bad making him cry for more than 2 hours. So I guess we'll pick up the sleep training again later.
- Luke loves to eat cheerios and puffs but still isn't interested in any other solid foods. I'm ready to not be his only source of food, but he doesn't seem to be ready to move on yet.
- Playing with his brothers is still Luke's favorite thing to do. Henry and Charlie are so good to him, it is such a joy to watch them together!
- We love our Lukers!
41-week highlights:
- Not much new this week. Luke is still struggling in the sleep department, but other than that he's a happy guy.
- We leave for Carpinteria today, which promises to be a challenge with a 9-month old. I'm anticipating Luke wanting to eat lots of sand. We'll see.
- We sure do love our sweet little guy though!
40-week highlights:
- Luke is really starting to talk alot! He says "mamamama" the most. He is also squealing and shrieking and generally starting to get a lot more talkative. It is so cute!
- Tonight, for the first time, I started feeding Luke applesauce and he actually wanted to eat it! Wow! Usually he spits it out, but this time he opened his mouth wide and swallowed every bite. Our boy is growing up :)
- Last week I took Luke to his 9-month check up and he weighed 27 lbs 1 oz. and was 30.5" long. He is off the charts in both categories! The only concerns I had about him were his poor napping habits and his lack of interest in solid foods. Dr. Shah told me not to worry about either one. We only get our children for 18 years he said, so enjoy them and don't worry so much :) Good advice!
- We are still working on the sleep training, it is not going very well at all. I thought we were seeing lots of steady improvement, but the last few nights he's cried for well over an hour and then we go in and pick him up and rock him, and he hasn't been falling asleep. It's been pretty frustrating! It's also been quite a challenge with all 3 boys sharing a room. John moves Henry and Charlie into our bed while Luke "cries it out". This situation isn't ideal :(
- Despite the sleep frustrations, Luke seems to be so much happier than he has been the last few months. Once his bottom 2 teeth popped through and came up a bit I feel like he's a changed boy. So much nicer not to have to listen to so much crying! I felt so bad for him, but there wasn't a whole lot we could do for him.
- We still love this 3rd boy of ours to pieces. He brings us a tremendous amount of joy!
39-week highlights:
- Well, as predicted Luke's sleeping at the beach house in Pismo wasn't very great :( We were planning to come home Sunday afternoon, but decided to come home late Saturday night so we could start sleep training Luke!...
- We are 2 nights in to the whole sleep training thing and so far so good. Both nights he's woken up at 2:00am. The first night he cried for 45 minutes. John comforted him twice, but after 45 minutes he put himself back to sleep. The second night John comforted him once and he fell asleep after 15 minutes. Yeah! Hopefully tonight he will only cry for 5 minutes, or maybe less! We'll see. John does the comforting so that we can work on breaking Luke from nursing in the middle of the night. We'll see how this goes when it comes to our week in Carpinteria. I'm willing to do anything to keep him from crying, so we may take a few steps backwards during that week, but we'll see.
- Luke has seemed happier the past 2 days. He even stayed in the nursery at church and in the nursery at exercise for the whole time! I can't even remember the last time I put him in the nursery and didn't receive a text to come pick him up. We are making progress!
- Luke's 2 bottom teeth are really starting to pop through. Maybe he's starting to have some relief from the teething.
- His hair is still really red and it seems to be showing some signs of having curl to it. It will be interesting to see if he ends up with curly hair like Henry.
- I really think Luke's eyes look a lot like Henry. Sometimes when I'm holding him I can't help but feel like it's Henry in my arms again. Such a special feeling.
- We love this little guy of ours!
38-week highlights:
- Nothing very new this week. Luke is still teething like crazy and is rather grouchy a lot of the time :(
- Luke had his first experience playing in the flooded yard at Grandpa Art & Grandma Donna's house. He put his feet in the water, but was mostly held by Grandma Sharon & Grandma Donna.
- We head to Pismo tomorrow with the extended Wiebe family. It should be fun, but I anticipate the sleeping part of the week for Luke will probably not go well. Oh well.
- Sleeping in general is still pretty crummy for Luke. I want to start sleep training him, but I feel like our efforts will be wasted since we have vacations coming up. We'll see how Pismo goes, if it doesn't go well, then sleep training it will be.
- Despite his teething and sleep issues Luke is still such a sweet little guy. We just love him so much!
