One for You, Twenty for Me

Luke is a big fan of those little Gerber puffs, but since he eats like 7-8 at a meal, I couldn't for the life of me figure out why we were going through them so quickly! I mean, it's not like we're accidentally substituting them for cat treats or something like that. And, there's no evidence of a little furry rodent or the thing living in our bathroom fan getting into the puffs. I took steps to put proper surveilence in place, just in case, and found the most curious thing...

...Mike with the puff can upright pouring them into his mouth.

So much to blog about, so little time. Luke hasn't been his usual jolly self the last few days. He's had outright unexplainable fits off and on. We've been doing the Tylenol countermeasure, but that has had mixed results. It's been tough not being able to calm him down or understand what is going on. Luckily, it's only affecting his days - nap taking, eating, etc., but the nights have been just fine so far. Hopefully, it will pass as a phase before this weekend, when Grandma Ellen and Aunt Marlo come visit!

A Day Out in the Big City

We took advantage of a beautiful day and got away to downtown. Here we are riding the train:

Luke waking up from his nap on the train:
Here we are getting our feet wet at Millenium Park. This is a really cool place and these big towers have faces on them and spew water out of their "mouths" every so often.
I loved the water! Can we go back??
This orb thing has a name, but it escapes me at the moment. It was really cool.
The Batman made out of Lego's at Marshall Fields...ah hem...Macy's. Only $27,000.Breaking for lunch at Macy's All in all, a great time! Luke did really well, although he was anxious to crawl around by the time we got home.

8 Months Old!

Today, Luke is every bit of 8 months old! Last week, he weighed 20 lbs and was 28 inches long. Luke spent is day today riding in a shopping cart, chasing the cats, giggling at the words Peek-a-boo, strolling around the arboretum with our new friends Hima and Millan, and getting into anything that he isn't supposed to. Overall, it was a great day!

Here's a preview of two of his portraits! Rather than post a link to the rest, just email me or post a comment if you'd like to see them!

Our First Portraits and a Whole Lot of Rain!

Last week, I finally got around to taking Luke for his first baby pictures. It was a bit of a crazy morning since Luke didn't have any intention of going down easily for his nap beforehand and I was told that I had to coordinate with Luke so that I could be incorporated at the end. So, I knew that my usual mom look wouldn't quite do. So, even though Luke only napped for 20 minutes before I had to wake him up, I needent have worried.


Not only was Luke in a fabulous mood, all it took was one snap of the picture and Luke belly-laughed the ENTIRE time. I'm not sure if it was the flashing light, the blue teddy bear, or the photographer with the funky hairdo, but whatever it was, everyone was laughing by the end of it. He was hysterical, and it made for some adorable pictures. I'll post a link online as soon as they are ready.


Well, it FINALLY quit raining. It was a deluge all weekend, with Saturday being the wettest day in Chicago's recorded history. Overall, we had over 8 1/2 inches of rain, but the basement held out, and no water to report! Hooray!! We are fortunately not in one the areas that has flooded, but two interstates are still shut down from the flooding. Luke was sporting his rainy day hat, just in case we decided to go outside.

The North Carolina Story

Well, I'm finally ready to blog about this...but it's not too funny yet. You see, 14 years ago, Mike got a speeding ticket in North Carolina. It was his senior year of college, and so, he just sent his payment off rather than contest it in court. According to the very nice county clerk in Statesville, NC, they never received his payment. So, now with late fees, court fees, etc., the amount owed is $241. Seeing as though a senior in college doesn't keep the best records (I know that I couldn't prove that I paid my speeding ticket in Tennessee coming back from visiting Laura at Ole Miss) and seeing as though his bank has since been acquired three times over, the chances of proving that he paid it are slim to none. But, the payments don't end there....

• $3 to obtain a receipt, since we had to send a money order rather than a personal check
• $0.42 cent stamp for the self-addressed envelope to send that receipt to us
• $50 to obtain a letter from the state of North Carolina to show to the State of Illinois that Mike is all cleared
• Grand Total of this fiasco: $294.42
• Learning to KEEP EVERYTHING, priceless

So, in the pouring rain and with Luke in tow, I ran the bank, to the post office at the grocery store only to find out their system was down, and then to the real post office to get everything sent off on Monday. Sure, we probably could have fought some of the fees by getting a lawyer, but we figured we better cut our losses (he does need a drivers license). Probably would have cost us more to get a lawyer involved anyway, but the one question I'm dying to ask is why they never tracked Mike down sooner. Oh well....I don't know about Mike, but I plan to open champagne once he finally has his license and toast to moving to Scotland someday where something this ridiculous couldn't possibly happen. Or at least, I'll think that. :-)

Luke's First Haircut

Let's just say that there is an update on the North Carolina issue, and since it's going to cost us $294, I'm not quite ready to blog about it yet. Just another reason why I want to move to Scotland....ha! It's pretty unbelieveable, but I'd rather write about something fun on this rather chilly day (it was 48 this morning!)

Luke was definitely getting a wee bit shaggy around the ears, and since he never lost all of his baby hair up top, he needed a little cleanup. I was not at all looking forward to it, as he never sits still, and I don't have a very steady hand. I had visions of cutting his ear or stabbing his forehead and scarring him for life. Alas, all my uneasiness was unjustified. I really should stop worrying so much. And somehow, overnight, he's gone from looking like a baby to looking more like a little boy, or at least I think so. :-)

Before:

After:

Although, you probably won't notice any change. Notice the snowman pajamas...in September!

All Mike Wants is a Driver's License

Let me begin by saying that we have not had the best luck with registering our cars and getting our Illinois drivers' licenses. I thought I might have made mention of my ordeal in a previous blog, but can't seem to find it. I had the task of getting my driver's license and registering the Accord here in Illinois. It took me 3 trips to the Secretary of State office to accomplish this, and I'm not 100% sure that the registration and title went through. It bordered on ludicrous - the amount of documentation that I needed to prove that we purchased the car in 2004 from a dealer in Virginia and borrowed money for that car from Capital One Auto Finance, who apparently doesn't have good enough documentation in their loan agreement to satisfy the State of Illinois. In hindsight, we should have just paid our remaining loan (it will be paid off in October), received the title, and everything would have been hunky dorey. Oh well. Note to self.

To get a Driver's License in the state of Illinois, you need 4 types of documents: proof of identity (a passport), proof of license (say a Virginia Driver's license), proof of SSN (a social security card), and proof of residency (a utility bill). After presenting this and promising to give your first born, you have to take a written exam, relinquish your Virginia Driver's license, pay $10 and you're on your way. Well, poor Mike has hit a few snags. First of all, back in 1994 when he graduated college, his wallet was stolen containing his social security card. So, that had to be addressed first - he appeared at the Social Security Administration and waited 4-6 weeks and now has a copy of his social security card. This morning, he headed to the Secretary of State office to arrive at 8 am when it opened. He was probably about 30 minutes too late because every seat was filled when he arrived. After waiting his turn, the nice lady told him that she was sorry but that the State of North Carolina was blocking his petition to get a driver's license. Uh, what?? So, now he has to call the State of North Carolina, figure out what the heck is going on, and request a letter to provide to the State of Illinois saying that the State of North Carolina no longer cares that Michael T. Bucciero wants a license. We're very interested to find out what is going on and surely after a while, this will be a very funny story.

Poop Tales

So, I don't have a lot of prior experience with baby boys. I really only ever remember changing diapers for girls, and it just seems like an entirely different beast now. Today, I could have used two extra arms. Let me set the stage - poopy diaper and kid bouncing off the walls because his schedule was interrupted by a trip to doctor. The doctor visit was relatively harmless, but try telling that to a 7-month old who knows something is strange and unfamiliar and can only mean pain. Oh yeah, and one more thing to add to our situation - Luke likes to "explore" down there, probably partly because he has a bit of an itchy rash. On a side note, apparently, you have to make sure that the child is "bone dry" before applying Desitin or else it just traps in the yeast. This is proving to be a challenge when you're changing a strong, squirmy, fussy child who isn't the least bit interested in cooperating during the diaper change. Anyway, back to the poop. I have learned that it's usually a good idea to provide Luke with a distraction when changing his diaper. I grabbed a few chewing rings hoping that it would allow me to quickly take care of business. Not so.

Hands grab toy. Hands holding toy immediately grab down there, ending up with poop all over them and getting poop on the rings in the process. Mommy grabs hands to keep them from going in mouth, flings the rings on the floor, getting poop on her hands in the process. Luke doesn't like Mommy holding hands because he doesn't understand what the big deal is and starts kicking, landing feet in the poop and smearing it on the changing pad and the wall. Mommy removes diaper and tries to figure out what order to wipe things in to prevent any poop from making it into Luke's mouth, proceeding with the lower extremities. Now, Luke is mad and starts screaming because Mommy still won't let go of his hands. Mommy cleans hands and arms and then starts blowing on the diaper area in an attempt to make it "bone dry." Luke is still screaming. Now, let's add Desitin. Hands immediately grab and get Desitin on them, leading to a repeat cleaning. More screaming, more wrestling, and finally, peace in Mommy's arms and a nap for both Mommy and Luke.