Letters: Month 5 (pictures coming)

[Editor's note: I'm off-site and am too behind to post pictures just yet. They're coming, I promise!!!!]

Lukey, you're already five months old, which officially (in my mind) moves you out of 'infancy' and into the much more exciting and adventurous 'baby' months. Wow! As noted in your previous letters, you are a smiler and happy baby with very few complaints about your place in the world just yet. That still holds, although you've had some strange hiccups this month with your schedule and feeding... we're not sure what happened, but sometime on vacation this past month you went from eating 6-8 ounces a feeding to 3-4, and then starting to wake up in the middle of the night. This was not a happy development for your parents (or for you, we're guessing). And then there was your four-month shots (that you actually got a week ago cause that's just the way we roll around here, big guy) - those didn't sit very well with you. In the day following your shots, you pooped seven times. That's right: SEVEN. Let's just say you seemed pretty...shall we say, uncomfortable?

Holy big-baby, batman! And holy MOHAWK, Luke! Your hair is something else, kiddo. It is something to write home about... We seriously cannot get it to lay flat sometimes, especially now that you have rubbed off all the hair around your head and are just left with the chunk of hair on the top. I freaking LOVE it!

What else? Let's see: in the past month you spent a full ten days up at the Koering cabin, a sheer joy for you, considering all the new faces you got to investigate and all the hair you could grab and all the cousins you could drool on! You love what I've come to term "face time," that is, getting up close and personal with somebody's face and just giggling, grabbing, goobering... you are darn cute, dude.

You and Dad have two days a week just the two of you while I'm at work. Daddy loves getting in some one-on-one time (in-between fending off your sister). You and he have this carrier thing all worked out. You spend a chunk of time each day in the carrier while your dad bakes, gardens, walks around the zoo...he's a regular Mr. Mom, and the two of you seem to have a good vibe together. Of course, when I get in the door I'm scrambling for you to get in as much snuggly time as I can before you head to bed at 7:30. I kiss you a bajillion times in those few hours after work! You have the most adorable little chubby legs right now that I just want to EAT! (What is it with cute little chub that just makes you want to nibble on it?!) Anyway, you're adorable and snuggly, and after your last feeding we just smile at each other. It's my favorite time with you.

At this point in the breastfeeding adventure, you're about 50% mom-fed and 50% formula fed. So, we're not sure if the back-and-forth has you doing this new little thing while I'm feeding you that totally cracks me up: you snuggle in for a bite to eat... and then a few minutes later you pop off, look at me, smile, and then snuggle back in. This is typically my signal that you're no longer hungry, but I keep up the game for a bit cause it's so hilarious.

You're spending more and more time on your tummy, working on rolling over on your own (there have been a few successful attempts), and lifting yourself further and further off your chest. You are totally in love with this "kitty" (as Maren calls it) that hangs from your car seat. You grab his little legs, shove them in your mouth, and bat it around a bit. It's very sweet.

Speaking of shoving into your mouth, your fist is in there quite a bit of the time. Sometimes you remember you love your thumb and manage to get it in there, too. You happily gnaw away at anything you can get your hands on. There was a big hickey on my shoulder from you last week where you gnawed at me for about ten minutes. I have another one on my arm... We think maybe you're teething? We'll have to see!

Next month, your Auntie Kate starts joining the adventure of hanging with you a few times a week when Daddy and I are both back at work. (You are so lucky cause she's super cool!) Daddy and I have been quite privileged to spend so much time with you in these first few months, and to have so much time at home. We love you, little Lukey.

Mommy and Daddy