Week 4

Today Luca is 4 weeks old!

Here's his official "4 week" picture:

And some out-takes...

Looking like he wants me to stop:

He really wanted to spend the whole time staring out the window:

And the flash made him cross-eyed a few times:

What a round little cutie! He's really growing up and getting bigger!

And some other random pictures from the week....

Smiling at his sister:

Sunday - all ready for church:

Reading books in bed with Daddy and Amelia -- the upset shot (check out Luca screaming!):

And the calm shot:

Luca's had a fun week! We spent most of the time at home, cuddling on the couch together and enjoying week 4 (of 6...) of my leave.

On Tuesday, we went down to the big baby store and got a few things that we needed, and had lunch with our friends Erin and Arden. On Thursday, our friends Laura and Audrey came up to visit us at home! There were also adventures out of the house to go to a field hockey game on Wednesday (until the rain came!) and a dinner at the University on Friday.

Week 3

Last Friday, Luca was 3 weeks old!

Here's his official "3-week" picture:

And a few others from that shoot...

That last picture is probably the one that I've seen (between him and Amelia) that looks most like me as a baby. It's funny how when Amelia was a baby, people constantly compared her to different people - Chris being the most obvious, but different looks or pictures looked like me or other family members. Luca is the exact same way. He looks like different people at different times, just like Amelia did.

He's growing up so quickly. I took him to be weighed again on Thursday (day 21), and he was 8 pounds, 12 ounces!! That's almost a pound over his birth weight, and 2 pounds over his lowest weight! So all fears of weight loss are long gone.

We're getting to know Luca more, too. He's gotten on a bit of a routine -- unfortunately not including more sleep at night. And we're learning his likes/dislikes and what his different noises mean.

Luca still has blue eyes and brown, wavy hair. His hair thinned out a little bit, but not too much. He has this spot directly in between his two eyebrows that turns bright red when he's upset (looks like a mosquito bite, but it's not).

Amelia had this thing that she would do -- when she would stretch, her left fist would make a knocking motion at the end of the stretch. Strangely enough, Luca does it too, which is simply adorable. :)

We're still pretty much home-bodies, though we try to venture out every few days. On Thursday (day 21), we went to have lunch with Daddy at the University. Otherwise, he's only been to a few places, most often the grocery store and church. We have had a few visitors stop by, but not as many as we'd like.

Amelia singing Luca a song:

She really loves her brother! We love watching the 2 of them together!

Luca, Days 19-21

Day 19

First time on his play mat. He enjoyed looking in the direction of the window, where the sun was shining through:

Unhappily hanging out with Daddy and Big Sister:

And he quickly passes out:

Day 20

We give Luca a bath twice a week, and a warm wipe-down daily. I wanted to share with you his hair when it is wet -- it's pretty curly!

Day 21

Another Boppy pillow nap -- weekdays with Mommy is just a series of naps really!

And another nap, post-outfit change:

Watching Daddy practice on his guitar:

Luca, Days 14-17

Day 14

Dad was still here to help, which was great.

At one point, he took a slightly-fussy Luca for a little walk:

After which, he returned to his usual sleeping spot:

Day 15

Dad's last day with us - our last day of grandparent help!

We had a photographer friend come over in the morning, to take Luca's newborn pictures. We're still waiting (a little impatiently) to see them!

Luca in his spot again..... for the record, he doesn't really do this anymore (he prefers to be held):

Working on his Friday-morning photo shoot -- the best pic can be found in the 2-week post:

Hanging out on Mommy's lap:

Nap later on Daddy:

We all said goodbye to my Dad. Probably the saddest one was Amelia, who really enjoyed the extra attention. But we needed to learn to be a family of 4 eventually! :)

Day 16

But first.... we had a visit from Chris's Dad and Step-mom.

Grandpa Tom meeting Luca:

Amelia was super-excited to get presents, and helped Luca open his:

Drawing Grandpa and Grandma a picture:

Luca enjoyed taking a snooze on Mommy:

And hanging out with Grandma Linda:

Family pictures!

Working on getting Luca to like his swing -- this is not long before the crying started:

Day 17

We got Luca all dressed in his Sunday best -- his tie matches the trim on Amelia's dress, and we used the set for his newborn pictures.

Pondering something...

Surprised by something...

Confused by something...

Sweet little face:

Amelia and Luca, all ready for church:

And the little one was no longer very pleased:

Week 2

Luca's week 2 picture!!

Notice that his little legs are starting to outgrow his newborn outfits. He is still fitting in them best weight-wise, but his height is a whole other story!

Luca had a good week 2. Grandpa was here to help for the majority of the week. Mommy and Daddy are starting to learn his cues and meet his needs a little more quickly. He seems to still be gaining weight, but we haven't taken him anywhere to confirm this. Luca has been holding his head up more and looking around at things. He responds quickly to Mommy's voice, but also reacts to his Daddy or big Sister. We heard from Amelia's preschool teacher that she talks about him a lot and has included him in her drawings.

Luca does not like to lay flat, and prefers to be held whether he is asleep or awake. He sleeps in his bouncy seat -- possibly because of the incline or because he feels enclosed -- we're not sure why it helps but it does!

Luca, Days 11 & 12

On Sunday, Grandma Dona went back to Michigan, and Grandpa Larry arrived for a 6-day tour of duty, helping with Amelia and Luca.

Day 11

Dad was a great help, with holding Luca when I needed a break, and helping us keep Amelia on her normal routine. He did some transporting to her day care, and a lot of evening entertaining. They went on a walk together almost every night.

It's not hard to convince a grandparent to take a nap with the little guy!

Monday night, my brother's family was heading back from a trip out East, so they stopped in to meet the baby:

It was really nice to see them, and show off Luca. I really love visitors, because I think he's so darn special and I want other people to feel the same way!

We also had a visit earlier in the evening from Chris's colleague, Kimberlie.

Day 12

After Chris was done working for the day, we went on a family adventure down to Columbus. Amelia and I had hair appointments, and Chris wanted to pick up some guitar gear. Add a yummy dinner and a baby that slept the entire time, it was a very successful trip!

Mommy's favorite part of the day: