It's hard to believe, but last week our little boy turned 2!! It's a major milestone as the doctors in the NICU always said that although Luke would start off "behind" developmentally for his age, by age two, he should have caught up as most preemies do. And for the most part, he has. He is still a little guy for his age, having just cracked the 20 pound mark, but he is super smart and perfect in almost every way. Of course he has his moments like all toddlers where he gets a little cranky and has the occassional meltdown, but for the most part he is very happy and playful.
He has come a long way since the days of being on a monitor 24 hours a day and needing all sorts of medicines and we couldn't feel more blessed and proud of him. He makes us laugh and surprises us every day with a new word or "trick". He does have to wear glasses which he doesn't like very much, but we hope he'll get more used to them as time goes on. He loves playing with his toys and books, but not as much as mommy and daddy's iPhone or iPad or anything else electronic for that matter.
It's hard to remember what life was like before him or what life would be like without him. He has made us better people and brings a smile to everyone who meets him. We love watching him grow and know that he'll do something amazing one day.
Thanks for reading and for all your prayers and support these last two years.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
Our Little Walker
As April draws to a close and spring nears, Luke has been busy practicing his rapidly improving walking and swimming skills. His wobbly steps are now much more stable, although he still has the occasional stumble, usually when he's in a hurry. He loves to walk over to daddy while he's working, greet him with a smile and motion for 'uppy' so he can see what dad is up to on the computer. He's continuing with his swimming lessons and is doing great. He shows no fear and other than being distracted by all of the other people and babies around him, seems to be learning quickly.
He recently showed off some of his walking skills by crossing the finish line at the March for Babies last weekend to much applause from family and friends. Here's a video:
He also has 3 more teeth growing in, making his adorable smile even cuter and also seems to finally be getting some hair on the sides of his head growing in along with his new 'toothers'. We've been introducing him to more "big boy" food as often as we can like pasta, vegetables, bread (his favorite) and today he even tried some chicken and eggs. He's also starting to use the sign language gesture for "more" while we're feeding him which is cool to see. He's still working on the 'sippy' cup and doesn't quite grasp the concept yet, but in due time we're sure he'll have it mastered.
Our little boy is getting bigger by the day, we'll be sure to keep you all updated. Thanks for reading!
He recently showed off some of his walking skills by crossing the finish line at the March for Babies last weekend to much applause from family and friends. Here's a video:
He also has 3 more teeth growing in, making his adorable smile even cuter and also seems to finally be getting some hair on the sides of his head growing in along with his new 'toothers'. We've been introducing him to more "big boy" food as often as we can like pasta, vegetables, bread (his favorite) and today he even tried some chicken and eggs. He's also starting to use the sign language gesture for "more" while we're feeding him which is cool to see. He's still working on the 'sippy' cup and doesn't quite grasp the concept yet, but in due time we're sure he'll have it mastered.
Our little boy is getting bigger by the day, we'll be sure to keep you all updated. Thanks for reading!
Saturday, March 5, 2011
1 Year at Home
March 4th marked the 1st year anniversary of Luke being at home with us and what a year it has been. Luke is now 15 months old, weighs about 16lbs and is becoming quite the little man.
He has been pulling up and walking along furniture for months now and just recently started taking his first wobbly steps, so it's only a matter of time before he's off and running and has us chasing him around on foot. He's already become quite good at going up and down our stairs (while supervised by us of course), so it might be time to get a new gate soon.
He's finally got his first little tooth, which means he's eating more "solids" including cheese, bread, "puffs", diced carrots and a few other things. If we put food on a fork for him, he's even able to put it in his mouth and eat the food off of it, but he's still mastering that one. He definitely likes eating and isn't afraid to let us know when he's "done", with a forceful push away of our hand.
By far the most fun though has been hearing him really start to talk. He's really found his voice and has his own babble language that includes "mom", "momma", "da", "dada", and what sounds like "down" in addition to a bunch of other of his own made up words like "ditdow".
On this coming Monday, Luke will also be starting swimming lessons which should be lots of fun for him and we're excited for him to learn.
We're truly grateful and very blessed for having such an amazing little boy who has come a very long way in his first year.
Stacy and I are always looking for ways to do our part to help other parents and children in need, so this year we started our own team for the "March of Dimes", called "Luke's Light-Bringers". We'd love everyone and anyone who would like to join us on the walk on April 17th or simply make a donation. Details can be found at the website below. Hope to see you there!
www.marchforbabies.org/team/t1520709
He has been pulling up and walking along furniture for months now and just recently started taking his first wobbly steps, so it's only a matter of time before he's off and running and has us chasing him around on foot. He's already become quite good at going up and down our stairs (while supervised by us of course), so it might be time to get a new gate soon.
He's finally got his first little tooth, which means he's eating more "solids" including cheese, bread, "puffs", diced carrots and a few other things. If we put food on a fork for him, he's even able to put it in his mouth and eat the food off of it, but he's still mastering that one. He definitely likes eating and isn't afraid to let us know when he's "done", with a forceful push away of our hand.
By far the most fun though has been hearing him really start to talk. He's really found his voice and has his own babble language that includes "mom", "momma", "da", "dada", and what sounds like "down" in addition to a bunch of other of his own made up words like "ditdow".
On this coming Monday, Luke will also be starting swimming lessons which should be lots of fun for him and we're excited for him to learn.
We're truly grateful and very blessed for having such an amazing little boy who has come a very long way in his first year.
Stacy and I are always looking for ways to do our part to help other parents and children in need, so this year we started our own team for the "March of Dimes", called "Luke's Light-Bringers". We'd love everyone and anyone who would like to join us on the walk on April 17th or simply make a donation. Details can be found at the website below. Hope to see you there!
www.marchforbabies.org/team/t1520709
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Christmas and 2011
Hey everyone, sorry it's been a long time since the last update again. The holidays were crazy as usual. Luke is doing so well. He loved Christmas and opening all of his presents from Santa, although we think he liked playing with the wrapping paper more than anything.
Already in the new year, he has begun to do all sorts of new things. He is crawling super fast now, up on his knees, rather than the army crawl style he had gotten used to. He's starting to "talk" a lot more in baby babble style, which will make the speech therapists happy. He's working on his wave hello (and goodbye) and is getting better at it. He's quite the adventurer too and not only will he crawl wherever he can go (and try to crawl into places he can't), he also loves to pull up on all of the furniture and work his way gingerly along as far as he can go. He already has a favorite cartoon - "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" and lights up when he sees Mickey every time. One thing he doesn't seem to like is going to sleep which is proving to be more and more of a challenge for us lately.
We've been giving him all sorts of new foods as well and he seems to like most of them, especially applesauce and fresh bananas. He likes to gum down on "mum-mum's" sometimes and/or his biter biscuits and he's getting better at drinking from his sippy cup.
Doctor visits have gone well. The eye doctor's said his eyes haven't changed so they won't have to check again until May, which was good to hear. He did have a cold along with nasty cough about a week or two ago and needed to get a few nebulizer treatments, but he was tough as usual and got through it as always.
That's all for now. We'll keep you all posted as often as we can find the time. Thanks again!
Already in the new year, he has begun to do all sorts of new things. He is crawling super fast now, up on his knees, rather than the army crawl style he had gotten used to. He's starting to "talk" a lot more in baby babble style, which will make the speech therapists happy. He's working on his wave hello (and goodbye) and is getting better at it. He's quite the adventurer too and not only will he crawl wherever he can go (and try to crawl into places he can't), he also loves to pull up on all of the furniture and work his way gingerly along as far as he can go. He already has a favorite cartoon - "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" and lights up when he sees Mickey every time. One thing he doesn't seem to like is going to sleep which is proving to be more and more of a challenge for us lately.
We've been giving him all sorts of new foods as well and he seems to like most of them, especially applesauce and fresh bananas. He likes to gum down on "mum-mum's" sometimes and/or his biter biscuits and he's getting better at drinking from his sippy cup.
Doctor visits have gone well. The eye doctor's said his eyes haven't changed so they won't have to check again until May, which was good to hear. He did have a cold along with nasty cough about a week or two ago and needed to get a few nebulizer treatments, but he was tough as usual and got through it as always.
That's all for now. We'll keep you all posted as often as we can find the time. Thanks again!
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
1yr Check Up
Luke went for his 1yr check up the other day. He is now up to 15 lbs 3 oz and is 26 in long. He is getting to be a big boy. The doctor told us that he could start table foods. Today we tried giving him some puffs. He liked playing with them, but once we put one in his mouth he wasn't liking it. We will try something else tomorrow. Also, during this doctor visit he got his second dose of the flu shot and his Synagis shot ( protects against RSV). They had to give the Synagis in two shots so Luke had to get 3 shots total. Needless to say he was not too thrilled, but he was a brave boy.
On Luke's birthday we had our friend, Dagmara, come and take some photos of him. Here are a few of our favorites.
On Luke's birthday we had our friend, Dagmara, come and take some photos of him. Here are a few of our favorites.
Friday, November 26, 2010
1 Year Later
It was one year ago today that our life changed forever in a very sudden, unexpected and ultimately wonderful way. Lucas Alexander Hemmer was born at 2:35pm at an extraordinarily tiny 12" and 1lb 5.9 oz. Nothing could have prepared us for everything we would go through between that day and now, but looking back, we have many amazing memories and the hard times, while not forgotten, are far overshadowed by the countless moments that filled our hearts with joy. Words can't really describe how blessed we are and how lucky we feel. We couldn't have done it without the amazing support from family, friends and even many good hearted people we barely knew.
It's hard to believe that a year has already gone by. Luke is doing extremely well and constantly surprises us with new faces, sounds or something he learned to do. He loves to crawl around, exploring every corner and everything he comes across and pulls himself to standing every chance he gets, usually followed by a soft plump onto his backside. It's amazing to watch him grow and it seems he gets bigger every day.
He still has his medicines for reflux, asthma-like symptoms and to continue to heal his lungs, but before long those will be distant memories as well. Everyone that sees him says how amazing he looks and you'd never know he had such a rough start.
To commemorate Luke's first birthday, we put together a little photo and video collage of Luke's first year with us. We hope you enjoy it.
It's hard to believe that a year has already gone by. Luke is doing extremely well and constantly surprises us with new faces, sounds or something he learned to do. He loves to crawl around, exploring every corner and everything he comes across and pulls himself to standing every chance he gets, usually followed by a soft plump onto his backside. It's amazing to watch him grow and it seems he gets bigger every day.
He still has his medicines for reflux, asthma-like symptoms and to continue to heal his lungs, but before long those will be distant memories as well. Everyone that sees him says how amazing he looks and you'd never know he had such a rough start.
To commemorate Luke's first birthday, we put together a little photo and video collage of Luke's first year with us. We hope you enjoy it.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Luke's 1st Halloween
When Luke was a baby he made such funny sounds and we would call him "baby dragon". So it was only fitting that we dressed him up as a dragon for his first Halloween. Her are a few pics of him. He didn't enjoy the hood part very much because it kept covering his eyes.
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