Time to Feast

Lucien's one year old now and he is enjoying the Thanksgiving feast. I hope the extra turkey will give him some extra sleep. Maybe the drink will...

Happy Birthday Lucien!

Happy happy birthday to you! You made it to the big ONE! Lucien turned one year old on November 15th. Luckily the day fell on a Sunday and we were able to have a big birthday bash at the house for him. Lots of friends came over to celebrate including his little buddies - Henry, Curren, Wayland, Meredith, and Mandy. The back porch was turned into a huge play room and Lucien would run out to every chance that he could get to snatch a Cheese Doodle off the table. He got a little shy when put in his high chair in front of the whole gang but when the candle was lit and every one was singing he loved it. He dabbled in the cake but really loved messing around with the icing all over his fingertips. The Stuart air show was going on that day and three jets soared right over the house in a Happy Birthday salute. We love you Lucien!

Vaccines On The Go

Lucien is almost one year old and the biggest threat out there for someone his age right now is the H1N1 Flu, otherwise known as the swine flu.  This outbreak has caused such a stir in the public that everyone is flocking for the vaccine.  We received a message from a friend that they were giving out free vaccines this week in her town.  When we checked the web we found that our town would be given out the vaccines all the following week so we decided to wait.  Tuesday came along and we drove all over town trying to hunt down the vaccines only to find out that they have canceled all dates and consolidated them into one day on Wednesday.  David started the shift at 5pm on line with 500 other people for the vaccine.  We waited 2 hours before Lucien got jabbed in his turkey legs.  He was so happy to be around so many other babies.  I didn't mention to him that we have to hunt down the 2nd half of the shot in about  month.    

Happy Halloween! Arrggghhh!

Happy Halloween!  It is Lucien's first Halloween.  After Daddy hunted down the last pumpkin in town we took to the streets for a little trick or treating.  Lucien's favorite part of the day was greeting all the trick or treaters at home and handing out candy.  

Back From the Bush

We just returned from Africa and Lucien is like another person.  Two weeks away and Lucien has continue to grow and develop.  His extra weight may be from all of Pau Pau's feedings.  Or maybe he was so upset that we were away that he turned to the bottle for solace.  It was great to come back to Lucien after the 40 hours travel time it took to get back from South Africa.  We had an amazing experience and can't wait to share all the video and photos with Lucien.     

Bye Bye Baby

Lucien is almost 11 months old and Mommy and Daddy are going to miss his 11th month birthday.  We are heading out to explore Africa for 2 weeks.  Pau-Pau has come into town to save the day and take care of little Lucien.  He has been on his feet a lot more lately and it takes a lot of effort to keep up with him.  Pau-pau will have her work cut out for her.  His naps have changed to one time a day for a 3 hour stretch.  He loves to eat.  And he is definitely a "thinker".  

We love you Lucien and we will miss you.  We'll miss everything from your morning crib babbles to your bedtime smiles.  When we get back you'll probably learn to clap your hands.  We hope you don't talk much while we're gone because we're still waiting for that 1st word.  Cruddy, your favorite blankie buddy will keep you good company while we're gone.  We love you...we're not bad parents for leaving, are we?  (I feel so guilty)

10 months old - Getting into Anything and Everything

Lucien is now 10 months old and he is a curious little thing.  Although, he is not so little anymore.  He was sick a couple of weeks ago and had a fever of 101 for a couple of days.  We brought him into the doctor and he was diagnosed with a throat infection from putting stuff into his mouth.  He was given his meds and now he's back up and running.     

Lucien's diet- anything he can get his hands on.  He eats like a race horse and he's not afraid to try anything.  We just found out he loves to chomp on apples and it keeps him busy for hours.

Lucien's sleep - still a challenge.  On some days he reduces his nap to one long afternoon nap and on other days he takes 2 naps.  Very difficult to plan outings.  

Lucien's walking - it's more like a short run.  When he's ready to go he is off...for about 10 paces then he's down.

Lucien's bath - he is anxious to move out of the bath and go trotting around the house.  So bath time is the entertainment hour.  Mommy has resorted to blowing bubbles while bathing Lucien to keep him wondering while she scrubs.  It won't be long before he figures that one out.

I also took a few days off and headed out to 

San Diego to visit baby Ciara (pronounced KEER-AH).  I had to check in on Lucien's 1st cousin and she is adorable.  Congratulations Tamara and Ricco!  Here she is at 1 month old.

Ready for a bike

Lucien is 9 1/2 months old now.  He has been walking all about and can now walk about while holding onto the furniture.  Even though he's not ready for a bike, our driveway is.  We just had our driveway changed from pebbles to concrete so it's all ready for the bumps and bruises that Lucien will get when he's playing ball on it, riding a bike, or showing Mom his new skateboarding tricks.

   

Avocado Season!

Time to get our harvest on - it's avocado season!  We have 3 great avocado trees in our yard.  Lucien, guess what you're having for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?

First Vacation to Key West

Lucien went on his first vacation and he had many other "firsts" throughout the trip.  It was Lucien's 1st road trip - a drive that was about 6 hours long.  Lucien's 1st stop at John Pennekamp state park in Key Largo.  And Lucien's 1st trip to Key West.  There will definitely be many more as Lucien had a great time down there with Grandma and Grandpa.  Luckily we were able to rent a few baby items from Holiday Baby so we had a high chair, stroller, and exersaucer all handy.  Lucien was so excited being down there that he took his 1st steps! He also started doing his 1st head nods, which unfortunately throw him off balance.  We went down to Fort Zachary Taylor state park (where Mommy and Daddy 1st met) and Lucien took his 1st swim in the ocean.  He couldn't dive down for lobster just yet but Daddy was able to nab 8 of them.  He loved meeting all the new people and watching the traffic lights change colors.  On our way back home he went to his 1st restaurant and ate lunch from the wooden high chair.  It surely was a big trip that tuckered out Mom more than ever but all the wonderful memories are well worth it.

Lucien and Mom swimming at Fort Zach

Lucien wondering "what just came out of the ocean"

Lucien almost got swept away but Mommy saved him

At the restaurant - luckily it was a "family" place

9 months and Counting

Lucien is now 9 months old.  He is not counting out loud yet, he hasn't even said his first word, but he is much more interested in his books about numbers and ABCs.  He has been growing taller and his little feet now hang over the edge of the car seat.  He is walking around any chance he gets and the brightly colored toys that once excited him get tossed to the floor and he's off looking for door knobs and cabinets.  He eats like a champ and loves trying bits off anybody's plate.  He is definitely not a

 picky eater and can eat all day long if given new foods to try.  His sleeping has improved but he still doesn't sleep through the night.  He wakes for a bottle once in the evening.  Now that he's 9 months it might be time for some tough love  to stop the nightly feedings.  But it might be too tough on Mom to her him cry

through the night.  

Next week we're taking him on his first big trip - the long drive to Key West.  He's going to love it down there with Grandma and Grandpa.  We're not bringing much baby stuff.  We know of a great company down there called Holiday Baby (www.holidaybabykw.com) that will have all the items we need.  Why pack the car when we can get it delivered?  Off to paradise...

The Sick Among Us

Lucien is 8 months old and he got his first cold.  It has lasted one week so far.  The super immunity powers of breast milk wore off and the whole family has been sick.  He has also been on the move more than ever and has incurred his first visible head bumps.  No pictures at this time - he looks like he went 10 rounds in a fight against the cat. 

Cars and Electronics

These are Lucien's favorite things along with his puffs, Mommy, Daddy, and his Blankie Buddy.  Lucien is now 8 months old and he is tearing up the house.  His crawl is faster and the transition to a stand is so quick that the remote controls go flying off the coffee table or into his mouth if you turn your head for a minute.  He spends hours chasing anything with wheels that rolls across the floor.  He is definitely a dare devil and is not afraid to let go of support while he is standing to test his balancing skills and try to take a step.  Luckily when he does fall, his legs shoot out like a gymnast on a pummel horse and stops his head from hitting the floor - Way to work your core Lucien!  

Lucien had a recent doctor visit and he got his last shots until his 1st birthday.  He maintained his height of 27 inches tall and weighed in at 18 lbs. 12 oz. 

He has had a change of diet lately and Mom is no longer breast feeding him.  8 months of mother's milk boosted his immunity enough to get him through life so far without a cold.  The hardest part was not weaning baby off but weaning Mom off.  It is so difficult to break that bond with your child.  I can almost understand how some Mom's breast feed their child until they are 3 years old...well, not really.

    

His change of food and his desire to explore has also changed his sleeping habits.  Lucien is finally sleeping through the night.  He wakes up at about 5:00 to eat and then goes back to sleep until 7:00am.  It's great to have a stretch of more than 6 hours sleep in one night.  Although, his naps have also changed and sometimes he goes through the day with only 1 nap in the afternoon.  That's a lot of time to entertain Lucien.  His favorite activities - he loves to get out of the house and just hang out outside, or go swimming (aka splashing), or go anywhere to smile and flirt with strangers.    

On the Move

Lucien is almost 8 months old!  Boy oh boy, he's on the run now...more like a slow crawl but he's moving quick.  Father's Day was a blast!  

We took Lucien to his favorite summer hangout, the pool at Grandma's place.  He loves to splash around in his Coolibar suit.  Lucien has 2 two teeth now and loves to munch down on whatever he can get his mouth on.  His favorite has been mangoes (since we have such an abundant supply).  I was told to try the "graduate" puffs and he loves them.  These puffs melt in his mouth and he can eat them non-stop.  I have to admit, I am guilty of tossing him a puff or two to stop his whining.  He has become coordinated enough to pick one up in his little fingers and pop it in his mouth.  He loves to eat!  But he also loves to expel the energy and run all over the house in his walker.  If you come over, Beware!  Your feet will surely get run over.  

Yum, that looks tasty...

I wanna PUFF!

Mango Season!

Lucien is now 6 and a half months old.   And Baby it is Mango Season!  We haven't had time to make any updates as we run around the neighborhood collecting mangos.  Spend our days cutting up mangos.  And get fat eating mangos.  

We're having a great time with him laughing and learning and playing every day.  He is just starting to sit up but still tumbles over every now and then.  He loves to stand up with assistance and jump around - a ball full of energy.  He's always determined to be in arm's reach of his toys and grasp them so he is starting to propel himself forward and crawl.  He's tried a lot of vegetables and fruits and loves them all.  He will never turn down a bite of slop or a spot of milk.  He's still waking Mom up in the m

iddle of the night but I'm used to it and have decid

ed to love the middle of the night attention from Lucien.  No teeth yet but one is bound to pop through soon to crunch down on the delicious mango.

Happy Mother's Day!

It is my first Mother's Day and I love it!  Thanks Lucien for the wonderful day at the spa.  We had a great weekend going on new adventures with Lucien.  We threw on the swim trunks and went over to check out Henry's new pool.  Lucien took a dip and splashed around before his little lips started quivering.  

The next day we took him out to the beach!  He's a beach bum in the making.  He loved to just sit back and watch the waves, Daddy fishing, and all the people playing around him.  

Lucien is almost 6 months old.  He's tried bananas, applesauce, and pears so far.  The pears are the favorite although they upset his tummy a little.  He's still drinking a lot of milk and Mommy is still producing.  We're going to start to give him pure formula to slowly wean him away from the breast milk.  

Lucien got a new toy last week - a walker.  He shuffles around the house in it, we're just thinking of ways to add a mop to the back of him so we can put him to work.  He already helps out in the mornings by pushing the button and opening the garage door.  

The 5th Month Checkup

Lucien is now....oh no!  I lost track.  The full time job and and motherhood has finally caught up to me.  Lucien is in his 5th month and it's time to change to month to month updates.  We went to the doctor last week and he weighs in at 16 lbs. 14 oz.  and is 27 inches tall.  Everybody kept commenting on how big he had gotten and some of the nurses said he was about the size of a 9 month old.  He got a shot and we got the green light to go ahead with solid food starting with bananas...yum!

The Week of Easter Eggs

Lucien is now 21 weeks old and just about 5 months old.  Happy Easter Lucien!  It's your first Easter weekend and we had fun coloring Easter Eggs all day.  At 5 months Lucien is now going to bed by 8:00pm without any fuss.  Although he's still waking up at midnight and about 3 am every night.  He's been eating rice cereal in the morning and this  week we are adding it to his evening routine.  He'll get the slop twice a day to get him geared up for regular food at 6 months.  Lucien loves his Daddy and has lots of fun playing with him.  Mommy can already foresee many practical jokes to be played on her once Lucien is running around.    

The Week of Extremity Discovery

Lucien is now 20 weeks old and he has discovered his hands and feet.  He really enjoyed sucking on his hands in the past but now he stares at his fingers as if Mommy has slipped some hallucinogens in his milk.  He's rolling around like a champ and will never be able to be left alone on the changing table again.  His high pitched squeals are starting to turn into hysterical he-he-he laughter.

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The Week of the 4 Month Shots

Lucien is now 19 weeks old and it is time for another doctor's appointment.  This time I had company with me and Lynn came along.  Dr. Rojas is a good doctor but the office visit is a treacherous ordeal because waiting time is never less than an hour and a half.  Lucien weighed in at a whooping 15 lbs 5 oz.  and grew to 25 inches tall.  He took his shot like a man (or a really pudgy baby) and had only a slight flinch thanks to his "turkey legs".

The Week of Hairy Tales

Lucien is 18 weeks old and is showing signs of development every day.  His hair growth has been pretty stunted until now.  It is long enough now that you can just barely make out a part.  In the back it is really long at the nape of his neck which causes a dark patch of hair on the back of his head - it's his baby mullet.  Pretty soon his hair will grow out on top and we won't be able to make out his spirals at the top of his head.  When Lucien was born Pau-Pau was interested in his spirals and told us that Lucien may be a naughty kid because he has 2 spirals in his hair.  Luckily it wasn't 3 spirals.  This week, Grandma Jean came over the other day and remarked on how much hair has grown in on his eyebrows.  She said "babies do not have eyebrows".  Is this true?  Well, Lucien must be getting his Conway eyebrows in early.

Lucien is still turning over a lot.  He is starting to turn back the other way so he doesn't stuck like he was the previous week.  He plays with his hands a lot more and loves checking all his little toys.  We think he has s

tarted teething or has some gum irritation because he keeps rubbing his mouth.  Lucien still eats his cereal once a day but now he takes rice cereal or the mixed grain cereal.  His digestion has become much better and his system is regular again.  The colic/reflux is pretty much non-existent these days.  

Now that Lucien isn't in pain anymore in the evening we started a night time routine to get him to fall asleep on his own.  He's getting too heavy to rock sleep each night.  His routine consists of a change into PJs, a feeding, being placed in the crib, a bedtime story, a kiss on the 

forehead, and a soothing CD to fall asleep to.  It also consists of his favorite thing to snuggle with - his little bear blankie buddy.  The first 2 nights he cried himself to sleep for about 10 minutes but since he drifts of to sleep without a peep.      

The Week of the Roll Over

Lucien is 17 weeks old and is super active.  He has really started rolling over but he cannot roll himself back.  This has caused him to continue waking in the night.  

The Week of Changing Times and Time Changes

Lucien is 16 weeks old.  He is starting to really like eating the rice cereal and we can't scoop it into his mouth fast enough.  Grandma and Grandpa came down from New York for a visit and Lucien was so excited that he forgot to take care of his "business".  Maybe it was the rice cereal, but Lucien went from Friday morning until Monday evening without a BM.  We got concerned on day 2 and then read in Dr. Spock's manual that once babies are about 4 months old it could be a few days in between bowel movements.  That is shocking for us because Lucien used to have 3-4 per day.  Saturday evening, daylight savings kicked in and come Sunday Lucien was in rare form.  He didn't feel too well that day and was cranky and crying for most of the night.  There is a silver lining though, Lucien slept through the night on that Sunday evening - a total of 7 hours straight.    

The Week of Rice Cereal 101

Lucien is now into Week 15.  He is almost four months old and we couldn't wait any longer.  It's time to introduce the rice cereal to get him on his way to eating solid foods and hopefully sleeping better.  Lucien has still been waking up through the night 1-2 times or about every 3 hours.  We started by mixing some rice cereal into his milk and then we tried spoon feeding him about 1 tbsp of rice cereal mixed with his milk.  He used his tongue thrusting technique to eat which caused him to wear most of his first rice cereal meal.  But all in all it was a success!  The sleeping hasn't changed though.  I guess I have to wait until he's eating the prime rib before he's sleeping through the night again.

The Week of High Kickin'

Lucien is now 14 weeks old and boy is he getting active.  He is playing with his toys more and more each day.  We have a ton of toys for him so it's fun introducing a new toy to him to see if he's interested.  His new trick this week is kicking up his legs and turning over on his side.  He loves falling over to his side but he still can't make a full roll.  

We received a great gift certificate to www.RentAToy.com from Aunt T.  I went in and selected a bunch of toys that may spark Lucien's interest.  The delivery came this week and the box was filled with a lot of fun toys including a new mobile to go over his crib.  He loves his mobiles!

The Week That Mom Goes Back To Work

Lucien has just turned 13 weeks old.  Now that he is 3 months old he is developing so fast and now Mom has to go back to work.  Lucien was doing well sleeping through the night during week 12 but this week was another story.  He must have reached his 3 month growth spurt because he was back to being up twice through the night.  He was eating a lot through the week and by week end he was back to sleeping through the night again for a full 7 hour stretch.  Now that I am at the office all day I am pumping 2-3 times in the office - a very difficult job when surrounded by work and stress.  We'll see just how long the milk flows.  

Lucien has started discovering his hands.  They aren't balled up in fists as much.  He hasn't started gazing at his fingers yet, he just likes to stick his fi

sts and fingers in his mouth and munch on them.  Lucien is also starting to grasp at objects and play with his toys.  His favorite toys right now are his cloth blocks and his Ducky.  He enjoys talking to Ducky so much that he's starting to look like him...   

The Week of Separation Preparation

Lucien is now 12 weeks old and it's time for Mommy to go  back to work.  As we prepared this week for daily separation Lucien's sleeping patterns became increasingly better.  By the end of the week he had slept 2 full nights for 7-8 hour stretches.  I brought in an expert to help when I'm out all day at work.  Lynn will be keeping Lucien company during the day so she came over for a few days to checkout his routine (or lack of one).  My final stop by week end was to the pediatrician to get another shot.  Lucien weighed in at a whopping 12 lbs. 11 oz. 

The Week of Going Back to Basics

Lucien is 11 weeks old.  The main focus this week was testing out the techniques in Babywise.  It was not until I reached the Colic and Reflux chapter that I realized that it will be difficult to instill these new techniques in Lucien while he still has evening troubles.  So, I went back to the basics and responded to whatever he wanted to do to ease his pain.  Every mother has to assess what is good for their baby to propel them forward in life and going back has certainly helped him.  I read a lot about reflux, colic, and lactose overload to determine what we can do to relieve some of this nighttime pain from Lucien.  I discovered that when you breast feed that he has to get a good balance of the foremilk and the hindmilk.  So once "let down" occurs I stop him from feeding to drain a little bit so he doesn't fill up on the fore milk.  I also discovered that it is best to feed him smaller meals to digest them better and build up from there.  He cannot get overly hungry or overly full.  When we offer him a bottle we are using the Born Free or the Avent bottles which help to cut down on the air intake.  I also cut back on the intake of broccoli, garlic, and spicy foods.  After a couple of days we noticed a world of difference.  Maybe the colic had run it's course or maybe it was these new changes.  The evening crying bouts have diminished significantly.  Lucien is a much happier baby and he sleeps more in the day.  At night he is only waking once and he falls right back to sleep.  Once the colic passes we'll go back to the techniques to try and get him to sleep through the night - but he may do it on his own before that time comes.  His longest period between overnight meals has been 5 1/2 hours.    

Lucien has been growing in leaps and bounds and feels like he's grown taller - his 3 month PJs are getting tight.  He is cooing more and loves to sit down at the dinner table with us and join in on the discussions.  Mom is getting ready to go back to work in 2 weeks and is getting the guitar ready to go back for lessons.  Dad has the fishing fever and is still fishing for Pompano and feeding the family well.    

The Week of Historical Life Changing Events

Lucien experienced many life changing events during week 10.  Lucien got vaccinated this week, he is going to get some consistency in his daily activites, and  we have a new president in office - Barack Obama, who will hopefully propel this country out of the rut that it is in to give Lucien an easy life in 20 years.   

We brought him to his 2 month doctor's visit for his first round of shots.  Lucien weighed in at 12 lbs. and is now 24 inches tall.  He was signed off as a very healthy baby and then the shot was administered.  Mommy and Daddy discussed his shot schedule at length and decided to split up a couple of the shots.  They now give babies one shot called Pentacel that contains 5 different shots in one - DTap, HIB, and Polio.  We gave him that shot and the Rotavirus vaccination which is taken orally.  We decided to hold off on the PC or Pneumococcal shot until next month.  Our main concern is the aluminum preservative in shots given to a baby at such a young age.  Lucien emerged from the doctor a happy baby but in 3 hours time was very fussy and we were in for a long night.  

My book finally arrived - "On Becoming Babywise" by Ezzo and Bucknam.  It took me a couple of days to get into it but now I can't put it down.  Some of the techniques are controversial but I'm starting to be a believer of the techniques and I'm giving it a try.  With these techniques the baby should be sleeping through the night (or at least 8 - 9 hours straight) by week 8 - 12.  Some things that are going to start to change for Lucien:  

- new order at each feeding interval consisting of eat, wake time, sleep time.  Lucien's old order was eat, sleep, wake time.  Sometimes his wake time just became another feeding.

- Lucien is going to be put to bed to fall asleep on his own.  We have to stop rocking him to bed each time because now he wakes when I put him in the crib and then I pick him up again to rock him.  This is going to be a tough one to accomplish in the next week.

- Lucien will wake up the same time every morning for his first feeding.  I'm going to try and set it at 7am.

The Week of Potential Schedules

Lucien is now 2 months old.  He made through his 9th week as we tried out many different schedules all week long.  The week started with a dinner party in which we had some friends over.  I shared thoughts with another Mom about getting Lucien to sleep through the night - or at least not wake every 3 hours.  She recommended a book called "Babywise" by Ezzo which I immediately ordered on Amazon.  I also received another recommended schedule from Grandma Jean which suggests feeding your baby every 4 hours and to hold the baby off until the next feeding.  We tried it and it lasted almost one day.  When Lucien is hungry he lets you know!  He almost tore a hole through his pacifier that day.  So now we are back to Lucien's favorite schedule - eating every 2-3 hours.  Maybe he's still in growth spurt.  We'll find out at the doctor next week. 

The Week of Constant Attachment

Lucien had my full attention all through week 8.  He started eating in the daytime every 2 hours.  Which means he was practically attached to me all day long, all week long.  He definitely packed on some weight and is almost ready to graduate out of the size 1 pampers.  Lucky for Mom, breast feeding helps to shed those pounds and boy do I feel slimmer.  I was finally able to go through my closet and fit back into my pre-pregnancy pants and jeans.  Lucien has been smiling a lot more and having conversations with anyone that will listen - especially his safari mobile.  This week we also started our nanny search.  One more month and momma goes back to work.  Any recommendations?  

The Week of a New Year and New Living

Happy New Year!  It is now 2009 and Lucien is 7 weeks old.  I think the growth spurt week continued through to 7 weeks as Lucien was still eating non-stop, having gas problems, and thus crying more frequently.  I read in an article that a bab's crying tends to peak at 4 to 8 weeks.  So one more week and the crying will hopefully become less and less frequent.  We celebrated the New Year with our Conway traditional train cake.  All our out of town visitors left this week which has caused us to fend for ourselves.  Lucien has been used to family members constantly holding him and passing him around since birth so now he will need to adjust to alone time in the crib.  Pau-Pau was a big help in the first 6 weeks of his life.  We love you Pau-Pau!

Lucien has been smiling more and can recognize Mom and Dad now.  He smiles very frequently and has even started to join in conversation with the occasional goo and gaa.  It's the first week we're on our own - no time for photos.