Dear Blythe...

Before Luke was born I wrote him a letter because the baby book told me to. Ha ha. Anyway, I got pregnant, found out it was a girl, and still never wrote a letter. We got her the same baby book as Luke's and I didn't do most of it (yet). So I'm working on it now. I have composed tons of would-be letters to Blythe and I wanted it to be perfect. Well, that won't ever happen so I'll let this be my first one. I'm not sure if I'll do more but this is a start.

Dear Blythe,
I have had the pleasure of knowing you for 365 days and it feels like so much more than that. You are truly the apple of my eye. I’m sorry I didn’t write a letter to you before you were born like the baby book tells me to. Honestly, you are the second born and life gets in the way of important things, like letting your unborn baby know how special they already are. But I like writing to you now, a year later on your 1st birthday, because I have gotten to see so much of your personality.

I have started a hundred letters to you in my head over the past year. Most of those were while I was holding you or rocking you to sleep. And I would take those sleepless moments with you over anything else in the world.

You are a joy. You love me right now so it’s very enjoyable for me. You are so loving and silly and a charmer. You cock your head to the side and smile and giggle and we can’t help but do the same. You love to dance, even when there’s no music playing. You’re so healthy and happy; it’s been so easy being your mommy.

I could write forever telling you how special and loved you are but I would still forget something. So I think I will just tell you that you are special. You are unique. You are fun. You are beautiful. You are whiney. You are heavy. You are loved. You and your brother are everything to your father and me. I hope that we do you both justice in raising and loving you. I hope we don’t fail you too many times. I hope you know how much everyone loves and adores you. I pray that you learn to love and trust Jesus and find God early in life. I pray that you live a full, happy, and healthy life.

I don’t know if you’ll read this later in life, but if you read this and any other letters I write to you later on, know that I was sitting up late at night thinking about you. Know that I can’t believe God chose to give me a perfect son and then a perfect daughter. I got what I wanted in life- I pray that you do too.

I love you, my sweet girl. Happy 1st birthday Blythe!

Love,
Your Enamored Mommy

What have I been doing?

I can't believe I haven't posted anything in over 2 years.
I can't believe I haven't posted anything about having another baby.
I can't believe I haven't put any pictures of my sweet little girl on here. Or of my big boy.
I guess if it really mattered it was posted on Facebook. And that's kind of lame.
I need to get back on here and type something up. Maybe I'll do that in the next year or so.

-Been super busy, kind of, but not really

I think he looks like...

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family photos - Family history


He's mine, mine, mine! And he sometimes looks like me, at times, not often, but still.
He curls his big toe over his second toe like I do.
He wrinkles his nose the same as I did when I was little.
And he has my sense of humor.
The kid is mine, I don't care if he had 3 eyes and blue hair.

How long this time?

I always post right before Luke's check-ups then never post the info later. So, I'm having to dig up his stats from his 1 1/2 year check-up in February. 2-25-11.
Height 31 1/4 inches long
Weight 24 pounfs 14 ounces
Head circumference 19 inches (48.3 cm)
These measurements put him in the 25-50 percentile for boys his age. I'm fully expecting his to be long and lean and play infield baseball, but that's just me. He is a pretty fast runner, although the diaper slows him down a little.

At that point he wasn't really talking much, just throat grunting. Had this teacher very worried. By May he was "talking" and using real words all over the place. He is learning new words every week and with much emphasis. He also thinks he is the boss of Sam, the cat. Poor cat.

By now he is fascinated with balloons, going bye-bye on foot (on his own), his male parts (it's funny to him), being naked (though he can't get himself to that state, he needs help), Sesame Street (Cookie Monster and Elmo- I don't get the appeal), helping water the plants, and other little kids. He likes to be involved, is curious and investigative, and when he doesn't get his way he hits the floor like he heard gunshot. He's great at throwing a fit- if a fit could be literally thrown, he'd probably win for furthest throw.

We are so lucky that he has been so healthy. No major illnesses, only 3 or 4 bad colds, no allergies, eats pretty well, sleeps like a champ, he's active, and pretty much does what we ask/tell him. I think he is setting us up for the next kid to be the total opposite.

Here are some pictures of my love from the past few months.















Check out his videos (updated much more than this blog) at YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/MMLVargas

Miguel and I will be going to Italy in a few weeks and Luke gets to spend his time in Georgia with Meme and Grandpa Mike. That will be fun for al involved. I should have some pictures from that to share.

Until next time, whenever that is...
The Three Amigos

I Can't Keep Up

I can't keep up with blogging or my child. Last time I was annoyed at his lack of walking and now I struggle to catch him when he is running away from me naked instead of getting in the bath tub. He is as fast a walker as he was crawling.

He started walking well and all the time at the beginning of December. He was 15 months old.

Christmas was fun - we got him a crawler thing that he can crawl over and through. We also visited Georgia for the holidays and he had a lot of fun. The plane rides weren't so fun... I'm that lady with the crying kid. But I couldn't care less about what anyone else thought, I felt bad for my child.







Luke has just been going since then. He never stops, he babbles all the time, he terrorizes the cat lovingly, and sleeps at least 12 hours a night. He says his variation of "daddy," used to call the cat Sam by "DA," and his Momma is "boba." He just started saying "bye bye" when he closes himself in a closet. He waves every time I pick him up, even if no one is around.



Things Luke loves to do:
climb on stuff (even people)
fall back on something soft (cause hard hurts, weve learned)
stack and unstack
get into the pots and pans
hide and seek himself
close doors
whine when he doesn't get his way
run away from bath totally naked
"swim" in the tub
"help" throw things away
re-arrange the pantry
play outside
suck his pacifier (ugh)
look at people in public places

Things Luke doesn't like to do:
get his nose cleaned
be left at the nursery at church
naps when he doesn't think he's tired
come in from playing outside
falling on the cold, wet snow
use his manners



He makes me laugh so hard sometimes (putting the colander on his head and laughing) and he makes me crazy sometimes (throwing his milk on purpose and with much force). I think he is the greatest kid in the world. No one else's kid is this cute or funny. Seriously.



I'll try to update more and include more pictures. Join as a friend on facebook if you aren't already to see tons of pictures. And check out our YouTube page for great video (especially the bath times).

-Mother of the Greatest Kid Ever

FINALLY something

Finally my child has walked. Took him long enough, but he did it between Miguel and I Friday night, about 2 or 3 steps. Then he did it again yesterday about 3 steps. And today he blew my mind, made my jaw drop, and I think I almost cried. He was playing with dominos crawled over to me at the computer, got in my lap, chewed on dominos a bit, then wanted down. Then when he was standing there leaning on me, he just took off walking, about 8 or 10 steps toward the dominos again. I couldn't believe it. I thought he might never walk. How bizarre to see him walk away without holding onto anything. I had to call Miguel at work and tell him. Oh happy day. He is almost 15 months old, it's about time.

And I feel a little smug and victorious that he did it in front of me, me only. How rotten is that? Ah well.

Now if only he'd say "Momma"...

-Mother of a Walker, Hallelujah

Busy or Lazy...

I've been busy. I haven't posted anything about my adorable child in 5 months.
In that amount of time he has:
flown to Georgia again
been way from Mom and Dad overnight
cut 7 teeth total
eaten all kinds of yummy foods
turned 1 YEAR OLD!
gotten his first hair cut (or hairs trimmed)
perfected his "No" head-shaking
traveled to Austin
drooled a lot
and pooped in the bathtub 3 times

Also in that amount of time, he has NOT:
gained a lot of weight (although he's healthy)
walked on his own (because he's stubborn)
or said "Mama" (though he babbles tons)

He can crawl like the dusty winds of west Texas- fast and messy. And he can walk very well with us holding his hands or behind a push toy. He can cruise very well, pulls up fabulously, and climbs well enough too. But he doesn't want to walk. I am getting both less and more concerned. I think he takes after his parents and is slightly lazy, but I also think "Why isn't he walking yet- is something wrong?!?!?"

I'm sure he'll get it one day. Until then, I probably will forget to post anything because, well, he wouldn't have done anything worth posting. Enjoy the gorgeous pictures of my sweet blessing from Heaven.

-Megan, mother of a perpetual crawler

Waving, teething, kissing

Luke is waving more, at the mirror, and I found his first tooth Thursday night! He pulled my hand to his mouth while bathing and I knew it felt different. I'm excited that he decided to wave and cut his first tooth in the same week. It quells some fears that he is not developing fast enough and he's pleasing mommy. He also started open mouth kissing around 8 months- I didn't realize what he was doing at first but it's a wide open slobber mouth kiss anywhere on my face that he can get to.
I'll get more pics and hopefully video up soon.

-Megan

Luke Does Things

Luke waved for the first time tonight.  He was waving to... the TV.  He's truly our child.  It looked more like a "hi" wave than a "bye" wave, side to side.  It was cute.  He did it on command a few more times when we would do it to him.  I think he was stalling going to bed and trying to get us distracted.  He's funny. 

Here he is playing and eating off the floor.

Here he is loving peek-a-boo.  He laughs so hard he gets hiccups.  It's funny.

-Mother of a Cute Baby

Crawling Machine

Luke was 8 months old on Saturday April 17th, and this is his monthly picture. Such a cutie. These pictures are much better than the 1 or 2 months pictures. I'm starting to wonder if he was ever as beautiful as I thought when he was younger. I have that mother's blindness and think no other boy is as adorable but I've always said newborns aren't so cute... Nah, he was beautiful then too!

Luke started crawling this week. He looks like a toy GI Joe pulling himself along the floor, but he's moving forward so we're excited. We're also watching him more closely. No more being left alone on the bed- I sat right next to him as he tried crawling over the edge. I kept telling him to turn back but he's a boy so...

Will get video soon. Uploading all my video to YouTube since it won't all upload here. Search for MMLVargas as the username.

-Megan

Where have we been?

I can not believe I haven't posted since December. I'm a busy lady. Luke had a 4 month check-up in December and was in the 40th percentile for weight. Then we had his first Christmas and a New Year's in Georgia (which he slept through). We bought a house in Red Oak south of Dallas and moved at the end of January. He had a 6 month check-up in February and was in the 10th percentile for weight. His baby dedication was March 21st at First Baptist Dallas and his Meme and Papa and Uncle Taylor and Aunt Tara came. It was their first time meeting him. And now we're trucking along.

A lot has gone on with him- he's sitting up alone, rolling over and scooting backwards or in circles. He's been in his own room now since February and he loves eating baby foods and tiny bits of safe "people" food.

I'm going to get more pictures up soon and keep updating. I always think "I need to go update," but I never do. So here I am. Here is a Christmas shot from visiting Mom and Dad.

Here is a picture from right after he rolled over for the first time. Naked and surprised.

And here is a recent one of my cutie pie baby boy.

And here is the house we bought. Two weeks after we moved it snowed over a foot. Unheard of around here.So that is all for now. We have a 9 month check-up in May and I'm trying to put some weight on that boy with some real food. He's a good height but he's a real light-weight compared to the "charts." But light is good for us. He's such a good baby... most of the time. No teeth yet but we're expecting them soon. I'll get more picture and hopefully video soon. Everything is going well in Vargas-land.

-Out in the country now

Luke Talking

I haven't posted in weeks. I want to get all kinds of things on here but I feel so busy I can't make the time. Or I could just not sleep, but if you've been around me without sleep you know how unpleasant I can be. Here is a cute video I took yesterday of Luke talking and Miguel joining him. He will be four months next Thursday. Oh how time flies.

He's cute like a little dumpling!

I'll post his new stats next week after his 4 month check-up and we'll see if he's still in the 90th percentile.

-Megan

Halloween

I was going to wrap my baby up in gauze over his white onesie and make him a mummy for Halloween since we have gauze leftover from Miguel's accident but I decided not to be mean. So instead he wore his Halloween onesie on the 30th and on the 31st he's wearing his Darth Vader onesie that says "I take after my Dad." It's clever because his name is Luke... it's Darth Vader... get it? So for Halloween he is Luke Skywalker, kind of. Here are pictures and video.

Luke, I'm your father... and the force is with you... and blah, blah, blah (I know very little about those movies).

This is Luke in his nicest garb. I think he looks like Bobby Hill trying to dress up, but Miguel finds it cute and amusing...

Videos were taken today and feature a Yankees teether toy with a mirror and song and a rattle with those developmental colors on it.

His cute t-shirt I bought in May and forgot we had until he'd almost outgrown it.

Yes, my son is always laying on the floor. It's his preferred position right now and he can't sit anyway.

-Megan Vader

My cute little baby

I told Miguel last week that I could not believe we had a baby and how he was made. I mean I know how it all happens but it's such a complex thing, even if it happens every day. Luke started out as this tiny microscopic thing made out of a couple of cells and developed inside of me and turned into this cute little butterball. It's almost incomprehensible to me. I just can't believe it! He's so cute it makes me want another one. We'll probably try for kid #2 in a year, give or take a few months.

Here is a picture from Texas vs. OU weekend and one where he found his hand (he's two months in that picture). Same baby in both pictures taken within a few days of each other, even if it looks like a different kid. I also included a video of my cute child.

At his 9 week check-up he got 3 shots and some drops in his mouth. He cried but did pretty good. Miguel and I got the H1N1 flu mist vaccine since our jobs put us in so much contact with others and we have such a young baby.

He weighed 12 pounds 7 ounces (75% percentile for his age). He measured 24 1/4 inches long (90% percentile). Head was 40 cm.


Basically my teeny 2 month old baby is right on track for the size of a healthy 3-4 month old. But isn't that common, especially in boys? I prefer him to be hefty, even though he's slim in the torso (probably will have a long torso and be tall) he can still roll over on the other babies, just like I hoped he'd do.

I need to go tend to my healthy baby now.

-Megan

Funny video

This video is from several weeks ago, on October 7th. I know babies aren't all that entertaining but watch to the end, it has a surprise ending.

The video posted below is from October 13th. He never wants to perform with a camera in his face. He does this really cute thing where he sort of shrugs his shoulder and furrows his brow a little, smiles curiously and says, "a-ooo?" over and over. So funny.

-Megan

C is for cricket

Pictures from within the last week. He's doing so much moving, squirming, and "talking."

Here is Luke playing for the camera again. There's a little down time but he always delivers his coos and smiles.

Sometimes I look at him and can't believe I have a kid but other times it seems so normal.

-Megan

Video

Here is some video of my cute, cute baby. I haven't been writing as much because he requires a lot of my time while I'm still home, and when he's sleeping or entertaining himself with the ceiling, I use that time to eat or pick up or do laundry. So posting isn't a big thing right now. I do go back to work next Tuesday and I'm so sad but I'm looking at it like a challenge because that class is not with it! Anyway, he'll be with my mother-in-law and she's doing well with him the couple of times we've left him with her. I hope I don't miss too much while I'm at work but I've got nights, weekends, holidays, and the summer.

Cue the cuteness at 9 seconds in.

Hopefully I can get some more up soon but he finally cooperated with me. He usually turns off the charm and cuteness once he sees the camera. I'll also get some recent pictures up. He's growing and changing so much it's hard to believe it's been 8 weeks.

-Megan, Proud Mom

Video of Luke and Mom

Here is video of Luke on his over-stimulating play mat and my mom trying to entertain him. I think he has hiccups again but he's using his voice toward the end of the video. He's so funny.

5 week Check-up and Videos

Today, at 5 weeks, Luke is 10 pounds 8 1/2 ounces.
He is 21 1/2 inches long. He didn't grow much in 3 weeks but I am going to measure him myself and see if they measured correctly.
His head measures 39 cm.

Here is a video from last week. He has the hiccups, as always, and he's trying to use his voice.

Check back for another one soon.

Luke is Growing

Okay, while he is sleeping and I have a chance, I want to update with his DRs check-ups.

At birth he was 7 lbs 9 oz; 19 3/4 inches long. He left the hospital at 7 lbs 6 oz.

At 1 week he was 7 lbs 13 oz; 20 1/2 inches long, and his head measured 14 inches around.

At 2 weeks he was 8 lbs 10 oz; 21 1/4 inches long, and his head measured 14.2 inches around. He also got his hepatitis B shot and had his blood taken for a standard 1-2 week test. He cried
(wouldn't you?) but did okay after a while. At the very end he did a mouth wide open cry with no noise for a good 3 seconds, then the wailing came. But he was fine, and I'm very proud of how good he is while we're there, especially considering the wait time.

The DR said he was measuring well in all the percentiles, I haven't looked it up, and that he was doing well so far. His next appointment is a 4 week check-up but the DR is out that week so we'll go at 5 weeks.

His circumcision was performed on August 20 and the bell fell off on August 27. His belly button cord fell off on August 30. All of that has healed well and he had his first real bath on September 2. He didn't cry but squirmed a lot. He seemed to like it enough and it will get better each time. He seems so little in his tub or even his swing, but he doesn't feel little!

We're still getting used to feedings, changings, how many little clothes and blankets and wash cloths he goes through in 2 days time, but it's been pretty good. We are lucky to have a healthy baby that is adjusting to life on the outside. He still loves to sleep on the chest with his head right under our chins, but I'm guessing that's his major comfort and we won't take that away. He's sleeping in the co-sleeper in the pack and play since he's still so little. He's doing well at night and we're sleeping a little better since he's out of our bed now. He's just great!

Here are some pictures of my handsome baby. Enjoy.

While he sleeps I need to finish folding his basket of clothes that have been sitting around for 2 days. Those things aren't so important that it has to get done right away- nothing is so important right now except attending to Luke, even if I am dead tired and my patience is wearing thin. We can't believe we're parents!

-Megan, even more of a mom