9 Month Check Up

Went to plunket today for Lucas' 9 month check up, a little early but that is when we fit in.

He is doing just fine, still small but growing at a good rate so no worries.

He has found a new toy that makes a noise when you throw it - he loves it, throws it around until he throws it too far and it is out of his reach - not motivated enough to move to get it though.

Lots of laughing and talking away.

He is a busy little guy and needs lots of attention and stimulation. I can't seem to keep him entertained at home any more we have to take a trip out somewhere every day even the back yard is not good enough any more. Keeps me going.

Me with Baby James - man they grow so quickly!!!!

Lucas and some of his friends

Photos of Lucas

Lucas, Lucas, Lucas!!!

So many photos taken of this little guy every day it is hard to decide which ones to load up. He has been talking up a storm his favourite word is still Da Da Da. He also says Ya Ya and a little bit of Na Na - well done Mom on choosing an easy name to say! Still waiting on Mom yet.

Lots of waving Hi and Bye. If you say hello or Bye he will wave now which was pretty exciting. He has figured out who Mom and Dad are so if you say "Where is Dad?" He will look for Peter. I know he is a smart little cookie!

(Waving bye to Dad in the morning, one of his favourite places to play)

He has started eating cheese this week and it sure is a winner, everyday I think "Man is he like his father!"

Still not crawling though

Lucas and playing by himself is still a struggle. He has managed a half hour (I know a long time) of keeping himself occupied as long as I am in the room and he has some cheese to keep him company. This is the problem if I leave the room we have a melt down. Still at the two minute limit but trying hard to increase it.

The last couple of days have been awesome weather. I have my first sunburn on the season. So I have a red nose and forehead, let's be honest though that is just what I look like all summer so I shouldn't be surprised. Lucas and I spent Friday at the beach and I went down all prepared for Lucas with contingency plans for all possible scenarios cold, hot, thirsty, hungry, sleepy, bottle, wet, swimming, shade, etc etc. For me I took my car keys, cell phone and my wallet - really prepared, hence the sunburn!!!

Aunt Elissa moved in until our big trip home. Lucas is still getting used to her!

A New Adventure

Today (Friday November 14th) marks a new day in Lucas' life. He is learning to play on his own!!!!!!

Yes I have been one of those mothers that plays with my child, ALL day. At least as long as he is awake.

As of today I have decided that he needs to learn to play without me, really should have been self explanitory but I am learning as I go here.

I had a visit with the plunket (public health) nurse and asked her all kinds of questions i.e. "how long should Lucas be able to play on his own?"The answer 15minutes. Now that doesn't seem like a very long time. I was thinking while she was talking oh maybe I dont need to do anything I am sure he can play for 15 minutes this is going to be a piece of cake!

!!!!!WRONG!!!!!

Lucas got a max 2 minutes on his own - can you say "momma's boy"

Apparently it can take 7 days to break the habit so for 7 days I will be grumpy because Lucas will be grumpy but it is for the greater good of all involved and for the cleanliness of my house.

I will keep you posted on how much progress we make.

So after I started this process and got all ready for lots of moaning we went away and Lucas was not happy so he had lots of time being carried around. Then Lucas got a fever when we came home, not sure why maybe teeth so lots of cuddles on that day and the next day Peter and I were both sick with food poisoning (we think) so today we will start the moaning again and see how we go. So far this morning Lucas played on his own for 4 minutes although he moaned almost the entire time.

He had to play on his own because I did a really stupid thing. I put liquid dish soap in the diswasher, not on purpose, and I had a mess of bubbles to clean up. Thankfully Lucas can't crawl yet so he wasnt all in the bubbles. Man it makes a lot of bubbles though!!! Filled the entire dishwasher - crazy!!

His new thing this week is waving - he loves waving hi and bye to everyone. Also started drumming on everything except he still isnt a big fan of noise so often makes himself blink or even cry if he hits stuff too hard.

Lucas gets the master bedroom at the trailor! Lucky little guy must be lonely at the top had to keep us up all night.

30 and Holding

Thanks so much for all the birthday wishes it is nice to be remembered.

It is my first birthday as a Mom and things sure have changed. Peter and I went out for breakfast this morning. Breakfast on my birthday, unheard of!!! I would usually think he was crazy the dialouge would go something like this....

Peter: Happy Birthday Sweetie!!! Let's go out for breakfast to celebrate, it will be nice to share time together in the morning. We never do that.

Shannon: grunt - are you crazy I am sleeping in it is my birthday.

Instead this is what happened:

Scene: 6:50 Peter and Shannon are sound asleep and a noise comes out through the monitor

Lucas: ya ya ya ya, uhhhhh, waaa, waaaa, silence................ WAAAAA

Peter: I'll get up and get him ready, happy birthday

Shannon: Thanks, I'll get his breakfast ready

Peter: What do you say we go out for breakfast for your birthday

Shannon: That sounds like a GREAT idea. It will be nice to share some time together in the morning and I am sure Lucas would love to have more food!!!

Anyway it was a great day! Lucas even gave me 2 kisses when I asked for them - he must know!!!

The pesto kid having a picnic in the living room. Had to have a bath after there was pesto everywhere!

Lucas painting the wall with his maraca (sp?)



Playing "5 little monkeys jumping on the bed" with Daddy!!!

Lucas tries to figure out where we are in the world

Sunny Weekend

Daddy eating with Lucas on the deck - yummy lunch in the sun!!


Lucas loves to feed himself. His favourites at the moment are toast and rice crackers. Even better when I put pesto or avocado on the crackers!!! He is becoming quite posh



He is growing really fast, I had a look through the second drawer and found all kinds of clothes for 6 months and they all fit!!! Yeah I love new clothes and I didnt even have to go shopping. I love this Tigger track suit - so cute, thanks Mom and Dad.




Lucas talking to 'Uncle' Sean. He plays strange with a lot of people, especially men. But for some reason Sean is ok in his books - loves to play with the scruf on his face






Lucas and Peter playing in the back yard. Getting used to our beach tent - looks like Peter is ok with it.

Ya Ya Ya Da Da Da

Lucas is talking!!!! So exciting yesterday he started mouthing back at us when we were saying Da Da Da and then today he picked it up and has been talking all day "Da Da Da Ya Ya Ya".

It is hard to believe he is going to be 8 months old in 2 days!!!

The weather has been funny here, one day we are on the beach enjoying the sunshine and the next day I have pulled out my wool shirts again. Making a lot of people sick, I really hope we don't get "the sickness" again at our house.

I am finding myself busier every day. Lucas is napping 3, sometimes 2 times a day. When he is not nappinghe needs to be entertained, unless he is eating that is. We are going to GymbaROO and Peter is taking him swimming I need to make sure we have things on the go everyday or else he gets bored and doesn't have very good naps and we have a pretty grumpy baby. I foresee this only getting busier. Thankfully he is still going to bed pretty early, around 6:30 or 7:00 so we get a bit of a rest before I crash for the night as well.

Trying some pasta - good to suck up, doesn't even require chewing.


Yummy Marmite on Toast and peaches - good to get your hands dirty when you eat!

ON A MORE SERIOUS NOTE!!!

Yesterday was Guy Fawkes day - why we celebrate it in New Zealand is beyond me. Lots of fireworks going on ALL NIGHT long! It was raining last night so I figure we will probably have another night tonight with the sky on fire. It is unbelievable to see kids standing in the middle of the road holding on to a firework as it fires off into the air - can you say "STUPID"!!!!!

They have passed a law here that fireworks are only allowed to be sold over the three days around Guy Fawkes day. Which means if you want fireworks at any other time of the year you need to save them. Because of that there are a lot of ads on the radio and T.V. I was not impressed to hear that one of the fireworks they are selling is called 'downtown Kandahar' - pretty disgusting! I can't believe that people thought it was 'ok' to name something you do for enertainment after a place that is going through a horrible ordeal - again disgusting. Whether you support the war or not it still seems wrong.

Happy Halloween

We don't really celebrate halloween in New Zealand but we had these diaper covers so I thought what better time to try them on than Halloween!!!

Bam bam bam bam!!!

He thought they were hillarious, even enjoyed playing with them when he took them off. I might just put them in his toy box - is that weird?

He is back to sleeping 12 hours at night again - what a relief.

This week Lucas learned the hard 'g' sound and has been saying it all the time. I think he is trying to say good but sometimes is sounds more like car or gu! whatever gu is.

Haven't made much headway on the crawling front - he really wants to go places but his upper body is just to weak to hold up that giant head - has such a big brain he just can't get it off the ground, must be related to his uncle Kyle. (I mean on the big brain front, not that Kyle walks around dragging his head on the ground - that would be really silly)

Can you believe it is so close to Christmas - where has this year gone?