Luke (5-6 months)
Physical Development
Luke has been growing lots of hair. He still has that strange bald spot on the back of his head from rubbing his head back and forth but his hair on the top of his head is starting to grow in quickly. Eric also trimmed his long side hairs so Luke has a more normal hairdo these days. It makes him look a bit older.
Luke is looking more and more like Eric. When he was born, many people either weren't sure who he looked like or said he looked like a combo of me and Eric. Now, most people think he looks just like Eric. How fun!
Luke has not sprouted his first teeth yet, and so far we see no signs of teeth but he is teething like crazy. He's always got a fist, toy, or blanket in his mouth! He tries to eat everything, including books!
Motor Development
Whenever he plants his feet on some type of surface, he begins to jump. Eric got out the Jumperoo and he's actively jumping away! He's even been caught falling asleep but still jumping.
In the beginning of the month, he was constantly doing toe-touches, which gradually led into toe sucking :)
Luke is finally rolling over! One night he woke himself up twice rolling from tummy to back. For some reason, when conscious, he wasn't able to roll over from tummy to back, only from back to tummy very well. It was a bit frustrating for him because he didn't like being on his tummy for extended periods of time so once he rolled to his tummy he was stuck and couldn't get back on his back. We found ourselves rescuing him all the time. He recently mastered flipping from tummy to back when awake so now he's rolling around all over the place.
Luke is great with holding objects. He can also put his hands together and move objects from one hand to the other. These are important developmental milestones.
Socio-Emotional Development
Luke is so happy all the time. Although research says he's known his family members for awhile now, he's beginning to really show us that he knows us. When he sees me, he immediately smiles without prodding. Best of all, he adores big sister! He always smiles when she gets close.
Luke is beginning to express his desire for social interactions. Sometimes he'll be crying in the car and once he sees me, he'll stop and smile in his carseat. It seems like he is more annoyed with not being able to see anyone than he is with the discomfort of being in the seat.
Last month, my cousin got married in Vegas. Luke got SOOO much attention both Eric and I were so surprised. Everyone wanted to touch Luke's thighs and a random stranger even wanted to take a picture with Luke.
Cognitive Development
I think Luke's understanding of object permanence is beginning to develop. When I play peekaboo, he is very amused, like I'm still there. When he tries to reach for an object and I hide it, he keeps looking for it.
Makayla (30-31 months)
Over the past few months, I've been getting a lot of comments about how big M has gotten, how different she looks, what a big girl she is now, etc. When I look back at old pictures, I totally see it. I feel like she has gone from baby to big girl in just a few months. She has thinned out, has long hair now, and is talking up a storm.
Makayla has long wanted to do things by herself but more than ever she's been desiring this independence. For example, she wants to get into her car seat and stroller all by herself. Mostly it's a great thing.
Overall, everything is easier with Makayla. She is well into her 2's so she's pretty aware of her boundaries. A few months ago, I remember every event of the evening was a struggle- getting her to eat dinner, going upstairs to take a shower, getting out of the shower, going to bed.. Nowadays she understands that sometimes she may not want to do what we want her to do. She understands that we give her choices when we can but that there are non-negotiables.
Makayla is such a good big sister! Yes she still loves touching Luke's cheeks and holding him whenever she gets the chance, but she now also tries to engage him. She shares toys with him and demonstrates how things work saying "watch this, Baby Luke!" She is also extremely possessive of Luke, telling people he is HER baby. At the wedding, M got mad at other people taking pictures of Luke saying "Don't take picture of baby Luke!" It is not because she's jealous since she really doesn't like being in pictures. When others play with or look at the baby, she often tells people not to because he is her baby :) Interestingly, there are times when she shows off the baby. One day I took both M and L to the museum. She pointed to Luke and told the museum employee that it was her baby brother Luke. Makayla wants to do whatever the baby does. Once day, we were feeding Luke rice cereal, and M wanted to eat some too, even though she doesn't even like eating oatmeal which is much more flavorful. We also offered some yams to her which she rejected until she saw Luke eat it too.
Makayla is a lot more outgoing. Although M has always been pretty social, she used to be very selective in who she wanted to talk to. Nowadays she's much less shy and much more willing to talk to people. When she meets a stranger it doesn't take too much time for M to warm up to them.
Also, although she is still engaging in parallel play, she is playing very well with others, both kids and adults. She likes to role play some of her favorite movies either with other adults or with other kids. One day we went to the park, and she decided she wanted to role play Rapunzel. She decided she was Rapunzel, I was Flynn, Eric was Maximus (the horse) and Luke was Pascal (the chameleon). She climbed up the jungle gym and asked me to climb up the "Rapunzel's hair". She pretending the kite was the "floating lanterns". She got on the swings and pretended she was Rapunzel swinging on the tree after escaping from the tower. Her imagination is really taking off!
Like every other girl in the universe at the moment, M is obsessed with the movie Frozen. She requested to watch Frozen every night for a few weeks. She sings along to all the songs and likes to pretend she is Princess Anna. Even though this Frozen craze has gotten a bit out of hand, it really is an awesome movie with beautiful music and a great story line. What's not to like?
Makayla has a good understanding of parents and their children. One day I asked M, "Auntie Olga is who's Mama?" and she said "Daniel!" I quizzed her some more and she got most of them correct.
Makayla is growing out a few of her last teeth. Good thing these teeth don't seem to be bothering her.
Makayla's speech has developed so quickly. Every day I'm so surprised by how much she understands and speaks. Interestingly, about a month ago, M went through a bit of a speech regression. Her language was emerging and we were really understanding her words. Then, for a few weeks, her language was a bit more babble like. We kept asking her what she was saying... Then after a few weeks, she was back to normal and continuing to become more and more coherent. These days, she speaks with only a few grammatical errors and her vocabulary has grown leaps and bounds. I'm really seeing the benefits of talking and reading lots to children, esp. during the first 5 years of life.
Makayla got to be flower girl at my cousin May-Lynn's wedding! M enjoyed every moment of it. She felt like a princess wearing her white dress with tiara. She got to hold a bouquet and walk down the aisle. Good thing it was a short aisle and she saw me waiting for me at the front so she did a great job! M also called May-Lynn a princess and asked to talk to the princess all night.
Fun things that Makayla likes to say:
"I didn't do anything"
"Not really"
"Just a second!"
"Not yet"
M & L Noteworthy Events & Adventures
Discovery Science Center's annual Bubblefest (4/4)
Luke's first swing ride (4/6)
Luke rolls over first time belly to back in his sleep (4/6)
May-Lynn & Brian's Wedding (4/13)
Luke consistently rolls over back to front (4/14)
Luke's first Easter (4/20)
Tao's Eggstravaganza Easter egg hunt (4/20)
Luke's Infant Dedication (5/11)
Luke's first (and only) time sleeping through the night- almost 10 hours (5/13)
Laurice & Jeff's Wedding (5/17)
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