Water Baby

A rainy (unsuccessful) day at the pool.

Two Months

After Seattle, Luke spent a month with the Shaner side of the family in Boise getting to know his two uncles and grandparents better while his daddy studied for the bar. He also spent a few days in Buhl, ID getting to know his great grandma and grandpa Whitt.

Over the past month, Luke has developed an unfortunate sense of who is currently holding him, and has decided that he dislikes people he doesn't know, particularly when he is tired or hungry. He is awake for a big part of the day now, taking naps every couple hours or so, and is practically sleeping through the night, going down at 9 or 9:30 and sleeping until about 4:30 in the morning, then going back to sleep until about 8:00. He still despises tummy time, enough to roll over a few times from his tummy to his back a few weeks ago, an ability that unfortunately didn't stick since he hasn't done it since. He still enjoys looking at light fixtures, but is focusing much more on people's faces as long as they aren't too close. Luke is also smiling! Albeit still pretty stingily. He thinks his daddy is hilarious, though, and Ken can get a smile from him more easily than most people (including his mother). Luke usually talks quite a bit if he's in the mood for it and is very good at finding his mouth with his hands. He has very expressive eyebrows and deep blue eyes, and his hair is slowly but surely gaining lighter and possibly reddish highlights. Luke has also decided that a pacifier isn't for him after taking to it so readily when he was younger (much to the chagrin of his parents), and will only take it occasionally if extremely upset and coaxed into it by someone holding it firmly in his mouth. He will suck on his hands if he can find them, and once managed to suck his thumb for a good thirty seconds before accidentally pulling it out of his own mouth and becoming extremely mad that he had lost his treat. For the most part, however, Luke is extremely mellow and rolls well with the punches.

See Luke Grow!

Baby Luke's First Month

Luke's first month was far more eventful than his mother would have preferred. At two weeks Luke got to witness his daddy graduate from law school. He was an angel, only pitching a fit after the festivities were over. 

At three weeks of life we moved from our little apartment in Chicago to a wandering lifestyle for the summer, taking Luke's first plane ride to Seattle to visit his Young grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. 

The girls enjoyed peering quietly at Baby Luke and holding him, while his boy cousins were far more amusing in their first encounters. Danton fell prostrate, unhappy to see his mother holding another baby...

while monster baby Caleb grinned and promptly tried to bite his toes. 

After our brief stint in Seattle, Luke took his second plane ride to Boise to spend time with the Shaner side of the family. Being the only child and the first grandbaby, he was a little spoiled and, at times...

overwhelmed. :)

During his first month, Luke has become much more alert and awake during the day, and is a spectacular sleeper at night, going right back to sleep after eating. His favorite things to look at are dark shapes on the walls and ceiling fans, which he will occasionally smile at. He hates tummy time more than anything else and will handle most other annoyances with stoicism and an occasional grunt. He enjoys using his hands and wrings them while he looks around, but will calmly fold them over his chest while he sleeps. Some of the loudest noises Luke makes are his toots, which we have aptly named big man toots as they are often louder than anyone else's and are usually accompanied by very stern scowls and loud grunts. He's a little boy, through and through. 

Introducing...(finally)

the newest member of our little family, 

Luke Russell Young.
(and yes, he's been around for a while. for those of you who blogged before your first child was ten weeks old, I commend you.)

Weighing in at a whopping 10 lbs. 6 ounces, at 23 1/2 inches, he was a bit of a celebrity at the hospital, earning such nicknames as "the football player" and "baby hulk". 

His birth was remarkable.

Welcome to the family, little peanut.