I'm a terrible blogger, but not really

I'm just terribly inconsistent at updating this blog. I blame it on our outdated computer that constantly crashes and takes forever to upload pics. It's super unmotivating.

But I do have another little project -- a silly blog where I try to be grateful every day for the little parts of life that make it beautiful. My thankfulness thoughts don't make it to the blog every day -- sometimes they're written on receipts while I wait at a stoplight or are scrawled in my notebook while I sit through a boring meeting. But I do like the practice of pausing. breathing. Thinking about the parts of life that are beautiful and trying to appreciate the small things that are easy to take for granted.

Cultivating gratefulness

14 months of fun

Lucas is a total blast right now. I can't get enough of his silly antics; he constantly has us in stitches with his funny faces and new tricks.

Eating

Lucas' love affair with food has come to a close. He only wants to eat fruit or bread and has started pitching fits when I put other things on his plate. He also wants to eat with a fork or spoon at all times which is super messy and time-consuming, but kinda cute.

When I put something on his tray that he doesn't want to eat, he waves his hands back and forth and says "No, no, no" or "Stop it."

Sleeping
Lucas sleeps from about 7:45 p.m. until 6 a.m. and still fusses/whines/talks himself to sleep every night.

He decided to cut out his afternoon nap, so he's down to one 2-hour nap at 9 a.m. It makes for a very grumpy baby by 6 p.m., so we're trying to push his morning nap a bit. So far, he's not a fan.

Talking
Our little love is picking up new words all the time. He babbles constantly and tries to copy what we say.

New words:
Papa (his name for Josh's dad)
Tick-tock
Stop it (his favorite phrase)
Bubble
HOT
da (for dog or Dusty?)


Tricks

We have an independent daredevil on our hands. He has so many bruises, scrapes, and bumps from where he falls down and hurts himself. Usually he just stands back up, but sometimes he runs to me for a hug which I love.

Balancing on his garage

We go for a walk every night and he walks down the street either carrying a stick and yelling or clapping his hands and walking as fast as he can. He's on the verge of running which is a little scary for me.

He loves to go into the back bedrooms or bathroom and slam the door. He usually yells or cries just to let us know that he's back there, but then he'll play by himself for a bit.

He's a total ham and makes silly faces all the time.

We went to play with his two-year-old friend Brady the other night. Brady carries around a little stool so that he can always get an adult view of the world and is always jumping off of toys and chairs and couches. After playing with Brady for one night, we came home and Lucas got out his garage and got on top of it -- he's trying to be big kid.

Hugs. He finally gives intentional hugs and it's heart-melting.

We love our little man. He's growing up too fast, but he's getting to be more fun and interactive each day. I like watching his little personality form into a funny, strong-willed, outgoing little boy.

1st Hair Cut

Good job, Dad!

Mr. Dave has cut Josh's hair his entire life, and Josh is incredibly loyal to him. He's only let one other person cut his hair and then only because we were in NZ and I couldn't deal with the afro for much longer.

Our plan was to take Lucas to Mr. Dave for his first haircut. It was going to be a family affair with a pic of the three generations of Mitchell boys getting haircuts from Mr. Dave. But, alas, life happened and we couldn't get our act together.

Plus, grandma told us if we didn't cut his hair soon, his eyes would cross because of the hair falling in his face. I know it's not true, but I have that thing about crossed eyes, so I pressured Josh into a change of plans for Lucas' first hair cut.

We let him watch a cartoon for the first time ever and Josh went to town quickly, turning our growing baby into a proper little boy. Funny how a few snips of hair can transform someone so completely.

Beach fun

We went to Indian Beach after Lucas' birthday with Tom and Cindy and Eric. We got a little condo on the beach that also had a pool, so it was perfect for us.

This was Lucas' first time being able to play on the beach and in the ocean, and he was quite a little fish by the last day.

The first day he was a little sceptical and didn't want much to do with it.  We set his pool up under the umbrella, so he chilled there for a good bit of time. Josh made it feel like the ocean by filling it with sand crabs. awesome.

He also spent time relaxing in the new fun chair that Grandma Con got him. Just like the big boys:)

I love my chair, Grams!

Once he figured out that the ocean wasn't all that scary, he couldn't get enough of it. He did his little monkey crawl and Josh would run with him through the waves and he would just laugh and laugh. Tom would put him on the boogie board and pull him around, which was fun for about five minutes until he almost drowned.

When we weren't at the beach we were watching the Masters or playing games and running after a busy one-year-old. It was a fun trip, but definitely made it clear that the days of relaxing beach vacations are a thing of the past with a baby in tow.

Cuddling up with Papa.

1st Birthday Party

We celebrated Lucas' first birthday this past Sunday. We just did a cookout for our friends and had a fun time playing in the yard and hanging out. 

Our theme was red and teal, and we spent many hours cutting triangles and stringing them up, making pinwheels (that's all Josh) and finding enough balls for his ball pit. 

Pardon that all of the pics are only of Lucas. My camera died after about 5 minutes, so I just had to borrow these.

"Good job on the cake, mom and dad"

Lucas loved all the pinwheels -- especially when they all got going  at the same time.

I love these shorts. Thanks Di!

He played in his ball pit for about 10 minutes and then was done. 

Hanging with daddy

Trying out the new slide

family shot -- ignore my monster thighs

My sisters came. love them

Lucy laying down the law about the ball pit

Callie was all about the slide.

Lucas clapping after we sang "Happy Birthday"

Not so sure about this

I do not want to eat this cake, mom. Seriously.

Lucas at 12 months

Lucas at 12 months is so.much.fun.

I could laugh all day with my silly, charming, vocal, loving little boy. He makes my heart so happy.

Eating
He's staging a strong and steady revolt against veggies. If he doesn't want to eat something, he just throws it on the floor which was cute at first but has quickly gotten old. If he had his way, he would eat watermelon and frozen raspberries all day long. Throw in a peanut butter sandwich every once in a while, and he'd be happy as a clam.


Sleeping

He's still rocking his two naps and sleeping through the night as well. He's perfectly fine, though, when he misses a nap or stays up really late which is nice and flexible for us.

Playing
He loves to crawl all over us and wrestle. If I'm on the floor, he'll crawl on top of me, drum on my belly, give me raspberries on my legs and neck. Try to entice me to tickle him. And then he laughs like a wild man.

He lunges out of my arms all the time, trying to get down to do his crazy bear crawl all over the place.

Speaking of crawling -- we finally have a walker! He will walk about five steps, usually from one of us to the other. Then he stops and claps for himself. He still very much prefers his bear crawl because it gets him where he wants to go faster.

He's completely obsessed with books. He wakes up at six every morning and I go and put a bunch of books in his bed so he can read and I can keep sleeping.

He says "mama" over and over and over again in a very shouty voice pretty much all day, every day.

Bath time is a huge hit, as is the pool. He's gotten so brave about getting water dumped on his head, and he likes to put his face down in the water to drink the water. He splashes like a hurricane and douses the entire floor.

I think if I let him, he'd dance all day long. We listen to Spotify on the television, so he will crawl over the tv stand and start dancing and pointing to the tv until we turn on his music. Then he bounces and points his little finger. Such a trip.

How he's like mom

• Loud and bossy
• Morning person
• Strong-willed
• Bookworm
  

How he's like dad 

• Introverted: He likes people but he needs time to himself to get recharged
• He's got rhythm -- great dancer and great drummer
• Flirty
• Strong-willed

11 Months

My happy little boy is going to be 11 months this week. I can't even believe how big and fun and curious he is! I'm absolutely loving this age. Watching him discover the world around him and learn new tricks every day is just the most fun.

Eating

We have quite a good little eater on our hands. Josh and I went to St. John in May and, while we were away, my inlaws fed Lucas normal table food for most meals. And it stuck.

He eats lots of fruit and yogurt and oatmeal and fish and chicken. He's sketchy about picking up vegetables, but we'll keep trying. And he's become quite the independent eater. He likes to feed himself and will swat my hand away when I try to feed him from a spoon. He even holds his own bottle now, which is just entirely too sad.

Sleeping

Still a not very great sleeper. He will wake up and fuss some at night and I usually give him a bottle between 4 and 5 each morning so that he'll sleep until 7. I don't mind it. It's the only time that he still acts like a baby and sits still long enough for me to hold him.

He is funny though because if he misses a nap or stays up two hours past his bed time, it totally doesn't faze him. He's still just as happy and content.

Favorites

Favorite Book: He has a Wheels on the Bus book that he is totally obsessed with. I'll pick out four or five books to read to him before bedtime, and I'll put it on the bottom of the stack. He'll pick up every book in the stack until he finds it, and then he puts it on top and makes me read it to him. It's super cute.

Favorite Place: Lucas LOVES the bathroom. If the house ever gets quiet, I know that I've left the bathroom door open, and he'll be in there, playing in the toilet water, just as happy as can be. He loves to splash in the toilet bowl and drop toys into the bathtub. If he's crawling towards the bathroom and I close the door, he'll just sit outside and cry.

Favorite Activity: Lucas is a big fan of being outside in general, but he really loves the pool and water.  Eric moved into the neighborhood next to us which has a pool, so we go and he's gotten much more brave in the water, even sitting down and putting his face in, trying to lap it up. He loves the water ball at Josh's parents house and could spend all day putting rocks on top of the spout.

Favorite Person: Grandpa Tom. They have a special bond, and Lucas just totally adores Tom.

Favorite Food: Waffles. or peaches if they're really ripe.

Tricks

He loves to clap and dance and has recently learned to headbutt.

When you ask him where a bird is, he looks up to the sky and points.

He can baa like a sheep which is just too adorable.

He walks when he's pushing something or holding onto things. He still crawls like a little bear cub and is seriously so fast.

He's learned how to play peek-a-boo and covers his little face with his chubby hands to hide.

He can climb up stairs really well and Grandpa Tom even taught him how to go down them too, but I'm not brave enough to let him try. He's just mastered the art of crawling up the playground stairs to get to the slide.

Things I love.

When I go to pick him up in the morning, he crawls back and forth in his crib as fast as he can, trying to get me to chase him.

He has a serious flirting problem. He tilts his head to the side and bats his eyelashes at pretty girls. He tries to act shy, but it totally seems like he's flirting.

I love his gummy smile and how, when he gets really excited, he beats the air with his hands and laughs.

He's such a happy baby. We feel so incredibly blessed to have a baby who's so giggly and smiley and content. We're grateful that he's a people person and loves to be around other kids. We're just sort of smitten with our almost one-year old.

Naked Baby Scramble

When Lucas is done taking his bath, he loves to crawl around the house as fast as he can completely naked.  It's freakin' hilarious.

Nine Month Pics

Amy took a few shots of the fam a couple weeks back. She did a great job dealing with us and our non-smiling baby -- he does like to smile, but he has a very serious old-man face that was on full display that day! We did get a couple fun pics though. Enjoy:)

Balancing Act

Lucas and Josh are BFFs. They do all kinds of fun things that I wouldn't approve of, like this balancing trick.

Lucas LOVES Josh and there is simply no one in the world who can make him laugh quite like his dad.

Trouble

Lucas never stops moving. He's so fast that if I turn my head for a minute, he's completely across the room, getting into something naughty.

I kind of love it.

Life at 8 Months

What a crazy time developmentally for little Lucas. I feel like every single day there's something new and exciting he's doing. He's getting to be so much more fun and we're soaking it up. Notes about Lu at 8 months . . .

He crawls everywhere. He used to be timid and just stay in the living room, but not anymore. Now he goes wherever he wants -- and he's a fast little bugger. Favorite places include: between the toilet and the vanity in the bathroom, underneath the kitchen table, through all the chairs, anywhere there is technology, over our legs. He's started crawling to me and Josh so we will hold him, and it's heart-melting.

He fake coughs when he wants me to look at him. He mostly does this when we are in the car and he wants me to look at him in the mirror. I pretty much always oblige and am rewarded with his gummy smile.

He squawks loudly all the time. . . our little pterodactyl. He just sort of opens his mouth and yells, squeals, chats.

He still puts anything and everything in his mouth. No piece of paper is safe from him. Grandpa's glasses are also a favorite.

Whenever I put him in the car, he laughs at himself in the mirror and chats excitedly. As soon as I start to buckle him in, however, he begins to cry/whine.


He says "dada" all.the.time. When we say "Say Mama," he smiles and says "dada." He also makes a noise that sounds like "hi" which isn't surprising because, for some reason, I always find myself saying that to him repeatedly.

When we set him in his high chair, he immediately starts to drum on it -- loudly and with an incredible amount of rhythm.

He goes through random times of the day when he insists on being held. When we try to put him down, he puts his head on his forearms on the floor and wails, or he crawls over to us and up our legs. He also cries every time Dusty leaves the room -- every time.

He's a social butterfly. If people are around, he wants to be where they are, and he's generally happy when he's around a lot of us.

He lights up when one of us walks into the room. it's adorable with his toothless little smile.

He is mastering the art of getting the puffs into his mouth. It's a great distraction while I'm cooking dinner.

Still no teeth!

He LOVES other babies and kids. He lights up whenever he sees Sam or his cousins or other kids at church. I have a breastfeeding book with babies on it, and he loves to hold it and look at the babies. He just laughs and talks to them and tries to touch them.

Kisses! He gives wonderful, open mouth, slobbery, delicious kisses. So far, I think it's my favorite part of parenthood.

He is busy all the time. He's constantly moving and wiggling and exploring. When I breastfeed him at night, the hand that isn't pinned under him is waving wildly, smacking me in the face or grabbing my nose.

He puts his butt in the air and pushes up on all fours all the time. Sometimes he kicks his leg up in the air at the same time. My little yoga baby.

He Crawls!

Josh and I both got to be there when Lucas crawled for the first time. We were playing with him in the living room and set him down to sit with some toys, when he just took off toward the keyboard.

and he hasn't looked back.

Six Months of Fun

Well, Lucas actually turned six months about a month ago, but I'm a terrible blogger, so I'm just now updating. These past couple months have been CRAZY in terms of his development. He's laughing, talking, sitting up, eating and even crawling. all in a matter of weeks. nuts.

He's a happy boy and likes to laugh. He is selective in his laughter though, reserving it for things that are new and fun, like the neighbor's cat.

Everything Lucas sees or thinks about goes through the "Can I eat this?" filter. Usually the answer is "Yes, yes, I think can eat that." And then he does, which accounts for the paper we find in his diapers from time to time.

This is Lucas' face after he eats. We started him on food right at about six months and have been doing lots of experimenting. So far, he pretty much likes everything, but especially apples and bananas. We've given him carrots and sweet potatoes and squash too. and avocado which he likes and hums over but then throws up, every time. He usually acts like he can't believe we'd feed him such crap, but he eats it and usually sticks out his sweet little hands for more.

He started sitting up around 4 1/2 months but didn't get really sturdy until a little after 5 months. Now he'll sit and play with his toys and be all adorable. We like it.

As soon as he got the hang of sitting, he immediately went to scooting about on the floor.  He then would get on his hands and knees and rock. That lasted about two weeks until he crawled for the first time this past weekend. Fun times ahead for the Mitchell crew:)

Don't let this sweet sleeping baby fool you. Sleep is no longer a friend of  Lucas'. Since about Thanksgiving, he's staged a very serious sleep revolt and refuses to sleep through the night. Last night he cried for three hours straight. Three! that is one stubborn kid. yikes.

Needless to say, I can't believe six months have already come and gone. He's so much more fun every day, and we are more smitten with him and all his new tricks. I'm excited about all the fun adventures awaiting us.

At six months, how he's like his mama:

• He LOVES to be outside. Anytime, any type of weather. It's pretty much guaranteed to make him happy.
• He's super sociable and wants to be involved if anything fun is going on. He'll stay up and happily socialize as long as we'll let him. 
• He's impatient -- really really impatient. When it's time to nurse, if I'm not completely ready, he will start nursing my neck or arm and making really desperate whiny noises just so I know to hurry up. 

At six months, how he's like his daddy:

• He's the spitting image of Josh. I keep thinking he'll grow out of it, but I'm fairly certain I know what he'll look like in 30 years.
• He's a slow waker- upper. Get out of his face in the morning, cause it'll be a while.
• He's stubborn, oh so very very stubborn.