Better eating

He hasn't been that interested in eating solids, even though we've been trying them off and on since four months. Finally some success! So far he likes apple/banana and sweet potatoes.

And here's another pic just because he's cute.

Musings of a Stay at Home Dad

I've really been enjoying hanging out with Luke lately. Unfortunately, Em got the flu while we were in NJ, so she's been sick since we returned to DC on Sunday. Poor thing. So I've had to step up and take care of her, as well as Lukie B. All I can say is that I have no idea how she takes care of Luke day after day. It's so exhausting!

It's neat to see Luke just explore everything. I remember trying to get him to grab a hold of some item I was attempting to put in his hand. Now I can just throw something in the vicinity of Luke and he will crawl over to it, grab it, and then proceed to beat it without mercy.

We have a toy bin, which Luke goes into and takes what he wants. In addition, he loves playing with the remotes and anything electronic. However, lately, he's really been into more "old-fashioned" toys, such as items waiting to be recycled, i.e. egg cartons, cereal boxes, and paper. I think it's because he can totally destroy those without Dad telling him "no".

Ashlee and Anna may have noticed that I cleaned and organized the tv stand and that whole area. It was full of all sorts of items within reach that he shouldn't be playing with. I've replaced all those items with those that he can chew on, throw, and rip without any problem! Please notice they are all items that belong to Em, though I didn't plan it that way! Plus, I dusted the area thoroughly, so now it's much more Luke-friendly. It's his favorite spot in the house.

Watching the Snow

It snowed this morning. Big, lovely flakes that swirled outside our window. I love this picture of him. He's doing his cute little mouth thing that he started a few days ago. I think it might be teething-related.

I'm slowly introducing more sign language to him. The only sign he really knows so far is 'bird' (he looks to George Lubbers's cage immediately when I sign it), but I'm sure he'll be picking up on diaper soon. Unlike many moms, I haven't taught him the sign for milk. Not sure why. I don't really like it. It's also kind of uncomfortable to have random people and strangers looking at you when your child is burrowing his face in your chest and crying. They immediately suggest, "Oh is he hungry?" And I don't want to add the milk sign (almost common knowledge now) into the mix. Because what if I'm trying to wean him and he's crying? I don't want him signing milk and everyone tsking me for not feeding him right away...

Anyway, so I was teaching him the word snow this morning. I think using the signs along with the words helps, because many signs are very pictorial. So I think when I sign 'snow' and point outside and say 'snow,' maybe he understands.

Luke is on his third toasty outfit of the morning, after having pooped on the first two. My idea of a great baby shower gift is totally different now. What I would give now:

1) Nosefrida (Luke has)

2) Downtime Sleepy hat (Luke doesn't have)

3) Shout (Luke's mom is on her 4th bottle)

A Sampling from this Evening

Here are some videos from Wed night fun with Luke and Dad.

Finally! We change our actions...

My sister Anna pointed out the other day that while we said we've been remiss in updating "we have not changed our actions." Hehe. So here you are.

Luke turned 7 months yesterday! *party hat with streamers* Here are a few recent pics to show what he's been up to in the past month or so. (Minus pictures from Christmas because they're all on my dad's computer.)

Visiting dad at work
Pooping a map of the world on his PJsHanging out with his friend Audrey

Exploring all the clutter mom leaves for him to find

Taking things out of the shelves under the TV and chewing them. While watching TV.

Update on Sleeping. Before Christmas vacation, he slept through the night one night. He did OK in Massachusetts in the pack n' play, but didn't sleep through the night again. While we were there, though, we became convinced he was teething, so we were more sympathetic to his nightwakings. After we got back, he would wake up during the night and stay awake for three hours at a time.

We now believe that he simply realized who mom and dad are and that mom and dad sleep only 5 feet away from him. So he decided he'd like to have some fun time and would just cry until he got it. Once we figured this out, we started sleep training again.* Now he's been taking three naps a day and sleeping from 8pm to 4am. At 4, he wakes up, I feed him, and he sleeps for three more hours. However, I'm considering waking him up to feed him around 10:30pm, when we go to bed. Then maybe he could last till 7 or 7:30pm.

Latest Activities: Standing and Banging

He's actually much better/quicker than this video lets on. He was just fooling around here. In reality, it takes him all of 2 seconds to stand up.

Rich's mom told us that this was one of Rich's favorite pasttimes. Indeed, other than the stuff by the

*We never researched/read about parenting before Luke was born, so we didn't have a sleeping philosophy in mind, except that I thought it would be fun to cosleep. It was for a while. Till he actually started moving in his sleep and we were afraid to get near him in case we might wake him. So it ended up being Luke: 1/2 of the bed, parents: 1/4 of the bed, each. Since then, we've read a slew of sleeping books (Attachement Parenting, On Becoming Babywise, Healthy Sleep Habits Healthy Child, and we're now reading Dr. Ferber's book, Solving Your Child's Sleep Problems). We find "Ferberizing" works the best for us.

Crawling and Talking

I also apologize that Rich and I have been remiss in our updating. We're going to try to catch up over the next several days. For now, here are two videos of his recent activities.

A New Discovery and Recruiting

After a bit of a break from blogging, it's time to get back to business. This evening I discovered something that makes Luke laugh. It's especially cute once we take the pacy out. (see video below)

In order to prevent my e-mail account from being flooded with angry e-mails, I want to acknowledge that Luke's wearing a University of Louisville football jersey. It's not a Christmas gift from his Uncle Jeff--that would be a NCAA violation, of course. I'm not hating on any other schools, nor am I saying that Luke has made his final decision. If seeing Luke wear a jersey that's not of your school makes you angry, please note that Luke is currently in the evaluation stage and he is open to considering other schools. Recruiting starts early in the Bradley household and it seems that Louisville is in the early lead.

How will others who love Luke, read our blog faithfully, and are alumni of schools with notable football programs--namely UF, FSU, Clemson, LSU, Texas, and Texas A&M--respond to this aggressive first step by the Louisville program? (Luke has many "needs" and "interests"; we can talk off-line in more detail)