My niece, Charly, the Chicago Cubs fan (she just doesn’t know it yet):

My son, Luke, the climber:

Luke is so proud of himself and he wanted me to share with you what he can do now. He’s been working so hard at it and after a whole week of practice, he can finally stand up on his own! Well, he still has to hang on to something for balance but he’s working on that. He is so ambitious, that little guy.  These photos were taken a couple weeks ago and he’s a pro at it now. He’s even taken a couple side steps to move from one toy to another.  

Here he is practicing, getting warmed up for the big feat…

and Ta-Da! He knows he did somethin’ good!

What’s super cute is when he stands at his LeapFrog table and moves his bootie to the music. I swear I didn’t teach him that. I think it must be in his blood.

He is eight months old today and I can’t believe all the growing and changing he’s done in that time. We are having so much fun!

Okay, this is a much better video of Luke doing the inch worm (though a day or so has gone by so it’s looking even more like an actual crawl!). Turn on the speakers, cuz he’s talking through the whole thing

Technorati Tags: YouTube, baby crawling

Luke is so close to crawling! He inches around like a worm. I knew this kid once who busted his knee doing The Worm on the dance floor. I don’t think Luke will be busting his knees doing his version of The Worm. It’s a pretty mild version and his knees are still just cartilage. Here he is inching along!

Technorati Tags: baby crawling, YouTube

Six months went kind of fast but it almost seems like a lifetime ago. I was looking through all my pictures (working on header images) and found myself saying, “Holy crap! I had a baby?” For eight years it was just me and Mike. We wanted so badly to be parents but we were starting to be pretty content with just the two of us and the cats. Now Luke is here and we are in a whole different world. Strange. Happily strange. We are thoroughly enjoying it.

It helps that Luke is such a happy baby. That’s the word everyone uses to describe him: happy. He is loving life as much as we are. He laughs. He coos. He smiles. A lot. But besides all that, he’s also doing some other things:

1. He is eating solid foods. So far he has loved everything we’ve given him: oatmeal, rice, carrots, green beans, apples, bananas, pears, avocado, and sweet peas. It probably helps that we’re using the food grinder and giving him the real thing instead of store-bought baby food. Have you tried that stuff? It’s nasty.

2. He is getting more vocal. Sometimes he wakes up early and we can hear him talking to himself in his crib. No clue what he’s saying but it’s none of our business anyway. What’s said between him and the elephant stays between him and the elephant.

3. He has become quite vain. He is ecstatic about seeing his reflection in the mirror, and he laughs every time he sees the picture of himself on our computer screen.

4. He is getting ready to crawl! He gets up on his hands and knees and when there is something in front of him that he wants, he lunges forward to get it. This technique results in some rug burns but he doesn’t seem to mind. It’s fun to watch his facial expressions as he tries to figure it out. He knows he’s on to something.

 So that’s the update on little Luke, and now that I have it on the blog I’m off the hook for writing it in his baby book!

Technorati Tags: babies, crawling, photos

My youngest sister just had her baby yesterday, so I have a new nephew! Gavin Lynn, born at 2:10 pm at a whopping 8 lb. 2 oz. and 20 inches. That’s really not all that whopping in my book, but if you’d seen my sister you would call it whopping too. At nine months pregnant she looked about as big as I did at five months. But she’s super tall and I’m sure that has something to do with it.

I don’t have pictures yet but I’m driving out to the hospital tonight to meet him and will be sure to get some. Until then you can check my other sister’s blog because she was there and posted pictures of the brand-spanking-new Gavin!

Update: I’ve got pictures! But I got home so late last night I only had time to post this one of Ashley and her adorable boy.

Technorati Tags: babies, family, photos

Here is a hilarious video of Luke eating carrots, sucking his thumb in between each bite. Who knows why he does this but I think it’s the cutest thing.

I received word this morning that my good friend was in labor and my youngest sister is scheduled to be induced tomorrow! Two brand new babies, just like that! I’m working just a half day tomorrow so I can go and meet the new little boys. I just hope my sister has the baby before the end of the day, otherwise I’ll have to come back another day to meet the little guy.

I tell ya, I’m way more excited about new babies now that I’m on this side of the infertility fence. Pregnancy news was always tough to swallow when we were trying to conceive, but since having Luke it’s a heck of a lot easier now. I still feel somewhat torn because I’ve been on that other side and I feel a connection with those who are still there, but there’s nothing I can do to help them hop the fence. The most I can do is meet them at the gate and let them know that I’ve been there. There is green grass on both sides, you just need to know where to look.

I am thrilled! Luke is napping in his crib. He yawned, I put him in the crib, I left the room, I shut the door, and now he is asleep. Has been for at least 20 minutes now. He takes short naps so I’m keeping my fingers crossed but I’m enjoying the “me” time by blogging, uploading some pictures, and clearing out some crap in the office.

**Update: He slept for 2 1/2 hours! I got so much crap cleared out of the office, I can see the floor again! I now have room to bring Luke in here to sit in his swing while I blog. I still have more work to do but it feels great to have made so much progress.

I’m overdue for posting pictures!

Luke is starting to look like a little boy… 

The adorable Charly-Girl :

Charly loves her cousin Luke. She gave him lots of kisses and hugs!

Proof that Luke has turned into a thumb-sucker:

This morning he rolled over from his back onto his belly! He sleeps just like his momma…