Since before he was born, we've known that Luca has some strong legs. My ribs knew it when I was pregnant with him, the doctor knew it when he tested him out at the first appointment, and we see it everyday when he stands (with a little help) on the thighs of glory. Now that he's rounding the 5-month corner, he's found a new use for his strong legs: jumping in the jumperoo.
Don't be fooled by Luca's cooperative on-command jump. For the past month he hasn't been so obliging in the middle of the night, and has been waking frequently. We've put the blame on teething, and tonight T felt the sharp edge of a tooth poking through. While the situation isn't ideal for anyone, I enjoy an unexpected benefit of collective sleeplessness: naps on the couch with Luca.
Luca hit the babysitter lottery this weekend, getting to spend Friday night with Ryan and Lindsay Backer & friends, and Saturday night with Laura Backer. R & L were gracious and game enough to add Luca into the mix even though they had visitors in town...and by visitors, I mean a family of four. Thanks, Backers!!
On Saturday night, we celebrated Auntie Sara officially becoming a doctor. In honor of the occasion there was a fantastic grown-up party where we got to talk to Sara & Kris more than the last several visits combined. And I still have Kris' bluegrass rendition of "Sara, You're a Real Doctor Now" running through my head.
We hope everyone has a lovely Thanksgiving holiday!
Charting Luca's Identity Crisis: (what follows is a list of the random nicknames that our poor son hears almost daily) L.T. Friendo Lumpo The Lump Anders Stinkerton Lee Preshy Presh Presh The Smidge Button Wiggles Mcgee Bubbs Pumpkin Hamburger Nerfburger Plumperton Nut Nut Taco Stu Johnny Napsacks
Luca has grown so much and has nearly doubled in weight since he was born four months ago. Today he weighed in at 16 lbs 14 oz and measured 26 1/2 inches tall. With those stats, it's no wonder that he's starting to feel less like a tiny baby and more like little boy.
He's also blossoming developmentally, with the big news of the week being that he is rolling over. Notably, he is rolling from his back to his stomach and getting both hands free to do a push-up-and-look-around move. According to Omi, the internet, and the doctor, this is the harder way to roll and puts Luca into the "advanced" category. This video is from a step or two ago in his rolling evolution, but you'll get the idea.
On Thursday night Luca got to go to his first NBA game. Too bad it was the Wolves instead of the Mavs, but the smidge still K-loved it.
The other event of the weekend was a two-fold celebration of Erica's birthday, with pedicures & beer in the afternoon and cake & kids & more beer at Casa Marsden in the evening.
One of our co-celebrators asked the million dollar question: who does the baby look like? We're sure that he's cuter than either of us were, though T suspects that's the advantage of digital photography and that he was in fact the cutest baby ever.
This weekend Luca met his Aunt Alecia and Uncle Mark for the first time while they were visiting from New York City. If we had remembered our camera, you would look below to see adorable pictures of Luca making googlie eyes at them. Since we were remiss and have no photographic evidence, we are instead offering these pictures of Luca performing his newest tricks: sitting up (with assistance) and turning regular toys into chew toys.
This weekend we celebrated the one and only Benjamin Casey's first birthday. Luca had a ball with his Minneapolis cousins, and Ben had the time of his life with the chocolate cake. In both of our families there are far more girls than boys, so it's no surprise that these two little chaps are treated like princes.
The bambino just rounded the 3-month corner! He's up to some new tricks and logged a lot of firsts this week, which we spent out in California. He took his first plane ride, visited the ocean, attended a wedding, went to his first concert in the park, met his Grandpa David, and was introduced to some great friends. You'd think he'd be worn out, and it seems like he might be because he's starting to make a habit out of sleeping in excess of 9 uninterrupted hours per night. We know, we know...it's not going to last. But it's not stopping us from enjoying the sleep.
In addition to his new sleeping skills, Luca is adding some other talents to his resume. He is developing his neck strength and is close to sitting up. For now, we interpret his sticking his head out as a desire to sit up, so we help him the rest of the way. His hand movements are getting more and more coordinated, and he loves to jam his whole hand in his mouth and talk around it. And he's been kicking his legs up and doing his best to roll over.
We'll have to wait several more months to know what color Luca's eyes will end up being. They seem to change almost daily - sometimes we're sure they're turning brown, but the next moment they'll look blue or even a little green. His hair is pulling a chameleon act as well, going from brown to golden and making a stop at reddish along the way.
Luca shows off his serious side with a major scowl, but the best development of late is how much he is smiling. He's even come close to laughing a couple of times. He can be a flirt and smiles like crazy for ladies, though he also pulls the cutest shy act by smiling and then rubbing his face into your shoulder.
It might sound ridiculous, but we are so proud of him. He's such a good baby and he makes life even more fun for us than it was before. We often forget that he's a baby because he feels like such a natural addition, like an mini partner-in-crime for T & me.
Along with the start of a new season, there are some changes afoot around here - some big, some small. To start with the big, happy news, Papa & Gigi made it official and were married in California on September 12th.
Here at home, we can't quite believe how the small, daily changes add up over the course of weeks and months. Looking through our videos of Luca's life thus far, we're struck by how much the smidge has changed.
Luca at 1 week:
Luca last week:
And to file under "inconsequential and hopefully temporary," as a reward for the successful completion of his summer internship I bought T a Wii. Truth be told, I didn't think it would get that much attention in our house since we get so much entertainment from Luca. Shows what I know...most nights you'll find us parked in front of two screens: the video baby monitor and Wii tennis. This is a phase that I'm sure will pass, but for now we're a Wii family.
We hate to break the hearts of all the baby girls we know, but Luca has already found his first love. Her name is "Miss Chickie" and she lives in his car seat. Luca smiles at and talks to her, and if she falls off to the side he starts to fuss. The other hanger-on is Turtle, who inexplicably does not seem to elicit the same kind of attention. Luca's love is reserved for Chickie.
Luca reached the two-month marker this week, so we took a trip to the doctor's office for immunizations and a check-up. LT was as brave as an eight week old can be about the shots, and was also very impressive in the weight gain department. At 14 lbs, he's in the 95th percentile for weight. To round out his stats, he is 23.5 inches long and his head is 15.5 inches. I'm relieved to report that his head is only 50th-percentile-big, and that he didn't inherit a gravity-defying Allen melon. In addition to his clearly good taste in music, Luca is developing an excellent sense of humor. He thinks we're hilarious. He's very talkative, especially in the morning after a good sleep, a diaper change, and some breakfast. Speaking of sleep, he gave us a preview (we hope) of a more sane future when he slept for 9 consecutive hours on a few nights last week.
We've been so surprised by Luca and by how much you can love 14 pounds of boy. A few of our favorite observations at two months:
- He's managed to uncurl his hands and can get them to his mouth - When tired, he pulls on his ears and rubs his eyes and face - He loves his dad's whistling, and seems to enjoy music and voices above all else - Luca usually wakes up smiling, but occasionally wakes with a silent, contorted-face cry that would be sad if it weren't so funny - He does the best wake-up stretch - His hair is lightening to a strawberry blond and is starting to fall out just in time for hat season
We spent last weekend in Lanesboro, Minnesota, a tiny town in the southeastern corner of the state. For some reason, we thought it was a great idea to take a two-month-old baby on a three hour car ride to stay in a quaint, old inn...and luckily it turned out that we were right. Luca slept the whole way both going and coming, and our inn neighbors didn't have a single midnight peep or scream to complain about.
For our part, we enjoyed the getaway and the break from laundry & dishes. Lanesboro is, in a word, picturesque. The main attractions are bike paths, Fall colors, and Amish tours. This is the kind of place that's so curiously charming, it just might have inspired a Stephen King story.
While in town we mostly strolled and ate. We also stopped into the Lanesboro museum which is stocked with all manner of memorabilia, from Uncle Ernie's hockey jersey to antique grain milling equipment. Karen, the woman in charge of the museum, actually watched Luca for a few minutes so that T & I could check out all three floors. Only in Lanesboro...
But the main entertainment was Luca, followed by watching the DNC. Luca is getting more smiley and social every day, and he made his first friend, elephant #1 on his pack'n'play mobile. He spent a lot of time exchanging smiles and single-syllable sounds with us.
Now we're back at home, with the RNC raging (or whimpering) along in St. Paul. Watching Palin last night made me wish we were back in Lanesboro watching the Obamas, Clintons, and Bidens again. Although I did get a kick out of the unbelievably inappropriate "Hoosiers for the Hot Chick" button sported by one vet during Palin's speech...
We hate to break the hearts of all the baby girls we know, but Luca has already found his first love. Her name is "Miss Chickie" and she lives in his car seat. Luca smiles at and talks to her, and if she falls off to the side he starts to fuss. The other hanger-on is Turtle, who inexplicably does not seem to elicit the same kind of attention. Luca's love is reserved for Chickie.
Luca reached the two-month marker this week, so we took a trip to the doctor's office for immunizations and a check-up. LT was as brave as an eight week old can be about the shots, and was also very impressive in the weight gain department. At 14 lbs, he's in the 95th percentile for weight. To round out his stats, he is 23.5 inches long and his head is 15.5 inches. I'm relieved to report that his head is only 50th-percentile-big, and that he didn't inherit a gravity-defying Allen melon.
