Luca - Month 6 + 7

It's been a bit of a blur the last couple of months. Work has been so busy and Luca has been developing so quickly. My brain and body are both a bit spent. But my heart. How is it possible to fall in love every single day? I'm feeling very guilty for not documenting how Luca has been changing but at the same time, I just can't seem to get to it. I've been feeling like I have so few minutes to "waste," experiencing the time as it passes becomes preeminent to using any for blogging. I'm sure this will change as I become less obsessed with everything Luca. Right? Right?

But, I will try to recount some of what has happened. And totally out of order because I'm too tired to sift through the foggy brain to be exact. I did manage to take a few notes on my cell so I have those dates at least.





First night in his crib (October 5)

Note from that night:

We put Luca in bed in his crib for the first time just now. It's way past his bedtime but we had gone out for dinner with Jenny and Chi to celebrate Sergio's birthday and got home late. Then Luca just wasn't happy in the crib. Sergio bounced him to sleep in his bouncy chair. So many feelings. It had been a long time since I had nursed in the nursery. Doing that earlier tonight while knowing we were going to try the crib made me a little weepy. So many feelings and memories. Our room feels so empty.

First food: Avocado (October 10)

We had been holding back on giving him his first non-milk food until well into his 6th month. I was set on organic avocado and I never got around to the grocery store until maybe his 2nd week into his 6th month. We were so excited to try the baby-led method too. Sooooo, he wasn't a fan of food at the start. He made this funny grimace face and kind of gummed it and kind of squished it in his fingers (big fan of the squishing) and kind of smeared it all over his head. There might have been a few tears. Or more than few. Sigh.



Following in quick succession:

Sweet potato (tried twice and hated it twice. there might have been some screaming on this one. maybe.)
Rice cereal (yes. yum. especially if really watered down with milk. he's a carby dude after his mother.)
Banana (um. maybe? kinda? no?)
Zucchini (ugh)
Homemade veggie soup broth mixed with rice cereal (yes!)

So the key has been rice cereal (and being spoon fed). We've tried a couple types. We think he likes the more expensive brand (of course). It dissolves disarmingly quick and becomes this gummy consistency after too long. But it's supposed to be probiotic dha etc fortified etc. So that makes me glad. We put it into his bottle sometimes and he sucks it down. My mom has made the Chinese babyfood staple, jook or Congee. I guess he liked it when she made it a little thicker but refused when it was diluted. I also gave a bit to him during Dim Sum with his godparents and he seemed to enjoy it. I stopped after a few sips because of the salt and MSG. I'm sure once we introduce more flavor to the foods he'll be totally into it. For now, I guess he'll have to tolerate natural flavors for a bit. In fact, I'm hoping his first real sugar will be his first birthday cake. He'll get plenty of sodium and sugar the rest of his life. No need to start it off that way.



First word: Mama (September 14)

Note from that night:

Mama. Luca looked right at me and said mama.

He was sitting in his bouncy chair in front of the couch, facing us on Sergio's side, per usual. I was sitting in my usual spot. He turned to me and said it clear as day. Let me tell you - not sure there is a more special feeling than when your baby's eyes light up when he looks at you and calls out to you for the first time. We are trying to teach him "Papa" but I think "Dada" is easier for him - which he has said a few times. He has also said "Luca," of course. Probably half the words he hears is "Luca" in various inflections.



We celebrated Sergio's birthday without Luca - so grateful to my sis and Chi!

First sip of water (October 20)

Note from that day:

Luca's first drink of water! He sipped from my glass. He held the glass exactly like he should. He put his mouth to the rim like he should. I tipped the glass up so the water washed over his lower lip and he hungrily slurped at it. He did bit the rim. He doesn't have teeth yet but it still made me nervous. H was so disappointed when I took it away. It was like he wanted to quench 6 months of thirst.

Luca is now fortunate enough to have loving Godparents. We kicked off the hopefully lifelong relationship with dim sum!

Luca is now a regular fixture at the local artwalk. He's been to nearly all of them during his entire life so far.

Luca was a monkey for his first Halloween. The cutest monkey in all the land. But he hated it. The costume was just not comfortable. It was way too hot and kind of big for my little guy. The hood kept falling in front of his face. All the kids dressed up for a group photo at Jennie's birthday party. It was pretty darned adorable.



Sergio and I went to a proper pumpkin patch for the first time on October 12. Well, proper by L.A. standards. I suppose we could have driven out to a farm where we cut our own. This was way more fun. All the beautiful pumpkins were lined up by size and there were so many kinds of squash. We also had some fun navigating the corn maze. Luca fell asleep while we strolled around the field. Next year, I think he will be big enough to play a bit in the kiddie area. More photos later...



I brought him to work on the company potluck day. He was so popular. :) In general, most of our friends who hang out with him really do seem to love him.



He's sitting up so well now we can't have him in his chair without being strapped in. We now avoid the bumbo too because he's gotten kind of good at getting out of it.





He isn't crawling yet but is pretty mobile - spinning around on his belly. Also, rolling back and forth from belly to back to belly again somehow propels him forward. He's grabbing, pinching, scratching (our fault for not keeping his nails trimmed/filed), open-hand patting. He's also hit us in the face a few times - he just doesn't have control of his hands just yet. His chubby little fingers open and close when he tries to reach something and often inadvertently flicks the item further away. He gets frustrated sometimes and keeps reverting to his little airplane/superman trick, which doesn't get him anywhere. But then he'll put his face down, scoot his bottom up like an inchworm and suddenly he's moved a little further forward than before and can grab it!



His laugh!! Hearing that laugh as it evolves makes my heart melt. At first it was single little coughs as he pushed the laugh out. He would close his eyes, smile wide open and make a little cough. And then the excited squealing happened. Now he's connected the sounds and is laughing for real. I've recorded some of it. Also, looking at the cats makes him laugh.





He has been blowing raspberries so much lately. And he has this cute little owl hoot too. They both come an go almost daily. It's so cute. I know he's growing out of these little sounds so I try to capture them on audio at least.





Well. It's a pretty far into his 7th month - today is November 19. Hopefully my next post wont be so late. But then again, it probably will. He's already grown and changed so much just in the past 17 days.