Big Boy Status!

How is my little baby a toddler now!? The last 18 months have gone so fast. He is becoming such a ham and going through a VERY friendly stage. He will walk up to just about anyone and put his arms up. Total 180 from a few months ago. At his check up he weighed in at 29lb and 32ins. He is officially off a bottle (thanks to a nasty cold this week). He will drink only water from his cup and it has to be a straw cup. This was of course harder on mama...no bottle mean BIG BOY STATUS! He has had TWO haircuts and Matt is still itching to take the clippers to his hair. I, of course, told him he would be in BIG trouble and be sleeping on the couch if he comes within 10 feet of Lucas with the clipper. I LOVE his wild and crazy hair!

We have two words...go and hey/hi! While 10-15 words is the average for kids his age I am trying to not "compare", which we all know is hard. We are looking into getting more "aggressive" with his speech therapy. I want to make sure we are doing EVERYTHING possible for him! Right now we are sticking with in home speech therapy and starting the VERY long process of getting him in with Children's Hospital. We have an eval appt with them in May and hopefully can get him in within 6 months from that. We are going to the ENT Monday to just make sure his ears are good. I don't expect to found out any different but we are covering all bases at this point.

Here are some pictures of this big boy! He kills me with his cuteness on a daily bases! 

He definitely has his mama wrapped around his finger...even if he is a daddy's boy! ;)

Lucas Parker ~ 14 month update!

 

Yesterday Lucas turned 14 months. Time is seriously flying and I wish I could slow it down. He is walking about 80% of the time now and has 6 teeth, 2 on top and 4 on the bottom. He is a GREAT sleeper and sleeps from 8-9pm to 8-9am! He is in 24 month clothes, size 4 diapers and still getting 3 bottles a day since he is not drinking from a cup yet (more info on that below). His hair is so long and wavy not curly like Logan and Abby. I still don't know what color eyes he is going to end up with. They are more blue then Abby's (Logan's are VERY brown like Matt's) but not as blue as mine. We shall see!

I started taking him to a local place twice a week call Toddlin Time. He LOVES it. It is a 45 min class with 30 mins of free play and 15 mins of singing and learning. I love watching him interact with kids his age. Since Logan and Abby are so much older this class is good for his social skills.

On Sept 4th I had to take Lucas to the ortho to have his leg check because now that he is walking more and more his right leg "clicks". Everything checked out fine though. We will follow up in 3 months if it is still doing it. We also had the consult with early intervention and found out that Lucas is "Low Tone". We were concerned with the lack of sounds/talking. After a 2 hour in home visit we have some answers and a plan. We are having them come weekly for the next few months to work on speech (he is about 3-4 months behind) and getting him to drink from a cup. His struggles with a cup are part of the low tone. We are working with a straw cup to help strengthen his jaw muscles. It is still a work in progress but he is getting better with it. I will continue to do bottles until he is fulling drinking from a cup. It is more important to me that he stays hydrated then worrying about him still being on a bottle.

We are still working on finding shoes that fit his feet right. Right now we are just using Robeez because his little foot is so chunky even wide or extra wide is hard to get on him. We don't have a Stride Rite here anymore so I haven't been able to get him fitted correctly. There are places that sell Stride Rite shoes but they kinda suck at fitting kids. Like trying to jam his foot in a shoes to the point I thought she was going to brake his ankle, NOT OK! Closest one to us now is an hour way so not to bad, just need to find the time to get up there!

I feel like this boy is going to be 2 in a blink of an eye so I am enjoying every little milestone. He is so much fun to sit on the floor and play with so that is what my day consist of which makes my heart happy! I am so thankful I get to be here for it all. <3

Next update at 16 months!

Lucas' 12 month stats!

We had Lucas' 12 month check up yesterday! He got 2 shots and of course cried but only until I picked him up then he was fine! We are going to have speech come out to evaluate him in the next week or so because he is still not babbling. Fingers crossed it is just 3rd child syndrome! He loves to squeal at us all the time but no ma-ma da-da ba-ba, etc. Better to have it check now then later. I will keep you updated on that when I have more information! 

I noticed 2 days ago that he got a third tooth on the bottom at some point. We have been so focused on the top two coming in that I didn't even look at the bottom. He smiled really big at me and I was like what is that! It must have broke through a week or so ago because it is pretty far up. I just wish the top two would come through already because his poor gums are white and swollen. I know it has to hurt! We are also getting closer to walking. He is standing more and more without holding on!

Other than that he is a BIG healthy boy! <3

Have a great weekend everyone!

Lucas Parker ~ 11m update!

So this is going to be short and sweet because I want to do a BIG 1 year post but I couldn't, not share his 11 month monkey picture. He is such a wiggle worm so getting that picture was tough. He still just has two bottom teeth but the top two are right there. His gums are so swollen, I know it has to hurt. We have moved to table food for most meals but he still gets some pureed food here and there. He loves blueberry muffins, cinnamon sugar toast, grilled cheese, scrambled egg yokes, mac & cheese and of course bananas cut up! He likes Honey Nut Cheerios too. I was so worried about him not getting full on table food but when he is full he starts throwing it on the floor. We are still working on drinking from a cup. He is pulling up and crawling everywhere but not walking yet. He will hold your hands and "walk" but he rolls up on his toes. Not sure what that's all about. When I get him out of bed I put him on the floor and let him "walk" to the door before we head downstairs. He picked up crawling in only 2 days so I am confident he will be walking by his first birthday, if not soon after!

I am in the throws of birthday party planning. We are having his party on July 27th at our house and it is a monster theme (NOT Monsters Inc.). Invitations went out Tuesday. I can't wait to see it all come together! I will share pictures from the party when I do his 12 month post since the party is the Saturday before his actual birthday.

Here are the pictures I was able to get of the wiggle worm! He is such a ham!

Lucas Parker ~ 10m update!

Someone was not into his monkey picture this month!

Guess who's 10 months old! That's right. This big guy! I can't believe how much has changed in the last month. No check ups this month, so not real sure how much he's grown but he is still a very solid little guy. Lucas is on the move. Crawling everywhere! It literally happened over night. He would get up on his hands and knees, rock back and forth, and then lunge forward onto his belly. Every so often he would pull his knee forward, but would just slide it back. A little incentive goes a long way. He loves my phone, so I put it on the floor, a few feet in front of him, and his eyes lit up. One step forward, two steps back for a while, but by the next morning he was a pro! He's also pulling up on the couch and some toys. Just up to his knees though. He's still working on getting his feet under him.

No new teeth yet. Apparently it's a slow process. There are a couple at the top and at least one more on the bottom that are very close.

This boy is in love with the Bubble Guppies. He used to be stuck on Mickey, but this show has his full attention whenever it's on. To the point that when the intro to the show starts, he crawls all the way across the living room, and plants his little tush right in front of the TV. Our TV is mounted on the wall above the fireplace. He sits just in front of the tile in front of the fireplace and has to look almost straight up to see it. If we move him back, he crawls right back to his spot and will not be bothered! He will literally sit and watch an entire episode. I've never seen anything like it!

He's on a pretty good schedule as far as meals go. Wakes at 8:30 and has a big bottle. 2 hours later he has his breakfast with cereal, then nap. Wakes around noon and has another smaller bottle. 2 hours later, lunch with cereal. 2 hours later he has another smaller bottle and then naps. Wakes between 5 and 6 and has dinner with cereal. He has his last bottle around 8:30 then goes to bed. Wow! Looks like a lot when I put it like that. Must be rough eating and sleeping all day, haha!

Lucas is not a fan of getting his diaper changed so mommy and daddy have to be fast or he is rolling away. He has become a daddy's boy over the last month. Makes me a little sad but I am with him all day everyday so I guess I understand why he wants daddy when he is home. At some point this month he has also figured out how to wave. It is absolutely adorable! I have his 1st birthday theme picked and invitations are designed! I can't believe how fast it is coming. The 8 months I was pregnant took forever but the last 10 months have FLOWN by. I guess that is how the story always goes, right!?

I didn't get many pictures this month because someone doesn't sit still long enough but here are the few I did manage to get...

This face melts me to mush!

"No time for pictures mom, I got a monkey to eat"

Standing (mommy helped him up) like a big boy!

Lucas Parker ~ 9 month update!

I waited to post this so I could have his 9 months stats from his check up this morning. So technically he is 9m and 5 days old but all the pictures at the bottom are from last Thursday when he was exactly 9 months. He is 22 lbs 12 oz (82%) and 30in (93%) long. He still only has one tooth but the second one is right there about to pop through any day. He gets around by kind of army crawling but mainly rolling. He gets his knees under him sometimes but hasn't figure out how to push up with his arms at the same time so he just looks cute with his little tush in the air, haha! He is in mostly 18 month clothes and getting ready to go into size 4 diapers. This kid LOVES food! I bought some GoGoSqueeze a few weeks ago and he is a big fan of them. He will down two of them in no time. The apple banana is his favorite with apple cinnamon running a close second. They are a little pricey but great for when we are out and about, plus I love that they are all natural with no added things I can't pronounce. Score!

He sleeps great at night (9pm-8am) and up until last week would only nap in our bed during the day but has been going down great in his crib now. I am sad and miss our snuggle time twice a day but I knew that wouldn't last forever since he loves to roll and will be crawling soon. I don't need a repeat of Logan's first Easter (he woke up from a nap, crawled off my parents bed and broke his arm).We haven't lowered his bed yet since he is not crawling or pulling up yet but I am sure that is coming soon.

He likes to give kisses now.  You know the ones! That little toothless mouth gaped wide open.  He likes when you make kissy noises in his open mouth.  If you're not careful, he'll stick his tongue out and slobber all over your mouth, chin, nose, or whatever he can get a hold of! If you are able to turn away, he'll kiss/suck on your cheek for as long as you let him!  I hope he grows out of that. About 15 years from now, his girlfriend might not be such a fan! Haha! I kid!

His hair is getting thicker but has not started to curl like Logan and Abby's yet. If he has straight hair I am going to be shocked because Matt and I both have wavy/curly hair. His eyes are looking blue these days which is funny because, Logan has brown like Matt, Abby has mix of both of ours (kinda green) and if Lucas ends up with blue we will have 3 kids with 3 different eye colors! WEIRD! I am not complaining though because as much as I wanted him to have brown like Matt and Logan (my 3 brown eyed boys), I am even more excited for him to have blue like me!

He is not a fan of sitting still so this is all I got this month. Obviously, in the first one he was ready to eat the monkey! haha

Lucas Parker ~ 8 months

Compare 7 months HERE!

Well, we are three quarters of the way to the big FIRST birthday. Time is flying by and I can't seem to stop it so I am enjoying every single second of every little moment. I am always saying I want my little baby back but at the same time I love how he interacts with us. He is full of smiles all the time (except when he is sick) and his laugh is beyond adorable! Oh and lets not forget about all the chunky rolls he's got going on! He has also started to reach for us when he wants to be picked up now which of course turns me to mush every time. He now knows that if he reaches for me I will pick him up in a heart beat. I can't deny this kid anything, ha!

There was no 8m check up but at his sick visit Monday he was 21 lbs 12 oz. He is sitting up great now and FINALLY got his first tooth last Thursday. He loves to play on the floor more then his jumper lately. He is not crawling but will roll and turn to get to what he wants. He is in 12 month clothes and still wearing size 3 diapers. He eats 3 solid meals a day and around 22oz of milk. Now that I am done pumping he gets 16oz of BM from my frozen stash and 6 oz of formula. I mix it all together before I make his bottles so I know each bottle has the same amount of formula in it. I am a little OCD about how his bottles are made, can you tell!?

The poor guy has been sick all week. I was so worried it was the flu again or RSV but all the tests came back negative. Apparently if you have type B flu once, you can't get it again so YAY for that. He was wheezy (all our kids get like that when they are sick) so we have been doing breathing treatments, oral steroids and antibiotics since Monday. Let me tell you, this kid HATES taking medicine. There is medicine, snot, and big alligator tears going every where when it is time to take them. He did do really well with it tonight though, so maybe he is starting to like it ... maybe!

Here are his 8 month pictures...he was not really into smiling much!

By far my most favorite picture of him!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

PS Don't forget about the Kitchenaid Shopping Spree giveaway!!

Lucas Parker ~ 7 months

These post are getting harder and harder to do. My baby is growing so fast and mama doesn't like it one bit.

At his 6 month appt he was 19lb 15oz and 28 1/2 in long. He is doing solids now 3 times a day and around 22oz of breast milk. He is sitting up better and better everyday but still spends most of his time in his jumper. The kid loves that thing! He is starting to "talk" a lot more and loves doing raspberries. He still doesn't have any teeth, although I think his bottom two are going to break through any day now. He is a major drool factory, haha! He is in 9m clothes but we just bought him some new 12m stuff and believe it or not they fit. He is still in size 3 diapers. We started Gerber Puffs this past week and the sweet potato flavored are by far his favorite. We also introduced a cup and he does good with it but likes to chew on it more so then drink from it. I think it feels good on his gums. He takes 2 good naps a day and sleeps great at night, 8pm-8am (give or take a half hour). He is a fan of sleeping on his belly now, too.

I wanted to teach him sign language for common words like mommy, daddy, please, thank you, more but to be honest he looks at me like I am crazy when I do it so I stopped, haha! Maybe in a few months we will try again, maybe. I say it all the time but I just can't get enough of this boy! ❤

Here are his 7m pictures...

 Looking for me behind the camera, haha!

 This one is a little blurry because he was getting ready to fall over...sitting up is a work in progress!

 I think he is done with pictures!

Check out his 6m pics here!

Lucas Parker ~ 6 months!

How is my boy 6 months already?!?! I mean really, time please slow down. This month has been full of firsts for him. He rolled back to belly this past month and does it almost every time you put him on his back now. He will do belly to back if he gets mad enough, haha! He ALWAYS has his hands in his mouth and watching him suck on his thumb is so stinkin cute! ...Shhh, don't tell daddy! The rolls and chunkiness are still over the top adorable. He loves jumping in his jumper still and that is where he spends most of his time during the day because that's where he's happiest. I am sure you all know he had his first illness as well this past month. When he got up from his nap on a Monday, I noticed he had a fever so, not wanting to take it lightly, I took him in and sure enough he tested positive for the flu. It was so hard not being able to do anything to make him better. I really missed his sweet smile for that week. He is back to his smiley self now. His 6 month check up is not until the 12th of this month but at the sick visit appt he weighed 19lb 1oz. We have moved him into 9 month clothes and he is still in size 3 diapers. He is eating solids twice a day and an average of 28oz of breast milk.

I made my pumping goal of 6 months, YAY! I am having mixed emotions about weaning. Never in a million years did I think it would be this hard emotionally to stop. My supply took a big hit the week Lucas was sick because I ended up with a stomach bug. I am only pumping around 20-24oz a day so we are having to use a bag or two of frozen everyday. I am very proud of myself for exclusively pumping this long. The plan from this point forward is to pump what I can and when my milk dries up that's when I'll be done. That is easier for me to handle emotionally than quitting all together. Maybe I will make it to a year! ;)

Here are his 6 month update pictures. He wasn't very interested in being photographed this month. Looking at daddy and eating the blanket must have been more fun!