Luke spent his first Thanksgiving in Grand Haven, where he got to hang out with some of his cousins. A few weeks later we were back for Christmas with Jill's family a week before the actual date to accommodate our travel to San Diego. (There's Luke with Bobby, above.) We went to California a few days before Christmas, and Lucas loved it! We don't know if it was the weather or the constant attention from four adults -- David's sister was there too, and Lucas just loved his time with her and his Grandma Jackie -- but he never stopped smiling the entire trip. We loved it too, with the exception of our flights. Our advice to anyone traveling with a baby: no matter how much more it costs, spring for the direct flight, and cross your fingers that the weather will cooperate. (You guessed it: All of our flights were drastically delayed. Our boy was a trooper, but it was still painful for all of us. I know, I know, we're not going to get any sympathy from our frozen Michigan friends since we left them behind for the sun and beach.)
Around the first of the year, Lucas learned to sit up by himself! After only a couple of weeks of practice surrounded by pillows to catch him when he careened over, he is now almost perfectly steady. It's sure a lot more convenient for putting on and taking off jackets, and he's better at entertaining himself when he's sitting up. He's also a champion roller, and he can get around surprisingly well that way , as Dad learned one day when he turned his back briefly to fold some laundry and soon spotted Luke at the other end of the room fingering the heater. (It has been officially relocated from the floor to the dresser.) No sign of crawling yet, though.
Last week Lucas started playing the piano while sitting on his dad's lap. David let him bang on the keys a little, and all of a sudden a lightbulb went off and Luke realized the he was the one causing the noises! He would plink a little, then look up at Dad with a wondrous look, then plunk a little more and smile . By the third day he was pounding like a pro.
Last weekend we went swimming with John, Katie, and Megan at the indoor pool in Holland. It has a neat kids' splash pool, three story slide, vortex pool, water cannons, etc. Once again, Lucas loooved it even though it was his first time in the water. David took him swimming here in Ann Arbor a few days later. Luke nearly busted a gut laughing when David ducked underwater while playing peekaboo with him and nibbled on his toes.
Finally, Luke has become so much more communicative! His babbling exploded about two weeks ago, with lots of B's and M's. (Odds on "mama" as his first word have plummetted to 2:1 despite dad's constant lobbying for "dada".) He also does this really cute call-and-response grunting thing: He makes a little humming/grunting noise, then you make it back, and everyone repeats the exchange 5 or 6 more times. When he gets really excited, he has started to cackle; it starts off like a fake cough and gets much more bizarre from there. He also has lots and lots of complaining noises, like the ones he's making right now telling me I should be paying attention to him, not editing this post! Anyhow, they're a big improvement over crying.
You can probably tell that David is having a great time at home three days a week with Luke. Jill went back to work full time as of the first of the year. We're all very glad that we were able to stack our parental leaves in order to be with the baby at home longer. Lucas has been in daycare two days a week since October and really seems to enjoy it. He's happy when we drop him off, happy when we pick him up, and we appreciate how calm and cheerful everyone at the center is.
Here are a few stats. At 6 months:
Weight: 19.25 lbs (80%)
Height: 28.35 in (96%)
Head Circumference: 17.13 in (43%)
At 7 months and 3 weeks:
21.9 lbs
I'm pretty sure Luke is now heavier than his Uncle Oliver T. Cat. We'll post the results of Luke's 9 month checkup in a few weeks.
1 comment:
Your Valentine's card is the cutest ever! Cyrus says to blame his mom for no card, but he would love to be valentine's with Lucas. And in a few years they can work on sneaking out of the house and obtaining fake IDs. . . .
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