Url Oma and Url Opa's Hand-Made Gift to Lukka

Once Oma found out I loved home-made gifts, she knitted Lukka a cardigan and matching hat, and then a sweater with matching mittens when they came to visit in August. This Christmas, she sent a great knitted cardigan and matching hat. I never tire of home-made gifts!

Lukka's Christmas Surprise

Well, Lukka got the first of his 'two front teeth' on Christmas morning...and we can see the second peeking up from underneath the gums. They are on the bottom, instead of the top (like the song goes)...but still, a fun Christmas surprise! He's been using one of these lately, so I should have known:

BathTime!

Lukka's first bath in our kitchen sink--he loved playing with the clean pots and pans on the other side (it kept him oblivious to me scrubbin' him all over!). So much easier than bending over the bathtub!

Learning to Crawl

Lukka is showing us how determined he is to become more mobile. He has been really pushing up on his arms so that his stomach is not touching the ground, but today he pushed himself up so much that he was able to support himself with his knees, too. Stefan and I watched, took pictures, and thought about the dreaded day we would have to remember to shut doors on the second story and buy a gate for the first story of our house (so he wouldn't crawl and, eventually, fall down the stairs). He will inevitably become more curious about outlets, as they will be eye-level, and he'll pick up anything on the floor my Swiffer missed. But today, we just enjoyed this new stage, because we know it will be awhile...ok, at least a few weeks!

(Disclaimer: Stefan was running at 9 months, Lukka just passed his 6 month-mark!)

Sorry for the second picture's grainy/fuzzy quality, but it shows the 'knee master-ship' best. The third pic is Lukka lost in a sea of white! It is his fleece snowsuit and he can hardly move in it. Can you tell which is Randy (from A Christmas Story) and which is Lukka?! :)

Funny Day

Lukka was in rare sorts today. Stefan can get a small giggle out of him every once in awhile by tossing him around in the air like a beach ball, but today he was cracking up. I have never heard him laugh so hard and for so long. If you didn't hear about when he first started laughing, read below--or for the short version: The dogs were rough-housing and getting into it. Tonight, Stefan was teasing me with a rolled up magazine and poking me in the stomach while I was trying to get some work done. Lukka thought this was hilarious! He couldn't stop laughing every time Stefan hit me with the paper. All I could think is, Oh no, he's going to actually like watching the Three Stooges.

Here's a few recent pictures of him. The one on the blanket is him smiling his 'morning smile'--big and robust after over 12 hours of sleep, and the other is one of my current favorite outfits (thanks Mom M!) a "Vintage" Hoodie and a pair of OshKosh Overalls.

A Slow Week

Well, if you'd been following our other blog, ssmast.blogspot.com, you could know that Lukka has been very sick this week--some rampant form of the flu we think, as 6 adult family members all came down with the same thing after holding him for as little as an hour! He had a temp (albeit minor) for the following three days after the ER visit, and I didn't take him outside for that time (and did lots and LOTS of laundry). Thursday we went to my grandmother's house to visit her, my mom, and my aunt, and he was fussy for most of the time...still needed rest. It's amazing to me how much babies need (and are not afraid to tell you in the form of : whining, crying, sniffling, pouting, etc, etc.). One more thing to put on the 'baby needs' checklist is a humidifier, something I'm sure we can find by rummaging through some basements of relatives who aren't using theirs.
Here's a picture that I took this week of Lukka getting over his stuffy nose/flu. He is happiest in dad's arms (of course, dad isn't the one putting ointment all over him, draining his nose, putting a thermometer you know where!) and by the look of it, you wouldn't even be able to tell he's sick!

Family Pictures

I recently got a new haircut (this is big, I've had the same style for close to 3-4 years!) and apparently this was big enough of an event to take family pictures, enjoy!

Christmas with the Dogs

Arjax and Atreyu are only "Americanized" dogs for a few days a year... i.e. we play dress up with them. They each have a little something for Christmas (this is mostly for Stefan and my entertainment much to their dismay). Treyu wears a little elf hat that says, "I hate my life" and Arjax has a little 'headband' with reindeer ears that he can't quite seem to bite off (instead of dog chasing tail, think dog chasing antler). It's pretty funny for the few minutes that they have the hats on their head, lopsided or not. We decided to snazz up Lukka, too, for the occasion.

Kurtis and Lukka

This one was taken right before Kurtis left for Zambia...when he gets back in March he probably won't believe how different Lukka looks.

more pics...

for some reason, they couldn't all fit, so here's a few more:

Solid Foods

Has anyone seen Gerber 'solids' lately? Their titles include, but are not limited to: Apple Strudel, Fresh Fruit Medley, Chicken Noodle Dinner, etc. etc. This stuff is mush and it is usually a dark orange color--they aren't fooling anyone! However, Stefan and I proceeded to fool Lukka into thinking it was 'yummy' by simply making 'woo woo' sounds and airplaning a small metal spoon into his mouth. He likes it! He has so far eaten rice cereal, squash, and today, peas (and he LIKED them!) Stefan recorded his first 'solid' meal, but I'll spare you the (very) long 2 minute video. Here's some new pictures of him we have from a trip to his Great-Grandma's house, Halloween, etc.

This is a great one of Stefan and Lukka, but it misrepresents our child tremendously. This may have been the one time we were able to give him a pacifier for longer than a second before he spat it out. He does not take the darn things (although I sometimes wish he would, as he cried for almost an hour and a half at a restaurant the other day) and no amount of "mmm, Lukka, yummy pacifier" will coerce him into taking it, either. Oh well, at least we won't have to 'undo' the damage when he is in Kindergarten and still wants to suck on his binky...please take those out of your children's mouths before they go to high school and get beaten up!

new pictures

This hat was on his head everytime he wore any color except red, because that is the only color that didn't match. I love this pic because it shows his dimples, or rather his dimple. He is just relaxing in Oma Mast's arms, looking adorable as usual.

Another very cute one, however Lukka looks a bit shocked, as if taking this picture was a bit scandalous to him.
Here is his "Gerber Baby" shot, as in, he looks just like the gerber baby! Also, not to be confused with the female Gerber as his lips are quite rosy and he has pink cheeks. I think maybe he was a bit warm.

The happy family + 1 pair of extra large sunglasses.

laughing out loud

Stefan and I have a typical boy. The other day Lukka was standing up on his little 3 month old legs when our two dogs, Arjax and Atreyu started to play. Playing in 'dog terms' is actually a nice term for an outsider. This involves showing very sharp teeth, growling, and pawing at each other (mind you they each have 16 very sharp claws on the ends of those paws) and just generally hopping around the place like banshees. I was just about to yell, "Dogs, Stop!" when all of the sudden the most peculiar sound comes from the munchkin. He laughs out loud. This was not to be confused with his happy pratter that he does all day long. This was loud, full, and had a bit of a snort hanging onto the end of it. He was-- being a typical boy-- laughing at these rough-housing dogs. He has only done it one other time since that day (about a week ago). His uncle Kurtis was flying around the room like a baby Jetson, swooping down to hover above the couch before zooming up into space again, and there it was...the laugh-snort. As Kurtis has just flown to Zambia to help out his aunt and uncle who are missionaries there, we will have to find something else that is entertaining to Lukka...and doesn't involve 160 pounds of dog banging into my hardwood floors.
Sarah

At the Hospital

June 21-June 23
Lukka Karl Elijah Mast
@ Saint Elizabeth Hospital in Lincoln, NE.

Born on June 21 @ 1:39pm
8 pounds 7 ounces
20 1/4 inches

THE STORY:
Sarah and I went in to the hospital on Wednesday night @ ~11pm b/c we weren't sure if her water had broke or not. After inspection the nurses determined that her water had not broken but they decided that they would admit her. At that point she was 2 cm dialated with irregular contractions every 5-15 minutes apart.

We stayed the night, I slept on the couch and got ~5 hrs of rest. In the morning there was very little activity and very little progress had been made through the night. Her contactions weren't picking up and she was only 3 cm dialated. Sometime between 8am-9am she was induced with Pitocin. Her contractions picked up to 3-10 minutes apart. Around 10:30-11am her water broke and the contractions became very very strong. Over the next hour she dialated to 9cm. At this point the pain was unbearable and she politely (...) requested an epidural. As I made the call to the nurse for the epidural she was in the middle of a contaction, and it was hard for the nurse to hear me over Sarah as she endured the pain. The nurses came in very quickly and within 20-30min she was hooked up with the epidural.

Like night and day her pain was gone. She relaxed and chatted with the nurses and myself. The monitors continued to show the contractions which were exactly 2 min apart and very strong. At 1:39 Lukka was born. I watched as his head appeared - it was somewhat emotional for me.

The rest can be described with the pictures: