Did you know there is such a thing as Maple Syrup Urine Disease?

I didn't either until Friday, when we had Luke's first doctor's appointment! (Before I proceed: Maple Syrup Urine Disease, or MSUD, is a defect in how the body metabolizes amino acids. It only occurs in roughly 1 of 200,000 newborns in the U.S., but there is an increased risk in Mennonites. Please know that I mention MSUD only to begin my blog in a creative, engaging way. The Roberts family does not trivialize MSUD, and we apologize to any readers, Mennonite or otherwise, afflicted by the condition.)

Okey dokey, now that I've appeased the PC masses ;), a lot has happened since I last posted! I'll start with the doctor's report: Luke has gained six ounces since birth but has not gotten any longer. He's in the 75th percentile in weight and only the 50th in height. I was briefly devastated, as I want Luke to inherit his father's tallness, not his mother's short stockiness. But as Jeremy pointed out, what matters most is that we have in fact kept Luke healthy in the two weeks he's been home. He had his first shot and his second PKU test (this is where they prick the baby's heel and take a blood sample to detect disorders such as MSUD). Yes, Luke cried and cried (and, surprisingly, his parents did not), but I swear it has as much to do with the fact that he was only in a diaper for about 40 minutes. Luke does not care for nudity, so I think being nearly naked for that long ticked him off more than the needles did. Poor little pumpkin...

Jeremy and I are doing pretty well. We've finally caught on to what everyone has told us: sleep when the baby sleeps. Luke is on a semi-reliable feeding and sleep schedule, and we've been lucky to get as many as four consecutive hours of sleep a night! (I hear this is quite a blessing.) Jeremy heads back to work tomorrow full time, though, and I think this transition will be tougher for everyone as we adjust to another change. That's another thing I'm learning about bringing up Luke: just when you think you have something figured out, it's time for something new!

Luke is awake much more these days (and, praise God, during his parents' more natural waking hours), and it has been so much fun watching him take stock of the world around him. I think he is finally starting to notice Hannah when she comes over to sniff him. We can't decide whether she's thinking, "I want to make sure my brother is here and safe," or "Oh s--t, he's still here." (UPDATE: based on the giant dump she just took in Luke's room, it appears that Hannah feels a bit underwhelmed with being second fiddle.) Luke tries to win her heart by wearing puppy gear as much as possible. I took a picture of him today in this adorable getup, complete with his puppy slippers. (Thanks to Stephanie B. for the slippers. Steph, he kept them on for about five minutes, which is quite impressive for footwear.)

Luke is getting better at zeroing in on us when we talk to him, and he's even started making little coos every now and again. Here he is at one of his first attempts at "tummy time." He's not quite doing one-armed push-ups just yet, but we're working on it.

Here's Luke on his first walk. I wish I could say he had a rapturous encounter with the outdoors, but, like his mother, he seemed unimpressed. (More likely: I think being in the car seat resembles being in the womb. He just balls up and sleeps. This has made for some noiseless car trips... so far anyway!)

Well, Lucas James is making it abundantly clear that Mom needs to stop blogging and start snuggling before we take a bath and watch the Cowboys-Packers game, Dexter finale, and Emmys. It's a big night around here!

Hugs to everyone... we'll write more soon!