First Tooth!

At 7 months, Lucas FINALLY got his first tooth.  After months of waiting and lots of drool this little gem made its way out, and the boy is learning to use it!  

Lucas 6 Months

So Lucas is now closer to 8 months but I just love these pictures and wanted to make sure to get them posted.  Kevin took these pictures one day when he was home alone with Lucas.  These pictures capture the happy baby that Lucas is.  He is such a joy and continues to be a wonderful addition to our family.  He really is a very happy and calm baby.  

December

DECEMBER:

We went to Watt's tree farm and picked out our Christmas tree.  We were going to go out to choose and cut down our own tree, however Nolan saw all the trains they have inside so we had to quickly pick a tree so we could go look at the trains.  :)  We later had a lot of fun decorating the tree.  It's fun getting out the ornaments and remembering when, where, or who we got them from.  Nolan was very excited about several of the ornaments and wanted to take pictures of them after we took pictures of him and Lucas by the tree.  Over the holiday season the ornaments were frequently moved by a certain 3-year-old.  

Nolan and I continued our Christmas tradition of making and decorating Christmas cookies.

We had our Christmas with Kevin's family on the Friday evening before Christmas.  It was special to be with them and to see the boys opening gifts.  Lucas was more interested in eating the wrapping paper than the actual gifts.  Nolan was super excited about opening gifts and it wasn't until everything was unwrapped that he went back to see what he had actually received.  

After spending Friday evening with Kevin's family we went to my mom's where we spent time with my family.  It was wonderful to have everyone together for a few days.  We were at my mom's through Christmas day.  We then headed home to Indy to see what Santa had left for us at our house and to have our little family Christmas.  How special it was.  We opened gifts, had a spaghetti dinner, and then drove around looking at Christmas lights  with popcorn and cuddled under blankets.  I have always loved Christmas but having children at Christmas is truly special and magical.  I really enjoyed starting some new traditions this year and look forward to starting more as the boys get bigger.  

Nolan doing one of his new giant floor puzzles.  He LOVES puzzles and does really well doing them on his own.  

Here are a few pictures from our time at my mom's.

This month we introduced the sippy cup to Lucas.  He did really well holding it and putting it to his mouth, but I don't think he really drank much from it.  We introduced the sippy cup at the recommendation of our doctor after his 6 month appointment in an attempt to get him to drink more during the day.  I'm not sure if I have written about this struggle or not, but since I started back to work when Lucas was 12 weeks we have struggled to get him to eat well during the day.  The boy can definitely be stubborn and has not taken the bottle well.  We have tried many different bottles but up until last friday he was only taking 4-8 ounces all day.  He obviously has continued to grow, which at the end of the day is the most important thing, however after many months of sleeping through the night he started waking up frequently at night to nurse trying to make-up for what he wasn't eating during the day.  We now think we might have found a bottle that he is more willing to take and he has increased his intake by quite a bit.  Today he had 11 ounces total! :)   

Once again...

Once again there is a lot to catch-up on and I'm not sure where to start!  Time is flying by and just seems to be getting away from me.  I will do my best to go through the last several months and try to get you caught up on what has been happening with us...

NOVEMBER:

 We ate pumpkin cheese cake ice cream.

Nolan really enjoys doing art projects and especially making different animals, so for November we had fun making a turkey.  This year we used paintings, drawings, and other little art projects done by Nolan (and a few foot prints from Lucas) to make a home made calendar.  The turkey was used for November.

I continue to love seeing these two together.  Lucas adores Nolan and while Nolan is still learning "gentle", overall he is very sweet and loving with his little brother.

Lucas tried oatmeal cereal for the first time...5 months!  He did pretty well with it and has enjoyed exploring more foods.

We enjoyed a visit from Grandpa Jerry...and had to take some pictures of everyone in their Bears gear.

Lucas discovered his feet and went through a period of sucking on his toes.

Lucas had his first Thanksgiving.  We enjoyed having Kevin's mom, dad, and sister Libby with us here in Indy.  We then went up to Goshen for the weekend and enjoyed time with family there as well.  Lucas also started sitting on his own.  

Lucas tried green beans...wasn't quite sure about them.

We started a new family tradition of making Christmas ornaments on Thanksgiving.  This year we tried a really simple dough of cornstarch, baking soda, and water.  Nolan had a lot of fun picking out the shapes and painting the ornaments after baking.  We picked a few to keep and hang on the tree.  

 We watched a lot of Bears football...well football in general.  Kevin is proud daddy as Nolan roots for the Bears and "boos" the Packers, Vikings, and Lions.