Monday, May 27, 2013

Lukas: The first half year


It's so hard to believe that our little man has already been with us for 6 months! A year ago at this time we had just made our pregnancy news public (on Mother's Day weekend), and I was still in the thick of morning all day sickness. So much has happened since then, and our lives are fuller and happier than ever.

This month has been a quiet one at home. I came down with a very bad cold the first of the month and thought perhaps Lukas would experience his first sickness, but he remained completely healthy - thank God! He has been growing by leaps and bounds, and learning lots of fun things. Here's some of what he's been up to:

~ Learning how to sit up. Well, not completely unsupported, at least not for more than a few seconds at a time. But he's quite excited to sit up like a big boy in our laps, and has lots of fun spending time in his Bumbo or booster chair. The latter is especially fun since it has a tray. He'll spend an hour or more chasing an orange around the tray, or carefully picking up a teething toy, putting it in his mouth, and changing it from hand to hand.

~ Spending time outside. Several of our neighbors have moved away recently as the apartment complex instituted a new rule to not allow any smoking out of doors. This has allowed us to make much more use of our tiny balcony, unbothered by secondhand smoke. What a blessing! Lukas and I have spent quite a few afternoons out there when the weather has been nice. I bring along my book or a journal, and he plays happily on a blanket beside me, so glad to be outside. Soon I think he'll start noticing the birds, cars driving by, and things like that.

~ Teething. His two lower teeth are still working on coming in, but haven't quite popped through yet. He's had a few not-so-happy days when they've obviously been bothering him more, but overall he's been handling it pretty well. He sure enjoys his frozen teething toys, and will spend hours playing with and chewing on his ribbon-tagged blankie. He also sucks on his lower lip fairly often - I think it must feel good to those sore gums, but it gives him a sort of goofy, thoughtful appearance. :)


~ Grabbing everything. Lukas is no longer content to merely observe the world: everything must be touched. It's so cute the way he wants to feel our faces (Joe's fuzzy goatee is particularly fascinating to him)! He likes to touch my iPod screen, and the other day managed to take a self-portrait when I had the camera app open. The Jumparoo is a source of wild excitement - SO many things to grab and play with all at once! And of course we have to be extra careful to make sure he's not grabbing for things he shouldn't play with. Just wait until he starts crawling around, haha!

~ Playing little games. Peek-a-boo is a big favorite now, eliciting lots of giggles if he's in the right mood. He's also starting to have a lot of fun "flying" as Joe lifts him high, bouncing on our knees, or being kissed/tickled on his neck. He always smiles real big when we give him a hug and say "Squeeze!" :) And what a sense of humor he has! The other day he was fake coughing/laughing, making a "heh, heh, heh" sound that he knew sounded really silly. Recently he's begun wrinkling his nose a bit when he grins sometimes, which gives him such a mischievous look. We're really enjoying watching his personality develop!

~ Reading books. We've read several board books to Lukas this month, and he's getting to the point of wanting to help turn the pages, to feel the pictures, and so on. Of course if we let him hold the books himself, they go immediately into his mouth...so his level of literary appreciation is rather suspect at this point. ;) We do look forward to continuing to teach him how to love good books as he grows older.

I can't imagine life without this precious little man! We look forward to seeing what God has in store for the next 6 months.

2 comments:

  1. I finally had a chance to read this, and I'm so glad I did! What a fun post! :-D So thankful for Lukas and how much he adds to your life... God is so good!

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  2. He is SO cute! I love seeing how he looks like both you and Joe. I love how his personality really shines through in both photos.
    What a blessing that you can enjoy the balcony without having the 2nd hand smoke anymore. :) I loved hearing about Lukas and really enjoyed the update from you.
    *hugs*

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