Sophia One Month

Oh,Miss Sophia, you my little princess are one month old. The last few weeks have been a blur. Being a second child I often feel guilty that I don't lavish you with enough attention that I might have with Harrison, or that somehow this time around things are less special because I actually don't feel as lost as I did the first time around. But the fact of the matter is that every time I see your chubby (we'll get to that in a minute) face, I am so very proud.



You are a beautiful little thing. I can see, as the days pass, the little glimmer in your eyes. I notice the adorable little features, like your downy-soft hair, and your chinless-chin, that you have.



You are a special little thing, and each time I hold you against my chest I am reminded that I have a little girl to protect, and that is a very big job for a daddy.



Yes, we are still very much surviving. Every day is an adventure and your mother is doing such a wonderful job keeping this house together, that I sometimes forget how crazy things actually are.



You are a sweet, yet very noisy little thing. You grunt a lot and you seem to know exactly when we need to get something done, because that is the exact time that you wail and want to be held.

My favorite part of the day so far has been early in the morning after mommy feeds you. You seem to always be a little bit uncomfortable so I end up holding you on my chest as I dose in and out of sleep for the last hour or so before it is time for me to go to work. I love hearing your little sounds and your breath as you slowly get comfortable and eventually fall asleep against me.

You are starting to coo and I even think I saw you smile! Your a hungry little thing that eats her way through the day and have had no problems putting on weight. You are our little princess, but you are our chunky little princess :)! In fact, you are in the 99th percentile for height and weight, weighing in at 11 lbs, 10 ounces, 23 inches long at your one month appointment.



Your brother still likes holding you and gets very nervous when you cry. He attempts to share his toys with you and for the life of him cannot understand why you don't like to hold his saw and hammer!



You are a beautiful little girl and we are so thrilled to to watch you grow up.

2 Years, a Few Tears, and Many Laughs.

2 years. I try to let that sink in but it still doesn't seem real. It doesn't seem like it was two years ago today that mommy woke me in the middle of the night with a worried yet very cheery "I think my water broke...or I peed the bed". It doesn't seem like it was two years ago when my life, our life, changed forever.



Two years is really just a blip on the screen of your life. A blip but somehow it is more significant. Two years means you are no longer our baby. No longer our little baby boy that slept curled up on our chest with his little butt in the air. No longer the the little baby turning into a little guy.



You are NOW that little guy. A little guy that can mimic how mommy says "Honey" "Hah-KNEE" or who likes to walk up to us and announce just exactly what you are doing "I, I, I Fixing!"



You have brought us so many laughs, I could write a book about these last two years, but really, I can say what I feel in just a few words.



You are the best thing that has happened to us. You are a bright, smart, beautiful little boy that makes us laugh each day. Thank you for your wonderful spirit, your tender heart, and the sweetness that is you. We love you forever!

16 Months - The Boo Edition

These last few weeks have been pretty much awesome. I think this might be the most fun I've had as a parent, and there isn't a day that goes by that your mother and I don't talk about how "crazy" you are.

You have moved into your "collection" stage. It started with Gords, which you first started calling "ba's" You had to have one with you constantly. It has since evolved into grabbing whatever you see first. It starts the moment you get out of bed and carries on all throughout the day. Whether it is a gord, a monkey, a doggie, stacked cups, whatever, you get obsessed with "things" and have to have one in your hands at all times.

Your ability to remember things is uncanny. Long gone are the days where we could hide something or distract you to make you forget. Now you seem to lock in on something and won't forget it. You are/were obsessed with the hair dryer, constantly stroking your hair and saying "dra" "dra", even pointing to our heads. And again, the moment you wake up, you roll over, hop up in your little sleep sack, and say "dra, dra", before we even have a chance to get you out of bed.

You are constantly saying new things. Often times calling something one minute, then after we say the correct name, you catch on and start calling it by its correct one. It still amazes me and how quickly you catch on. In fact I've had to watch myself a few times. One day as we were watching a Purdue game I was a little upset, as I often am these days when I watch them, I stood up and threw my hands up and almost yelled. You jumped up threw your hands up and yelled right with me. A quick lesson in fatherhood of how much you watch us for your cues.

You have a bit of independence, and need to create your own spaces. You love to pick things up and take them to your little chair, set them in the chair, sit down, then reach behind you and hold them on your lap. It's as if the chair is yours and whatever you put on there is in your "safety" zone. You also love to climb up on the big couch and push off all of the pillows. And if mom or I are sitting on it, you try to push us off. Once we get off you sit there with a proud little smile on your face.

As crazy and independent as you are, you are still very much a cuddler. You love to sit on our laps, often times sitting on us, getting up, sitting on us, getting up....You have a crazy obsession with dancing. Apparently you and mom dance while I am at work, and now you want the CD player on and want to dance all the time. So much so that you grab our hands and stick them out straight as if we are ballroom dancing. If we don't dance with you right away you stand in the middle of the room and twhirl in circles. baby. Cuddling you at this age is almost as sweet as it was when you were just a little baby.

You are growing up more and more each day. Each day is filled with a new adventure, something new learned, and a little bit more of your baby-ness disappearing. As I've said this is the most fun I've had, and I think that we have had so far as parents. Your personality is overwhelming at times, but beautiful and I hope that you continue to have this beautiful spirit as you continue to grow up!

15 Months - The Special Place Edition

There are very few places in my life - or should I say in my adult life that I really consider special places anymore. Yes there are a few places that I love going to or that bring back fond memories but very few special places.

We went back to one of those special places with you last week. It was a place that reminded me of growing up. Of spending summers as a kid with my brother, where we got to be real brothers. Getting admonished for "horse play" in the house. Where we used to throw lawn darts up in the air and run around like idiots trying to avoid getting hit by them. The place where I learned what work really was...and not because it was hard work, but because I saw the passion that my grandfather had for his land, the perfection in everything that he did.

It was a place where you fell under grandma and grandpas rules, where you got to eat cereal with honey, from a honey pot on the table with a cool little honeycomb. The place where you stayed up late watching the Last Shogun because it was on TV and your grandparents watched that sort of thing...and you loved it. A place where magic happened not because IT was magical, but because the love, the peacefulness, the beauty of the land around it was magical.

It was the place where you played games with your grandparents friends and had fun, even when you were a teenager who wouldn't be caught dead letting your mom drop you off at the movies let alone playing games with your grandparents and their friends. Where you learned how to play lawn croquet and still, to this very day, can picture you and your brother stepping on the balls and knocking them out of the way, wondering how you had never heard about this game before!

You got to experience this place. Granted it was different than the way I had experienced it, but it was still awesome to see you there.

You got to pick corn out of the garden and pick fresh apples off the tree. And then walk around eating it for the next hour!





You got to ride around on the riding lawn mower...which I might add, we never had in our day!



You raised the American flag, just like so many of the Lucas grand and great grand kids have.





Unfortunately you didn't get to experience great grandpa singing Reveille to wake you up, like he used to do to us...though you didn't need it waking up at 4:00 AM and 5:00 AM in the morning!

It was a trip that you will never remember but I will and your great grandparents will. It was something that I wanted to do with you since you were born and will never be able to do it again.

They are selling the magical place. Moving on to something smaller, something more manageable. It is the right thing to do, they have worked hard to maintain it and its now time for them to relax. It's sad, but it is O.K. because I know that even though the house might be gone...the magic it brought to me, to our family, and now to you, will always be there. It will be in our hearts and in our minds. It has been passed on to you through experiences you will never remember but through love that you will always know.

This might differ than some of your other monthly updates but it's something I thought you should know about. Another little piece of your mother and I that has been passed on to you. Little bits of our family history, our family love that we may forget to tell you someday but that you should know about.





You can see all our pictures by clicking here

14 Months

I swear that you are going to think that your birthday is a week or two later than it really is if you go by my blog posts, but I am trying to stay as caught up as I can. I am also hitting a small dilemma, I've always said that I wouldn't be one of those parents who rattles off their kids age in months after a certain point i.e. "Harrison is 22 months", so I am trying to figure out the best cutoff - I think a proper time is a 18 months because then I can just say a year and a half.

Anyway...14 months. You are at an a difficult age now. Not because you are difficult - anything but - but more so because you are at a stage now where you are mobile, mobile to the point that you are almost running. And you are so inquisitive that you are constantly on the move - trying to pull up on things or pull things down to your level. So its difficult because you are quickly becoming this little person but you can't tell us what you want. You can't verbalize all of these new things that you are seeing and touching so it is hard for you because you can get frustrated so easily when we don't know what you want.



It is a fun time to be a parent. I am seeing myself as less a caretaker and more Sherpa. Strange analogy, I know, but it works. I see us guiding you more often now. Trying to show you how to manage certain things, like getting off the couch or a chair. Trying to show you that maybe taking a header off the couch isn't such a good idea and that if you just slide off backwards on your tummy, your feet will hit the floor first and not your head. And to see you pull it off for the first time without help is so rewarding.



You are also figuring out how to just be by yourself. Not that we are leaving you alone often, but the other day as I was trying to get your breakfast ready I couldn't hear or see you. As usual I went to "Oh, Crap, what is he doing" mode. I quickly went to the last spot I left you - your room - and found you just flipping through your dog book. Content, talking to yourself like you were reading. It was so cute. I actually walked away quietly so as not to disturb you...only to slowly peak around the corner again just to watch you one more time.



Your mother and I can literally watch you for hours with smiles on our faces. One of the greatest joys, now that you are slowly (or quickly, depending who you ask) gaining more and more personality is watching how you play with Riley. You regularly wake up and reach out for him as he comes into your room. You actually walk up and pet him or throw your arms around his neck and lay your head on his back. It's amazing, at least to me, because it was just this sudden shift of acknowledgment on your part. Like, I have a dog, and I can pet him, and I LOVE him!

Watching how you play with mommy is also adorable. It is great to see her scoop you up and watch your face light up. Or seeing you run over to her with something in your hand, like, "LOOK, PAPER!" "It isn't it amazing!" It's like you have to share everything with us and it just makes us laugh and melt all at the same time.

You met your cousins in California and it was great to see you guys together. You weren't quite sure of what to make of them at first but you slowly warmed up to them and they to you.



Sharing was a new concept to you, especially with two year olds. Negotiating who got to play with what was like brokering a truce between waring countries at times, but it was a great experience and absolutely fun to watch you play with your cousins. We are already making plans for "California Camp" and "Indiana Camp" when you all get a little older.



This past month has gone by so quickly. They seem to be flying by faster and faster now. We are trying to expose you to many things now, even taking you to the State Fair! You loved the animals and every time the big John Deere tractor drove by you had to point.

We are excited to see the fun we will have as summer turns to fall and to continue to watch you continue to grow up to be a little man!

13 Months

This last month has been an fast paced month. It seems like you are catching on more quickly to things...and developing your curios and mischievous side.



You have started talking more. You have moved from saying "Da" for everything and have started forming more word like sounds. You now say "haaat" for Hot, "up" "hi" "Dadda" "Mamma". You are also learning how to use your signs. You are very proud of yourself when you use "more". The first time you really did it to signify that you wanted more of something you stopped after you did it with a huge smile on your face, like "Look what I just did". You still smile each time you do it, and sometimes you do it to signal that you want something, but either way it is pretty damn cute!

You are moving around much better. You still get off balance when you are tired but for the most part you are much more stable. So stable in fact that you have discovered a new game in which you stand in the middle of the family room and start turning in circles getting yourself dizzy. The whole time a huge smile is spread across your face as you discover a new sensation.



Your curiosity can sometimes create hailstorm of tears as you still need to touch and play with everything. Now that you can communicate a little bit you become more agitated when we don't respond with the proper item that you are pointing to. Like we should know what a point and DA means. You love to put lids on things and play with straws, more specifically, dip the straw in and out of the water. We love that you are curious, and it is awesome to watch you struggle with something for a few minutes and then see the joy on your face as you figure it out.



You've been sick the last two weeks so you have been a little run down, but you have been slowly getting back to your normal self. Tonight as I was putting you to bed you started attacking me with your sloppy wet kisses and wide open mouth, that's when I knew my little man was almost back!



You can see all pictures on our Flickr page

One Year Old

So it's official, you are a whole year old. We still can't believe it, and sometimes mommy still makes comments about how you aren't her little baby anymore.

You have a very distinct personality and it is becoming more and more apparent each day that you might be a little strong headed. You have started to point to everything you see and want to touch it all. You also love to be outside playing and sometimes get a little upset if we come inside before you are ready.



You LOVE to stand up in the bathtub and no matter how much we say no you will try to stand up at least a half dozen times before you start with the big old crocodile tears. You like to test us on other things - like opening the entertainment center cabinets - you are going to be mischievous but we are as prepared as we can be I guess!

We had a great birthday party for you at our house. Your mother worked very hard to make it a great event. The theme was "Sailboats" complete with a mini cake for you and a larger cake for your guests.





Speaking of guests, you were able to meet your great grandparents, GG and Grandpa Lucas, my dad's parents. It was the first time they met you, you were a little leery at first but warmed up to great grandpa after he taught you how to "pat the cake, roll it, and THROW IT IN THE PAN" which you absolutely loved. You also took a liking to your great aunt and uncle - my Aunt Lannie and Uncle Dick.



You have started taking anything, a play phone, a shovel, a dog, anything and pretending that it is a phone. You walk around holding the object to your ear and your other hand to your other ear, like you are trying to hear. I am not sure what that says about your mother and I's phone habbits, but you have picked it up somewhere. This has reminded of the Harry Chapin song, "Flowers are Red" because I hope that you continue to use that imagination, that ability to grab whatever and make it a phone - and I hope that as parents we let you foster that imagination without killing your curiosity.



You absolutely love animals. You have learned to make a panting sign when you see a dog and if you see Riley or your stuffed dogs you start making the panting noises. If you see a dog when we are taking walks you have to stop and point and pant. It is amazing really , you can hear a dog bark from seemingly miles away and you have to stop and find it before you can move along. Your mom and grandma K took you to the zoo on your actual birthday to pet the elephants and feed the giraffes, which you apparently loved.



You are still a little mini mite - as I like to call you. You were in the 5th percentile for weight tipping the scales at 18 pounds, 13 ounces. 50th percentile for height at 30 inches. You might be small but you are healthy and you sure are an active little man, so we really aren't that concerned...though the likely hood you are going to become a middle linebacker for the Boilers and the Packers seems to be a little further off than I had wished :).

Your mother and I can't wait for you to start talking and to see how you progress each day. Your going to be a crazy little man and we get glimpses of that each day. One year down and we couldn't be happier at how much fun we have had with you. Sure we have had some rough days, but we have been blessed with such a happy, healthy, beautiful boy. We know we are lucky and we are thankful each day that we have you!



You can see ALL our Birthday pictures here!

10 Months

This last month has been like no other. You are not only mobile but you are figuring everything out, it seems, like every day.

The amount that you have progressed is pretty amazing. It really does seem like every day you are figuring out just how mobile you can really be. It started off with crawling, one robotic hand and leg movement at a time...it has since progressed to you pulling yourself up on everything, including the dog!



You have quickly figured out how to walk between furniture and are even getting so brave as to reach further than you probably should...sometimes grabbing what you reach for other times falling a little short, usually leading to a tumble and some tears.

You love standing up on your own and seem to celebrate it each time you push yourself up. It is funny to watch each time because it is like a hundred new experiences each day. Your curiosity is amazing and it seems like you have to touch and feel everything. You wave your arms around every time you see something that fascinates you.



This past weekend you participated in your first swimming class at the YMCA. You seemed to really like it towards the end as you slowly got the hang of it. You even went under water without crying...you were stunned and we both thought you were going to let out a big scream but you held it in like a super star!



You're personality seems to come through more and more each day. The funny little things you do are countless, but the best seems to be when you try to mimic mom or I when we stick our tongues out like frogs. Sometimes you just open your mouth moving your tongue inside, other times you manage to stick your tongue out every 3rd or 4th attempt.

You also have started to learn how to dance. It is actually quite cute. When mom was out of town we started listening to the iPod when you were eating. You started doing a little move, almost a shimmy in your high chair. You like to bounce up and down when you are standing up playing and almost clapped your hands just a few days ago.

We can officially count 7 teeth now! It seemed to take forever to get just one and now it seems like they have come in bunches. It is pretty funny to look at you because it looks like you have little chicklets stuck in your gums, but soon you will have a mouth full of teeth.

The thing that most amazes me is the amount of words that you seem to understand. You definitely know what doggie means, and you know when you see one. When we are outside and you see one you stop and wave your arms and say "Da" "Da". You also know your name and look when we call you. You keep saying dada and we are trying to get you to associate that with me. Just in the last few days you have started making mama sounds so now the race is on to see which one you associate first!

This is all an awesome experience and the last few weeks have seemed like a blur. It is truly fun, even if it is exhausting being your mommy and daddy.

9 Months

Every day you seem to be more and more like a little boy. I love coming home to you every night because I feel like I am seeing a new child each day.

This past month has finally brought about some new teeth! It seemed like they would never come but finally one broke quickly followed by a second tooth. You were quite a slobbery little one when they were breaking and you had a few rough nights, but when they finally broke and you were able to sleep through the night you were like a whole new child.

You are close to crawling though you still hate to be on your tummy. You have the rocking motion down and will raise a hand or knee, but you just don't seem to want to put it all together.



The same thing for walking. You still love to walk around the house and at times that is ALL you want to do. We bought you a new toy that looks like a mail cart to help you walk around the room but you had one fall on it and you are gun shy ever since. You are learning how to walk just holding one hand, but you are still very hesitant to go too far.



Your voice seems to come in stages. You really find it when you are cruising around the house. It's like you are concentrating really hard and you have to talk yourself through your walks. Sometimes though, you just seem to go on "rants" when you squeak and squawk for long stretches of times.

One of the greatest things is that you are starting to waive goodbye. It started first with just a little wave of the arm that we guessed to be a waving motion. It has since turned into a stiff arm movement up and down and a big smile whenever mom or I leave.

One of your favorite activities is to look out the window. Whether it is the bay window in the kitchen or the front or back door you like to stand and look outside. You like to lick the cold glass and mumble as the cars pass. You could probably stand there for hours on end if we let you. It certainly is a blessing on those occasions when you want to fuss late in the day.

We are excited and nervous to have you moving about. We have invested in our baby-proofing gear and have already started installing some of it.



You can see more pictures like this one by clicking here!

8 Months

I can't believe that four weeks have passed already. I feel like the time is going faster each week, faster than we can really keep track of. These last four weeks have brought out more of your personality, your ability to move, your ability to learn and pick things up and your coordination.



You are truly our child as you seem to have a stubborn streak that only your mother and I could bring about. The best example of this stubbornness was trying to get you to drink out of your sippy cup. When we first gave it to you you made us hold it for you which was fine. But when we would make you hold it you would put your arms straight out like a bird and open your mouth with the cup sitting right in front of you. You would start to whine or just keep flapping your arms until one of picks up the cup and puts it in your mouth for you. You have since gotten better about this but every once in a while when you are crabby you refuse to hold the cup.



Your stubbornness is offset by your incredibly sweet moments. Even though you love to see everything that is going on, when you get tired or get unsure of what is going on and you need a hug, you just throw your little hands up in the air in our direction waiting to be picked up and loved. The best moments are putting you to bed, when you are so tired you just cross your arms and lay your head on our shoulders as you stand on our laps after drinking your milk, giving us stories to relay to each other each night.



You are quickly becoming closer to being mobile. You love to have us walk you around the room and your coordination is getting better and better by the day. You are also starting to get up on your hands and knees and rock your little bottom back and forth. We first noticed this when we would get you up in the mornings. We call you our little dinosaur because we'd find you in your crib on your hands and knees and your little back and neck arched looking around like a brontosaurus looking for leaves.

You are very enthusiastic about banging your blocks on other blocks and banging things on your high chair, this seems to be your new thing as you quickly discovered that two things clanging on each other make cool noises. You also like to play with balls and watch them being thrown up in the air or rolled across the floor. You find great amusement in them and laugh and squeal with delight as we toss them your way.



Your personality is starting to shine through bit by bit everyday and we love to watch you grow and progress. Your laughing and squealing brings us such happiness and the best moments are when we all sit in the living room play together.



Your mommy and I can't wait to see what other adventures await as you start to crawl and walk, and as your personality really starts to shine through. You are a rock star, even if only in our hearts. We love you baby boy and cherish each incredible moment with you.