A wild Armstrong Saturday night.

Zeke just finished 4.5 hours of on-and-off fussing, crying, screaming at the top of his lungs, burping, and tooting. Finally, he has fallen asleep. I, Bethany, got a lot of reading done during Zeke's final nurse; I'm enjoying a memoir written by Denise Jackson, wife of country superstar Alan Jackson. (It's not as fluffy as it sounds, really.) (Yes, Haley, I'm reading. And enjoying it. There's hope for me yet.) I am wondering if Zeke's long crying session tonight means good stretches of sleep? That seems to be the pattern. Cryless nights: He wakes up often. Cryful nights: He gets his fill of food and tears, so there's no reason to rouse himself much. Last night, for example: 3 hours of Fuss. Then 10 PM to 5:30 AM, he only woke up once. Good tradeoff, I'd say.

Meanwhile, I am wondering where my husband is. He disappeared into Luke's bedroom at about 7:30 to put the blonde lad to sleep: reading, rocking, then plopping him into bed and telling him stories until he konks. It has been two hours, and I have not heard a peep. Either Richie has finagled a way out of Luke's bedroom window and made an escape, or he has fallen asleep in there. This is the third time in three weeks I have been faced with this situation. First time: "Is he alive?" (Opened the door quietly, saw Richie lying on the floor, and checked to be sure he was breathing. Closed door and let the poor man sleep.) Second time: "Did he fall asleep again? Poor guy, so tired!" (Opened the door, door hit his foot, he still did not wake up, closed door and let the poor man sleep.) Tonight: "I won't even check. I'll let the poor man sleep."

Now I'm headed that way too. Ah, life with a newborn.

Enjoy the photos.


Zeke sports the onesie made by Haley, and the Stanford cap from Ya-Ya and Toopie. Do they come any cuter?!?


Torpedo!


Let's hear it once again for the wonders of the Moby wrap. Konk.


Moby.


Moby.


Our little evening wailer in a moment of bliss. We are in awe of his cuteness. Biased, yeah.


Preparing for a doctor's visit: must dress the fellow up. New sweatshirt from Ya-Ya!


This little outfit was Bethany's grandma's gift to us Christmas of 2006, when Luke was about to be born. Ah, to be the age when you don't care if everyone stares in wonder at your behind.


Everyone has their roles when it comes to taking care of Zeke. Mom, obviously, does the nursing. Luke does the tormenting-while-nursing. For whatever reason, poking the ears seems to be the activity of choice while Zeke eats. It is now a new rule that while Zeke is eating, Luke is not allowed to touch him. Not as easy to enforce as it may sound...


Richie's role: Work with baby attached.


Grammy: Roll baby up into a burrito and try to calm him down.


Meanwhile, we still have fun little Luke on our hands. One afternoon Mom braved a painting adventure. Luke loooooves to paint. After a long time and a huge mess, he still begged for more.


Working on a brilliant masterpiece.


Still one to hold strong opinions about things, Luke couldn't go outside with Mom until he got his hat, backpack, and basketball. Okay. Here's the front view of our determined little man.


Rear view. Notice "Engineer" on hat and tractor in backpack. Too cute.


Poppy and Grammy have been a tremendous help since Zeke was born. They have cooked, cleaned, done everything for us--and taken wonderful care of Luke. Here Poppy takes Luke on an afternoon adventure. Loading up...


Off to the UCD airport!


Then to visit the lot full of UCD's antique tractors.

Grammy took Luke to the airport a day or two earlier, and Luke came back ecstatic. He told us the story of where he went, combining words and sounds to communicate that he went to the airport, saw big and little planes, saw them land, and saw a man in a plane who asked if he wanted to come in, but he said "No da dum" because he was scared. He is quite a dramatic storyteller. His rendition had him running around the room with intense hand gestures as he made loud airplane sounds.


Back to Zeke. He has more awake times these days, and we love having staring contests. He enjoys tucking in his bottom lip.


Zeke is starting to smile readily--well, when we jabber at him in high-pitched babytalk voices. It is one of the best parts of his parents' days. Here's the beginning of one of his coy little grins.


Luke observes Zeke's bath. Veeeery concerned.


"Sheesh, Grammy, I have to admit, I love all your attention..."


Sporting a handsome fleshy chin.


The other night Siena came over in her adorable striped pajamas, so Lukey had to put on his, too. (Compliments of Grammy.)


The Cousin Crew! Zeke's in the mushpot; and as usual, Luke can't keep his hands off the babies!


Grammy and Poppy with their grandbabies in a glimpse of real life: goofy Luke, babybaby Zeke, and ever-socially-aware Siena.


BOO! Siena is just the cutest. Her parents probably think so, too.


This morning, Poppy, Richie, Sarah, and Luke went out to the McClellan Aerospace Museum. Luke got to be a pilot!










While everyone else was out, Bethany was home alone with her new little Sweetiepie, who was full of smiles for his mama. (Grammy actually caught these last two shots before she left for the day. Thanks, Grammy.)


Babies are tiring, but I'll trade a grin like this for an hour of sleep any day.

Ny-ny!