He ain't heavy...

...he's my brother

and the load

doesn't weigh me down at all

he ain't heavy

he's my brother

-The Hollies, "He Ain't Heavy (He's My Brother)"

Happy half birthday! Six months ago today, Luke entered our lives and forever changed our family. The week he was born, Jay came down with a cold which quickly morphed into the worst of his 5 pneumonia episodes. So very early on, we began learning how to balance the needs of two kiddos. I wasn't sure how I could ever love a second child as well or as much as I loved my first.

In our family, we sign notes with "LYTB" which means "love you the best." We joke about who is loved the best, while knowing that we are all loved completely. Appie (my grandmother) used to say that she always loved best the one who needed her at that moment. That never made much sense to me until the last few weeks. It doesn't mean that I love Jay more ... it just means that the best of my love and my attention is currently focused on him - because he needs it. It's LYTB, not LYTM.

But yesterday afternoon, I headed over to RMH for some much-needed time with my baby. I've been trying to spend some time with him at least once a day, but all too often it's "Here's some milk, now I'm headed back to the hospital." Last night, we ate dinner together, we explored the house, we unpacked our stuff, we played with some toys and rattles. Giggled at each other. Pseudo-normal stuff.

He's doing great, in spite of the lack of attention from Mommy. In fact, he's probably happier because of it - he's been uber-spoiled by THREE grandparents who are more than happy to do whatever he wants. Even now that he's down to just one grandparent in town, he's staying very-well attended to!

He's finally learning to roll over. Six months is pretty late - Jay was rolling both directions at 3 months but Luke is just completely content whether you lay him on his back or his belly. He's actually thinking about trying to crawl and has gotten his knees under him and scooted a few times (though he usually moves backwards!). What baby crawls before they can roll over?! He's getting over his cold - though there's still no chance in hell we're bringing him to the germy hospital. He has been struggling with sleeping - probably because he's waking himself up coughing, but he slept through the night last night. It was much needed rest for us all.

Since being in Philadelphia, Luke has tried several new foods and, like his big brother, seems to be a BIG fan of whatever you put in front of him. He's had sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, peas and carrots. He is already moving on to semi-solid foods. At this rate we may scoot on past stage 3 baby foods and just start mushing up what we're eating!

So, Luke, I am so very sorry that I can't spend every waking minute with you. Thank you for being such a laid-back, easygoing kid and rolling along with all the craziness that's come into your life lately. I hope you turn out to be just as easygoing when you grow up ... and I think you've got a good model for that in your dear ol' dad. He's a second child, too. And he turned out okay.