first day of school and a BIG milestone!

Let me start with the bigger news first! WE.HAVE.A.CRAWLER!!! a very slow and cautious one, but a crawler. He definitely is not one of those babies who "crawls all over the place" or that we have to keep a constant eye on in fear of him getting into something...yet. He takes his sweet little time and takes lots of breaks getting to where he wants to be. Greg and I are still VERY proud parents. I wanted him to be somewhat mobile before he started MDO, and he is! Yay! Which brings me to my next news...





Today was Luke's first day at Children's Day In. (MDO, to most) He will be going once a week for the school year. There are 8 other little ones in his class, two of which are future Baylor Bears...James Thomas and Ruthie Zboril (Lauren and Ron's little girl). The director of the school was so nice to let Luke in to the 'older' class. Most babies have April-September 1 birthdays. Luke's is September 6 (ONE WEEK FROM YESTERDAY!) At the time I signed Luke up for school, I had know idea about any possibilities of him being delayed with his gross motor skills and convinced the director that he was a big baby and should fit right in! haha... he has slowed down a bit with his growth since then and I think he is the only non walker in his specific class, but the teacher is wonderful and so accepting of Luke! Praise God.

He did great going today...went right in and saw a ball and was happy! I forgot his bunny that he HAS to have to sleep, so I brought it to school before lunch. It was fun popping in on him to see what he was doing. He was crawling around having a great time. The teacher told me that he had already finger painted and loved it. I loved having the artwork sent home today with him. My baby is growing up. I am so thankful today was a good experience and for the loving teachers that Luke has been placed with. They have been sweet about his condition and very flexible with our 'high maintenance baby.' :)

After school, Lindsay and I took the boys to Target to get a "prize" for being so good on their first day. They both got big balls to play with followed by a doozie cookie for Luke and ice cream for James Thomas. As I was leaving the mall, I felt SO blessed to be able to have the time I have with Luke and to be able to share it with wonderful friends. Pretty special, huh!?

Here are some pics from the day... Luke's outfit is a little big but Kippy just got it for him for his first day so he just HAD to wear it. :)



Here are some pics from today!

galleria fun, birthday parties, update

Today( I started this post on Thursday) Lindsay and I took the boys to a new little play place in the Galleria. It is called "The Little Galleria," and was so cute. It is a miniature replica of the Galleria itself...with buildings, stores, and even parking lots. The floor is very thick and padded and the actual buildings are some kind of foam covered with rubber...or something like that. James Thomas had a blast running around and climbing. Luke, well, he enjoyed sitting and watching the other kids. There are a few pictures of his ALMOST crawling skills and one of Lindsay holding his hands while he is standing. He actually took a little wobble of a step with his hands held! YAY! I would not say he is crawling...yet...but I really think he is VERY VERY CLOSE...like maybe tomorrow or within a few days. Don't worry, there will be a celebration post when it's official!

We had a great time letting the boys play, shopping, and having lunch together. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to have days like this. (Excuse the sweaty look of myself, we went straight from the gym to the galleria...I just thought it was a cute one of Luke)












This weekend, we were busy with birthday parties! Friday night was Oliver's 4th birthday! It was at Noah's Ark pool and we had so much fun! I was a little worried about how Luke was going to be considering he only got one nap in during the day, but he did great! Greg played with him in the water while I got to visit with the girls! We love the Chambers family and are so glad we got to celebrate Oliver turning FOUR!






Saturday morning we got to go to Lauren's 'Carnival' birthday party! Again, Luke missed his morning nap, but was a trooper. The party was complete with a little petting zoo and pony rides. Amy captured a picture of Luke on the pony, so I will post it as soon as she emails it to me. Luke reached another milestone at the party...he ate a HOT DOG! I cut it into the teeniest bites possible and he ate every one without ANY choking! YAY. We are so proud of him. I think the baby food might be on the outs!! We had a great time celebrating precious Lauren turning TWO! After the party, we enjoyed a yummy Pappa's Burger with the Garretts then went home for a good nap!

Luke is doing WONDERFUL these days. Greg and I are so proud of him and how far he has come in the past month. He ate a cut up grilled cheese sandwich the other day without any choking. After I saw how well he did with that, I have started giving him a lot of other things...blueberries, strawberries, chicken, etc... (I have tried these foods MANY times in the past month or so and he either choked, gagged, or made himself vomit.) I now have options to pack him for MDO!





He actually crawled (VERY SLOWLY) across him room the other day to get his ball. He will crawl to get something (sometimes) but I don't think he has figured out that he can crawl to follow me. He still will sit and whine until someone picks him up. It will be interesting to see how he advances. The palm of his hand is looking rough right now so he tries to compensate for the pain by flipping his hand over when getting in the crawl position then realizing it is too hard to move like that so he gives up and gets frustrated. poor guy. He hasn't crawled again since his hand blistered. I guess he will just go when he isn't in pain and just sit when he is. I worry about him not getting any practice though...

EB moms, stop reading here. I am about to get worst mom of the year. :) SO, Greg and I know what heat can do to Luke but I honestly didn't think that 30 minutes or so in the heat would do TOO much damage. WE.WERE.WRONG. After spending some time outside at Lauren's birthday party, the back of Luke's legs, stomach, and palms are in bad shape! It is so bizarre to me. Literally by that afternoon, he had so many new bubbled up blisters. Live and learn, I guess. At least he got to ride a pony for a second and see some baby animals.

My mom and dad (AKA Kippy and Papaw) came in town a couple of weeks ago to celebrate my mom's birthday. My dad captured the actual birthday pics, but I got a few of Luke before they got here. We had a great few days with them here visiting. We wish we could see them more.





Next week is Luke's MDO orientation and meet the teacher. I can't believe our baby will be going to "school" one day a week. I didn't think I would feel this way, but I am a little sad to think about leaving him. So silly, I realize, but I know it will be good for both of us! I hope he is not too much work for his teacher and continues to eat like a big boy!

where is our baby?

Here are a few pictures from the last week or so...Luke's teeth are something else! He has now cut only ONE next to his top two. Umm..that is so weird that the other one did not come in at the same time. I can see it starting to along with 2 more but that one just came right in so quickly! He looks like such a big boy now with these teeth! Now if he would just USE them to eat big people food!

I love the picture of him standing at his exersaucer. Don't be fooled...I propped him there for 2 seconds to snap the pic. He is getting a little better. He will stand with assistance for a few seconds without getting too wobbly. Still no big news on the physical progression though. He gets in the 'ready to crawl' position a million times a day but either gives up or does a belly flop and whines for someone to sit him back up. Greg and I have a new bedtime routine with him. We always lay on his floor in his room and work with him/play with him before I rock him. He loves this time and so do we. He has learned to compensate for his pain. The palms of his hands are so bad right now so when he does get in the crawl position he will flip his hand over. So sad but kinda cute. We are giving him until he turns one to show us some moves or physical therapy here we come! Considering he has been showing us the "I am about to crawl" move since about 9 months, chances are physical therapy is in our near future. It's really not a big deal...so many others do it, we can too! PLUS, with his delayed movement, we have postponed wrapping his arms and legs daily. I honestly don't know how other moms do it. Luke has 100% figured out what I am about to do when I get the alcohol pads and needle. He will no longer let me hold his foot, leg, etc to drain a blister, aquaphor him, wrap feet, not even hold it to look. He is one strong little guy and fights us every time now. I have even tried to do it at different times of day to "trick" him but he is too smart for that! We have bought him some new toys that only stay at the changing table but he will get so mad and throw them and scream. It is definitely better when Greg is singing to him or playing with him, but he still fights me "holding" any appendage of his body! Poor baby. Any new ideas or suggestions are welcome.


I can't believe he will be ONE in September! What a year it has been! OH, the other night Luke woke up crying and crying. I am not sure what in the world was wrong but all he wanted was to be in my arms while I rocked him. He would NOT let me put him back in bed so he slept on my chest for 3 hours. Yes, I was a little tired in the morning but truthfully I loved that time with him. I guess he still is a baby after all.

I am already planning the big day. Here's a hint...it will be a SWEET birthday party!