Luther: 28 weeks old

Our Luther Thomas is now six and a half months old and doing so well. He continues to be such a shining ray of joy in this house! It's so interesting how life felt so full before he was here, yet now that he's here I can't imagine what we ever did without him!

28 weeks 

• Our excited boy certainly doesn't want to hold still for pictures. Yet I guess at the same time, if he's on the ground he typically stays in one place or rolls just one direction. So "squirmy" is probably relative. Thankfully (except for when he wants his toes) diaper changes are still pretty easy.

• He's growing like a weed, which isn't surprising now that he is eating at least two meals of baby food a day and typically two Step 2 containers at each meal. He's easily filling out 6-9 month clothes as well as a lot of his 6-12 month stuff, and we have officially moved up to size 4 diapers. I made the switch from his summer to winter stuff and it's so fun to put things on him that were favorites of Conrad's. Of course, I've picked up a few new things along the way because how can you not?! ;)

• He's probably eating more solids because he's too distracted to nurse! I'd say he's probably cut back on nursing, which is bittersweet for me. I hope I can nurse him for as long as I did the other two (17 and 18 months), but he's really probably only nursing four times a day (if that) plus whatever in the middle of the night. I suppose that's normal.

• Even if he's nursing less, that baby looooves his family and to be held. I can hardly put him down anymore without instant crying and he has even started turning to try and reach for me if I'm sitting nearby. (So precious.) He'd rather be up watching the world from mommy's hip. I switched out some of his baby toys, but he's clearly over his play mat and probably needs something new and more interesting. I need daddy to get the jungle gym jumperoo down from the garage rafters.

• Luther legitimately snuggles. Head on shoulder, hands holding tight to your arms. I definitely tend to linger after he's nursed at night and he's laying on my shoulder. It's one of those feelings I wish would last forever.

• We went to see Mimi and Papa last weekend and he (and the bigs) did incredibly well. Yay! We made it over 4 hours without stopping the first part of the trip and Luther didn't cry at all. Helped to have daddy sitting beside him ready with singing and toys.

• We started Parent's Day Out on September 15th. Since Miss Kathy doesn't have room for Luther, we had to find a new solution so I could continue my photography business on the side of craziness. It's through a local church and I had heard wonderful things about it. The first day was tough, the second day was a bit easier, and today was by far the best. (And daddy's even traveling for work!) Luther was dropped off tired but happy this morning so hopefully they're able to get him down for a nice nap. I know that can be difficult when you're not the mommy who knows all the right tricks. I hope the kids enjoy their time there this year and stay healthy! 

• I had no positive update on sleep until just the last two nights. I decided to sleep with Gwendolyn since Tom is traveling thinking that it'd be interesting to just see if there's a difference when I'm not sleeping in the same room as Luther. Well, would you believe that there is!? Our pediatrician had told me we should try and get him out of our room, but if he was going to wake up 3/4 times a night, I'd stubbornly rather I just have to walk a few steps instead of across the hall to another room. PLUS, I'm not ready to kick Conrad out of his crib. PLUS, I'm not ready to put the kids in the same room. So several things were holding me back. 

However, I think she was definitely on to something. 

Sunday (9/28) night he made it until 4:30 am (8 hours...he hadn't made it that long in months!) And then last night he made it until 6:30 am and probably could have gone longer, but I was so full so I nursed him thinking I could get him back to sleep, which didn't really work unfortunately. I knew I'd be able to still hear him in our room if he cried, but it'd be muffled so if I needed to let him cry a bit to see if he'd fall back asleep on his own, I could do that. (Being in the same room as a crying baby is just heart wrenching.) But I never heard him last night, which means he slept from 8:00 pm to 6:30 am and like I said, maybe could have gone even longer. I'm so encouraged! Sleep feels so good and it's been way too long since I've had a good night's rest.

Those doctor's know their stuff! ;)

So there's the latest on our Luther Tom. We can't get enough of him, and are just so thankful for the way having him in our family is a blessing to each one of us.