Motherhood

Today, I got incredibly excited about being a mom. Not that I wasn't before. It's just that the idea of motherhood struck me in a new way. See, the last three months have been amazing and wonderful, but I have lost all sense of time. It seems, as bad as this sounds, that the last three months have lasted forever. I was thinking about why that is, because I've really been enjoying being a mom. But I think that it seems like Luke's been around forever for two reasons: 1) I've been awake more than I ever have been, so these last three months have literally been the longest of my life, in terms of time spent conscious, and 2) having Luke has been the biggest change of my life, so the newness of everything makes it seem longer. At least, that's my theory. Also, the weather since Luke's birth has been exactly the same: it's either boiling hot or pouring down rain. No in between.
But today was different. I took Luke outside to go over to the church building and realized that the weather was MILD. In fact, it was incredibly nice. So I decided to take Luke to the playground, something we'd never done before b/c of the heat. I put him in the infant swing, and he LOVED it. He grinned like a fool while I sat cross-legged in front of him and pushed him back and forth. He had no fear of swinging high, reinforcing Greg's and my belief in his thrill seeking nature. Eventually the indirect sunlight, combined with the gentle breeze, caused him to start to drift to sleep, without the usual screaming/fighting. I cannot emphasize enough how enjoyable this whole experience was. And it really got me excited about the future and all the things Luke is going to get to experience for the first time. It also helped renew my sense of time b/c I realized that the seasons ARE still changing and that it is, indeed, officially fall. Those two concepts combined to make me realize that October will come, as will Christmas and winter and spring, and that Luke has so many wonderful things in store for him. I feel incredibly blessed to get to bear witness to his experiences, and I also feel the need to capture each moment and save it in my memory forever. I spent much of the rest of the day staring at Luke and willing myself to remember exactly how he looks right now. To remember the moment he first swung in the playground swing, to remember how adorable he looked while taking his nap, to remember how he chewed on his Jumparoo, how he grasped the tshirts while "helping" me fold laundry, how he smiled and laughed when Greg or me played with him. It's like, all of a sudden, I truly realized how this time is going to fly by, and I don't want to miss or forget any of it.

Another Big Adventure for Luke

Today Kim and I took Luke with us to the new Tanger Outlet Stores that they have built in North Charleston. Unfortunately we forgot to take a camera to document the cuteness. Luke behaved brilliantly for the majority of the trip. The outlets are about 25 minutes away, and Luke was great in his car seat on the way there and the way back. He even slept for about 30 minutes in his stroller/carseat (unswaddled!) while we shopped and ate. Eventually, I think all the new sights, sounds and smells caught up to him though. He got extremely tired right before we left but had no intentions of falling asleep. It really was a miracle that he did not scream the entire way home. At the end of the day, Kim came home with a couple new shirts and Luke got a new outfit (if there is one person in the world who doesn't need more clothes, its Luke, but it was really cute and inexpensive) from the Carter's Outlet.

Friday is evidently 'Baby Day' at the outlet stores, because I'm not sure I saw more than about 10 people without strollers. I am further convinced of Luke's cuteness, because amid all these other babies, people still have to stop at marvel at Luke. The clerk in Banana Republic even said that she wished she had a camera to take a picture of him. Had I been thinking, I could have refered her to our (Luke's really) photosite page.

We have had some fun times thanks to Luke's Baby Beethoven DVD. Evidently the Second Symphony is hysterical, because Luke cracks up laughing during that segment. The DVD is fun because it is specially designed for babies because they don't overload the senses like normal TV, which Luke doesn't get to watch. Not that he doesn't want to. If one of us is holding Luke and he hears the TV, he will contort every muscle in his body to attempt to turn himself to see what's going on. He's quite the nosy little fellow. Also, Luke has learned how to roll himself from his tummy to his back and has gotten more adept at grabbing and holding things.

Visit to Grandma's House

Well, Greg left Macon on Tuesday because he had church on Wednesday, but Luke and I stayed a couple more days. We got to spend some quality time with Uncle Mike and got to visit Thomaston Rd. Church of Christ (my home church) on Wednesday night. We were excited about church b/c Luke would get to go to cradle roll (or is it role?), and we thought he would like it. Luke, however, had other plans. He got fussy right before the service started, so I moved to the back row. This was a good thing, because his fussiness soon elevated to outright crying, and Grandma took him out to calm him. (In fact, Luke was so fussy that my dad, who was doing announcements at the time, said, "That's my grandson you hear in the back. You can stop turning around"!) The rest of the congregation then proceeded through worship up to the main prayer. I say "main prayer," because it was the apparent centerpiece of the service: a detailed conversation/list of requests presented to God. It was nice, but necessarily lengthy, and in the middle of it, I began to hear a faint yet distinct wailing echoing through the building. The wail built up steadily until an emissary was sent to fetch me from the service, mid-conversation with God (I'm sure He understood). I then proceeded to the nursery where Luke was being tortured--I mean, rocked to sleep--by Grandma (he can be a bit high strung at times:)). I calmed him down, and he promptly conked out for all of cradle roll/role (I don't think I actually understand that name). This whole incident completely embodies our life so far with Luke: completely unpredictable, exciting, and entertaining!

By the way, Luke had a great car trip back, and fell asleep by himself in his carseat two or three times. There was also a lot less screaming. I've included a picture as proof of the miracle!

Adventures with Car Seats

Luke made another trip to Macon and back earlier this week. Kim and I decided it would be nice to relax at her parents' house for a few days. The visit itself was very nice and very relaxing. The trip to Macon however was a different story. Luke has decided that he is not a fan of his car seat. At all. We left Sunday night after church thinking that since we were traveling at night, then perhaps he would sleep the entire four hours. Luke can typically sleep that long with no problem at night. The plan backfired though as Luke had trouble falling asleep in his car seat. And it being night made him tired and extra cranky. We stopped at McDonalds to grab a bite to eat and Kim and I took turns walking and rocking Luke in the parking lot. He finally went to sleep, but woke up the second we put him in his seat. We decided to travel on, hoping Luke would tire himself out and fall asleep. In October we are traveling to Greensboro to see my family, then from there we are traveling to Nashville to see friends from college, so Luke needs to learn how to sleep in the seat. Eventually he did fall asleep, after 10 minutes of screaming at the top of his lungs. Those of you who have heard Luke cry know that he is very capable of making his case known. 20 minutes later, however, he was awake again and making sure we knew it. Kim was in the backseat trying to comfort Luke, and we had to switch places because Luke's cries were too much for her motherly instinct to bear, so she drove and I got in the back with Luke. Eventually, I learned that if I didn't look at him, but simply kept my hand on his chest with a finger on his pacifier, he would calm down. When I would glimpse over at him though, I found that he was glaring at me with great contempt. But, he finally fell asleep and this time stayed asleep for a couple hours until we were coming into Macon. Then he woke up and screamed his head off again for the remaining 10 minutes of the trip. It was the longest 4 hour trip I've ever made.

I came back to Summerville on my own because I had to teach class on Wednesday night, and Kim stayed in Macon for a couple extra days and her mom brought her and Luke back. They said that he traveled much better on Thursday, so hopefully he will handle the road trip better in October when we make the 4 hour trip to Greensboro, 7 hour trip from Greensboro to Nashville, and 8 hour trip from Nashville back home.

Little Accomplishments and Adventures with Grandparents

It's crazy that Luke is not even three months old, and yet he surprises us everyday with his little accomplishments and glimpses into his personality. The other day, I was washing his hair, so he was laying on his back on the counter with his head over the sink. He heard his dad talking somewhere over his head, so he craned his head backwards to see, stretching until his hair hit the water. Intrigued by this new position, he then continued to force his head back until it was essentially hanging upside down, halfway in the water--at which point, he relaxed, head dangling contentedly. We took pictures, which you can see on our photosite (I'd add a link, but I don't know how). He's also getting better at grasping objects, standing (with help, of course), and sleeping during the night (note that I said "during," not "through").

Luke has had plenty of opportunity to show off these new tricks to visiting grandparents. My mom comes up for a couple of days every other week to see her "sugar lump." Now that he takes bottles of breastmilk, she'll send us off in the evening for a date while she takes care of the baby. She also lets us get a full night's sleep by feeding him in the middle of the night. All in all, she's been a great help--we just have to restrain her from introducing juice and milkshakes to Luke, both of which she's suggested!

Luke's other grandparents, the Kirbys, came up for a weekend and left this afternoon. Luke obligingly introduced them to the full gamut of his emotions, from coos and smiles to raging fits. Grandma Kirby rode out a particularly impressive performance (so I'm told) during church on Sunday, when she volunteered to take Luke out to the foyer when he became fussy. I think she may have come to regret that helpful gesture! As it was, Luke stubbornly refused to go to sleep until he finally succumbed the hypnosis of a ceiling fan. Luckily, both Grandma and Grandpa also had Luke during some happy times. We were thankful that they could come spend some time with him and look forward to seeing the rest of the family in October.
--Kim