Marcus is 9 Months

This has been such an amazing month, and an exhausting month.  Marcus' little personality is starting to shine more and more, I love seeing him become his own little person and understanding more what makes him happy and what interests him.  He is an observer, and I often catch him watching his brother and everything that is going on around him.  He is silly and does this most amazing cheese face when we catch him doing something or if we give him a big smile.

 

He is sleeping through the night but often wakes up at the crack of dawn when he's cutting a tooth which is the case this past week.  Naps have been kind of awful lately.  He is a cat napper in the morning which works for me because it helps when we have an activity or errands to run, but he started fussing to put himself to sleep for his afternoon nap.  Its at the same time as his big brother is napping so instead of letting him fuss I have been laying down with him.  Its not ideal but I have been welcoming the rest, and the extra snuggles. 

We've had a problem getting Marcus to drink formula on a consistent basis for as long as we switched him to it.  I'm not sure if this happened because I was able to breastfeed him longer than Lucas before my supply issues kicked in or for some other reason.  Thankfully this month we've finally overcome that and he has four bottles a day, three meals and a small snack after his morning nap.  There really isn't anything that we've introduced to Marcus that he hasn't ate and enjoyed but he definitely has his preferences.  For example he will eat strawberries but if there is peach and berries on his tray he won't touch the berries.  Funny little man.  He's tried watermelon, gold fishies, cheese quesidilla, rice, sausage, Annie's mac and cheese, ham and scrambled egg.  Much like his brother he isn't a fan of breakfast hence why he's getting a small snack after his morning nap.

He is a mover and shaker.  Crawls around everywhere. Pulls himself to standing on anything really and can balance himself fine using one hand but hasn't made any real moves towards walking.  His big brother was starting to walk at this point but I feel like Marcus gets around so well crawling and has someone at his eye level that he doesn't feel the need to walk yet.  He has easily taken several steps using the activitu table.  We encourage him as much as he allows if only for the motor skills but he can reach this milestone when he's good and ready, especially since it's not keeping him back from getting around and in everything.

He passes toys from hand to hand with ease and purpose.  If I'm dressing him and he has something in his hand he will pass it to the other hand so I can put his arm through his shirt.  I've noticed this month that he pays a lot of attention to what and how his brother is playing and as a consequence I've seen him try to imitate him.  For example he's tried to stack cups on his own or put a puzzle piece together.

He's quite the chatterbox and is always making some sort of sound to get our attention or to communicate.  He says mama, Dada and sometimes refers to his brother as Bubba which is our nick name for him.

He has a total 7 teeth right now which seems like a lot for his age and is probably why I feel like I still am not sleeping.  Teething never affected Lucas night time sleep but it sure does for this little man.  Most of the time it just means really wake ups but at least once or twice a week it will also mean 2 hour shenanigans in the middle of the night.

Marcus for the longest time seemed very uninterested in reading and I carried all sorts if mom guilt over it since I felt as if I hadn't as much of an effort to read to him early on as I did with his brother.  I kept attempting to read to him everyday and at different times and I'm qin happy to say that it seems to have paid off.  He already has books that he enjoys more than others, he will actually remove books from the shelves and attempt to open them, and if we are reading together he actually turns the pages if I lift them slightly.  Lucas and I are huge lovers of books so I'm very glad that Marcus got the memo.

Marcus is wearing size 3 diapers, which he hates to get changed out of this month.  He's also wearing size 12 month and some size 18 month clothes.  The fact that the boys were born in the same month and therefore share the same seasons for all sizes of clothes has been a huge advantage.  I've barely bought anything new thus summer for him which was very convenient since big brother went through a huge growth spurt recently and needed an almost entirely new summer wardrobe.

I have loved watching the relationship between the brothers develop this month.  With Marcus understanding so much more about his environment, he has developed a true love and relationship with Lucas.  He tries to wrestle his brother, he razzes him by trying to take away things from Lucas hands, and he reaches for him anytime his brother is slightly close to him.  Every night Lucas gives his brothers kisses and hugs before Marcus heads to bed and the smile on his face is one of those whole face smiles that makes this mommy melt in a huge puddle of love.

This month Marcus went to the zoo for the first time, Mandarin and the splash pad.  All loved and enjoyed equally, although I personally think the chicken wing at Mandarin was probably his highlight.

I'm a little in denial that his birthday is 3 very short months away.  I'm just enjoying this time too much to think about it too much.

Marcus is 8 Months

I can't believe we are 4 short months away from my littlest's first birthday.  Summers are usually busy for us, we pack them with fun activities and we more often than not have stuff happening on the weekends.  September and fall always seem to come way too fast, and with that I feel like this first birthday will be here before I'm fully ready for it.

At 8 months Marcus is "doing" so much.  Much like his brother he has impeccable motor skills, and sometimes I feel like he's always trying to catch up to his brother.  Here are some highlights of Marcus.

Eating about everything in sight!  We introduced finger food and baby led weaning a lot earlier than we did with Lucas.  We start off with purees around 4 months but with Lucas he started finger food at closer to 8 months.  Well Marcus would be watching his brother at meal times like a hawk and found that his purees were just not measuring up.  So we introduced finger food just before 7 months and it was a huge game changer.  He still eats "meals" in puree form but super chunky already, which is how he prefers it, but at almost every meal he has to have something to grab and munch on as well.  He prefers bananas in chunks, don't even think about mashing them up.  Loves chicken.  His favourite meal right now is pasta and meat sauce (he's obviously Italian and heading in the same direction as his brother with his love for pasta).  Much like Lucas he prefers fruit over veggies, but I've gained a little more knowledge second time around and have sneaked in lots of veggies in his meals and kid is none the wiser.  His fave veggie I would say is corn, add that to any meal and he is a happy camper.  We use Baby Gourmet baby cereals and they are so much better than the generic Heinz brand in my opinion, and Marcus still eats oatmeal on most mornings, while at this point Lucas wouldn't even look at it.  New foods he's tried this month were pancakes, cantaloupe, beef, toast, yogurt, and tomatoes (cooked in rice).  So far nothing he didn't like. 

He eats three meals a day, with about 6 bottles in between.  Marcus has never been a lover of formula, and it has been a constant struggle to get him to have bottles, I recently found that instead of insisting he ingest the required 6 ounces at one feeding, that if I break them up during the day he is happier, and ends up drinking the amount he should by the end of the day.  Its not ideal, but it works for us.

Sleep has been such a learning curve for us, and made me realize how good we had with Lucas.  Big brother was sleeping through the night, from 8:30 to about 5:30-6am starting at 6 months.  Marcus only started sleeping solidly through the night this past week.  He was a much better napper than Lucas was, but he was still insisting on waking up at least twice a night, and not even for a bottle.  We did everything the same as we did the first time around, but we realized that each kid is different and takes their own time to adapt to new situations.  Marcus was and continues to put himself to sleep for naps and at bedtime with no problem, but until this week he would wake up at around 1am without fail and wail on and off for sometimes 2 hours.  Of course during this time Lucas was cutting his last molar and was up at sometimes 4:30 so we were one tired household for 2 months.  A big problem we were having was that he was resisting the bedtime bottle, and I really feel that this was making him wake up, once we established a routine that worked for him (he gets half a bottle after bath, and then finishes it before bed to total of 8 ounces) it was a huge game changer.  He started waking up later and later, and now he sleeps until 5:30 sometimes 6:15.  I can't complain. 

He naps twice a day; a short 45 minutes in the morning then usually 2-2 1/2 in the afternoon.  I will wake him at his morning nap to ensure that he has his longer nap in the afternoon while his brother is sleeping as well.  He's gotten so used to it that he usually wakes up before I head in there. 

Besides his sleeping problem the last month, he is the easiest baby!  My kids are pretty chill for the most part, and pretty easy to keep happy.  He loves his brother, the sweet special smile he bestows on him when they see each other in the morning is honestly the best sight a mom could witness. He loves to be sung to,  only likes to be read to before and after naps, unless you're reading one of his favourites then he's game at any time of the day.  Fave book is Baby Beluga and Love you Forever.

He loves his mommy the best.  He loves his daddy too. 

He has started following Lucas around. Everywhere. Big Brother usually plays around for the chasing but sometimes you can tell that Lucas is already finding him the annoying little brother.

Crawling.  Standing.  Crawling.  Standing.

I honestly love this stage, even if its a little exhausting making sure he isn't getting into anything he shouldn't; and avoiding bumps and bruises cause he insists on using everything to pull up on. 

He started saying Mama about a month ago and this week added Bubba (which is what we call Lucas).

He loves blocks.  Trying to grab his brothers cars.  Still loving the jumper but only for short periods of time.  Love/hate relationship with the exersaucer, cause he likes the toys around it, but hates being restricted to one area.  Is putting everything in his mouth due to teething gums.

We have 4 teeth already, and I'm pretty sure I spy 2 more coming our way. Bath time is his jam!  We started bathing him with Lucas as soon as he was able to sit up and he loves moving around in the water. 

We went swimming for the first time this month and it was a big hit.  I have another bubble guppie on my hands. 

He is super friendly.  If you show him any attention or smile his way, he will reward you with the biggest smile back.  He's ticklish on his ribs and feet.  Will laugh the hardest if daddy makes quacking sounds.  And has taken an interest lately in his brothers cartoons.

Overall its been a blast so far, and I can't remember what it was like without him.

Marcus is Two Months

This update is already a week old and I'm still in disbelief that I'm writing it.  How have two whole months gone by in such a flash; I seriously cannot remember how life was without this little guy, and he has been such a great addition to our family.  He is the best little brother already, and sometimes I feel bad for him cause he takes his big brother's shenanigans in stride and he definitely has to put up with a lot hehe. 

Sleep has had its good days and bad days, which is to be expected this early in the game.  Right now Marcus either has two cat naps in the morning about 20 to 30 minutes long, or a long one if we are out and about; a longer nap in the afternoon, which lately I have been taking with him, since it coincides with Lucas' nap, and then a short catnap in the evening or else he falls asleep on his nighttime bottle.  At night we have occasionally gotten a good 5-6 hour stretch, which means he only gets one bottle in the middle of the night, or when he has a shorter stretch he is up for a little top up at 3am.  His sleeping patterns during the day especially are so different from his brother who at this time already stayed up longer stretches, so he had already dropped his early morning, and late evening cat naps.  However, Marcus tends to falls asleep with much more ease than big brother did which in itself is such a blessing, and tends to help a little when he has nights that he wakes often.  He gets his before bed bottle at 8 and is in bed by 9pm without fail every night, I feel that because we had him fall into his brother's bedtime routine from the moment we got home it has really contributed to him having a set bedtime already. 

Feeding this little guy this month has given me so much anxiety, its so hard to put into words the equal amounts of frustration and concern it causes.  He is so his own little person and I was prepared to have him eat like his big brother did; however Marcus is definitely not as greedy of an eater his brother was, and instead he prefers to eat more often and less ounces at a time.  So instead of being able to get him on a 3 to 4 hour feeding schedule I find myself feeding him every 2 hours like a newborn, and worse sometimes I make him wait at least 3 hours to try and get him to have a better bottle and no dice.  The only saving grace to my sanity is that he is clearly happy when he finishes eating as much as he wants and isn't screaming until I put another bottle in him.  Also he clearly is putting on weight no problem, weighing in at a healthy 13.8 pounds at his check up!  The doctor has stated that most likely he eats so fast the first 2-2 1/2 ounces of his bottle that he feels full before really being full and hence not wanting to eat more.  Hopefully we can turn a corner soon because the poor feeding tends to affect his sleep at night.

Marcus is such a strong little man already, excelling at tummy time, and lifting his cute little head to see the world.  He already bears his weight on his legs if we hold him, and I can't wait to introduce the exersaucer to him next month as we did with Lucas who was also a huge a fan.  He is already reaching for a few hanging toys when they are in front of him but can't quite grasp them fully yet.

I love seeing his personality starting to shine through.  He is a pretty mellow and easy going baby, with smiles for days already.  He coos and blows bubbles already like its no one's business, and I love sitting with him when we get one on one time cause he never stops "talking" the whole time. 

The smile and the way his eyes light up when his brother comes to him in the morning is perhaps the best feeling a mother can have.  Lucas tends to give him the most attention right in the morning when he wakes up, climbing into bed to talk to him, and give a fierce pat on the head or tummy.  No matter how rough Lucas can get with him Marcus just grins and bears it, but I think he is secretly biding his time until he can rough it back at him.

Everyday, even those where I fall into bed in pure exhaustion, are filled with so much love and feeling blessed that we had this little guy join our family. 

Marcus is One Month

One of the reasons I came back to blogging was so that I could stay on top of documenting milestones about both boys, and I really enjoyed writing these for big brother.  Marcus actually turned two months this weekend, so I'm back tracking a little and catching up to some of last month's stats. 

 

At his wellness appointment he was already weighing a whopping 11 pounds (exactly like his brother at this age), and had grown a full inch in length! 

 

Marcus is such an easy going baby, falling into his brother's routine pretty seamlessly so far.  We established a bedtime routine the moment we got home, doing baths, baby massage, book and bottle at the same time that we were doing bedtime for Lucas, and because of that Marcus is in bed between 8:30-9 just like his brother.  We've had a few mishaps during thanksgiving where we spent the evenings away from home, but the next night it was business as usual.  Usually he sleeps a long 4-5 hour stretch when he first goes to bed, but then sometimes after that first bottle he is up every 2 hours.  Marcus naps more during the day that his big brother ever did, and he falls asleep pretty easily when he does, sometimes not requiring a bottle to soothe him into a nap at all.  We have not introduced a soother just like with his brother, and I feel like he's taking to self soothing pretty well already.

 

We switched to bottles and formula, and so far its been a bit of a battle.  We haven't quite figured out a schedule yet for feedings, and I find that at times tends to snack a lot during the day as if he were still being breast fed.  I'm a little selfish with wanting a proper nap and feeding schedule cause it means that both boys will nap at the same time in the afternoon.   We are using Good Start formula with probiotics, and like Lucas we were supplementing him with biogaia drops everyday to help with his bowels, and avoid any colic problems, but we realized that the drops were overkill for him and were in fact upsetting his tummy more than helping so we stopped using them. 

 

Marcus tends to nap about 4 times throughout the day, usually a cat nap early in the morning, then a longer nap in the late morning, and early afternoon, and caps the day off with an evening nap.  Unlike Lucas who used to have most of his naps in my arms or in the car seat, Marcus is more often than not put down for a nap, so either in the bouncy chair, or in his bassinet, unfortunately the little guy doesn't have the luxury of having my full attention, so when I do get the chance to just hold him for a nap I do, cause I want to have that experience with him too.  I usually nap with him in the afternoon lately, since it is the same time that Lucas is sleeping, and I am well in need of a snooze by then too.  We've actually had a few good 5 hour stretches of sleep at night a dew times, but Marcus tends to eat and fall asleep fairly quickly at night time feedings which is a welcome change from his brother who used to like to party for two hours during feedings when he was first born.

 

Obviously this first month hasn't seen much interaction from the little man since he's still at his sleep most of the day phase, and he can't stay up longer than an hour sometimes between feedings.  His big brother though is dying to interact with him.  We have found toys laid out on his chair for him, and if he's doing tummy time on his exercise mat, most likely you will find Lucas right by his side having some deep conversation.  Marcus is generally a happy baby, really only crying when he's tired or ready for a bottle.  We have yet to experience an awful witching hour from him, if anything his brother is the one who needs constant entertainment that last hour before bedtime. 

 

To say that we got lucky the second time around again with a baby who is pretty happy go lucky, eats and sleeps fairly well, is an understatement; but really we got lucky cause we didn't know what were missing until he entered our lives. 

 

Lucas is 18 Months

How has another half a year gone by just like that.  I feel like we were celebrating Lucas' first birthday just a few days ago.  There have been really challenging days as of late with Lucas' personality and new vocal complaints for things he wants.  Its so hard sometimes to explain to an 18 month old that no you may not play with the toilet water, or that biting is not a proper form to show your displeasure with a certain situation. We are making strides with teaching and disciplining him, and thankfully he is his most feisty self at home, and for the most part he is well behaved in public forums or larger family functions, but its a daily struggle, and parenting a toddler is equal parts exhausting, mind numbing, rewarding, and downright amazing some days.

Despite the growing pains, this is one of my favourite stages thus far.  He is such a little person, with likes and dislikes, and is learning to express them as well.  He is funny, some of my fave parts of the day is when he understands something that is meant to be funny and he laughs hysterically accordingly, or when he does something himself to instigate laughter from his father and I.  The smile he rewards us with afterwards, well its enough to forget those moments when he's yelling at the top of his lungs cause he can't reach something or isn't getting his way.   His belly laughs are really music to my ears, and I will never tire of tickling his feet or ribs and watch him roll around in innocent abandon.

He is quite the talker lately!  He has gotten so good at learning to repeat words after us, and is slowly integrating them himself into his daily language.  B and D words are far easier for him to grasp, but I have seen in just the last week S and C sounds are starting to make its way into his vocabulary.  Even when he isn't coherent he's always talking, and he's making more toddler sounds.  Sometimes I catch him playing with his trucks or toys and having a conversation with himself, and its the most adorable thing ever! Some common things he says is ba when he wants milk, he calls his daddy bubba which is the hubby's nick name for Lucas (this always makes me laugh when he does it), no more and shakes his head when he's done eating something or is tired of a particular activity, and he exclaims WOW to anything that is of interest to him.

He really loves crafts! I've always encouraged creative play with Lucas, and the clean up is often not fun but he has so much fun getting messy, and painting himself as much as the paper.  I mentioned the activity sheets that I started doing with him on a daily basis, and I love that they encourage learning along with play, and colouring.  I believe that is why Lucas actually enjoys them as much as he does, plus the whole point is to make it fun for him right now, and not make him feel like he's trying to meet some kind of expectation.  I try to do at least one or two crafts with him a week, even if its just stickers which he loves!

Lucas has been a grazer lately in the eating department, eating several little meals during the day, and then finally a good dinner.  It doesn't make me too happy, but as long as he's getting his take of fruit and veggies in him I'm pretty happy.  He loves pasta, rice with veggies, meat, cheese, and any type of fruit really.  He's a little pickier when it comes to veggies but fruit he loves!  We weaned him off just this week from one of his bottles, and it was a lot easier then I thought it was going to be, I'm lucky that he really likes milk and drinks it from a sippy cup no problem.

Sleep is still as usual, with wake ups at about 6am.  He's still having teething issues with the pesky two year molars giving him a lot of pains some days, but taking their time to make an appearance.  It usually affects his naps more than anything, so some days its only an hour, and then some days he rocks a three hour nap, those days I'm one grateful pregnant mommy.

Overall he's such an amazing little man, and I can't wait to see what the next six months bring, and how he will take to being a big brother at the end of those six months.

Lucas is 16 Months

Since I missed last month's update due to the holidays, this is really a rundown of Lucas' developments from the last two months.  Its been quite the time celebrating his second Christmas, and although he was still not that into opening gifts he really enjoyed his new toys and books.  Its always still a wonder for me to experience life and moments through his eyes, and I marvel at the little things that he learns daily, and the things that he teaches me in my journey through motherhood.  Here's a small glimpse into the world of Lucas lately.

Sleep: I don't think we have ever really had a problem in this area since we slept trained Lucas at five months.  Lately the early riser in him though has been killing this mama.  Lucas unfortunately takes after his father who is notoriously an early riser because he gets a few hours of sleep and he's as well rested as I am when I get eight hours of sleep, I secretly hate my husband for this.  So Lucas likes to rise usually around 6-6:30 but the past month or so its been more like 5-5:30 and Lord knows where I get the energy to keep up with him, because when he wakes up its like the energizer bunny around here.  He naps once a day usually from 1-3, but there have been days that he rests an extra hour, and I am eternally grateful on those days.  Lucas has never been one for having a lovey or stuffed animal that he has to have with him in bed, but he is very partial to his blankets, and lately he likes to snuggle up in them to fall asleep, its pretty adorable.

Eating: We just had his 15 month shots and well check up a few weeks ago, and little dude is 29 pounds, so its safe to say that he has a healthy appetite.  He is also towering at 89 centimeters, so he looks like a quarterback in training which has his father looking forward to a future in football, which I marvel at how I'm going to feed my monster child.  We have hit a few snags in the veggie department lately, and he seems to enjoy them more in soups or mixed in rice or pasta so I've been sneaking them in where I can.  He adores fruit though which is great, apples and bananas being a fave, but he likes more exotics things too like kiwi.  He has made huge strides lately self feeding himself using utensils.  He has pretty much mastered the fork, and sometimes I catch him smiling at himself when he get the food on the fork and then in his mouth.  Using a spoon is a whole other ball game, but I still let him practice even though we often get as much yogurt or soup on him as we do in him.

Motor Skills: Little man is clearly a boys boy.  He loves anything to do with trucks and balls, and he has gotten so good at "driving" his trucks around the house, as well as throwing balls with purpose now.  We have been playing with stickers lately to help with fine motor skills, and not only does he enjoy the activity he has gotten really good at adjusting the stickers to help him actually stick them on the paper.  Since Lucas learned to run, that's his fave mode of transportation which really justifies my need to pass out along with him at 8pm sometimes.  He has learned to walk down the stair holding my hand and the banister, and he loves getting to the bottom that he often does a little dance.  He learned to climb the ottoman in our living room last week, and now climbing everything has become his fave pastime.  I'm doomed.

Language Skills: This is something I stress about on a daily basis.  I feel like Lucas should be saying more words, than we go to our playgroup and not only does he communicate more than some of the other children but his understanding of the world around him amazes me.  I feel like we as parents put so much stock in what our kids "should" be accomplishing instead of just guiding them and letting them find their own pace.  Lucas "talks" a great deal often with expressions and tones that are relevant to any given situations, and he understands several commands very well, such as picking up toys, asking for something, and doing simple tasks.  He added duck, cat, and dog to his vocabulary, he understands who his vavos (grandparents in Portuguese) and his titi (aunts in Portuguese) are.  He loves books, and will recognize titles when I ask him for a particular book as well.

Personality: I don't even know where to begin with this one.  Lucas is generally a social and happy kid but he's joined the world of tantrums and crocodile tears lately, and its exhausting.  He is a very strong willed child, and very independent and enjoys learning and figuring things out for himself, so he get very frustrated when he can't or when I try to help him.  He has gotten so much more cuddly as of late, he snuggles against me in bed in the morning, or watching tv, and I can't even tell you how my heart bursts when he kisses me unsolicited.  He is a bit of a mama's boy and I love every minute of it.  He can go all day without seeing his father, and the moment I slip away to take a shower he wants to follow me to the bathroom.  Don't get me wrong he loves on his dad a lot, but he has a special love for his mommy.

I have more updates, and things on my mind coming to the blog soon.  Hope everyone else in keeping warm in these cold temps.

Lucas is 14 Months

My little man is a full fledged toddler, and he has the tantrums to prove it!  I'm still trying to grasp how fast this month passed.  Our days are pretty full with activities, meals, outings, errands, learning time, family time, that I feel that time just flies right past me sometimes. 

 

Lucas is going through some early onset terrible twos symptoms, that my sister had advised me could happen, as my niece experienced the same thing.  Seriously, I lose count of how many times during the day I give myself a time out, pray to God for some extra patience, and tackle the mister's outbursts.  Lucas has shown that he has a short fuse (but I'm sure that's true with most kids his age, he just has the added disadvantage of his Portuguese AND Italian heritages), and his temper is formidable, especially of course when he doesn't get his way, or he senses the word no is coming.  His limited communication skills are clearly still a hindrance, so when he gets upset and he's "talking" to me and I'm trying my best to get a handle on what's wrong, he will just have a total meltdown, crying, raising his arms in protest, until thankfully we understand each other or he gets over it.  Other times when his meltdowns are driven by "no you may not put your hand in the toilet", or "please for the hundredth time do not tear down all the ornaments off the tree", or "let me please wash this measly mug and then we will play together" there is really nothing I can do to tame the tantrum.  He clearly is too young for time out, so most often I resort to "ignoring" him until he calms down and then he meanders over to me with a huge smile all forgotten, or sometimes he sits on the couch with one of us until he realizes that he either a) has to calm down since crying and flaying his arms around is really not the answer, or b) he realizes that we are saying no or danger for a reason.  Its an uphill battle, and discipline is something that will be a gradual process, that is oftentimes exhausting, but we feel that sticking to a plan, or one set of rules; eventually with more comprehension will prove to be easier.

To round off this new world of tantrums and stubbornness, Lucas is incredibly independent.  He refuses to be assisted sometimes with the most mundane things, but then will get frustrated if he can't figure it out.  I swear people, he drives me absolutely batty sometimes, and I don't know whether to shake my head and cry, or just laugh at the situation (sometimes its both).  His independence thankfully is a blessing sometimes, he enjoys independent play very well, it encourages him to try and understand certain toys, and games on his own, he has gained better self-feeding skills, and just overall his understanding of the world around him.

So don't get me wrong it hasn't been all bad around here, I'm just trying to keep it real, and I needed to get that all out there.

Lucas has also shown this month a more playful side grasping the concept of playing much differently.  His favourites activities are anything musical, sorting games, balls, and crafts.  We really kicked it up a notch this month with crafts introducing finger painting, and stickers, and even though his attention span for certain activities is still limited he is enjoying them more and more.  He engages other kids at his playgroup to play with him, and is always all smiles when he meets someone new.  I'm so glad that I really made more of an effort to join this playgroup, since I have seen such a change in him in how he interacts with other children, and seen a huge enhancement in his social skills; especially since he is one of the youngest in the group I feel that interacting with the other children who are already talking more has really helped with his want to communicate.  I'm pretty pumped for another group we are joining in January adding to are jam packed schedule, and keeping the little guy and mama busy. 

Some new words that Lucas learned this month was: good, there, again, and he is making the moo sound when we are learning our animals.  He speaks a lot even if it is incoherent, and I find it pretty amusing when he is trying to tell us something and we guess it right he will turn to us and say yeah yeah, pretty happy with us.  He speaks like an old Italian man with his hands in the air, and grunting when he is perturbed with something, its quite the sight to see.  When he wakes in the morning, he will cry out if he woke up startled or not feeling well, if not he is quite pleasant, just sits and plays in his crib until I go get him.  The best is usually his morning ritual will be to put his aquarium on, and proceed to have a conversation with the fishes, and all his stuffed animals, its adorable and I never rush to go get him just so I can lay in bed and watch him over the monitor. 

Lucas is pretty affectionate, just like his parents, often running over for hugs and kisses quite unprompted, but lately this poor mama gets no love before bed time.  Gianni always gives him his bottle before bed, and I read him a story, just before I leave them to have bonding time I use to get all sorts of kisses, lately nothing, nada, zilch.  Boy and I have to have a talk about that lol. 

I'm pretty sure that sums up the highlight reel for this month.  Everyday is a either a breeze or a head banging against the table kind of day; but overall everyday is a blessing.

Lucas is 13 Months

I had debated whether I was going to continue doing these updates after Lucas turned a year old, but then I realized I want to document as much about his life as I can, even if its just little snippets every month as a reminder of what new things he's accomplished, and to look back one day and read about it.   Obviously I'm a little behind, since it sometimes takes me a while to make a decision lol.  Lucas turned 13 months last Monday!, but here are some of his details.

Sleep: He is officially down to one nap!  I really struggled and hesitated with this decision, but he started fussing a lot at his morning nap, and then if he did fall asleep it would be for an hour maybe an hour and half, and then he would refuse his afternoon nap, and in turn would be a cranky mess in the evening.  So after speaking to my sister about things she did when my niece dropped her morning naps, we kept Lucas occupied and busy as much as we could, and would out him down at 12 and increased this every 15 minutes every few days until he was going down for his nap at 1.  It was dicey there for a while, and in the beginning I was home bound a lot in fear that he would fall asleep in the car and mess up the routine.  But after two weeks he goes down for his nap and 1 and sleeps for at least two hours, sometimes three!  In the beginning when he started sleeping better naps I didn't even know what to do with such a big time to myself, now I love it hehe.  His bedtime is still at 8, although, if he does have a longer nap, its a little easier to stretch half an hour without him fussing.  He sleeps until 6:30-7, until recently since he's teething but that's a whole other issue.

Eat: Lucas continues to not be a picky eater although he knows what he likes, and know how to ask for it.  Namely as long as he has meat at dinner he's a happy camper!  He tried peanut butter for this time this month, just a small dabble on his afternoon banana, and not only did he like it, thankfully no allergic reactions.  With his new schedule lunch is kind of a hit and miss, but he has such big and healthy breakfasts and dinners that I don't worry too much.  He still loves his milk, and is drinking 3 8oz bottles a day no problem.  I have slowly introduced him to his own spoon and fork to foster more self feeding, but he still prefers his fingers.

Skills: Lucas is officially a runner, which means by nap time I am one tired mama myself.  His new speeds are fast or faster, but I must admit that I love watching him run around as his cute little legs flap up and down, and his arms sway all around him in excitement.  Lucas added stairs, lights, woof woof, all done, love you, beijinho (kisses in Portuguese) to his vocabulary this month as well.  His understanding of words though is amazing, he gets it when we tell him to pick something up and bring it to us, he knows what to do when we tell him to come with us, or to head to a certain room in the house. 
He loves to sort and fill bins right now, I usually take this time to point out shapes, new words and colours when we are doing these sort of activities, hopefully next month there will be new words added to his vocabulary because of this.  He still loves books, but now he will pick a book out and bring it to us to be read, or shut a book closed if he doesn't not want that particular book, he definitely has a mind of his own. 

Personality: Wow I don't even know where to start with this one.  He is so playful, and is really understanding the concept of eliciting laughs from us which he loves to do.  He adores music, and now he dances for you, as if feeding off the audience.  He is still my little social butterfly, and excels in situations with other children, and other people in general.  He cannot walk pass someone without smiling and waving hello to them, and it warms my heart to see how it makes people smile to see him so happy.  He definitely has a temper, but that was to be expected with his heritage, and boy will he stomp his feet, and grunt when he isn't getting his way; he will go from zero to ten in the blink of an eye!  He is more cuddly this month, and often will run to me and just lay against my chest for snuggles, which of course is something I cherish and treasure, who knows how long that's going to last. 

Here are some of my favourite photos from the past month.

 

 

Overall everyday is quite the adventure with this little guy, and its amazing how much he changes on a daily basis.

Lucas is One!

A whole year has passed since bringing our little man home, and its been one of the most challenging and rewarding years of my life.  We had a great time last weekend celebrating his birthday with all our family and closest friends, and I will be sure to post all the details soon.  On to the details...

Lucas is now attempting to run, and is actually quite successful, even though his brain doesn't quite catch up with his feet and he still stumbles around.  He loves to wander around, and sometimes he's entertained enough that I can sit in the back yard enjoying a coffee while he meanders around the trees and rocks, and contents himself with playing in the dirt.  I have been pointing out the names of things outside like grass and rocks, and even though he hasn't mastered those words he seems to understand us since he will bring us a rock when prompted.

His level of understanding of the world around him, and things that we tell him is honestly so amazing, and makes his mama so proud.  He has this amazing sense of direction, which lends itself to a funny story.  We were at a bass pro shop a few weeks ago and it was just in time to watch the fishes being fed, which Lucas was thoroughly enjoying; however my adventurous little man wanted to get into the water, so we moved away, and I'm talking like near the end of the store, and he made his way all the way back through clothes racks, and displays.  Obviously the tantrum that ensued when we left was less than stellar, but in retrospect we were amazed. 

His understanding has lent itself to quite the mischievous and playful side.  He has this odd obsession with eating plants, full well knowing that he shouldn't, but what does the bugger do, if no one is watching he will tear leaves off of plants and just throw them on the floor, but if he has an audience then he proceeds to stuff them in his mouth and watch while everyone clamours over to him to remove said leaves.  I dread the teenage years where it seems he will relish in defying authority.

He seems to not quite know whether he wants to drop a nap or not, and we have had a few days when he has refused his morning nap, only to be extremely fussy until he finally sleeps later.  But he's still sleeping well at night which I can't complain about especially since we were just at a play group last week, and I discovered that 3 out of the 5 moms were still dealing with 12 to 14 month olds not sleeping the night.  Since we haven't dealt with that problem since Lucas was 5 months old, I'm counting my blessings.

Lucas' appetite has taken a bit of a nose dive, notable at lunch.  I think this may have to do with the nap situation, since when he doesn't have his morning nap he's too over stimulated to want to eat so he just ends up snacking.  He has taken a huge liking to eggs this month though, and boy loves his meat of any kind, just this evening he ate a toddlers portion of white fish that would put some people to shame.  He's going through a love/hate relationship with veggies right now, so I'm going to start adding them to his eggs and pancakes, and makes fritters with them which I know he loves.

Lucas' full vocabulary list right now includes: mama, dada, nonna, nonno, no, yeah, hello, bye, da (give in Portuguese), go, ba (he uses this for his bottle, and has just started referring to balls this way as well).  I have to say that I'm pretty proud of his verbal skills, he "talks" a lot, and he definitely is having conversations with us, and we are always encouraging him to speak, and attempt to understand him.  We are firm believers in "including" Lucas in conversations, and I feel that he responds really well to this form of communication.

He is still very much a people person, and loves to wave and say hello to anyone who looks his way.  He charms the pants off of any stranger, and people are always taken in by his effusive smile, and laughter.  It really warms my heart to see how social he is, and how he seems to make friends at his play groups with such ease.  We are teaching him the rules of sharing, and I'm glad to say that he is not the first kid to take a toy away from another, if anything he usually offers it.

Lucas you have brought so much love and laughter to a lot of people this year, and I can't honestly wait to see what the future holds for you little one.

Lucas is 11 Months!

 

 

Can someone please tell me how we got to this point so quickly!  I may need a large glass of wine just to get through this month.  I have found myself in the last few days watching my little guy, relishing in his sweet embrace and smell, holding him after a bottle a little longer, and just being with him as much as I can.  I just cannot grasp how a whole year is almost upon us.

 

Ok enough with the melodramatic mama, on to the details of the little man.

 

Lucas has made a huge change this month, and he is almost officially a toddler it feels.  He walks like a champ now, although I swear he is dying to run, and I'm just ready for that quite yet, but like with most things, the little guy waits for no one.  When Lucas first started walking he used to hate wearing shoes, and we let him walk bare foot a lot, which is actually supposed to help them get a better footing (no pun intended).  Now he still hates being constricted by foot wear, but its obviously a necessity and he lives with it. 

 

His new found independence just keeps growing and growing, and he is quite the adventurous little guy.   He has started to enjoy climbing things, and he is really quite fearless, and completely unawares of his strength or capacity.  It has caused a few bumps and bruises along the way, as there is only so much I can prevent sometimes, but he usually bounces back fairly quickly, and takes it like a man, as his father likes to point out.  Park dates are quite the adventure now, and he simply does not want to just swing around anymore.  He has learned to push himself down the slide, much to his delight, and often attempts to climb back up (as a shake my head and grab him).  He usually runs around now, and tries to climb anything as much as possible, and often I need a nap just as much as he does afterwards, but I refrain...sometimes lol.

 



 

 

Lucas is quite the little social bug.  He loves to smile to people, and now that he understands to say hello and goodbye without prompting, he spends his time just waving to people at the grocery store, the mall, and the park.  He will go up to just anyone as long as you give him a smile, but the moment a stranger reaches for him he will shy and walk away, which I'm quite glad about, since at first I thought he was a little too easily taken with strangers.  He certainly likes the ladies, and will often approach them quicker than a man, and has often been startled by overly friendly male strangers.  He adores other children, and plays with them very well at his play groups, unless another child is upset and starts crying or screaming, its startles him to no end, and I find myself having to remove him from the situation, but once he's calmed down, he will approach the child again with everything forgotten. 

 



 

Lucas has started to show a more sillier side of himself, especially now that he is understanding more and more the concept of playing.  He will hide behind the kitchen island, or a chair and then come out and surprise you.  He loves to imitate sounds, and often makes sighing or high pitched noises only to start giggling with himself.  He started playing more with some of his toys as well, and really enjoys his cars, and can sometimes make a vroom vroom sound.  He adores the outdoors, and is seriously content just playing with the dirt and rocks, he has been helping dig up the garden and loves to feel different textures.  He still really enjoys books and being read to, although now he has taken an interest in grabbing books and looking through them all on his own.  He can identify the mama and the baby in the popular Robert Munch book "I'll love you forever", and can point out some animals in select stories.  I am starting a plan to introduce and teach colours, shapes, and then letters, and I will be sure to let everyone know how that goes.

 



 

Lucas still has no problem eating anything, although he has a dislike for zucchini now, and has he has been rejecting any pureed fruit cups.  He prefers to self feed, and at times will take the spoon from my hand and feed himself, its a messy situation but overall he doesn't do a bad job.   We introduced one bottle of milk at the end of this month, as Lucas was starting to reject his formula, as I have said before I really want to devote a post to how this process has gone for us.  His favourite foods right now are still chicken, grapes, and pretty much any fruits.  He tried tomatoes this month, and at first it didn't go down that well, but now he seems a little more keen.  His favourite breakfast item has to be omelettes, and he will eat a whole egg omelette no problem!  He prefers to drink during the day with a straw sippy cup, but if he sees us drinking from a bottle or a glass he makes a bee line for us and wants to partake.  I try to drink anything during the day that he can't share for that exact reason. 

 

Sleep is still great, I don't think I have had a complaint in this department since we slept trained him.  We had pondered moving Lucas to one nap since he had a week there where he was resisting his morning naps, and then it would only last half an hour.  He started waking pretty early again, so switching to one nap was just not a good idea.  We have a few things lined up for the fall that all run in the mornings, so my plan is to start a one nap regimen next week, Lord give me patience and lots of coffee cause I'm sure its going to be dicey. 

 



 

Little man is wearing 12 to 18 month clothing, and in some brands can fit in 24 month clothes, but mostly shirts and sweaters.  He is still pretty much tall and lean, and he actually outgrew some shoes this month, which is just a foreshadowing of how quickly he's going to be outgrowing things in the years to come.  

I really can't describe what a great month we have had, and how much more in love I am with this little guy every day!

Lucas is 10 Months!

I am having a hard time grasping that Lucas' birthday is a very short two months away.  Obviously I have been planning it already but that is besides the point, my baby is almost a full blown toddler and he makes so many new discoveries and advancements everyday, its enough to make this mama a little misty eyed.

The biggest achievement this month by far has been his walking, and pulling himself to a standing position on his own.  If you haven't checked my post on this last week check it out here it has a great little video if I do say so myself of some clips I've compiled this month.  This new found independence has been great as I find that he entertains himself a lot easier, as he is always out and about discovering, and looking for new things.  Clearly this drives me a little batty sometimes, since he finds ways to discover things he shouldn't but this will be a battle I will be fighting for years to come so I may as well buckle down and accept it.  I have to admit that the only detriment to a having Lucas walking so early is that unlike most parents at this age who can still "contain" their child for longer periods of time in a stroller, I am not so lucky.  A short trip to the mall requires me to allow Lucas to stretch his legs and walk around for a bit, or else he gets super cranky from being cooped in his stroller.  The fact that this kid has boundless amounts of energy doesn't help much.  Don't get me wrong people, I actually am thoroughly enjoying this phase, and it does also lend itself to more freedom on my part, I just miss those times when I would grocery shop and wouldn't have to stop and let Lucas walk down an aisle or two to avoid a meltdown.

Not sure about his weight and height, but he is officially wearing 12 to 18 month clothing, and his appetite has no bound lately.  Breakfast I have to say is his least favourite meal, and it is often a battle to get him to eat anything in one sitting, which results in eating some fruit and toast at the high chair and then maybe a cracker, or more fruit after a morning walk.  We discovered just last week that Lucas can now tolerate yogurt (yay!), but only the drinkable kind, and he is also starting to enjoy and digest certain cheeses.  Dinner is his fave meal, and I think it has something to do with the fact that both the hubby and I are together with him, I get it kid its a little boring when its just mama.  He still has 4 bottles of formula during the day, but he's been fussing for his night bottle the last 2 weeks, not sure if it has something to do with his dinner consumption, and if I should really worry about it...thoughts people.

Lucas has started saying yeah, which is incredibly adorable, since he actually says it in context.  He also says DA (which means give in Portuguese) and surprisingly he also says this one in context, mainly if I am holding something that he wants, mainly a drink (this kid is always thirsty lately).  Another recent discovery is when he's eating, he will mumble MMMM like he's enjoying it, I have a feeling he's copying us since we often say "Mmmm isn't this good Lucas, don't you like it". 

Nothing new to report in his sleep patterns; we just had a rough week when Lucas had another bottom tooth cutting through, but the moment the tooth made its appearance sleep was back to normal, thank God.  I'm a little spoiled with Lucas' sleeping habits the last few months, since we implemented and stuck to our sleep training plan, Lucas has always slept the night, and this was the first time that his teething affected his nighttime sleep. 

Lucas is extremely social, and usually will be shy for the first 2 minutes he meets you, and then next thing you know he's trying to get your attention, wants to be held, or is snatching at your clothing.  He absolutely thrives at his music class with the other kids, and is not afraid to get into their faces and attempts to talk to other children; its so amusing to watch.  He has learned to high five this month, and will do so 2 times in a row, very excitedly. 

He's mildly obsessed with his mama still, which is fine by me, the feeling is completely mutual.  He adores his nonno, much to chagrin of his nonna he will always run to my father in laws arms first hehe.  I loved seeing him play peek-a-boo with his tia (my little sister Gyselle) this past weekend, and couldn't help but think that it seemed like yesterday when she was the one who needed to be entertained with such childish fare, and now she was looking after him. 

Love his serious face in this outtake.

 

Overall its been an amazing month, and I still thank God everyday for the blessing of being Lucas' mother.

Lucas is 9 months!

I'm seriously having a hard time fully grasping that a whole month has already gone by!  So much has happened in Lucas' development this month, and I will say it again, cause it bears repeating, I'm in love with this stage in his life.  He is becoming his own little person, and his father and I are just enjoying the wonderful ride that he is taking us on. 

The little man has been talking up a storm lately, I only wish I could know what was going on in that little brain and what he's actually saying. Sometimes the tone in which he makes his gibberish sounds are quite hilarious, especially when I tell him not to do something. His new obsession is growling out noises when he's upset or super excited about something, we have a few videos of it and I really need to find a way to post them. Mama and dada are still his primary words although he recently started waving hello and saying hi.

He has definitely gone through a growth spurt this month, and I have a feeling one day this kid will be towering over me. He's fairly lean though so despite the fact that some of his 9 month clothes still fit him they are short on him. He reaches the top of the kitchen table already and he loves to find new things to reach and climb, unfortunately the stove is one of them so we have really been strict and enforcing a don't touch the stove rule.

He sprouted two more teeth this month which always affects his appetite for a few days. Usually he rejects his bottle when this is happening but this time it was meals which was fine, it just made feeding him a battle sometimes and he would switch from wanting to be spoon fed one day to only wanting to self feed another day. Thankfully it looks like we are at the tail end of it right now and he seems to be back to his usual hungry self. If anything he's actually snacking more now, usually wanting a snack after his afternoon bottle, or one before his afternoon nap.  New foods that he tried this month were grapes, which is loves, fishies (which have been a go to snack), lunch meat but only oven roasted turkey and ham and I buy the natural unsalted brands, fresh strawberries were also a hit, and pasta with tomato sauce.  Lucas is not a picky eater at all, which makes meals a lot easier, especially now that he enjoys finger food, he pretty much eats what we eat, the only exception we found this month was I made a carrot pureed soup and he disliked it so much that he shut him mouth firmly and pushed my hand away which he has never done; and which is very curious since he eats boiled carrots all the time.  Needless to say that soup will not be making its way to dinner table anytime soon.

A big development this month is he is pretty much walking! I have a whole post set up to talk about how this happened and hopefully I can upload the ton of videos we have been taking to track his progress. He still doesn't have a complete grasp on his balance so for the most part he pulls himself up using anything really and then he makes moves, falling down whenever he loses his balance, although this week he started bending his knees to prevent himself from falling or when he feels he is losing his balance he just puts himself sitting. We are pretty darn proud of him and try to give him as much opportunity to practice his new skill as much as he can.

He is starting to recognize animals and right now lions and bears are his favourite, hence all the growling that has been happening lately. He also loves cats but that's probably cause both my mother and sister in law have cats, and this past weekend he actually reached out and tried to grab one of their tails, not sure how the cat felt about it but Lucas thought it was a riot.  We are planning to go to the zoo this summer and I'm thinking he will really enjoy it.

Lucas is still as smiley as ever, and now I think he understands how much people enjoy it, as we find that sometimes he may be playing and all of a sudden he will look up at me or his father and just smile; its the most adorable thing ever.  When he sees family, or even strangers at the store for that matter, if you give him any sort of attention he will smile and start talking to you, he's quite the social butterfly.  We just started a new mommy and baby music class this week that allows for more exploring time, which works so much better for Lucas, cause sitting for a 45 minute class just wasn't working for him anymore.

Sleep has still been pretty good, even though Lucas tends to me an early riser, his bedtime is still 8-8:15, and he falls asleep on his own, the hubby usually gives him his night bottle after I read him a story, after a cuddle and a kiss from daddy he's put in the crib awake, and he moves around until he's comfortable and falls asleep.  Sometimes he actually puts his aquarium on by himself!  He's napping twice a day, a one hour nap usually in the morning, and a 2 hour nap in the afternoon, sometimes he switches, but its rare.  We did have one weekend thought where he slept both days til almost 8 so he only napped once those days.  I have a feeling when he will start sleeping in, that will probably be when he drops the second nap.  He goes down for his nap also awake, I usually read him a story, give him a cuddle and put him down, he's actually stopped fussing, and just falls asleep with no incident.  We had a few rough days when he was teething, but I just took advantage and napped with him :)

Wow if you're still reading pat yourself on the back lol.  Here's what everyone wants anyway, cute pics of the little man!

This one is so great Gianni said boo and this was Lucas' reaction, so funny.

 

Here's a little 9 month in, 9 months out action!



 

My how my little man has grown in the last 9 months!



Lucas is 8 months!

I seriously do not know where the time has gone this month.  I'm sure its because so much has happened the last few weeks, and the amount of development Lucas has had is just beyond amazing this month.  We are moving into territory for sure!

Lucas started crawling, and he hasn't turned back since.  He literally took a few days to get the hang of it, and then there was no stopping him!  He moves around with such speed, and loves the fact that he can get to places all on his own.  His favourite game is in the evenings Gianni and I place ourselves at opposite ends of the hallway and Lucas races in between us.  Its cute, and his boundless energy is keeping me on my toes this month! 

He is learning to love independent play a lot more, although he still prefers to have me sit on the floor with him, unless he's truly entertained with whatever toy has grabbed his attention.  I love it when I'm making dinner, and he realizes I am not beside him playing, he makes his way to the kitchen and plants himself at my feet, or climbs my legs.  It makes moving around the kitchen tricky but we get around.  I need to start keeping a basket of "kitchen" toys for him there so he has something else to grab his attention while I cook and clean.

Coupled with the crawling Lucas has a new favourite activity...climbing and standing.  He will climb literally anything that will give him enough traction to pull himself into a standing position.  He recently started being able to hold himself standing on his own for a few seconds, and the thought that this may mean walking in the near future has me crying in a corner, cause he's growing up way to fast for my liking!

We introduced finger food the last few weeks and he's loving it.  Also we aren't really giving him strained food anymore, all his purees are course now and he seems to be preferring it that way.  He is loving chicken, as long as its cut up in bits and he can grab it himself, and apples are still his favourite fruit although he's loving peaches and canteloupe recently.  We gave him corn on the cob and a rib to gnaw on this month too, and he loved it!

He finally cut his first teeth last weekend, four in total are coming at the same time, front top and bottom, which kind of justifies his crabby mood lately, usually in the early morning.  His gums are still pretty red and sore, as they are coming through, but thankfully it hasn't affected his sleep at all.

Lucas is still sleeping 2 naps a day, usually a long nap in the morning, and a shorter one in the later afternoon.  He's been rocking his naps lately, which I'm sure is a byproduct of all the moving around he is doing now.  He went through a phase at the beginning of the month of 5am wake up calls, and it was not pretty, for me at least, for him he could party all morning!  Thankfully he's back to his usual self and is waking up at 6:30-7 now, and his bedtime is usually about 8-8:15.

I'm loving seeing Lucas' personality shine through this month.  He is a cheeky little fellow and loves to hide and play peek-a-boo.  He is pretty much always smiling or laughing at something.  He is in love with his daddy this month big time, its the cutest thing to see him crawl over to him when daddy gets home from work, and then pat him on the chest when he's picked up.  He's starting to wave, not sure if he gets that it means hi or bye, but he loves to just wave his hands at strangers when we go shopping.  He has experienced a little of the stranger anxiety this month, when people have approached him, especially men; he loves when children say hello to him though. 

I can't believe there is only 4 months until his first birthday.  He's is fast becoming a little boy instead of a baby!  Enjoy the pics while I go sob in a corner!