Halloween on the Mile...

...Lucas celebrated his first Halloween on the Mile with his friends Astou, Yaya and Oskar. I only put on the dracula outfit on Lucas for a very short time as it is unseasonably warm for this time of year in South Florida. Rather than walk up and down the Miracle Mile trick or treating, since the babies are so little...AND the mommies are not interested in extra candy lying around the house, we sat ourselves down outside Pasha's and watched all of the unique costumes march on by.

Little swimmers...

...Lukey had his first pool party today at Marie and Stephanie's house in the Grove today. It was a looong day because afterwords we went to the Mile for the Halloween extravaganza. Lucas was a little timid and didn't know quite what to make of the pool when I first put him in...but after about five minutes or so he completely warmed up to it, as you can see by this picture. I dragged him around the water helping him to "swim" as we went around and said hi to the other babies. The weather was perfect and the pool was heated. It was wonderful! Lucas wore his Iplay swim diapers for the first time.

First musical experience...

...Pop Goes the Orchestra at the New World Symphony on Lincoln Rd in Sobe. Lucas and I went with Chiara/Sofia, Amy/Oskar, Anne/Liam and Melissa/Dylan. We had a great time and were seated only six rows from the front. I think that Lucas really enjoyed himself and he didn't get upset although it was really loud. On the contrary, he was seated on my lap and kept staring and staring at the orchestra. It was only the final 15 minutes that he fell asleep. The next kids concert, Peter and the Wolf, is in March. Until then, I am planning lots of other activities with the "Mercy Moms." We are thinking of going to the beach with the little ones. Lucas visited the beach for the first time when Lucy, Andres's aunt, was in town. He loved the breeze and the warm air and was perfectly happy for two entire hours. Pretty much after that he had a bit of a meltdown! We were also planning on going to Fairchild Gardens and the Kids Museum since it is free the last Thursday of each month.

Amazing progress with night time sleeping...

...and other major milestones! September 15th was the first night that little Lukey slept from 8pm - 5am (9 straight hours.) Andres and I could hardly believe it. We were ecstatic. This was followed by two more days of the same which has since turned into over a week of unbelievably good sleeping... speckled with the occasional 3:30am wake-up. As you can see from the picture, Lucas has also learned to hold on to a sippy cup with two hands and even drinks water out of the straw! Of course I need to put a bib on him because he spills water all down his front...or maybe it's drool. He is a BIG TIME drooler these days. As far as turning over is concerned, he has been turning from his belly to his back for the past month and a half. Now, however, he squirms like a little snake from back to front to back. He also goes to sleep for naps (still in our arms as he's being bounced) with a noise that sounds not quite like crying and not quite like talking. Lucas is also laughing up a storm these days and had a great time playing with Daddy during bath time tonight. He continues to be a very social kid and really enjoys hanging with other babies. This week at Itsy Bitsy Yoga he was talking REALLY loudly and during the yoga move where we chant "I LOOOOVEE YOOUUU" a few of the mommies said that it sounded like Lucas had said I love you back. Ha, ha!

Itsy Bitsy Yoga

For the past few weeks, I have started attending a baby yoga class with a few of the other mommies from Faith's Mommy and Me class at Mercy Hospital. We all decided to meet up for extra baby activities when Faith announced that she would be out of town for a couple of weeks to attend her daughter's wedding. One of the mommies suggested a yoga class near Midtown Miami in a studio with an Itsy Bitsy Yoga instructor. Yes, that is what it's called and the moves and songs are just as cute as the name. Now that Lucas is older, he loves looking around and interacting with the other babies. He also loves many of the moves...although the moves done from his belly tire him out after a while. My favorite songs are the following:
"One foot, two foot, three foot, four...I love you, forever and more!"
"North pole, south pole, east coast, west...inside, outside, baby you're the best!"
Other songs that I sing to Lucas outside of yoga are the following:
(sung as I am changing his diaper to the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat:
"Change, change, change your diaper
Wow it's really smelly
Take it off, wipe and wash
Then I kiss your belly."
Other songs I enjoy singing are the "Intsy Bintsy Spider" song and "I love you, you love me, we're a happy family" song.We also have planned with the "Mercy Mommies" to attend baby concerts and stroll in the Fairchild Gardens with our little bundles of joy. In other news...I am back to my sleep studies with Lucas. Andres and I are now trying to "train" Lucas to put himself to sleep instead of relying on us to rock him to a slumber or abusing my boob as he uses it as a pacifier. Lucas is big as a house and is now almost 15 lbs and wearing the clothes of a 6 month old. Yikes!

A new mother's endless list of worries...

...from the completely insane to the only borderline neurotic:

1. That I will drop Lucas on the tile on his head.
2. That he will get taken from his bedroom in the night as
it is closer to the front door.
3. That I will trip and fall as I am taking him for a walk
outside in the front carrier.
4. That he has reflux.
5. That he has gas.
6. That I won't hear him crying at night.
7. That he will hurt himself from crying so hard - when Lucas
gets pissed, watch out world!
7. That I will get into a car accident with Lucas in the car.
8. That I will get into a car accident without Lucas in the car.

The end of the first stage...

...and Daddy and I both made it out alive! Lucas turned 3 months old last week on September 1st and we moved his crib to his own room today. I feel like it is the end of an era and had very mixed feelings about seeing him go. I joked with Andres saying that our little boy was "going off to college." It is great to have our room back as well as access to our own bathroom again. Looking back, it was pretty invasive to have this little baby taking over our room for so long. I know that it is a big burden lifted off our relationship to be able to have Mommy and Daddy private time. With all of that said, I did shed a few tears after I came out from putting little Lukey to bed to night in his own room. I know that they grow up so fast and that seems a little scarey. I want to make sure that I enjoy every moment of this precious little life.