Another day...

Ah, Luke and Melissa made it through another day!  We have noticed that once Luke gets home, he is a lot more fussy than he was before daycare....unless he is being held.  So we think that the daycare ladies are holding him all day!  How do you tell nice ladies to stop cuddling with our child so he won't be such a hold-monster!  He really isn't bad, just not what we are used too.

Right now: Luke, me, and the two dogs are enjoying Top Chef and a beer while Melissa is typing away at her final paper for the class she is taking.  She can't wait to get done since I begin school next week.  We are both excited about that!

We had a great day yesterday.  One of our therapists came to meet Luke and showed Melissa lots of things to help him with his neck control among other things.  We need to get his neck strong before we can start working on other things.  He really is making strides toward that, but we just need to keep working with him!

I went to go visit my friend Eric earlier this week.  He recently found out that he has advanced stomach cancer.  Out.  Of.  No.  Where.  He doesn't smoke, doesn't have a family history of cancer, barely drinks.  Just crazy.  Anyway, don't really want to talk too much about it, this isn't his story and I wouldn't want to tell his story without his permission.  However, he looked great and I'm very grateful he is doing as well as he is.  I'll be thinking a lot about him the next 6 months.  If you think about it, please say a prayer for him.  He needs them just like Luke does.

Goodnight and Goodluck dear reader.

Tears and Rain

Hello dear readers, it's Patrick hacking away at another blog post.  Well, today was a big day to say the least.  Today was Luke's first day at daycare!  Melissa had called the daycare to see if she could do a trial run and let them take care of Luke Friday so she could cry in peace but the front desk lady told her to save her money and since she was going to cry Monday anyway!

Monday started out normally, with the dogs waking me up to go outside, and while Melissa did a lot to prepare for this morning, she just wasn't running on time (I had  to leave early to get to the gym with my squadron).  But she got out the door and to the daycare right on time, excluding her planned Starbucks run.

Once she had handed over all of Luke's stuff (formula, diapers, etc) she was doing ok, until Luke's care provider  told her it was OK to cry....so she did a little.  But once she got on the road, she was just fine.

Work was crazy for her today, lots of new faces to meet and an old boss to calm down.  She really is the voice of reason in that place.  But we both had a lot to do, but Little Baby Dude was always on our minds....

She went to go get him and the ladies told her that Luke had been a very happy baby and didn't care who held him!  Good boy!

Once I had gotten home I asked Melissa what she was thinking for dinner and she kind of looked at me with those eyes...you know what I'm talking about fellow husbands and boyfriends.  THOSE EYES!  What I probably should have said was "Dear, my honey bunches of oats, dream of my dreams, light of my light: What candle-lit restaurant should I make a reservation for us tonight?"  That would have been acceptable.

Anyway, right then the yard sprinkler people rang the doorbell and saved me.  So I hung out with them as they fixed a few things but in the hour they were here, Melissa had made pasta and sauce, green beans, and garlic bread and plated it for the both of us.  Not only that but she had made extra so that we could have some for lunch the next few days.  Crazy.

Currently, Luke is getting put into his crib while Ralphie, the four-legged thunderstorm predictor, shakes on my lap (making typing difficult at best) so I will leave you now.  Knowing that Luke and Melissa both made it through the day unscathed.  Me too, but that's besides the point isn't it?

Back to Reality

Well, the trip back to Kansas was my last big event for maternity leave, so that means it is back to reality tomorrow morning. I informed the girls at daycare that I might have to wear my sunglasses when I drop Luke off in the morning to hide my tear-filled eyes. You all know that I cry easier than anyone in the world.  I'm trying to convince Patrick to go with my for moral support, but we'll see if he agrees.

Even though we just came back from vacation, we still managed to have a jam-packed weekend.  First, I went to help my friend, Mandy, celebrate her upcoming wedding. She and her fiance "Pappy" (an Air Force dude) are getting married in South Carolina, but unfortunately, we cannot attend due to the training that Patrick is about to start :(

On Saturday it was time to celebrate Kerry's baby shower! We both lived up in North Dakota, and now we're down here in Shreveport together. We're super excited to have babies so close together, and Luke sure is too because Kerry is having TWO girls!!!

Then, the rest of the weekend was spent getting caught up from vacation. I had a mound of homework to get caught up on, so Luke offered to help me.

  Yeah, we didn't get much done this way, so Patrick had to take over Luke duty so I could finish my paper.

Now, it is Sunday evening, and Luke and I have less than 10 hours of freedom left. We spent some time playing  tonight, and I finally got my first official baby laugh. We've been getting smiles for a few weeks, but nothing in the world is cuter than a baby's laugh. I feel like I was just telling my boss that I was expecting my first baby, and now maternity leave is over. Our outfits are picked out, lunches/diaper bag are packed, baths/showers are done, and now it's time to go get my Kleenex ready....wish us luck.

There's No Place Like Home - Part III

We made it back safe and sound to Shreveport tonight. Luke was a superstar traveler - we only had to stop two times on the way home! Pictures speak louder than words, so here's a slideshow of Luke's first visit home, baptism, and fiesta. Thank you to everyone for making it such a fabulous trip. Who knew how much life could change in four years? Happy anniversary, Patrick.

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There's No Place Like Home - Part II

What a wonderful weekend dear readers!  It started with a sunny drive home down the turnpike to my parent's house, which brought back memories driving home from KU.  Once we got there and emptied the car, Grandma Godinez wouldn't even let Luke touch any surface unless he was in her arms!  She loves that baby!  It was nice since we had to get ready to go to church for Luke's first swimming lesson (aka baptism).  There were lots of people, which surprised Grandpa Malone.  There was another baby getting baptized at the same time, but the poor kid only had like 6 people.  We kind of overwhelmed them!

This was a picture of the family.  Tricia almost missed the picture since she was trying to get her blood pressure taken.  I asked if her blood pressure was high, because waiting on her sure raised mine!

Here you see the Malone family and me posing.  It was all I could do to smile.  I was hotter than...well I was going to make an inappropriate joke here like I usually do, but I'll get in trouble.  

Ah, Mrs Dot Stegman.  She wasn't so much an English/Journalism teacher as she was a mentor to us both.  We were both very glad that she was able to come to the fiesta after the baptism.  She still has our wedding picture up in her classroom!  That makes me smile a lot!  (That one was for your Mrs. Stegman!)

This morning we finished up cleaning up the back yard and Grandpa Godinez took a timeout with the Little Chucker.  You can see that he is going all "Popeye" on us with the one eye.  They really seem to enjoy each other.  And really, who doesn't enjoy my dad? 

Alright, we are going to put up a big slideshow up soon about the weekend.  So if you have pictures please email them to Melissa and we will be sure to include some of them!

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There's No Place Like Home - Part I

Luke was meant to be our child. When we told people that we were taking him on a 9 hour car ride to return to Kansas for his baptism everyone had a "travelling baby horror story". Nope...not us!! What other baby in the world only needs two major stops on a 9 hour car ride? He was content to sleep most of the drive. Then, when he was awake, mommy and one of the dogs sat in the back to keep him entertained.

When we finally got to Wichita, Aunt Theresa and her boyfriend, Kerwin, came over to meet Luke. Despite not wanting to be my new nanny, Theresa and Luke had a great time playing together. The visit was a bit short, though, because we were a little late getting in (and super tired). No worries though - everyone will be together again for the baptism this weekend.

Sorry there aren't any pictures just yet.....plenty to come on Sunday...a ridiculous amount, in fact. Luke still has all of his Wichita friends, great aunts and uncles, Aunt Becky and Aunt Tricia and cousin Maddie to meet today.

2 months!

Happy 2 month birthday, Luke!!! Unfortunately, Luke's version of 2 month birthday celebration involved getting three shots and an oral vaccine :( I am pretty sure that it was way more painful for me than it was for him. However, other than the no fun shots, there was nothing but good news at his appointment. The little piglet is now 23 inches and 10 lbs 15 oz!! This puts him in the 50th percentile for typically developing kids, and, since babies with Down Syndrome follow a different growth chart, he's above the 75th percentile on this chart. The doctor kept complimenting Luke on his happy alertness. She's not concerned about anything since we already have both occupational and physical therapy lined up to start next month to help with the low muscle tone.

Well, the shots just wore the little dude out. He immediately went to sleep...for the entire day. This was excellent because I had to say goodbye to our guests, Brian and Laura, work on homework, mow the lawn, and pack for our first trip home with Luke! We can't wait to see everyone because there are ssssoooo many people for Luke to meet! If you're reading this, his baptism fiesta will be Saturday night at Patrick's parents' house. Call Patrick or I for details, and we hope you can make it.

Here's a picture of our friend, Brian, spending a little time with Luke and the puppies.

Visitors

What better way to spend the weekend than hanging out with friends? On Friday, the usual crew from the neighborhood spent the evening hanging out together while Luke slept soundly in his stroller. Then, on Saturday we went to a BBQ with daddy's friends from work. We couldn't stay long though because Laura, one of mommy's best friends arrived in town with her boyfriend, Brian for a short visit. While Patrick spent Sunday picking up some extra flying hours, the rest of us toured the Parade of Homes to find Laura and Brian a place to live in Louisiana (We're trying to convince them to move here!). Then, we finished the weekend with a relaxing night on the boat.

During all of his social outings, Luke worked on perfecting his newest trick - sucking his thumb. While he can't quite get it right, he decided that just shoving his fist in his mouth would work just fine. We'll keep working on getting some pictures, but mommy and daddy have been a bit too slow with the camera on that one; however, here are some other pictures from the weekend.

New Things...

Melissa has been a sad panda recently. 


(This is where you ask why she is sad.....)


Oh, glad you asked!  Well, you see Luke outgrew his first outfit today!  He is in his "big boy" clothes now!  Which just means that we have to put away a few of his onesies, so no big deal.  But this means that our little boy is going to be a man soon and momma is having trouble coping. 

How has she been dealing with this?  Well, she has been snuggling with Luke and it has become serious since she is going back to work in a few weeks.  On one hand, she can't wait to get out of the house more and help rebuild the economy.  However, if she stays home, she says she feels the urge to spend a lot of money.  So by all accounts, she needs to get back to work.

Besides, if she stays in bed like this too much longer, she won't be able to do any of her homework!  But as you can see in the two pictures, the dogs are still being very dutiful in their baby helping chores!

But that's alright, today when I came home from work I found that the house was still standing, my wife and child are still there and the dogs have destroyed only minimal property.  Oh, and Melissa had just made three casseroles for the rest of the month and a metric crap ton of cookies.  Chocolate chip for her and oatmeal raisin for me!  All in all, a good day.

Bath Time

My new favorite activity is bath time. Although I don't get very dirty just playing and sleeping all day, I LOVE to splash around in my whale bathtub. However, I usually scare myself when I make too big of a splash. I think Ralphie likes bath time as much as I do because he always tries to help mommy clean me by licking the water off my arms. Plus, he lays on my towel to warm it up before I get out of the warm water.

Assessment

And so it begins...

On Friday (6/4), Luke had his initial assessment with Early Steps, the Louisiana early intervention program. The purpose of this program is to ensure that all children with any form of developmental delays receive access to speech, physical, and occupational therapy in order to better prepare them for the public school system. Patrick was lucky enough to get off work early to be home for the big meeting, and we both found it fascinating to watch the Christie, an occupational therapist, test a 7 week old.

Basically, the test involved a series of questions that we had to answer. Then, Christie performed a series of sensory input tests to see how Luke would respond such as ringing a bell, shaking a rattle, shining lights, and so forth. We're not sure exactly what our concerns should be (other than his low muscle tone), so we can't wait for the results of the assessment, which we should receive later this week. For now, we'll just keep having tummy time to work on building up those muscles!

Malone Family Vacation 2010

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Crazy Uncle Mike

Everyone has at least one crazy uncle. Or, if you are like Patrick and I, you have several :) Luke is lucky to have Crazy Uncle Mike. Even before Luke was born, Mike nicknamed him "Pterodactyl" and couldn't wait to have a little nephew. We thought it was so sweet until Mike spotted our baby carrier and asked if he could put Luke in it and go to the bars and pick up girls. Oh, to be 21 again. Speaking of that - Mom, Dad, and I are getting ready to head to the casino for a bit and Mike gets to stay home with Luke since Patrick is at work. It's his last day of being underage, so we have to make the most of our free babysitter while we can! Wish us luck at the casino...and wish Luke luck staying at home with Crazy Uncle Mike.