On a Roll!

He finally rolled over! Whew! Four times in a row!

Playdates

Luke's had a couple of playdates with his favorite girls -- Carson and Olivia Hoot and Grace Weigel. He'll have a lot more dates with the Hoots, but the Weigels are moving back to Oklahoma, and Luke's little heart is broken (just like mom's).

He likes to put everything in his mouth, including heads.

5 Months!

Five months and counting!

So far, we've had:

one earache;

two overnight trips to Grammy's and Grandpa's;

three nights out for mom and dad thanks to Grandmother, Amy and Grammy;

four nights of complete eight-hour sleep; and

five (hundred) colds. Just kidding about the colds ... couldn't think of a "five".

Luke's been on amoxillin for the past week, and I think he's kicked the earache. I'm wondering now if that's why he hasn't been sleeping well. I guess I'll never know though since we tried all things at once -- clock radio in his room, more food, antibiotics.

Pumping Woes

Luke has had a little bit of trouble sleeping at night (actually it might just be that he can't soothe himself back to sleep), so I'm running through all the possiblities it could be.

My latest thought is that he might need more food. I typically pump enough each day to leave three 6-ounce bottles at daycare. This week, I'm going for 7-ounces! But, for some reason, my boobs have decided to retire early.

Monday. I'm off work. Luke eats normally.

Tuesday. I'm ready, go downstairs, start to pump. What is going on?! Nothing's coming out! Pumped 4 ounces. That's super weird -- usually my first pump of the day is the best and makes up for the rest of the day's pumps. By the end of the day, I have enough for two 7-ounce bottles. So I go home and pump a little bit more, but still have to go into my frozen stash. Argh.

Wednesday. Pumping is a little better. Still not enough for three 7-ounce bottles. Ugh! Michaela gave me some herbs to take, so we'll see if that helps.

What is going on? I can't figure why the sudden decrease. Every time I pump, I curse my right boob because it's so lazy! Completely worthless. It consistently makes half as much as the left -- if it made the same, I'd be in business!

I'm not panicking. Yet.

Father Knows Best

When I married Adam, I knew he'd be a good father some day. I did wonder, though, what kind of father would he be -- nervous? patient? laid back? strict?

He continues to impress me -- I tell my pregnant girlfriends that they'll fall in love with their husbands all over again. It's pretty awesome to see a new, softer side.

(checking out his cradle cap, which is finally gone!)

He and I will take different paths to reach the same outcome. Here are few things he's done to settle Luke down that I wouldn't have thought of doing, but seemed to work out great, if not better:

1. Adam took Luke to daycare one morning and had to feed him a bottle beforehand. For some reason, Luke kept refusing the bottle and was really fussy. It wasn't until he was driving him to daycare that Adam thought Luke might be irritable because the bottle wasn't warm enough (he's pretty accustomed to drinking milk that's a constant 98.6 degrees!). So, Adam turned on the seat warmers and held the bottle between his legs the entire way to daycare. Voila. Bottle down the pipe. Happy baby.

2. After coming home from the grocery story, I found the two of them right by the computer listening to what sounded like a really loud waterfall. Turns out, to get Luke to fall asleep, Adam downloaded a 25-minute iTunes purchase -- "Yoga Deep Meditation and Deep Relaxation".

3. Adam will put his mouth right next to Luke's ear and hum really low. I think the vibration and low noise is just the right combination to send him to sleep.

4. Tonight, as I got back in the car after a quick trip into Target, Adam was in the backseat, not the driver's seat. To settle Luke down, he'd turned on the interior light to give him a shadow puppet show.

Alamo Bowl

Thanks to Adam's brother Eric, we had tickets to the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio to watch Texas Tech play against Michigan State. We are definitely a house of Red Raiders! Wreck 'em, Tech!

Game was fun, crowd was fun -- tons of Team Leach fans. Totally sucks that Mike Leach was fired. Oh well. Guns up, regardless!

Little Lumberjack

Now. I know that I'm his momma, but I mean...the cutest baby ever! Thanks, Aunt Lanie, for this super cute lumberjack outfit.

4 Months

Luke's 4-month birthday was December 20. He's 14 pounds and 25 inches long. Doc says he's in the 50% percentile, which I guess makes him average (he's above average in my book -- but that doesn't count, I guess!).

Right now, he's grabbing for everything and putting anything he can get in his hands in his mouth. He's so interested in Max, but Max could really care less, I think. Luke's little face lights up when he sees Max, and his eyes follow him around the room. Pretty cute. I really really hope that Max doesn't snap at Luke when he inevitably pulls his ears or tail.

Luke hasn't rolled over yet (should I be worried?), but he is pushing up on his legs when you hold him. He really likes to "stand". We're currently battling our fifth cold -- he can't seem to get over these! Or, if he does, he gets another one! Daycare, I guess. Our pediatrician must think I'm a crazy -- I've been in his office so many times I've seen every doctor in the practice! The other day we went because Luke was tugging on his ear -- turns out he has a little bit of fluid, but not enough to warrant antibiotics ... yet.

He was sleeping through the night (about 8:30p to 3:30a) until this month. Now, I can count on him waking up two or three times before getting up for the day (around 7a). The doc (and our moms) said to try solids, so we've started rice cereal. And, after two weeks off and on, we're finally getting it right. Now, he's grabbing the spoon and pushing it toward his mouth. So funny.

Deep Thoughts

I can't seem to get my days totally organized. Seems I wake up in a hurry, get myself and Luke ready in a hurry, go to work in a hurry, work (pump three times), leave work in a hurry, pick him up and give him a million hugs and kisses and head home in a hurry because he doesn't like the carseat now. Then, I unload his bag, my pump, put on comfy clothes, wash the pump, make the bottles for the next day. Finally, we sit down and play. Whew. Oh -- and sometimes, if we're lucky, we make dinner in there somewhere. Laundry? Yeah right. Vacuum? Who needs it? And, poor Max -- maybe I should give him the rest of my Zoloft for his doggy depression.

While I'm at work, all I can think about is what Luke's doing -- am I missing him rolling over? Am I missing him make a new noise? Did he drink all of his bottles? Did he poop two times or not at all? Did he sleep two hours today or four? Does he think I've left him each morning? Am I a good mother? What can I do better?

I know I'm not the only working mother in the world (shoot -- my mom worked, and we're fine!), but I hope I've made the right decision to return to work. It's definitely one I struggle with daily. Funny how things happen -- I'm getting promoted this month, and all I think about is when I get to leave the office to pick him up.