Discoveries Galore

We've had a busy couple of weeks. Melissa has started back to work, so the workload has picked up a bit at home. Luke is getting his daycare from Melissa's cousin Debbie. We were worried that Debbie's own young children would have jealousy issues with Luke, but they really seem to like him.

Melissa hasn't been overly thrilled to be back at work. She misses Luke a lot. Fortunately, her days are busy enough that she's back with him before she knows it. Unfortunately, evenings and weekends seem short, too. Luke goes to bed early at around 8:00 at night, so a late evening at work means you don't really get to see much of him.

Work has taken a toll on her nursing ability. Pumping milk and feeding Luke takes a ridiculous amount of time (Luke thinks nursing is a seven-course meal and likes to feed in no less than sixty minutes). Since she has to do this in the morning, she's sacrificing almost ninety minutes of early morning sleep to get Luke ready. I don't know how many of you are morning people, but I'd personally give up a pinky toe rather than get up that much earlier.

We're starting Luke on formula. We're going to attempt to use formula during the day, and breast milk at night. This should save Melissa a lot of time, which she really needs more of. I'll keep you updated.

Luke has finally realized that humans are interesting. He will now make an effort to look at the people around him. He especially responds to the voices of his parents. He really seems to like us, as he smiles every few seconds at us regardless of what we're doing. It surprises me sometimes. I'll be doing something routine like brushing my teeth, I glance over at him and he thinks it's hilarious. Then I'll dance like a monkey and he looks at me like I'm insane.

Luke even liked his reflection in the mirror, which is quite funny. Remember how cool you thought mirrors were when you were a kid? I remember many times wondering if it were some kind of alternate universe. You didn't think that? Oh, I was just kidding, I never thought that...

He is starting to become attentive to changes in his surroundings. When we go for walks he becomes quiet and observes. He seemed very curious at all the singing going on at church. He glanced at Melissa and I occasionally to make sure things were okay, then continued watching.

He's also learning how to play. The other day I put Luke's hand on a toy while he watched. He learned, and now will try to play on his own. Melissa has trained him with other toys. He is now very self-entertaining. He has a short attention span, though, and he will let us know when he's bored or frustrated with a certain toy.

Unfortunately, he's also learning how to use his voice. One time last week, I was about fifteen minutes slow on getting his bottle ready. My ears are still ringing from the encounter. I almost couldn't believe a person that small could be so loud. I was scared at times that there was something really wrong with him, but he was instantly satiated once he was feeding.