2 Months

Actually, Luke is now over 9 weeks but I've been trying to post this for the past week. I honestly can't believe I am in my second month of motherhood!

*Disclaimer: This is another lengthy post about my baby.  It is mostly for me because I want to remember all these little details but I like the idea of blogging all of it, so feel free to read if you feel so inclined.

This month has been so fun.  Luke has gotten so much more interactive.  He is smiling like crazy.  Those first smiles are unforgettable.  At first, he would just pull up the corner of one mouth and kind of open his mouth and coo.  Then, he started smiling with both sides of his mouth but it was really hard to get his attention long enough to look at me and smile.  Now, almost every morning when he wakes up and I change him he looks at me and coos and smiles.  It seriously melts my heart every time.  Just in the past week, he has been smiling bigger like real smiles and getting excited when we talk to him and does kind of a laugh.  I can't get enough.  It sounds so cliche but I really don't want to miss one smile.  When he starts cooing and smiling I stop whatever I'm doing, even if I'm in the middle of a conversation with someone just to watch him.  I never knew something so small could literally make my whole day better.  Babies are just like that I guess..

He is so much more alert and interactive.  It is so fun to see him passing little milestones every day. Things I want to remember about his second month besides smiling:

-He is much more alert.  He is getting a lot better at making eye contact and can track pretty well some things, especially things that light up like phones.
-His absolute favorite thing is lights.  He could look at them for days.  It's so funny.  Put a bright light in his peripheral and good luck getting him to look at anything else.  His other favorite things to look at are in the mirror at his chubby little mug and the roof of his carseat.  It has a geometric pattern that fascinates him.  It was so cute because he's always been in that same carseat obviously and it was like one day it just clicked that there had been this cool thing to look at the whole time and now he can't stop staring!
- One day, Luke was crying and Jered did airplane with him just to see how he would react.  He lifted Luke up supporting his chest and legs and "flew" him around the room. Luke stopped crying immediately. Now, whenever he gets really upset that's our go to and it's almost fail-proof.  He loves the airplane so much he forgets whatever he's crying about. His face is also priceless.
- I have been noticing that he is starting to respond to us more.  I don't really know when babies start to get separation anxiety and he doesn't really have that but there are certain things that he does that makes me think he knows who we are and he likes it when we're with him more than just responding to our voices and things like that.  Like, this morning I got out of the shower just as he was waking up and starting to fuss. I came into the room and said "hey baby Lu" and, without even seeing me, he stopped crying.  Now, that's not always the case of course but it made me think maybe he knows I'm coming and that calms him down.  Also, when I was getting ready this morning, I propped him up on the floor so he could see me but then went into the other room.  He started crying but when I came back in and put him in his bouncer where he could see me, he started smiling and cooing at me.  I don't know if any of that means anything, but there is nothing better than feeling like Luke actually wants me there.  When babies are born, they really can't differentiate between you and any stranger on the street, so I love that he is starting to do that more.
- Luke continues to breath like a little gremlin... constantly.  It is so funny but I'm starting to wonder if it's normal for him to still be doing it at two months?
-He sleeps pretty much through the night. He's a night owl though and it's hard for me to get him to sleep before 11 or midnight, but once he's asleep, he'll sleep for at least 6 hours if not 8, and once I feed him he sleeps for another few hours.  He has woken up for the day at 11 for the past 5 days.  It is such a blessing and I'm sure I'll get it bad my next baby but for now it is so nice to be able to have some time to exercise and get some things done before he gets up.

My love for this baby just gets stronger and stronger.  I love nothing more than spending time with my little family. It is so fun for me to see Jered with him too.  He loves that baby so much and is so good with him.  Just tonight I was cooking dinner and Luke was in his bouncer and Jered was playing with him when he called for me to hurry over.  I ran over and Jered was so excited because Luke was reaching for his hanging toy for the first time.  I love that he gets excited about those things like I do.  I love that we equally share the amazing experience of having this first little boy in our lives and I am so grateful to be doing it with him.

First time hot tubbing as a family.. Luke loved it!

Easter Sunday

This year, Easter Sunday was pretty special for us.  Not only did we get to spend it with my family in Utah, we also got to bless baby Luke.
It was so fun to go up to Utah and finally have the rest of my family meet baby Luke.  (My mom, my aunt Robynn and my brother and sister-in-law Tay and Ash were the only ones who had met him previously). My dad and brothers Mitch and Bren were so cute with him and I was surprised how much time they wanted to spend with him.  Brennan was especially quotable checking when we first got there to make sure Luke was a boy and then later saying while Luke cooed at Bren, "he's talking but I don't relate."  Love that kid.  I even asked him to go check on Luke for me during one of his naps and Bren informed me that he "just did."  My dad was also so cute to watch. He didn't want to let go of Luke and he and my mom even slept with him on one of the nights. I don't think Jered and I held him the whole time we were there except to feed and change him, but that's ok, he was in good hands.

 Sunday morning we woke up and had Easter baskets.  Both my mom and I had gotten stuff for Luke and even though he had no idea what was going on, it was so fun to give him stuffed bunnies and toys and books, just to celebrate his very first holiday.  I love that it was also his blessing day.  As we were about to leave for church, I put him on the couch and put all the things he had gotten for Easter around him and it was like everyone forgot what we were doing and went crazy taking pictures of little Luke.  For the next 15 minutes my mom, me, Jered, Ash and Tay snapped pictures and oohed and aaahed over how cute he looked.  That little boy was the center of attention in the Hawkins home that's for sure.

 I loved listening to Jered bless Luke.  Love that he made it so personal; it is such an amazing thing for me to watch my husband become a father.  There is already something so unique about he and Luke's relationship and I think blessing Luke only deepened that.  Jered is such a good dad.  He fusses over Luke sometimes more than I do and is so good with him. They are going to be best buddies.

Luke in his blessing outfit.  The romper was worn by all by brothers and the shoes are from 1931.  Jered's grandpa, dad and he wore them.  Love.  

Easter Sunday was so perfect.  It was filled with family and friends, yummy food and beautiful sunshine.  I love everything about Easter Sunday from the blossoms bursting from the trees to the chocolate eggs and bunnies to seeing the little kids in their new easter outfits all bright and shiny and new.  I love that we get to go to church every Easter and remember the reason we celebrate, and I love coming together as a family and remembering why it is so important that we follow that Man whom we celebrate, who died and was raised again for us.

    

Cousins Sammy and Luke