Grand Prairie Christmas

Lucas' 2nd Christmas celebration and it's not even Christmas day yet! We drove up to Grand Prairie, TX (near Fort Worth) to catch up with Ameer, Andrea, Zayna and Amity as they were visiting Andrea's parents. Lucas traveled really well on the way up and didn't have any prolonged crying spells the whole visit. We enjoyed introducing our new little boy to the family and look forward to seeing them again in February when Andrea runs in the Austin marathon!

Family Photo Session

Smiley-Pie!

Lucas has smiley time about once or twice a day now. Can't wait until he has longer (happy) alert times as he gets older. A smile from your baby is the biggest treat in the world.

Arizona Visit

Mom and Paul decked the house with beautiful Christmas decorations and a great tree. Lucas was entranced by all the lights.

We had a great time in the hot tub (turned down to a tepid temperature) and Lucas was just as happy swirling around in the water as he is riding in a car or stroller.
Lucas doesn't know what to think about that crazy, talking, moving puppet dog, but Laith and I are going to have a blast with it once he gets a little older and more interactive.
Lucas' two main activities: eating and....
sleeping
and more sleeping


Here he is in his new carrier: an Ergo Carrier from Dad and Janice. He loves it so much that he can go from screaming to sleeping within 10 minutes of getting snugged in there.

Lucas' First Flight

At 7 1/2 weeks old, Lucas did great on his first-ever plane trip! We flew a direct flight from Austin to Tucson to visit Meemom and Uncle Paul for an early Christmas celebration. Everything went perfectly- there were no ear problems with take-off and landing since he was eating during those times and no crying in between since he was sleeping during that time! I think he was really soothed by the engine noise as well, so that helped. Yay Lucas! Let's hope he remains a good traveller as he gets older since Laith and I plan on visiting friends and family as often as possible!

Like Father Like Son

The cute photo-op that just didn't turn out as planned...

Cuteness

Here I'm working on holding my head up- I'm doing pretty good here since my mommy had to use a slow shutter speed to get this photo in my dim room- and look, no blur from movement! Here you can see how cute I am when I'm not squinting!
Here I am sporting the soft and comfy hooded sweater that great-grandma Dolores knitted for me. I think this is a good color on me- accentuates my blue blue eyes!
All this modeling can wear me out- mommy won't even stop taking pictures when I close my eyes!
This is the 'pursed-lips face' I make if someone tries to offer me something to suck on and I don't want it,
Hey, Annie, how did your photo get in here? Well, okay- I guess you qualify for this blog post entitled "cuteness" too!

Weekend

We had a nice relaxing weekend with another attempt at hiking at Turkey Creek. I made it maybe about a mile this time before I got woozy for lack of energy/food. This was even after eating a big breakfast! Well, I've learned my lesson and will pack provisions next time! Nursing a baby really takes a lot out me! I caught Annie in action while she stalked each approaching dog and lay in wait to pounce on them as they got close. So funny!
After lots of nice napping and down-time, we decided to go outside and take a few photos but Lucas tends to knit his eyebrows and look uncomfortable outdoors due to the brightness. He really looks his cutest late at night with most of the lights out- not a good picture taking atmosphere! I'll try again during his stroller ride tomorrow.

Thoughtful baby (and husband! :) )

These are the flowers Lucas had delivered to me during a particularly challenging, cry-and-scream-filled day. I called Laith at around 1:00 that afternoon in tears because I couldn't get Lucas to calm down. He didn't want to nurse, be burped, be held, go for a car ride or be rocked/sit in swing. The infant gas drops didn't do anything. He was flailing his arms and legs, pushing me away, arching his back and wailing. This lasted for several hours and I felt like I just couldn't be a good mother to him. I guess Lucas overheard me and called FTD to send some beautiful roses that arrived a couple of hours later. Here's what his note said:
"Hi Mommy, I really love you but every time I squeeze my eyes and squish my face to tell you that, all that comes out is a scream. Sorry, I can't do anything else right now, but I would if I could! Love you!
-Lucas"

Smiley!!!

Lucas started smiling this week! Check it out! I can't wait to see more. :) Unfortunately, I didn't do very good camera work- kinda hard while holding a baby! Hopefully there will be more to come!

Father and Son

He's getting bigger!

He looks like such a little boy (instead of an infant) in these pictures! I love dressing him up! :)

All in the Family

Looks like Lucas may be a good blend of both Daddy AND Mommy at this point. What do you think?

Mommy
Lucas

Daddy

First time in Bathtub!

After a week's worth of crankiness every time his eyes were open, it was such a treat to play with Lucas in the bath! He absolutely loved it (for about 10 minutes) and was so happy and animated. I think we'll make this a weekly ritual. :)

Grammy's Visit

Laith's Mom, "Grammy", came to visit this past week and help take care of us and Lucas! It was such a treat to get more rest and to have an extra pair of hands willing to feed and change poopy diapers! Grammy stayed up all night with Lucas 2 of the nights she was here, letting Laith and I sleep until morning without interruptions! Certainly the best gift ever! One of those evenings Laith and I went out to dinner- though we almost didn't because we're so used to our nightly routine with Lucas and thought we'd miss him too much! :) We had a great time and enjoyed being able to talk about other topics besides baby things! However, when they brought the bread to our table, all wrapped up tightly in a napkin, Laith's first thought was that they "swaddled the bread really well" (!!)