Routine

I've started really sticking to a routine on weekdays for Luke. I've always had a loose schedule, but lately I've been giving him a bit more structure.

We wake up at approximately 9am and Luke immediately gets fed. I then turn on his Your Baby Can Read video and go upstairs to sanitize his bottles/ use the bathroom/ brush my teeth/ etc. After that, I eat breakfast while Luke watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. We then play patty cake, peekaboo, and sing songs for an hour or so then watch some educational programming. After that is lunch followed by another round of Your Baby Can Read while I get some cleaning done. There's playpen time while I eat my lunch and then nap time. When we wake, it's a sippy cup of formula while we have reading time and then more playpen time.

I asked for advice from a fellow mommy who has done a great job with her babies and she said I'm doing fine on educational stuff. She suggested that I start teaching Luke some sign language so I can know what he wants and he can be less frustrated. She suggested teaching him the sign for Mama, Daddy, up, milk, wet, food, and tired. It'll be a learning experience for the both of us!

Home Again

Luke and I went to visit my folks in Virginia this weekend and I forgot how much I missed the area. I got to see a decent amount of folks I grew up with, see other kids' babies, and got to hang out with a former teacher who's the coolest chick I've ever known.

I want to look into becoming a teacher down there if I can. I'm not sure how difficult it will be, but it's worth looking into.

9 month Well Baby Visit

Luke saw his doctor today who told us he's right on schedule for every major landmark this month. He also impressed her with his ability to stand and his pulling up to standing in his playpen.

Luke now is 28 inches long and weighs 18lbs stark naked. He's in the 70th percentile for both height and weight. Big boy!

Winnie The Pooh

I remember watching Winnie the Pooh as a kid, both the live action/adults in costumes version and the cartoon. They've recently revamped the cartoon into shorts in between kids' shows on Disney and I have to say it feels weird.

It's the same content and the same animation. The difference is the voice over work, which sounds out of place with the older style of animation. The only voice kept the same is Kanga with Owl having the biggest change. It just doesn't mesh and leaves me disappointed.

Slacker

Sorry for not posting the past few days.

Yesterday was a busy day for me. I had to work til 3am that morning and driving home was difficult because of snow still on the ground. I was going to go to church with Luke, but upon waking realized that I had a TERRIBLE headache and needed some extra rest.

We went to visit Luke's Nana for a few hours then took her out to lunch. I tried meat again after being a vegetarian for two months and I can't remember the last time I felt that icky. It was awful. Unfortunately though, I still had to work from 6 to 10:30pm that day, so I had to suck it up and be as positive as possible. There's no reason Wegmans customers should have to suffer because I'm having an off day.

I got some great advice from one of the gals at work who also teaches pre-school. She told me to add more finger play to our routine, to increase his dexterity. He's already pretty dexterous, but it can never hurt to keep him going. I should also add more books to our reading time (even if the books sometimes make me yawn).

Snow Day

It started snowing last night while I was at work, making it so my 20 minute commute took over an hour getting home. It continued to snow into today with the downfall ceasing not long ago. Luke has a snow suit, so he could play in the snow without issue, however, he has no real concept of snow and I get the feeling he would be confused like last time.

I might take him out in it later though and take pictures.

Momma Laura

If you like scrapbooking, I have a blog you might enjoy.

My mother has been scrapbooking for as long as I can remember. She loves to document everything important in the lives of her kids and have a safe place to put all of her pictures. Recently she started digital scrapbooking, which cuts down on the paper mess and might save a few trees. It's also a fun way to organize photos!

Because of her having so much fun with this new venture, she's started a blog to show her creativity and to help others who may be interested in taking the digital plunge. She'll be posting sales as she sees them, example pages, and more. I've put her blog in my blog roll (located on the right side of the screen), so I'll introduce the url here: http://mommalaurasmemories.blogspot.com/