Babysitting!!

"Hi Everyone!"

Elissa is on school holidays so since I had a doctors appointment today I figured it would be good to have an extra set of hands with Lucas. Turns out he decided to sleep so Elissa stayed home with him. Good little man slept most of the time and then had no problems when he woke up. I was a little worried since he played strange a little bit with her the other day. Hope it was just a grumpy day or something.

Lucas is busy growing his teeth. One has come through and many more to come. He seems to bee really bothered by them but only at times and other days it seems fine. Still doing lots of playing and getting a little more daring reaching for things a little further away from him. Lately he has been learning to take blocks out of a bowl which is lots of fun but a bit frustrating when Mom puts all the blocks back in again.

Elissa and Sean are getting lots of stuff done for the wedding and I thought I would share their wedding website with you if you are interested. I think they did a really good job. http://eands.wedquarters.com/

Yep he is in it backwards - seems to think it is a new toy that way and he likes to play with the label

Lucas enjoying his postcard from Grandma and Opa - not sure it was intended to be eaten but he thinks it tastes good

Happy Birthday Aunt Elissa

Toast for breakfast with Daddy on Saturday morning.


Breakfast at Mecca with Aunt Elissa and friends. The weather was amazing. Sunshine and some beach time.


Spending some time with Uncle Sean, Lucas really seems to like him. Good thing hopefully that keeps up and Lucas can spend some time with him on the plane on our long flight back home.


A little sleepy at the beach some nice cuddles with Mom


After a long day with friends Lucas had a hard time going to sleep so he spent some time playing on the couch while he calmed down a bit.

Moving on to Bigger and Better

A new toy for Lucas. Here it is another stage of development and yet more things to buy, I swear it never ends. This is a dump trunk that has noises and a little tune when you push it around. Supposed to make the child want to push it around. It comes with peek-a-boo blocks which are basically blocks you can see through that have different activities inside. I figure this should keep his interest for a while but what I figure never really is what Lucas figures so we will see. So far it is all a little too noisy and overwhelming for him. Lots of blinking and moving away from the truck at the moment. Although early this morning Peter said he did dump out the bucket (if that is what it is called) of the truck so maybe there is some interest.

Major scare the other day -I was sleeping so I really dont know how scary it was but it sounds scary. Peter was feeding Lucas breakfast and he started to choke. Peter being the calm cool guy he is slapped him on the back and out pops this thing. No idea where it came from or what it is. I have kept it as I figure I will solve the mystery some day and I took a photo of it in case it came from the can of pears he was eating and I can sue and get lots of money. Problem being he was eating a mix of pear, banana and apple. All home made except the pears and all had been cooked, blended and frozen seperatley so no idea where the mystery object was inserted into his food. Will be extra careful not to put bits of plastic in the next batch of food I make though.

Speaking of making food. Today I made 'Knobbly Mince' great name I know. Basically ground beef , carrots, potatoes and beef stock all cooked up and ground up nice and small. Thankfully lucas slept for most of the process ususally he wakes up just after I start and then cooking with one hand becomes a bit more of an effort than when you get to use both of your hands. Today while I finished cooking I kept him occupied in his high chair with a piece of toast, most of the toast ended up on the floor in a pile of soggy mush but he was happy - or at least happy enough that I didnt have to hold him there was a lot of moaning involved.

This afternoon Lucas took another big nap and I got into the tub and cleaned the thing until is sparkled. It may be one of the worst jobs in our house, you can't clean it unless you get in it and the lighting is kind of bad so you end up spending 5 minutes scrubbing at a dark spot that ends up only being my shadow and not dirt at all - frustrating. Oh well I can now give Lucas a bath without feeling like a failure because my bath tub is more than a little dirty. Clean enough Lucas can lick away without a worry.

I have signed up for GymbaROO this term. Will have Lucas swinging from the rafters and jumping into the bucket of balls in no time. Really looking forward to having some more ideas of what to play with him and maybe (cross my fingers) tire him out a little to get some more big naps.

Looking forward to another good weekend of sunny weather - we hope. Elissa is having a birthday and few of us are going out for breakfast to celebrate, really looking forward to it I like going out to eat.

He sure is a Matter

Man this kid can eat. He must take after his Dad's side of the family, I have heard a few of the Matters (Opa, Uncle Kyle, Dad) can eat their fair share and then some.

Today alone he has had 3 breast feeds, 2 formula feeds (250ml each), 3 ice cubes of pear, an entire piece of toast, 2 ice cubes of mashed potatoe, 3 ice cubes of broccoli, and a piece of apple to suck on. Most likely he will get up tonight as well for a little midnight snack. Where does he put it all?

He is growing though we have officially moved out of 0 - 3 month clothes and have moved into the big size of 3 - 6 month which is not all that big considering he is almost 7 months old and I still have to roll up the sleeves and pants legs so he is able to use his feet and hands to do stuff. It has been sad to see some of my favourite outfits put into the 'too small box' but we have so much cute stuff that I am excited to get him wearing.

He continues to change almost daily - today he decided that kicking is his new thing and tries to kick while he is sitting, that has resulted in a few bumps on his head as he is not able to steady himself at the same time. Good times in the bath though! He is a slippery little sucker.

Lots of talking going on lately but no words as of yet he almost sounds like he says yum but it really is more of a moan than anything. We have been playing lots of peek a boo while he absolutely loves - giggles and giggles like crazy, apparently I have a pretty funny face, hopefully that doesnt start to affect my self esteem.

He is still struggling to nap during the day but things are changing he almost is dropping a morning nap but is not quite able to make the whole time so he gets a little grumpy but soon enough I think he will be down to one morning nap and 2 afternoon naps.

We will see though. It seems as soon as I write things on the BLOG and tell about him he changes his ways. So maybe I should be using a bit of reverse psychology here and saying how he is not sleeping, not rolling, not reaching, etc, etc - we will see if it works.

Speaking of reaching he is reaching for lots of his toys but doesn't like to go too far because he knows he will fall over and he doesnt like to lie down so he tries his best to stay sitting as long as he can, sometimes curiosity gets the better of him but mostly he is stubborn and waits it out until Mom comes around and helps him out, he really has me wrapped around his little finger, one of these days that will have to change but I just can't resist him he is so cute.

Lots of kids in coffee group have started the backwards shuffle while laying on their tummy's and ending up in all kinds of interesting places, Lucas not so much. Every time he lays on his tummy he rolls over to his back instead - not his cup of tea. It would be nice for him to reach that stage in development when he can move but am also happy that for now our house does not have to be in lock down mode - soon enough.

Started to make a list of things we will need for Lucas when we come home at Christmas time - hard to imagine a snow suit and boots for the little man. Looked around here but Auckland's version of a snow suit is a full fleece sleeper type thing - that is not going to cut it, silly Aucklanders have no idea what winter is all about. Actually I feel that I have forgotten a little as well, could be a big shock for me - still looking forward to it though.

Helping out - cleaning off his face when breakfast was finished

Good Times

Looks like Dad could use a lesson with the sippy cup as well
Yummy green food now

Waiting patiently for my food

No the spoon doesnt go all the way down your throut

Looks like he is smoking a pipe

So Many Firsts

(#1) Lucas' first tooth is almost through his gums, he won't let me look at it but I can feel it, sharp little thing.

Went for a walk in the bush in the back pack and (#2) actually fell asleep for a little while. Doesn't look too comfy!

(#3) Lucas played in the sand on the weekend and (#4) put his feet in the ocean. The sand was awesome, it was all I could do to keep his hands out of his mouth in the end I gave up and he ate a bit, not a whole handful so he should be ok. After being on the beach we went and cleaned off his feet in the fountain and had a few photo ops!

(#5)Went to a new church on Sunday that Lucas thought was amazing - 4 huge T.V screens for him to look at and lots of singing for him to hum along to. On the way home he fell asleep in the car (#6) without even crying!

What a great weekend!!! Summer is just around the corner - gave us a sneak preview the last couple of days - I can't wait for the beach weather to kick into high gear.

Went swimming again with Dad and this time Downey and Sarah came along - Lucas was more interested in the pictures on the wall than Sarah but we are getting there. He is getting more comfortable in the water and has started to let go of his fists and relax a bit. He even tried to roll over - doesn't work quite as well as when you are on the floor but he tried - dunked his ear in the pool.

I am going to have to find some fun activities for tomorrow - Monday's are always so boring for Lucas Dad goes back to work and Mom doesn't have anything on, poor kid.

Good Old Photos

Maybe Winter isn't all that bad, actually looks kind of pretty - we will see in December

I miss camping lots, although I don't miss the bugs

This picture reminded me a lot of lucas - especially today - he cried a lot

Wasn't Peter a cutie!! Reminds me a lot of lucas

Cory must have been pretty funny when we were young! Smile reminds me a lot of lucas

I love my Mom!

Hi Mom,

I hope that you are enjoying my singing each morning between 5:30 and 6:00 as I try to sing with the birds that are in the pheniox palm down the street. All that singing does get me hungry though so I can't wait to see you in the morning. Its also lots of fun to wake dad up in the morning espically since you taught me to splash now I can splash him on the head to get up and feed me some fruit!

Once Dad leaves I'm so excited to spend the day with that sometimes I forget to sleep but look at the fun we have:

We can take a bath or a shower! (Note those are not Mom's legs!)

You also have the chance to get a workout and carry me around the house which I always seem to enjoy. Its also fun when you carry me and we push the buggy around!

We can also go outside and play on the deck or the grass if it's a nice day out! Have to remember to wear my sun hat (Doog hat) though!

And don't forget about all the fun we ok I have eating lunch everyday mmm

We also get to visit my friends at coffeegroup, go swimming, play on the floor, read books, go to the mall, walk around the block, listen to the bass from the neighbours cars (not fun) and even manage a nap the odd time.

Thanks for all the fun times Mom!

-Lucas

Happy Birthday Grandma

Although Lucas had a busy day today with his mom (which means no time for sleep right Lucas!) he wanted to wish his Grandma a very special birthday. Not being sure what to get her Lucas decided to make her a cake. As seen above things have gone a bit sideways in his first attempt but don't worry although he is seeing red he is looking forward to trying some new foods to eat before having another go at it.

Anyway a big happy birthday Grandma sorry we couldn’t be there to enjoy it with you especially since you got to go out to Mandarin with Opa and Aunt Anita. Lucas man would have loved to go there as he loves to eat (must be from Opa!) eating three meals a day already and then needing water to rinse it down. He has started on the green food and is losing his orange glow. Well that’s enough for Dad's first blog!

Lucas is Dutch Orange

Lucas' favourite place to sleep






Lazy afternoon in the hammock with Dad

Nice Cuddles



Apparently too much orange food can make your skin go orange. Oops, so we are moving to another colour for now. Lets see if he can go green next.

Routine???

"Can I havr dinner with this spoon?"


"Who do you think I look like?"


Like a little bird waiting for food, mouth wide open


"Check out my new high chair"


"Need help making dinner Mom?"


So we are trying to get into some sort of a routine - first day not working so well but not as bad as I expected either, apparently the second day is always the worst when you start something new so we will see, maybe I should have started it on a Friday so Peter could be around for the second day. Oh well we do what we can