Our American Tale

Ducky Ducky Bath Time

Grandma Bakke bought a giant, inflatable duck for Lucas to use for bath time on our trip home this December. His first night in it wasn't quite a success. He took one look at the huge, yellow smiling creature and started shrieking. It was a cry he normally reserves for big ouchies, so I knew he was serious. It probably didn't help that he was overtired and a bit overstimulated from his first day in Arizona.

The second night was a much better experience for our little cub. Dude loves his bath time, so I was relieved that he had gotten over his previous trauma. He had a grand time splashing and slapping the water, trying to pick up bubbles and posing for me.

December 17, 2011

Baby Firsts: Crawling, Pulling Up and Standing

It's funny how quickly the last month has gone. Lucas has sped through so many milestones!

He had been rocking on all fours for weeks, so close to moving forward but not quite coordinated with his hands to get there, but finally took his first crawling stride the day after Thanksgiving. It started out as a combo of crawling and inch-worming.

 

November 25, 2011

And within a day, he was crawling like a pro!

 

November 27, 2011

It seems like as soon as Lucas learned to crawl, he began accomplishing new things with an accelerated pace. He hadn't quite mastered going from all fours to sitting up and then back down again, but figured that trick out not long after he became mobile.

 

November 30, 2011

After that, he discovered he could also pull himself up on his knees.

December 11, 2011

Then, he began a new crawling stride with one knee down and the other leg sticking out.

 

December 5, 2011

Later, he began practicing downward dog.

December 10, 2011

And for three days, he crawled like a monkey.

 

December 10, 2011

By the time we got to Phoenix, he was ready to really impress everyone and he stood up on his own for the first time.

 

December 21, 2011

Though we didn't get any record of it, and it's only happened once so far, Lucas also had his first moment standing tall and balancing on his own.

He's been a busy buddy!

Tree Tickles

Lucas has been really interested in a couple of presents. The other day, he crawled under the Christmas tree to investigate and lingered a while to drum on the package. From where he sat, some of the lower branches kept tickling his head and ears. Though he was quite focused on examining his gifts, he kept reaching up to touch the branch, as if to say, What is tickling my head?

December 9 2011

Fun With A Magazine Basket

With all the time I put into selecting stimulating toys, you'd think my son would be... um... stimulated by them. Turns out a magazine basket provides much more intrigue and hours of entertainment.

At least someone is enjoying the months of backlogged magazines and catalogs I haven't gotten to finish.

One day, I let Lucas go to town and do his thing. Aside from supervising, I sat back and let him tear away to his heart's content.

I think he had a good time.

December 8 & 9, 2011

Busy Buddy

Since Lucas has mastered mobility, he's been having a ball discovering all the non-soft places of the house.

He enjoys pulling his books out of my wine cabinet his bookshelf,

Loves making the vertical blinds dance,

And is practicing shaking the bars of his cage.

I love how he looks like a little jailbird in his striped pajamas!

It's so much fun watching him discover all the corners of the home, though it's a lot of work following him around to make sure he doesn't get any door stops in his mouth, play in dog water, or pull any leaves off of my plants. I just love watching him grow!

Christmas Magic

The Christmas season has been less than ideal. We lost Sammy, Dan has been gone for two weeks, I have been sick and now am recovering from oral surgery... not exactly an ideal climate for a jolly holiday.

Still, our sweet boy has made this Christmas more magical than any I can remember. He doesn't know about the baby Jesus. He doesn't know any carols. He has never tasted a sugar cookie. He can't understand the excitement of Santa...

...but he does look cute in his winter jammies crawling up to the tree and admiring it. He does that quite well.

Sammy

I've started then given up writing a remembrance for our Sammy many times in the last week. It still doesn't seem possible that a remembrance should be necessary.

Every attempt to put into words how much joy he gave us falls short, and saying that we are heartbroken just feels so inadequate. 

Our first "child" is gone.

Despite the profound heartache of saying goodbye, I wouldn't change anything. We loved him as much as anyone could, and he gave us so much just by being the sweet, neurotic, gentle creature he was. He loved us unconditionally and was eternally patient with our humanness.

I know we did the best we could to give him peace, but it doesn't make it fair and it doesn't make my heart ache any less.

I miss him so much more than I can describe.