Uh Oh

Luke had his first real injury a few weeks ago. I say "real", but luckily it did not involve emergency rooms or large amounts of blood. The injury has already faded, as has most of my guilt regarding the situation. I now feel comfortable sharing.

So, the day started like any other. Happy baby, lots of smiles, food throwing at breakfast; you know, the usual morning. However, he was unusually crazy and destructive with his toys. Then he pulled the garbage can down on himself. I had just dumped the garbage and the combination of empty can and crazy baby resulted in a big crash. This did not cause the injury, but it was foreshadowing for what was to come. After picking up the the little monster and redirecting him onto a new path of destruction, I immediately looked at our wooden IKEA bar stools. They are literally the last pieces of un-baby-proofed items in our place. (Along with the garbage can, I guess.) Matt and I tried to tether them to the wall or find some way of making them safe, but we had been unsuccessful to this point. So, of course, this is where Luke wants to spend all his time. We are just very careful to watch him and hold onto the stools when he's playing over there.

On this particular morning, Matt pulled out the video camera to capture something cute Luke was doing. He left it out when he went to work so I could try to get some video during the day. Wouldn't you know it, Luke decided to do something video worthy in front of our arm chair. I turned my back to grab the camera, turned it on, realized it was on playback and switched it to record; in the 6 seconds that took, Luke crawled the 8 feet from the chair of cuteness to the bar stools of death and pulled BOTH of them down on him. On his head to be specific.

I don't think I have ever moved so quickly. I just remember picking one of the stools off of his little body and telling myself to stay calm while wondering how quickly I could drive to the emergency room. I won't dwell on the next part of the story because it makes me feel bad, but Luke really only cried for a few minutes and I realized that there was no immediate brain damage and I calmed down enough to call Matt. Of course, as soon as I heard his voice I started to cry. (What a silly reaction. How did evolution allow that one to pass through?) I thought for sure he was going to have a shiner, but it ended up just leaving a bruise above his left eye. I tried to document the injury, but the child would not stop playing and hold still for two seconds. I also took this as a good sign.

So I had to get sneaky and take pictures when he was occupied.

Needless to say, the stools are now in storage.

So, there it is. One down and I'm sure a million to go. Would it be strange if I just put him in a helmet all the time?

Sac Town, Day 1-3

Day 1 included a delayed flight but just the best baby in the world. We chilled at the airport for a long time and I managed to keep him awake so he slept nearly the whole flight.

Day 2 (through 3) opened with an extra-needy Luke, which I mistook for him just extra-loving his mommy. In reality, daddy's food poisoning last weekend may have been a little flu bug that Luke brought with him as a carry on. Sorry to all those on flight 2378 from SNA to SMF. He didn't want to eat all day and then started vomiting at about 6:30pm. Then there was projectile vomiting at about 7:15pm. Then there was a third round at about 7:30pm. Then he passed out. I had a very nervous night that included a bottle of water and lots of walking and rocking from around 1-3am, but he managed to keep most of his water down. When we woke up at 6:45 he had 9 oz of water. Seriously, 9 oz. And still, very little wetness in the diaper. Apparently he needed it. Poor baby. He doesn't want to eat much today, but he did manage a whole piece of toast with breakfast. The kid loves toast.

BUT...2 very exciting things happened before the puking began. Thing 1 is that Luke did his first spontaneous wave at a stranger in the grocery store. So sweet! And as he's laughing about the wave I see that he has a 3rd tooth breaking through up top! What an adventure at the grocery store! I'm sure that teething wasn't helping the sick situation, but when it rains, it pours, I guess.

So now we are hoping that all goes well the rest of the day and tonight. We are supposed to go cut down the Christmas tree tomorrow and eat pumpkin doughnuts (with Nicole's recipe!!) and decorate and have family fun, but only if the little man is up for it. He is happy and playful and cuddly, but I can tell he's not 100%. Sick baby makes me sad.

Also, big thank-yous to the Movo's and my fantastic mom and family who kept me very calm about the whole "Oh my gosh that is so much puke coming out of my child!" situation. I guess when you have kids you just get used to seeing them throw up sometimes. Awesome.

I hope all is well with everyone. I will post pics when i get back to HB. Merry Christmas Eve, Eve!

Adventures in Eating

Luke is learning to feed himself real food, instead of just using his mesh bag for everything. (But seriously, those mesh bags are amazing and have totally spoiled me. He loves being able to feed himself and it gives me a chance to do other things in the kitchen while he's eating. Plus, now I'm nervous and hover-y when he eats because I'm afraid he's going to choke on everything, which he usually does but then coughs it out. In short, get the bags.) I picked up some little puffs to work on his eating skills, and cut them in half at the suggestion of my friend Nicole. Good call because these things don't immediately melt and I would have been a crazy person until figuring out for myself to just cut them in half, so it saved me from freaking out and it saved Luke from having to watch it. Can you say run on sentence I know I can.


So as I watch Luke try to figure out how to work that little thumb and pointer finger it's all I can do to keep myself from just putting the darn puff in his mouth. I want him to learn, but I also want him to finish a meal in less than an hour. So I decide to demonstrate for him. "Lukie, put your fingers like this," I say, demonstrating the skill and expecting the normal response of sweet doe eyes and charming grin with a head tilt. Instead, Luke uses his pointer and thumb and picks up the puff. "Holy crap!" I think, but manage to say, "Good buddy! Now put it in your mouth," followed again by a demonstration. And my freakin' genius child puts the puff in his mouth. So, he's brilliant, right? I'm thinking to myself that my child just learned to eat and now meal times will be so much easier. Think of all the things he's ready to eat! Plus, he's obviously brilliant with those kinds of observation skills at less than eight months old. I must go write this in his baby book!


But I stop in time to see him attempt fruitlessly to pick up the second puff waiting on his tray. In frustration he grabs his mesh bag of pears and sticks them on his head, then throws them to the ground. Then there is crying that will only be silenced by a bottle, as the remaining puff sits quietly alone on the otherwise empty tray. Sigh.


Reality is way less fun than crazy mom land. Maybe he'll learn to eat for real next week.

My Bipolar Baby

This morning Luke sneezed, then let out a little giggle. This is a normal reaction to sneezes and burps. A couple of seconds later we had a repeat performance, with the same result. Then, a third sneeze snuck out of him. This was too much to handle and he erupted in laughter. The laughter somehow caused him to whistle, a sound he has never made before, and apparently whistles are not funny. He looked at me, shocked, and immediately started to cry. Totally bipolar, but totally entertaining. Love me some Lukie!