April 27th, 2008 by 
kim
Posted in Uncategorized | 
Comments Off
April 25th, 2008 by kim
A few weeks ago I was at the grocery store with both kids and ran into the professor I had for econometrics when I was very pregnant with Luke. Actually, finishing his final exam was my last bit of school work to complete before I would “allow” myself to go into labor. He would tease me all semester about not having Luke in class. I don’t see him much anymore, so it was funny to run into him and stop to think about how big Luke really is. He is about to have his second birthday! There are so many ways in which he is still like my baby. He still wears diapers, he still sleeps in a crib, he still doesn’t really talk much, he still can’t do too much for himself, and he still likes to cuddle. Yet, in other ways, every time I look at him I see how big he is getting and how close he is to being more little kid than baby. Mostly, I try to savor these last few weeks in which Luke will in any way resemble a baby because I know they will be gone in the blink of an eye.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
March 14th, 2008 by kim
When Luke was born the pediatrician detected a heart murmer. Another pediatrician listened and heard the same thing but did not think there was anything to worry about at that point. The heart murmer did not show up again until Luke’s 18 month checkup. When the pediatrician heard it back again, he decided the best course of action would be to get it check out by the pediatric cardiologists in Birmingham. It took months to get an appointment, but we finally went this week to get Luke’s heart examined.
Luke did very well. In fact, he set a new standard for excellent behavior. He didn’t cause any problems, was completely still during the sonogram, and smiled at everyone. I would like to believe I just have an excellent child and not that he was only behaving because he felt badly from his lingering cold. The best news is that he has what is called an “innocent heart murmer”. This means that sometimes a murmer sound is audible through a stethoscope, but it is not caused by a hole or any other defect. As a treat, Luke picked out a big chocolate chip cookie in the hospital bakery after his appointment.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
March 4th, 2008 by kim
Not all that long ago, Luke was a great eater. He would eat more than Brooke and would have at least some of whatever you put in front of him. The only thing he never wanted to eat was any kind of meat. Now he only really wants to eat two things. Peanut butter sandwiches and yogurt. The kid would eat a little container of Dora yogurt 3 or 4 times a day if you would let him. He goes to the fridge and grunts until you open the fridge, he points to the yogurt, and then he runs to get a spoon out of the drawer.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
February 7th, 2008 by kim
I am sorry that I have not been keeping up with Luke’s blog at all in recent months. I have been thinking about changes that I want to make to the blog and will work on getting those made in the coming weeks if possible. In the meantime, I will try to post about what Luke is doing these days. First, he still loves school. On Tuesday and Thursday mornings when I get him up and tell him it is a school day, he gets such a big grin. Sometimes he even claps. He is always ready to make you smile and laugh from the minute he gets up in the morning, and this side of his personality makes him such a joy. Second, he is a trouble maker. It is funny that Luke has these two rather extreme sides of his personality. One is the cuddly, sweet, funny side. The other is like his devil alter ego. This side will smack his sister on the head with books and remote controls, bite, pinch, climb, grab and spill, etc. It is this side that tonight broke the DVD player in the living room by stuffing a Mexican corn chip in it (and already got in trouble earlier in the day when he got caught trying to stick a piece of cheese in there). Third, Luke loves books. He cannot leave the house without taking a book. He will also run into his room to grab a book, bring it out into the living room to read, run back for another book, and continue this until he has gone through his entire stack of books. He is even starting to sit still long enough to actually let me read the books most of the time. I would like to get the “what I am reading” widget installed here like I have on Brooke’s site so that we can keep up with his favorites.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
October 1st, 2007 by kim
Luke is now 16 months old and just came back from his third trip to Pennsylvania on a plane. One person getting on the plane asked if it was his first trip on a plane. Someone else thought we looked like seasoned travelers and asked if I had a frequent flier number for Luke. All things considered, I think this was probably the easiest trip on the plane with Luke. First, I stopped bothering to even try flying to Philly on US Airways. I have never had anything but horrible experiences and have nothing but pleasant experiences since switching to Delta for most of my flying needs. Not sitting on the plane for an hour before pulling away from the gate or waiting an hour for luggage made the trip better. Second, this is the first trip in which Luke had his own seat. He actually slept for an hour on the flight to Philly. And although he did not sleep and whined and fussed a lot the whole flight home, at least he was not trying to run away or grab at Brooke and me. He sat locked in his own chair while I piled snacks into his mouth to pacify him. Third, I got this contraption from GoGo Kidz that connects to the carseat and makes it like a stroller. I could easily wheel Luke through the airport in the carseat and sometimes right down the aisle of the plane (depending on width of aisle). In addition, it didn’t need to come off to buckle the seat into the plane or go through the security screening. It made life so much better, and everyone was asking where I got it. If you need to bring your carseat onto the plane, I highly recommend this. It will save your life.
The actual time in Pennsylvania was fun too. Luke very much enjoyed visiting his Mimi and Papa and pointing and squealing at the cats. Luke liked nature walks in the woods and the cooler, less humid air. Luke also enjoyed checking everything out at his great-grandparents new place and figuring out how to turn on all the new television sets he encountered. Who could ask for more from a vacation?
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
August 14th, 2007 by kim
Today Luke went for his first day of preschool. He is in the 1 year old class at our church preschool and will go two mornings a week. Brooke did so well at school last year that we decided to send Luke too. I was a little hesitant because he is only 15 months old, but we are giving it a try. We were really worried about his first day because he is a very clingy Mommy’s boy, but we are happy to report that his first day was great. He didn’t look so sure when we packed him and his school bag into the car, but he went into the arms of his teacher at dropoff without crying or reaching for Mommy. When we picked him up after lunch, Luke was smiling and happy. His teacher said he did so well and was happy, active, and in the middle of all the activiity. They said Luke is very sweet and had a great first day. I hope he continues to love school and have fun. Luke also brought home his first art project, a piece of paper colored with crayon.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
August 11th, 2007 by kim
Luke was up almost all night again and had a fever of over 103. He also threw up again this morning. A call to the nurse on call for our pediatrician thought that it might be a good idea for a doctor to see him. She referred us to another ped with Saturday office hours, and we caught them just in time to get the last appointment of the morning at 10 am. I figured it would be better to get him checked out now or risk having to make a run to the ER. The ped on call was not sure what the source of Luke’s symptoms were, but after a thorough exam decided it was probably a virus not related to the shots. So, for now we are trying to get his fever (topped off at 103.7 at the doctor’s office) under control and keep him hydrated. The ped is going to call to check on him tonight, and we are going to talk to our ped Monday morning to give him an update. I hope Luke is feeling better soon because he starts preschool in a few days!
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
August 10th, 2007 by kim
Yesterday Luke went for his fifteen month checkup with Dr. Pettit. Luke is now 31 inches tall and 20 pounds, 10.5 ounces. He is still just under 50th percentile in height but has dropped down to around 5th percentile in weight. We are not sure how this happened since Luke is a voracious eater compared to his older sister, but Dr. Pettit is not concerned. The only thing we talked about was better ways for Luke to get additional protein since he is not fond of meat. Luke got the last of his hepatitis B shots and the MMR-chicken pox combo shot. I am wondering if anyone else’s kids have had a bad reaction to this shot. Brooke had the chicken pox vaccine separate from the others, and I do vaguely remember her feeling far worse than she had with any shots since her first vaccines as a newborn.
Luke is not doing well post-shots. Last night he woke up and was burning up with fever. Then he proceeded to throw up all over both of us. I was up with him every 20-30 minutes for half the night and slept on the couch so I could be closer to his door. We finally got a good stretch of sleep from 2:30-5:30 am. Luke’s fever broke this morning, and he seemed better but more tired and cranky than usual. Then tonight I have already had to go in and check on him once and found that the fever had returned. I anticipate another long night and am finding myself rather disliking the chicken pox vaccine right about now. I keep reminding myself than chicken pox would be worse (even though I have only second-hand knowledge of them…they sound horrible!).
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
July 29th, 2007 by kim
Dear readers of Luke’s blog,
I apologize for the lack of updates to this blog during the month of July. I have been spending time with the kids and working on this pesky teaching assignment and dissertation all the rest of the time. I promise that I will post a update from the past month and will get back on track with blogging updates very soon. Check back in a few days.
Thank you, Luke’s Mommy
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
