Lucas James Stisher: Busy, Busy

Sorry it has been so long, we've been super busy the past few weeks with work, business trips, and vacation, and we're doing a major yard rennovation in our "free" time. We spent a week (of the 4th of July) with the kids and my whole family at Norris Lake, TN. Like last year, my Dad & Rose rented a house for all of us as (my four siblings and our families) as our Christmas gift. It was great all being together, especially since we live pretty spread out. At one point, we had 23 of us in the house! It was a week of no Internet access or phone service where we were on the lake... actually kind of nice for a couple of people that can't get away from a Blackberry! We were forced to turn everything off. We spent a week full of sun, water, boating, cocktails, and lots of laughs...there's never a dull moment when my brothers get together, then add Bran into the mix (he and Matt are trouble when they get together)!

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This picture above was taken on the drive back from TN... I looked back and found them like this. So sweet. Abby is such a great helper with Lucas and keeping him entertained! Nicholas wanted to ride next to him on the way down, but quickly realized how much work it is sitting next to Lucas on a long trip... when he wants a snack, wants to play, or when he chucks his toys across the back seat. He was pretty willing to let Abby take that seat on the way back! Ha.

Not much to report... that's a good thing, right? All is good and Lucas is still talking like crazy. It was great seeing him around all the family, if anyone passed him in the room or came within ten feet of him, it was "hi"... "hi"... "hi." If you don't acknowledge him right away, he'll keep saying it until you say it back. This week, he's moved on to "Heeeeyyy". Sometimes it comes out in a sweet little groovy tone, sounding a little like the Fonz. Warms my heart to be greeted this way in the morning. He's experimenting with a lot of new sounds too, lots of "o's", "eee's", and "bee". Abby was so excited she started screaming when she heard him put together "Ab-by" for the first time this past weekend. I am really hoping I can get some videos up soon showing his progress.

Still not sitting up, but I'm trying being patient and not get caught up in what Marcy told us a few weeks ago. He continues to get stronger though, I know its right around the corner. This weekend our neighbor was over with her 7 month old, who is sitting up well... I overheard Abby and Anna say, "he can sit up and he's seven months old? Lucas can't do that yet." Broke my heart to hear them say it, but honestly, the feeling was quickly retracted and replaced with pride when I heard Abby say, "but we're working on that with him. He's almost there." (She said, "we" are working on that with him.) I've said it before, they have such a sweet bond and ownership of him. They are genuinely excited to help him learn and do new things.

We had a GI appointment last week which wasn't great, he's not gaining enough weight for her satisfaction, his weight to height ratio changed and he's now out of an acceptable ratio (he grew another inch and didn't gain anything the past few months). Ehhh, SO hard to eat healthy and gain weight!! All that dairy we removed contains the fat! We are eating other foods, but its not easy. They drew a bunch of blood and want to check various levels, but we don't have the results yet. They took five vials, can you believe that? I was thinking the whole time, are you sure that is safe to take so much out of a little guy? That's A LOT! I'm pretty bad with needles and blood, so I had to turn away the whole time. Hopefully they don't find anything alarming, it will be good to have peace of mind in knowing his levels are ok. So, we're back doing night feedings, she increased his dose of periactin for increased appetite (still 2 weeks on/off), he's back on Prevacid, and I have to start keeping a food log. She wants us to meet with the Children's nutritionist, and we plan to visit our holistic pediatrician again for new ideas. Personally, I think we're fine, he's always pulled out of these low weight gain lulls, and he was thrown so off of his schedule during vacation, I know he wasn't eating well. His eating this week already seems better.

That's all for now! Here's a few pictures, but check back later this week for more. Bran and I are off to New York City again this weekend... but without Lucas this time! Not that we won't miss him for a night, but it will be a lot of fun for just us to get away. We're heading up with a few couples to celebrate a friend's birthday, see a broadway show, and take in the nightlife. Yeah!

Trying our first lollipop from Anna this past weekend... he loved it!