Our Little Monkey at 3 Months

At 3 months old, Luca is now a smiling, cooing, bubble blowing machine! He makes the cutest little sounds, almost like he is singing to himself and he likes the sound of a rattle when he shakes it, but doesn't hold onto it for very long yet. When you put him down to sleep, he immediately curls over to his right side, so I'm sure it won't be long before he's turning over.

He is always doing little aerobics, flailing his arms and legs about (especially while I'm trying to change him!), and it is so cute when he puts his hands together. Lucky for us, he seems to enjoy wearing hats because it's been pretty cold these past few months (and he has really cute hats)! This one is Gregory's old Bucknell hat...some of his facial expressions just crack me up!

Also, he has totally discovered his thumb now - though, he often tries his whole fist first before he settles for just the one finger.

Here's a little bit of the cuteness I look forward to waking up to each morning...

A New Kid On Jesus' Team

Aunt Adele said that Luca's Baptism was a beautiful day because Jesus got a new kid on his team! I just love that lady...!

Fr. Tim performed the baptism at St. Louise, with Godparents Aunt Cat and Zio Mikey.

Luca wore the same baptismal gown that Paul and Gregory wore, made by Nonna 33 years ago. I purposely didn't tell Tony about the "dress" code beforehand so that he wouldn't have a chance to veto. I'm pretty sure if Luca had a say in the matter, THIS is how he would have shown up...!

Afterwards, we had a lovely luncheon reception at the Via Verde Country Club. Luca got so many wonderful presents, including a check from Zio Mikey which in the memo line read: "For Washing Away Original Sin" : )

Showering Imelda

It won't be long before we have a new Allevato in the family... Imelda! To celebrate, we threw her a shower at the Via Verde Country Club with lovely ladies from both families, so it was a great chance for everyone to meet before the wedding.

In just a few weeks, we will be flanking Imelda in our beautiful wine-colored gowns!

Luca enjoyed meeting a lot of his aunts and cousins for the first time, but it really tired him out...!

Out Little Monkey at 2 Months

Luca is now 2 months old and is getting cuter ever day! He's getting to be a lot more "interactive" with smiles and responses, so it is so much fun!

He is enjoying time in the bouncer and the swing, which gives me a break to do laundry and other short tasks and big sister Daisy is never far from the action when it comes to floor time!

Mornings are the best as he wakes up all smiles! He has a little routine of waking up with the cutest little morning stretches where he looks like he's gonna just stretch right out of his pj's! His yawns are still too precious and his sneezes, which have always been cute little "choo!" sounds, now have an added adorable "AAAH" preceeding them...makes my heart melt every time...I'm determined to catch some of these moments on camera...! Here's at least a little glimpse of how fun our mornings are : )

Baby Houdini

This is the most amazing little swaddler called the Miracle Blanket, aka the baby straight jacket. Up until now, it kept him nice a bundled through the night so that he wouldn't wake himself up with his flailing arms.

He must be getting stronger though, because most mornings of late I wake up to find at least one arm and/or leg has escaped at some point during the night. I think it may be time to retire the blanket, along with some onesies and sleepers he's grown out of (*sniff, sniff*)...can't believe how true it is that they really do grow so fast!

Will Power

I love this picture, first of all, because it is a pretty adorable shot of the little guy, but secondly, because it was my "free follow-up 8x10" from the photographer who snapped Luca's first portrait in the hospital. The company charges almost $50 for that first shot and then offers a "free" sitting and 8x10 a month later. When the guy came back to sell me on a huge package of collages and multiple poses, I stuck to my guns and just said, "No thanks, I'll just take my free 8x10, please." Mom and Tony couldn't believe I held out : )

Hi Ho, Hi Ho...

Today was mommy's first official day back at work, and since we don't have a sitter lined up yet, daddy took Luca to his doctor appointment and to work with him! It was so funny seeing Tony leaving the house this morning in a dress shirt and slacks...with a Kate Spade diaper bag on one shoulder and a burp cloth on the other!

I don't think he didn't use the burp cloth much, though, 'cause the little guy nailed his shoulder pretty good...

Luca got handed back off to me at work around 3:30 after Tony had had enough...

He was SO GOOD at the office, didn't cry once, and actually let me work for quite a nice stretch of time. I'm glad Tony brought him when he did, because I REALLY missed him!

Tummy Time

Now that Luca is two months old, we are working on "tummy time" for 10-20 minutes each afternoon...the poor little guy gets so frustrated trying to lift that big head of his...takes after his Grandpa Joe : )

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Monkeying Around

This week, we put away the co-sleeper and moved Luca into his crib at night. Also, I finally got around to putting up pictures and monkey stickers on the wall, so it is now officially a finished monkey nursery for the little guy. I'm so happy with the way it turned out...his room is the happiest place on earth to me right now. He seems to really focus on the monkeys, especially on the mobile and on the wall near the glider. I think he will grow up loving monkeys... hmm, or hating them... we'll see!