Big Boy

Luke had his one month doctor's appointment yesterday. We're a little behind on those appointments seeing as how Luke is nearly 7 weeks old and just now getting his one month appointment. oops. He is doing very well. He gained another 2, almost 3 pounds tipping the scales at 11lbs 14 oz. (50th percentile) He's also 23 3/4 inches long now (95th percentile) and his head circumference is 41 cm (90th percentile)- so he's a big boy. :) The nurse measured his head, left the room, and then returned to 're-measure' his head saying that she thought she'd measured wrong - his head is too big...but no, she measured correctly the first time - he just has a huge dome. HA! Apart from that, Luke is a very healthy little boy. Oh, and can I just say that I love love LOVE our pediatrician! He is just a wonderful doctor, very patient and gentle with Luke and actually takes the time to sit down and talk to me for as long as I need to have all my questions answered. He's probably the first doctor I've seen who hasn't made me feel like he's just in a hurry to get the appointment over with. SO nice.

Luke has been smiling for real for a few weeks now, which continues to melt our hearts every time. He's been making more fun sounds too - gooing and cooing. We find ourselves trying to get him to "talk" more by gooing and cooing back - sounding like complete idiots but that's ok, we're over it.


Here's a video of just that...

Luke was given a baseball onesie from my Aunt- thanks Aunt Marilyn! It says Daddy's Rookie on the front (Sidenote: I have realized that nearly 90% of the clothes that Luke has all have 'daddy' somewhere on them - Daddy's rookie, Daddy's all star, Daddy's tough guy.... I think I have two onesies that pay some tribute to Mommy, that's it! AND 'Mommy' is so tiny on the onesie that it might as well not even be there. What is that all about?)
Anyway, enough of my little rant - we were also given a baseball hat for Luke from some family friends back in Lynden and thought that putting Luke in the outfit and hat (even though it's still a bit big on him) would make a cute photo....

I love how you can only see one eye in this picture!

This one cracks me up - he looks like such a little tough guy!

Looking a bit perplexed

I LOVE this one!

This has to be my favorite!

I'm not sure what we'll do if Luke grows up to not be interested in sports...

somehow I don't think that's going to be a problem.:)

Schedules and Golf Carts

I don't really feel like I have much to blog about - our lives are NOT that exciting- but I felt like I needed to post something, especially for those friends and family members who are far away... at least we can have the illusion of 'keeping in touch'. :)

It has been two weeks now since our last visitors left. We have been getting used to being just the three of us and settling into a routine, at least somewhat. I have another three weeks before I go back to work so I am trying very hard to get Luke on a consistent schedule in an attempt to make things that much easier for Matt when he takes over as full-time caregiver in the summer. So far, so good. Luke is pretty much on a three hour schedule, at least for now. He's more or less on the Babywise schedule, if any of you are familiar with that, which follows a three hour (give or take) schedule where the baby eats, is awake and playful for awhile, then sleeps, wakes up to eat.... and the cycle continues - you get the picture. Currently Luke is doing well on this schedule. He's not the best napper which can be frustrating at times. He fights falling asleep and then once we get him to sleep he'll sleep for about 30 minutes on average and then wake up thinking its play time again. I have found that if I get him at that 30 minute mark when he's just waking up then I can settle him down again and he'll get a good nap in after that (an hour and a half at least). However, if I wait to get him until he's been awake for awhile then he's too worked up to get back to sleep, despite my best efforts. I'm not sure if this is just part of his sleep cycle or if he has gas that wakes him up or what, but I'm hoping that he'll grow out of it. Thankfully, he doesn't have this issue when he's sleeping at night- only naps. I've never been a very good sleeper. I've always struggled in getting to sleep and staying asleep (I'm SUCH a light sleeper) so I'm praying that Luke didn't get that from me. I guess time will tell.

We tried to get some 'One Month' pictures but we lack the necessary photography skills, not to mention that our camera is not anything special, but hey, it takes pictures so we shouldn't complain.

Luke - sporting his first pair of basketball shorts.

Matt's basketball team gave Luke his first basketball

it has a small fleece blanket that tucks inside . So cute.

Last Friday Matt took a personal day from work and played in a golf tournament out in Palm Springs with two friends. He's played in this tournament/fund raiser for the past few years and looks forward to it. This year, since I wasn't working, I was able to go out for the afternoon with one of the other player's wife and daughter - Sarah and Aliyah. I was a little worried that Luke wouldn't do very well - with the heat (nearing 100 degrees) and him not napping well- but he took a nice long nap in the morning and ended up doing so well. It was so much fun to take him out and hang out with Sarah. We even took the kiddos for their first ride in a golf cart! (Matt has been trying to figure out a way to strap a car seat into a golf cart since he found out we were pregnant - knowing his prospective summer golfing schedule would be seriously altered after having a baby).

Sarah, Aliyah, and Luke - our adventure in the golf cart!

The first of many golf cart rides for Luke, no doubt.

One Month!

It's hard to believe that Luke is already one month old! Where does the time go? There have been times that we have felt that Luke has been around for a lot longer than just one month and then there are other times that we have felt like he was just born, amazed that an entire month has gone by. We are loving every minute with him... ok, not every minute. The minutes when Luke is crabby, fussy and simply will NOT go to sleep are not cherished. But we do treasure the times when he is happy and cuddly, which we are happy to say, are more frequent than the times when he is a crab.

Here is a quick video of Luke being a bit of a crank. Please don't judge us - we weren't trying to be bad parents by taking a video of Luke crying. It's just that he has this cute little cry that makes him sound like a sheep when he really gets worked up and I'm thinking that it's a 'newborn thing' that he'll eventually grow out of. Thus, I had to capture it on video before it's too late. Don't worry, we didn't let him cry too long. :)




Here's another video of Luke playing under his mobile toy thing-a-majig. He's quite a bit happier in this video. It's a bit long (for blog videos) but I decided to post it for the grandparents to enjoy. He was smiling and cooing (at least I like to think he was smiling and cooing... still not sure if it's legit or not) but he seemed to get camera shy.




We had enjoyed a very relaxing 1st Mother's Day. We went to church in the morning, enjoyed a nice lunch at Panera Bread (one of my favorites) and even bought some cinnamon crunch bagels for breakfast throughout the week (I'm seriously addicted to cinnamon crunch bagels). After lunch we went home and all three of us took a 2 hour nap! Ahhhh. Matt and I rented Fireproof from Blockbuster and planned to watch it after Luke went to bed for the night... unfortunately, Luke was not keen on our plan. He fussed and absolutely refused to go to sleep. He would start to fall asleep if Matt or I was holding him but the minute we laid him in his crib he was wide awake and I mean wide awake. Needless to say, we did not get to watch the movie. By the time Luke fell asleep for good we were more than ready to go to sleep ourselves. Oh well. We'll get around to the movie one of these days.

Here are a few more pictures that I my sister took while she was out visiting that are just too cute, I felt obligated to post them. :)

Look at that belly!

Matt - staring at his sleeping family

One of the impromtu photo session pics

Luke was a bit tired so we didn't get any good smiles - oh well.

This has to be my favorite! THAT's a good smile!

Relatives- Round Three!

We had our third round of relatives this past week! They were the final round of visitors for awhile... at least until June and Luke's baptism. Luke met his Auntie Erika (who requested to be called 'auntie' versus 'aunt Erika' since she felt that would sound too much like 'Antarctica'), Uncle Aaron, Uncle Jim and Julie - Uncle Jim's girlfriend. We had a lot of fun with them out here and took LOTS of pictures.

Auntie Erika and Luke

Uncle Jim and Luke

Uncle Aaron and Luke

We got a kick out of the size difference between Aaron's large mits and Luke's little hands!

Julie and Luke

Cousin Kristen drove up for a day from San Diego (she's trying to keep the pacifier in Luke's mouth - looking a bit awkward in the picture)

Luke has been smiling more frequently lately...

we still aren't convinced it's not just gas but who knows.

We went to the Holland Festival at RCS on Saturday. Matt was working a ticket booth and the rest of us were able to walk around and enjoy the festivities. Luke was a champ and slept the entire time.

Jim and Julie - nice face Jim!
Erika and Aaron-still technically newlyweds.

Jim and Julie gave Luke his first football - which is nearly as big as he is!

Erika made us two lasagnas for dinner on Monday - delish!

The boys went to a Dodger's game on Sunday and the girls went up to Oak Glen. The plan was to walk around a bit and enjoy the weather and views - unfortunately, I was not feeling well (got a touch of the stomach flu) and Luke was not content to sit in his stroller very long. So Luke and I napped in the backseat of the car while Erika and Julie hiked around a bit.

Jim got to change his first diaper... with a bit of assistance from the rest of us!

Dinner at The Gourmet Pizza Shoppe


Market Night in Redlands


We all spent a lot of time hanging out on the floor with Luke

Erika got the award for most bodily functions from Luke... the rest of us were eating dinner when we hear Erika say "oh, thanks Luke". We look up to see Erika's shoulder and Luke's face covered in spit up! Enough to make the rest of us gag just a bit... I think Matt even had to leave the room. Good thing it wasn't his shoulder that was puked on!

Up close and personal for tummy time.

Luke is definitely gaining more and more control of his neck muscles and will tolerate being on his stomach for longer stretches.

Auntie Erika, Uncle Jim and Luke - before heading home

The three 'original' Thomson kids and the new generation

We had a make shift photo shoot while they were out - with their 5 cameras

Trying on Uncle Jim's sunglass... a rock star in the making

These are just a few of the many many pictures that we took while the crew was out visiting. More will probably make their way into later posts but that's it for now. I have a few videos too that I will (hopefully) post soon but they take so long to load that they'll have to wait for another time. Stay tuned..

check up

Two posts in three days! I might be getting the hang of this. :) I'm not sure how long I'll be able to keep this up, so enjoy it while it lasts.

Luke had his two week well-baby check up yesterday. He's one healthy little man. He's already gained nearly 2 pounds since his last doctor's appointment! Currently he's weighing in at 9lbs 3 oz (still not as big as his mom was when she was born, if you can believe that!) and he's grown an entire inch since his birth- now 22 1/4 inches long. Luke is still in the 90th percentile for height and now is in the 50th percentile for weight.

I took some videos of Luke yesterday with the intent of posting them on the blog. This will be our video debut, if I can get it to work. Our computer has been ultra slow and irritating lately so we'll see if this works.

Luke has been keeping us very entertained with all of his facial expressions. He seems to smile quite a bit...its probably just gas, we know, but we like to think he's smiling in response to us.

This second video is of Matt with Luke - Matt's been 'training' Luke in all the athletic movements that he'll need when he gets older. Matt is hoping that Luke will be a lefty. He believes that Luke will then have an advantage in any sport he chooses to play.

(We had American Idol on t.v. while this video was being taped and didn't realize how loud it actually was... so please excuse the background music. )

Relatives- round two

Wow. Another week has already passed! Where does the time go? I am honestly amazed at how quickly the days go by and how little I get done each day! I have been meaning to update our blog for a few days now and I'm just now getting around to it. Hopefully I'll get better at this and become more consistent, but no promises.

We've had a great second week with Luke. We're already noticing some changes in him - his little face is starting to fill out and he's developed these adorable chubby cheeks that we can't help but kiss as often as he'll tolerate. He has his two week check up with his pediatrician tomorrow so we'll see how much weight he's gained. I'm guessing its only a matter of time before he's a chunky baby boy!
Speaking of chunky... check out my feet and ankles in this picture! This was two days AFTER Luke was born! I retained a bit of water in the third trimester. Friends kept telling me "it'll go away after the baby is born". Naively, I was thinking that once the baby was born - like literally, the minute the baby was out, POOF, I'd lose all that extra water too. Yeah, NO. I think I ended up retaining more water (if that's possible) in the first few days after Luke was born!

My Clubs - two days after Luke was born.

I honestly felt like my toes were going to pop off the ends of my feet!

One week later I was reacquainted with my ankles!

We had to say goodbye to Grandma Thomson last Tuesday. We had my mom here for over a week and it was WONDERFUL! Mom/Grandma Thomson ran errands for us, cooked, cleaned... basically was a complete saint for the entire time she was here. We were definitely spoiled and it was hard to say goodbye. We're looking forward to June, when family will be back in CA for Luke's baptism.

Thanks for everything Mom/Grandma Thomson! We love you.

Matt, Luke, and I had a few days 'just us' and enjoyed getting together with some great friends for meals on Wednesday and Thursday. Then Friday, Mom/Grandma DeBoer and Aunt Andrea arrived for a long weekend! We had a terrific time with them. It was so fun to watch them oggle Luke and fight for 'cuddle time'. :) I honestly think Luke was in someone's arms the entire weekend, apart from sleeping at night and being transported in the car. We were again spoiled with delicious meals, a clean house and clean laundry- thanks Mom DeBoer! Unfortunately, the weekend went by much too fast and we had to say goodbye to Grandma DeBoer and Aunt Andrea this afternoon. But again, we're looking forward to them being back in June!

Aunt Andrea and Luke

Grandma DeBoer and Luke

We got to bring Matt Starbucks during his break

Some serious cuddle time with Aunt Andrea

Proud Grandma and Daddy

Some serious cuddle time with Grandma DeBoer

Mom DeBoer brought gifts for Luke from friends in Lynden. I think half of her suitcase was filled with presents for Luke!

Mom's friend Shelley knitted this cap for Luke - and we actually caught a smile on camera!

This sweater and cap was knitted by Mom's boss' mother-in-law (I think).

It's a bit big now but we're sure he'll grow into it!

A glimpse into the future...?

He couldn't resist. Crazy how the cap actually fits on Matt's dome!

We squeezed in a shopping trip to Cabazon

We gave Luke another bath, which was MUCH more enjoyable than his first! He was a little shocked at first and had the funniest reaction to being placed in the tub. I wish we caught it on camera but no such luck. It took him about 10 seconds to figure out that the bath could actually be a pleasant experience and after that it was smooth sailing.

Luke's fan club watching as he gets clean.

Who knew bathtime could be so entertaining!

Grandma DeBoer, Aunt Andrea and Luke

enjoying a McDonald's lunch before heading to the airport and back to Lynden

We have a few days now before the next group of relatives come for a visit. My sister, brother-in-law, brother and brother's girlfriend are coming this Friday! We're looking forward to spending some quality time with them and introducing Luke to his aunt and uncles!