Up, up and away!

Last night I was sitting on the floor with Luke as he played and he came over and started climbing on my legs which were flat out on the floor in front of me. He was standing and leaning over with his hands on my knees when all of the sudden he let go of my leg and slowly straightened up! He stood there like that for about 3 seconds before he lost his balance! I couldn't believe it! Wish I had captured that on video! I am just amazed by him every day.

This week he did great with camping and lots of loud music and on Thursday this week we are flying for the first time with him to Indiana for a quick visit and a wedding. He is packing in a lot of firsts in a very short time.

Winfield!

The third weekend of every September is the Wanut Valley Bluegrass Festival at Winfield, KS. And my family almost never misses. I personally have had to miss a few, living in Indiana for five years I think I only made it once or twice during that time, but since we moved back we have made every one. I wasn't sure how much we would feel up to with a small baby so I didn't buy tickets ahead of time like we normally do. We ended up deciding to go for Friday and Saturday. That way if Luke didn't do well the first night we could go home the second night with out feeling like we were missing too much, and if he did good we could stay the second night and enjoy the music a bit longer.

For anyone who has never gone to Winfield this festival is like a big family. We have four stages on the fair grounds with professional musicians playing several sets on different stages over the four days the festival runs. There are also some workshops here and there mixed in and several competitions, flat picking, finger picking, hammer dulcimer, etc. that you can watch. Many of the performers come back over and over again and we feel like we know them. There are also now five stages in the camp grounds and often you will see the professional musicians wandering around the campground or making an appearance on one of the campground stages. Nickle Creek and Dixie Chicks were both regulars here until they made it big in country music. There are jam sessions constantly all over the place. This festival grows it's own stars and we love them. Also even though the people attending are fairly diverse in terms of other interests, income levels, religion, etc. we are close during the festival and take care of each other. Lots of extended families come together and in general it feels like one big extended family get together.

This year Winfield flooded and instead of everyone camping on the fair ground like usual everyone was split up to a couple of different places. My parents and the rest of my family as well as several of my cousins camped out at the lake while my aunts and uncles and younger cousins stayed a little closer to town at some kind of animal auction place and for the first time I can ever remember the Regiers were not all together and my grandparents didn't come at all, even for one day. I think in general it was a lot smaller this year, but I actually like that because it's not so difficult to get around or find a seat, but since the lake is thirteen miles away from the fair grounds we had to bring everything we needed with us for the whole day and that was a bit of a hassle. We definitely weren't as mobile as we have been some years because we had to bring so much stuff for Luke and didn't want to move it constantly.

This was not only Luke's first Winfield but his first Camping trip! Greg was excited to see what he would do as the air mattress blew up, so he sat him down and started recording. It didn't go as well as he had hoped, I think Luke was a little tired from the long drive.

Here is the campground looking across the lake. There were campground stages on all sides of us it seemed like so it was pretty noisy and several times people set off really big fireworks and Luke didn't even wake up!

Luke did really great both with the festival and the camping! I was really impressed with him. It was great to have my parents and other family there to help out with him occasionally too. Everyone there talked to him and told me how cute/beautiful he/his curls were. I got offered beads and Stromboli to trade for him but I turned them both down. (-:

Here Luke is on our sleeping bag in the stands. I remember My mom doing the same thing for us when we were little, putting a sleeping bag on the floor between the benches in the grandstand so that we could play and nap more easily. It's great because it's shady during the day and you still get to hear most of the sets you would want to hear.

Luke loves apple sauce...

so I guess it's no stretch that he also likes gnawing on apples!

Once when he was a little fussy and we didn't have anything else to give him we let him taste our limeade and he loved it!!! He got seriously pissed off when Greg took it away for a second (he was pretty tired at the time I think) and then he spent a long time gnawing on the half a lime. (-: Everyone around us was watching him and laughing!


Here are a few of our favorite performers...Beppe Gambetta

John McCutcheon

At one of John's later sets he did a poem he had written for his oldest son about playing catch and how as he threw the ball to his son he was throwing him his heart, very sweet, and at the end of it he looked down at us and threw the baseball he had been tossing as he recited the poem to Greg! We had him sign it for us. We also got two kids CD's that I grew up listening to on tape and vinyl from him and Tom Chapin.

Luke really was fascinated by all the hats!

The Mei Tai worked out really great! Both my mom and I used it, mostly in the front position because it made it really easy for him to fall asleep when he was tired. I have absolutely no complaints. It was so comfortable and easy to use, and I tried the back position at home while getting ready and it made everything so much easier. For those of you without kids do you have any idea how long it can take to get a load of laundry into the washer when you have a fussy baby in one arm and can't set him down? I love Mei Tai Baby, and special thanks to Elisabeth who got it to me just in time!

Luke also enjoyed playing in the dirt, another Winfield tradition!

and sitting with Grandpa...

Here Luke is moving his legs to walk. He did that right when he was born, not so deliberately, more reflex, but then he stopped moving them at all when you stood him up and just recently started trying to get somewhere with them. I saw him watching other little kids walking pretty intently at Winfield!

The last night we walked around the lake campground to see our Bethel friends. I didn't get any pictures because it was almost completely dark, but we had a good time hanging out with a few people we rarely get to see. In particular Luke really seemed to love C.J. and spent a good five minutes just smiling at him and patting his face. It was also good to see Matt and Heidi, Matt and Joanna, cousin Nathan, and several others. There were definitely more than a few faces missing but maybe they will make it out next year. See you then Winfield!

Pulling up!

Well, Luke has got the crawling thing down pat now. Mom said last night when he was at their house it was almost like he was obsessed with the fact that he could move wherever he wanted, not just the couple of feet he had been doing but all over the place! Now he is moving on to even greater things... Pulling himself up! Here is a short video...

Short

Luke is crawling consistently now, though not really very fast which is good because he can't get too far if I need to jump up and got to the next room for a second. (-: I wonder how long that will last. I know the video below is sideways but I still don't have a way of turning them. He was a little upset that I moved him away from the exercise ball pump that he was playing with and he started out way back by the red outoman thing but I wasn't fast enough to get all the crawling action. (-: I mentioned to Mom that he has never done the army crawl and she said Tim didn't either and he started crawling at 5 months!

We went to my Mom's today to celebrate her birthday. My brother James was there with his girlfriend and we haven't seen them since early July. It was a lot of fun, we enjoyed the nice weather outside and Luke really had fun playing with the grass. He also ate chard for the first time today since my Mom made a soup with that in it. He seemed to really like trying it and ate quite a bit along with some applesauce and a little water in a cup which he got all over himself. Unfortunately I forgot to bring the camera but my mom took some really good ones so hopefully she will post some soon and I can "borrow" them from her site. (-:

After supper we came home and took a bath and now he is sleeping with my hubby. (-:

Here are a few other pics of Luke I have taken over the last few days...

He is so much fun!

Dr visit

Ok, so we took Luke to the Dr for his 6 month well baby visit and here are his stats.

18lbs 5 oz.
28 1/2 inches long (I actually think she may have added about half an inch but it wasn't much so I didn't say anything, not like last time when she added about 4 inches! ;-)

We stayed strong and didn't get any shots this time as per the Danish schedule. It was a little interesting though because the Dr is a friend of our family and his nurse happens to be my Mom's best friend. He went over the schedule with me and compared it with their schedule and the brand of vaccines they use and why some of the differences might be. For example one of the vaccines has two main forms, one needs three shots to give full immunity and the other only needs two and we happen to use the one that needs three, possible the Danes use the other? I told him we would talk about it and Greg said he still wants to wait until Luke is a year to get anymore shots. I think our Dr was ok with us not getting all the vaccines right now. But I also think that it would be easier for him maybe if we followed the standard. We talked about the Autism scare that affects most people's decision not to get vaccines and I told him that I know vaccines probably don't cause Autism but I'm not convinced that they don't sometimes trigger it, especially if the child has a reaction to the vaccines or even just a high fever with them and he agreed with that. I said that as for the other vaccines that are required for school we would cross that bridge when we came to it but I didn't see any reason for him to get them now other than to get them over with, like Hep B which is only spread through bodily fluids and I don't think Luke will be having promiscuous sex or sharing drug needles before the age of 5. Anyway, I was nervous going into it. I guess I don't want to alienate the Dr's who work with me professionally or personally, and I didn't want him to think I am unreasonable or extremest. It went really well in that regard, I think we talked through things and understood each other.

After the Dr's visit I took my mom out for lunch for her birthday which is Saturday the 13th. Happy b-day Mom! I love you! My mom and I have similar tastes in food a lot of the time but I think sometimes she is more adventurous than I am, I tend to find one thing on the menu that I like and stick to it. When I eat with my mom though I try to get something new, especially if there is something she really likes. We went to a local mom and pop type diner that has really good patty melts and Dad doesn't like that restaurant so they don't go very often. I had never had a patty melt and was picturing a salmon patty covered in melted cheese or something. If any of you have never had it's basically a hamburger with melted Swiss cheese and grilled onions on rye bread grilled. It is yummy but I don't know that I am quite the enthusiast my mom is.

Also while we were there I got water with lemon to drink and she gave us a whole bowl of lemon slices so I gave one to Luke to play with and see what he would do. I wish we had a video of it! He LOVED the lemons! He would put it in his mouth and suck on it and then make a face for a second and then jam it back in his mouth again! He sucked on lemons for several minutes before he got tired and started playing the "throw-it-on-the-floor" game. It was pretty funny. (-; He also enjoyed flirting with the waitress who couldn't get enough of him.

Well, we are really busy the next few weeks. This is probably my most laid back week, but this weekend I work, then the next weekend is Winfield and we are camping for two days!!! Then the next weekend we are flying to Indiana for a friend's wedding which is on the 27th of September. The weekend after that I work again so it's going to feel kinda crazy for a while. At night when I can't think I go over in my head how we are going to pack for the flight to Indiana or how we are going to prepare for Winfield. Things like how we will get his carseat and breastmilk on the plane, or what things I can pack to make sure that we don't have to do a lot of moving around and Luke stays warm and happy at Winfield. My mom is a list person when it comes to vacations and trips and often says that when she can't sleep before a trip she has to get up and make a list so that she can relax and stop thinking about it all the time, I guess she passed that along to me too. (-:

Well that's it for now! Hope to see lots of friends at Winfield in two weeks and happy b-day again to my Mom! I hope I can be as good of a mom to Luke as you are to me.

the hat!

Well I finished the hat tonight! That was faster than I thought it would be, and really easy too! I think that is the first time I have ever just bought yarn with out knowing what exactly I'm going to do with it. I mean, I knew I wanted to make a hat but I have never made a hat before and I didn't have a pattern yet so I really didn't know what I was looking for, just something soft that would make a cool hat. Anyway, it fits Luke great and looks pretty cute I think.

So, if it has to be cold outside, bring it on. We are ready!

new projects and fun stuff!

Look at my happy baby! Can you see the curl on top of his head in the one below? I just had to get a pic of it even though it is dark and the house is a mess, just look at the curl!
This last one was after we finally got him calmed down. I think he has a cold or something because he was crying really hard and the usual wasn't calming him down. I finally ended up giving him some Tylenol and eventually he settled down and was happy again the rest of the evening, poor baby!

Ok, I am excited!

First, today Luke is 6 months old and for the first time today I saw him start moving his hands while trying to crawl!!! He even made a little forward progress! (unfortunately no video yet but I will keep trying ;-) He is such a beautiful, good baby! I really couldn't have asked for a better one, or one that fit me better as a new mom. He loves to snuggle, he is mellow but knows what he wants, and usually I can figure it out easily. Today we ate lunch with Grandma and Papa Regier at a restaurant and he was happy and so easy the whole time. While we ate he just sat on my lap and played and he gave lots of smiles to Grandma and Papa. (-:

Second, I made two fun buys that should get here just in time for Winfield, which also makes me excited! (we are going for Friday and Saturday!) Anyway, I won an auction on ebay and got Robeez booties (brown ones) for way cheaper than they are sold for (way too expensive). They are the coolest shoes, very durable and made of leather, soft and flexible so they are good for baby feet and good for learning how to walk. They should fit him for the next 6 months at least and they are nice and warm for winter. Soooo CUTE!

The other fun buy is also baby related, a mei tai carrier from http://www.meitaibaby.com/ , check it out. This isn't a super cheap buy but I worked an extra shift to make up for it and in the long run I think it is a very economical and responsible buy. I did my homework and this company got the best reviews and I know why! First I like it because it is a stay at home mom who makes the mei tais and I like supporting small businesses. Second this is the only kind of mei tai I could find that has snaps at the botom to make it adjustable which makes it possible to use it with newborns as well as toddlers (others claim that they can be used with newborns as well but a lot of reviews I saw said that they didn't work as well with newborns because they weren't adjustable at the bottom). This is also the only mei tai I could find that has the "zippy" option which allows you to switch out the pretty fabric on the outside whenever you want and totally change the look of your mei tai with your mood or the occasion or the person doing the carrying (you can get a pretty one for yourself and a manly one for dad). It also rated very high on durability and on customer satisfaction, a lot of reviews talked about how the business owner had gone out of her way to take care of her customers even when it wasn't her responsibility. Case in point, I asked if she could get it to me before Winfield and she said sure, especially since it's a bluegrass festival. (-; Anyway they are beautiful and I can't wait to try mine. I'll take pics, or have Greg take pics to post after it gets here. (-;

The third thing I am excited about is a few new knitting projects! Yep, Luke is letting me knit, such a good baby! I am making a hat for him, and then I bought yarn for two pairs of socks!

Above is the yarn for the hat(it's actually a little bluer and greener than it looks in the picture) and below is the pattern and my progress so far tonight! The yarn is very soft and warm alpaca yarn! The ear flaps have " hidden" peace signs, can you see them below???

And finally the sock yarn!

I feel a little guilty, new things shouldn't make me so happy, but I guess at least I am being responsible about the new things I am getting!