Catch up Posts

I have no new cute pictures to add; it has been a little bit insane around here. To recap the past couple of weeks:

On Dec 6th Katie, our miniature schnauzer, was put down. She was 13 years old and just was very sick. We will all miss her dearly. She was very sweet and during both of my pregnancies, Katie would ALWAYS lay across or next to my stomach. I guess that was the closest she became to being a mama.

This past weekend, I tried to play catch up with baking and candy making and shipping off five big ole' boxes to various relatives across the US. I did get some shopping done, but I'm not finished yet. It is a bit strange for me to look at our mantle with the three matching stocking holders and three matching stockings on it. It felt weird to just add a different stocking and holder for Spencer; the odd man out, if you will. It was just the three of us for so long, but I honestly can't imagine life without Spencer. I ended up ordering some really beautiful stockings and had our names embroidered on them. Now we are complete. This weekend we will head to the Hallmark store to pick out this year's ornament. Each year we, as a family, pick out an ornament with the date on it to help signify the past year. This has become our family tradition and our tree is made of various ornaments, each with a unique story behind them.

Justin has been studying like mad for finals this week. He is a bit stressed to say the least. He takes his last final on Thursday and there will be much rejoicing. Madison has her school Christmas party on Friday in which I am homeroom mom. I at least thought well enough ahead back in November and have everything planned out. I'm hoping what I have planned will entertain the 26 5th graders in her class.

Spencer went to the doctor today for his 4 month checkup. He weights 14 pounds 7 oz (50% percentile) and is 25 1/2 inches long (75% percentile). The doctor was very happy with his growth. We discussed his eczema - which really isn't eczema after all- and have a new regime for taking care of his itching and clawing of his scalp. Since Spencer has been on rice cereal since 6 weeks, starting solids is kinda tricky. I wasn't sure how much to feed him since he was getting so much in his bottle already. We discussed the plan to wean him off of his medications over the next month. Spencer needs to be on a good schedule of eating solids (oatmeal, veggies, meats and then fruits) over the next 2-3 weeks. Once he is eating well, we will remove one of his medications to see how he does. If he does well, we will wait a week and remove the other one. The pediatrician has pretty much left it up to us to determine what is manageable spit up and what is not normal (I guess he thinks we have become experts on puke). HA
He received 3 shots today and thus his nickname has begun. When Spencer gets REALLY mad he turns bright red instantaneously. Thus his nickname is Jack-Jack off of The Incredibles. He looks like him with or without the red face. It is hilarious. My friend Becky told me today that I need to somehow capture his "Jack-Jack Attack" on film. Maybe, someday.

That is it for now from the Lucas household. Hope everyone is warm, because it is freezing down here!

Dress Up

Madison wanted breakfast for dinner. It is difficult to cook eggs, pancakes and bacon with a 4 month old wide awake, so I made Madison a deal. She had to watch and play with Spencer while I cooked dinner. She agreed and to my suprise, I didn't hear him fuss at all. What I did hear was Madison giggling - ALOT!
I went to investigate and thus, the pictures explain it all.

Spencer hanging out with his big sis.

"Joe Cool" with his bling sunglasses!

Big sis was playing...DRESS UP!

We both giggled and Spencer was so chill about it, he really didn't care.

4 Months Old

Spencer is 4 months old today (12 weeks).

He weighs about 14 pounds. He still takes medicine daily for her GERD and scratches the eczema on his head. He eats about 4-5oz of formula thickened with rice cereal about every 4-5 hours. He will sleep for about 7 hours through the night. He has learned how to fight getting his medicine and he grows stronger each day. He doesn't vomit anymore after feedings, just has spit up. I am dreading the day we begin to ween him off of his medicine.

He has beautiful blue eyes and long black eyelashes. His hair is brown in the back but coming in blond. He is very laid back and LOVES to flirt with all of the ladies at daycare. He talks, squeals, giggles and smiles most of the time. He can have an entire conversation with the other baby at daycare. They sit in swings next to one another and carry on like to old men.

He can rotate himself 360 degrees on his back. He is SOOOO close to rolling over except for this darn thing called an arm that gets in the way.

He grabs for toys and pulls his pacifier in and out of his mouth. He still loves to cuddle with mom or dad when he is sleepy. He likes to investigate his blanket and suck on his fingers. He is generally a very happy baby.

Harley and Katie facinate him. His eyes get big when they come around to sniff him and he reaches out for them. They generally leave him alone and really don't do much around him. Harely of course always wants attention and he thinks "baby talk" means "you want to play with me!"

Spencer is a not a napper (just like Madison). He will take 20 minute power naps throughout the day; rarely sleeping longer than an hour. He will then crash into the evening and at night.

Science Fair WINNER!

Okay, this post is a wee bit behind, but that is life. The science fair was a week before Thanksgiving and as usual, we were putting it together the night before it was due. Everyone was cutting and gluing paper onto cardstock and hoping we could fill up the space correctly.

The science fair projects had to be at school by 9am the next day (Thursday). Justin dropped Madison and her project off (along with the 500 or so other parents) into the mass chaos of a gymnasium. We were supposed to go and view the projects that night from 5-7pm, but that didn't happen, so she was had to get her project the next day and bring it home.

To her surprise she had a blue ribbon and a certificate on her project. We were all very surprised, but very happy for her. She will now compete in the district science fair in January!