New Sleep Routine

On Luke's 9 month visit, Dr. P gave us an A+ in all areas except one....we knew this was a trouble spot, but hadn't had the motivation to change it until the MD told us we MUST change it. Luke has been sleeping through the night ever since he was 6 months old, BUT his sleep schedule mimicked that of a college student. He would go to sleep for the night at 1:30am and then sleep until about 1pm. The reason we let this go on for so long is because we ourselves don't have too much of a schedule AND we travel A LOT, about once a month is the average. Luke has already been on 14 planes since he was born. Therefore, we hadn't been too motivated to change his habits. However, Dr. P said that we really needed to get his sleep schedule shifted to an earlier time slot. I have read about sleep routines, and this one has worked like a charm. It only took him 3 nights to get the hang of it and not want to get up at midnight to play. Why, oh why did we not do this sooner??? His new nightly routine is the 4 B's: Bath, Book, Bottle, and Bed. He goes to sleep between 9pm and 9:30pm and sleeps anywhere from 11 to 12 hours. Now Jeremy and I actually have a few hours to ourselves until our bedtime. It is a whole new world. Like I said, why did we not do this sooner? If we would have known how easy it was, we would have :)

STEP 1: BATH. Luke loves the bath and gets just a little more play time in before bed. I don't know if the new shampoo really helps, but I am not rocking the boat now....ever since we have started this new routine, we have been using Johnson's bedtime bath and so far so good. Not to mention it smells heavenly!
STEP 2: BOOK. Now we read Goodnight Moon to Luke every night. It was read to me and I am passing the tradition along : )
STEP 3: BOTTLE. Luke is now drinking 8 ounces with each bottle. Is it just me or does Luke look HUGE in this picture? My baby is getting SO BIG! I love how he crosses his feet when he is relaxing.
STEP 4: BED. No, I didn't pose him like this, this is how he likes to sleep. Even if we put him on his back, he always rolls over into this position. I don't know how he finds this comfortable, but he does.

Uncle Pat's Toys

There was a huge stash of toys up on the third floor at Mimi and Popi's house. They had kept a bunch of mom, uncle paddy and aunt liz's toys from back in the day. Mom, mimi and aunt liz dusted a few of them off, gave them a good washing and they were as good as new. (No, my mommy didn't pose me for this picture...I got under this table all by myself!)

Mom's Old Crib...

Mom's old crib is new again! Wow, I can't believe that this crib is over 30 years old. Not only did my mommy sleep in this crib, but my aunt Liz and uncle Paddy also slept in it. It was like a crib away from crib during our visit to Mobile a few weeks ago. Maybe the fact that my mimi never throws anything away is a good thing after all :)
My mom and dad can't leave my clothes off for too long, because I have learned how to take my diaper off all by my self!

Snow Day!!!

I finally got to wear my snow out fit. It snowed about 8 inches here today!!!
Do I look like I should be skiing down the slopes or what?
Mom had to go into work for a few hours, but all of her patients except one cancelled, so she got to come home and play in the snow with me and dad. Check out the snow on top of dad's car!
This is our back yard! What a winter wonderland!
Check out my very first snowman! Man, this snow stuff is really cool!

Mmmmm.....prunes!

No, unfortunately, this is NOT chocolate....it is prunes! I think the reason I make such a mess when I eat prunes is because I secretly know that the more I get on the tray, my face, my hands, my bib and my clothes, the less of it I have to eat. Prunes are definitely not my favorite thing to eat......

but, I sure do look cute eating them! (This way mom can't get mad at the mess I make.)

My first boo boo....

Check out my first boo boo.* I was trying stand up next to one of my toys last night and it was not as sturdy as it looked. My daddy was standing right there and I only cried for a few seconds! Thankfully, my mommy was there to kiss it and make it better.

*(Just a side note, there is a serious debate going on at our house on how to pronounce this term for a bump or bruise. My dad says that it is pronounced boo boo- like "what a ghost says at Halloween- 'BOO'. However, my mommy insists that she has always pronounced it bow bow- like- "oh, that little girl has the cutest 'bow' in her hair". I am still trying to decide who's pronunciation I am going to go with.)

Dr. Proskin

I absolutely LOVE my pediatrician!!! She is so much fun and always gives me her undivided attention. Of course, my mommy and daddy always have tons of questions and she takes her time to answer each and every one. Guess what?...on my 9 month check up last Tuesday, I weighed 18 pounds 9 ounces! That means I have graduated out of the 5th percentile and am now between the 10-25th percentile. Yeah! (Maybe it is all of those cheerios that I get for a snack, haha!)

Two Teeth!!!

Look closely between my fingers and guess what you will see....TWO TEETH!!! I am not the toothless wonder anymore :) I finally have some teeth! I have also started this crazy lion roar while sqinting my eyes. My mom and dad are still trying to figure out where I learned this new trick. Hopefully, they will get this new phenomenon on video so that you can all experience it!

Jay Ray

Now for those of you who are not from Mobile, this post will mean nothing to you. But for all of you Mobilians and former Mobilians, you will all get it. Now that Luke is trying so hard to walk, shoes are a must! Especially, since Mimi got Luke's fancy Easter outfit the other day. It seemed only fitting that Luke have his first shoe fitting at Jay Ray. I can remember when Jay Ray was up on Old Shell road and we would got and get fitting for shoes at least two times a year. Once for our fancy Easter shoes and once for our school saddle oxfords. Jay Ray is family owned and the teenage daughter who helped fit me all of those years ago is now owns the store and is gray headed! We ended up with some white rubber soled (since our house has hard wood floors) stride rites that will be nice enough to wear with his Easter outfit. What a tradition to be passed down.... I am sure we will be shopping at Jay Ray for many years to come!

Where is Luke?

Where is Luke???
Where is Luke???
THERE HE IS!!!

The Greats!!!

We went home to comfort my great grandmother Marion because great granddaddy Buddy passed away. We went home a week ago Sunday and got to spend all week in Mobile. The funeral was on Wednesday and My Great Grandmother marion was already getting a cold, so I didn't get to see her too much or cheer her up like I wanted. We love you and will get to visit much more when we are home for Easter.
Just hanging with Great Granddaddy Jack. He is one cool dude!
Look at me in my big boy shoes!!!
Look at how pretty my Great Grandmother Betty's new hair do is!
Four Generations: Mitchell, Cunningham, Murphy and Payne

Cheerio Video

Lukie started on cheerios earlier this week. We still can't decide if he likes them or not. He makes the most awful faces, but they crack me and his daddy up! (P.S. Look Uncle Dave, I don't even have to soak them in water!)

Walking with Mom

I love to walk, but I am still a little unsteady so my mom and dad help me practice. I am so proud of myself and I can't wait until I get to walk all by myself.

Future Flirt and Fun with Dad

Hi, my name is Luke...How you doin'?

(Do I look like a total flirt or what?)
Look at how tall I am sitting on Dad's shoulders!
Is it just me or do we have the same smile and nose???

Crawling obstacles

I know it looks like a tornado touched down in our living room, but this is what mom and dad have to do to keep me somewhat confined. Although, I have gotten pretty good at crawling over the pillow and blanket obstacle courses, it at least slows me down just a little bit : )