Weeks Seven & Eight: A Trip to Seattle

Whoops! I missed a week! With good reason, however! :)

Last week [week seven!] Lucas and I embarked on a cross country journey to visit my family in Seattle. Prior to Lucas being born, M and I decided that this was a trip that needed to happen sooner rather than later [we didn't want to wait until Christmas to take him home & introduce him to everyone] so after he was born, we booked a ticket. Unfortunately, M wasn't able to come with us, so Lucas & I took off solo.

Traveling cross country with an eight week old was definitely an interesting experience. Fortunately for me, I have an amazing kid who did SO FREAKING WELL on all flights. The only time he fussed was during takeoff [when the cabin is pressurizing] and once when he dropped a major deuce just as they closed the the doors on the plane, therefore not allowing me to change his diaper for approximately 30 minutes. I'm pretty sure NOBODY was happy about that! But aside from that, he either slept or he coo'ed and ahh'ed at our neighbors, which made me so happy.

The trip was beyond great. It was so wonderful for my whole family to meet Lucas and spend some time with him. My sister was able to take the whole week off, which meant Lucas got plenty of quality Aunt Aimie time. My mom is in love with being a grandma, and my grandparents were ecstatic to meet their first great-grand child. Seeing my grandparents with Lucas just melted my heart. Even my brother was loving having some baby time. It truly was fabulous all around. More often than not, I had to beg to have my baby back, as he got passed around from family member to family member. He was wonderful through it all, loving all the attention and hamming it up. He is defintely his father's son, as M loves being the center of attention as well :)

Lucas and his Great Grandparents. Such a wonderful moment!

Aunt Aimie with feeding duties!

Lucas & Grandma!

While we were visiting, I also got to experience my first mother's day. I cannot explain how important this day was, and how amazing it was to experience. I say it frequently, but I am so lucky and so blessed to be able to share this day with other mom's and to spend it with my family. We missed M while we were in Seattle, but he treated me well when we got back. My heart still goes out to all my friends who are still waiting, and I hope you all know that I really do wish next year will be your year. I know who shitty this holiday can be when you have been trying so hard.

On top of it all, I also was glad to get out of the South and back to the Northwest for a while. While being down here has gotten easier over the years, I still get homesick for the West Coast. So any time I get to spend back there is wonderful and refreshing for me. It gave me the Oompfh that I need to make it until Christmas, when we head back that direction again as a whole family. 

The view from my mom's house at Alki Beach. Love it so much!

As far as Lucas and his development, he has grown leaps and bounds the past couple of weeks. We had his two month checkup a little bit early [due to a screw up on the appt scheduler's part] only to find out that our little guy is up to THIRTEEN POUNDS. I couldn't believe it, but can all at the same time. This guy loves to eat and is consistently on the high end of what his daily intake should be, if not exceeding it from time to time. You can definitely tell in his face & legs that he is a little chunky, but he is healthy and that's all that matters! He was so skinny at birth because he was so dang long, so having a few baby fat rolls on him are ok. Plus, they are cute :) Who doesn't love a baby double chin??! 

He has also become SO VOCAL, the past couple of days especially. He has been making small coo'ing noises for a few weeks now, but the past couple of days he has started to figure out that not only can he make new sounds, but that he can also make them louder and longer. It's adorable and I love, love, love listening to him when he gets going. He loves focusing on a object and just talking to it. It melts my heart. 

I have two weeks left of my maternity leave, and I am not ready to go back to work yet. I am taking every opportunity to love on and snuggle with this guy before that day comes. We have an amazing friend who will be watching him for us while we are both at work, so I know he will be in good hands, but part of me is looking forward to returning to my office. Maternity leave has been wonderful, and I will miss my little guy every minute away from him, but I'm ready to be productive again!! 

Six Weeks: So Many Changes!

This past Thursday, Lucas hit the six week mark. Every week I am in awe at how fast the time goes and how much he changes. And how BIG he is getting. We are officially out of newborn clothes (aside from a couple of cute things that I still squeeze him into because I can't bare to put them away yet!) and growing every day.

He has also become so much more vocal than last week. Last week we started to see the cute little coo's in more volume, but this week he has been a little chatterbox. We've heard a couple of beginnings to laughter, but nothing that I would consider his first laugh yet. He also hates tummy time. We don't last more than a couple of minutes before he starts an all out fit. Needless to say, I think we're a little behind in that aspect. But his head control is amazing, and has been since early on. He'll make up for it.

Lucas also looks more and more like a little boy every single day. Not that there was any doubt that he was definitely a boy (you know what I mean!) but his growth is changing everything. And sometimes I look at him and just think, wow, where did my newborn baby go? I know I'm a little biased, but I happen to think I have a pretty darn cute baby, and every day he surprises me with a new look or a new action. He's growing way too fast. 

The dogs, I think, have finally accepted that Lucas is here to stay. Lucas is definitely much more curious of them than they are of him, for the most part. They are cautious of him on some days, and protective on others. And, every once in a while, they sneak in the occasional lick when we can't shoo them away quick enough. But they are all such loving dogs and a huge part of our little family. Neither of us can wait for the day when Lucas is up and running around, old enough to really play with them. In a weird way, it is something that we are really looking forward to. Our dogs were (and still are) like our children for the longest time. We're happy to be bringing both those worlds together.

Tomorrow, Lucas & I head to Seattle for a week to visit family & friends, so that everyone can meet the little guy and see what an adorable kid we have. I'm nervous about the trip because we are doing it solo, and I have a lot of logistics to work out. M isn't able to get the time off work, hence just the two of us going out there, but I'm hoping that it will be smooth flying for us. I'm not so much worried about Lucas on the flights, because he is a pretty easy kid and as long as I keep him fed he will be happy. But, because I am exclusively pumping, that will make my travels a little more difficult. I'm going with a "whatever happens happens" attitude, and hoping that people will be sympathetic to me being solo. Although Lucas is a generally mild mannered kid, and I don't think we will have any major issues. At least, my fingers are crossed. But wish me luck. We will definitely need it! I am looking forward to the family time, as this will probably be our last vacation before Christmas.

Have a great weekend!

One Does Not Simply Walk Into Mordor

Google has a lot of awesome stuff that always catches you off guard and sort of makes you laugh. But this? I think this is one of the best. Call me a nerd if you must, but this cracks me up! Well done, Google. Well done.