Jazzercize and Jabberwocky

Levi. does leg aerobics.

I've known this for quite some time - we've called him "kicky boy" since he was practically a newborn. But his leg exercises have now taken on a much more regular rhythm.

Particularly when he's nursing , he'll do leg raises just like in an old '80s workout video. He also does yoga poses (downward dog-style), when we try to have him stand and walk, he does a little jig, and at any time when he's sitting with his legs hanging (high chair, holding him on my hip facing out, grocery store cart) his legs are constantly swinging :)

So hopefully when he realizes us holding his hands while he's standing is actually because we'd like him to try this thing called walking and not just to dance, his legs will be tones and sleek and ready for it. Maybe I should get him some legwarmers!

Levi also has become very, very talkative. Not that he's saying any particular words yet, though his sounds strung together sometimes sound like words. He will chatter to himself nonstop most of the time. If he wants something, he'll just talk louder until we figure out what it is (usually more food).

Tim tells him "No sprechen sie baby" but Levi just laughs and laughs like he's got his own conversation going and its funny that we can't understand him. Sometimes we make up phrases he might be saying - this morning he was chowing down on some puffs, sitting between us while we dozed in our bed. And he started yelling and gesturing. It sounded like he might have been saying "bring me my robe and slippies!"

Last weekend we headed to New England to see most of my family, as my brother was nearby for the weekend at Eastern Nazarene College. Levi was much better on this trip than he has been the past roadtrips we've done - he slept or played very well most of the time, which was great. and he was good about sleeping at night and still napping during the day and eating whenever and wherever we were at the time. yay!

In other news, we'll be headed to see Tim's extended family across the Atlantic in about a week, and prayers would be appreciated as we take an almost one-year-old with us!! You'll hear all about it once we're back, with I'm sure many photos.

There's a monster at the end of this blog

Levi's gaining more and more teeth. His smile is almost even now.

I don't know if it's the teeth or what, but Levi has also become an eating machine. He eats just about anything we put in front of him and never quite seems satisfied. Sometimes he falls asleep after he eats, which seems like the only time he stops :) Though he still eats some baby food, he eats most of what we eat now, with the exception of dairy products of course, just to be safe. He prefers to feed himself, though sometimes that translates stuffing a big handful of food into his mouth and dropping most of it!

Speaking of food, we had our first tummy bug as family on Friday. Well, I didn't get it, but I think the last time I was sick like that I was in middle school (other than during pregnancy, which doesn't count). Anyway, Levi was up at about 1:30 a.m. on Friday and it took me almost a half an hour to get him to go back to sleep - which is very rare. a couple of hours later, I figured out why, when the first of several throw-up incidents occurred. Of course, Tim was also out of commission, though not quite as sick at the same time as Levi was. So about every half an hour I got up to change out the sheets/mattress pad under Levi. Around 6:30 I fed him and he was so wiped out he fell fast asleep - which is good, because i was down to my last mattress pad, which was actually for our pac n play and only covered half of his crib mattress! I threw laundry in and tried to catch up on a couple of hours sleep before trying to juggle working from home and the boy. He had a couple of not so great diapers later in the morning (Tim would like me to insert the phrase "ankles to armpits" here, and I would like to point out that a few months ago he balked at me even TALKING about poop on the blog), but after that he's been fine. Fussy, but fine. I had to spend about three hours on Friday outside n a blanket with Levi, even though it was barely 50 degrees, because it was the only way to keep him from fussing while I tried to work. So there we are, him trussed up in warm jammies, a fisherman's sweater, the warmest, baggiest sweatpants I could find for him and a hat, vacillating between climbing on me and staring vacantly at the wind blowing (blowing hard, I might add) the trees around us. I'm laying on my stomach to block him from the laptop, squinting to see the screen.

Playing at the library

Anyway, I did most of my work and kept us both fed, clean and semi-happy. oh, and washed aaaalllll of the nasty laundry, plus aired out the not-so-great smelling upstairs. mission accomplished.

Onto a less grisly topic. Levi had his first ride at the swings on Sunday. Sadly neither myself or my friend remembered our phones or a camera, so we'll have to video tape it next time. He loooooved it. He kept giggling every time he came close to me when I pushed him. It didn't hurt that it was 60 degrees outside and beautifully sunny, yay spring! (p.s. boo daylight savings, I wish you weren't a part of spring to ruin a perfectly good Sunday).

And the last story of this post is about my success as a mother in quickly dressing Levi every morning. except the one time...

A busy boy on a Sunday morning, Biz Journal and emails to read

Every day I have approximately 3 minutes (Tim says, "not have but rather leave myself 3 minutes," which is true, but really who's counting) to get Levi ready. I can whip the diaper off and get a new one on almost before he's woken up, and zip him into his clothes lickety-split. But one morningish on a weekend a few days ago, I was slowly getting Levi ready, and he wanted to stand up on his diaper change table. So I figured, what the hey, might as well get his pants on while he was standing, might be quicker anyway. I got one leg in, then the other leg in, then pulled up until he was in them all the way. He was clinging to me, so I couldn't really see the pants, but his legs were in so it was all good. We cuddled while he stood there for a minute, and then he started fussing and crying a little, out of character for a boy who'd just been fed and woken up. I look down and realize that I put both of his legs in the same pant leg! So I exclaimed "why didn't you SAY something?!" which is all Tim heard walking up the stairs, me conversing with a 10-month-old with his pants on wrong.

Other than that though, he's always had his clothes on facing the right way and buttoned up and whatnot. on a weekday. Tim just reminded me that on Saturday I put his pants on backwards. Maybe my brain just shuts down on the weekends.

(insert SOOO MUUUCHH FUUNN dinosaur noise)

Lopsided smile

This is how I finish typing things and keep little hands away.

Levi has been teething for what seems like forever. I always though the actual process of teeth coming in was maybe four days for each tooth. I knew it would be a pain - not enough sleep for baby or parents, baby upset a lot of the time, etc. But I think his top teeth have been coming in for close to six weeks now. Some days/nights are worse than others, and we've definitely gone through a whole bottle of pediatric tylenol since he was born, and a whole tube or orajel (numbing gel) as well. We've gotten pretty structured on how we function at night when he wakes up screaming - at first, we'd try rocking him, cuddling him, maybe give him some Orajel, then go back to our room. ten minutes later he'd be awake again. Other methods include nursing him (which has never once actually made him go back to sleep, so glad I was so adamant early on that nursing would never be done for a reason other than hunger), giving him some Tylenol or ibuprofen for infants, or a frozen rubber pacifier (genius idea, let me tell you) most of the time, using only one method alone doesn't work. Now if he wakes up screaming, we pull out all the stops - Tylenol, Orajel, frozen paci and cuddling, and this works just about every time to get him back to sleep for the rest of the night. It's only about once a week that the pain is bad enough to wake him up anyway, so don't worry, we're not medicating our child on a daily basis.

Anyway, all that to say, he's now got two top teeth broken through, both on his left side. He's got the two top right teeth right at the gumline, but they haven't broken through yet, which makes him look lopsided. Kind of like a little monster :) A monster in ducky jammies. 

The crawling continues, and though he does get around to his various toys usually on the living room rug, he still doesn't quite get that he could, in fact, get to other places/things as well if we wanted to. Yes, I can hear every parent reading this thinking "enjoy it while you can, soon he'll be pulling everything out of cabinets and climbing up the steps." It's just funny, I didn't realize how much thought has to go into the crawling process - I figured most babies, once they started crawling, just went everywhere. The only time Levi seems to sort of move off his rug turf is if I've left the room for a minute, he'll start to whine and sometimes get a couple of crawling steps off the rug before lying down in defeat in tears because mommy left for four minutes to make her coffee (OK, perhaps that happened this morning). I'm sure he'll get there, I've already got the tupperware lids in the lowest drawer and bottles in the one cabinet that will be open-able.

Though Levi doesn't move too far, he does seem to have a knack for climbing things already. And by "things" I mean me. Climbing on me. This morning after he nursed in bed, he dozed for a bit.Then I woke up as he was trying to climb over me to get to Tim, and he ended his crusade by licking my face and head-butting me. The same is true if I'm sitting on the carpet - he'll mosey on over to me and start climbing up by leg to my ribcage in an effort to reach...what? my hair? my nose? my eyebrow?I don't know what is so appealing about climbing up a person.

Levi's had some fun experiences the past couple of weeks via his stroller. We went to a chili cookoff last weekend (only two of the 20 chilis got a solid two thumbs up from us, good you didn't waste your time Eric). No, we didn't let him eat any chili. We did let him play with one of our spoons after we used it though. Hm, I may have also cut up some pieces of pasta this week for him that had a dressing made with habanero mustard on them. ah well, he's been ingesting some high-intensity spices since conception anyway.

Today we also went to one of Lancaster County's famous mud sales. I thought it was sort of like a big yard sale - they're often run by the Amish community, and I figured we might find some good deals or some cool stuff. Turns out it was a giant auction, with about a half-dozen auctioneers selling things from horses to buggies to hand-made furniture to lawn equipment to plants. It was also barely 40 degrees outside with crazy gusts of winds that made Tim's hair look pretty funny :) Sooo....we didn't buy anything because it was way too cold to stand around waiting for an auctioneer to hold up some item we actually wanted (no lists or organization appeared to be in place, other than an announcer sometimes popping up to say the horse auction would start in ten minutes). Also, I couldn't understand a word the auctioneers were saying, so who knows how much we might have ended up paying for anything :)

So Levi's adventures have been confined to the stroller, but exciting places and people to see.

On the move...we think

Levi is on the move...sort of.

(I know it's sideways... I'll fix it later)

He regularly gets all four limbs under him in crawl-ready position. He usually backs up a couple of steps, maybe moves forward one, and then flops on his tummy. He doesn't seem to understand that this crawling thing can actually get him somewhere. But who wants to crawl when they can be carried around by mommy, right?

Along with the crawling, Levi can get from sitting up to laying down and vice versa. He sometimes also grabs onto things to try to stand - he's only ever gotten to his knees, but it's the thought that counts.

All this predicated moving his crib mattress down, we've not done so since he moved into his crib around 10 weeks old. He's never sat up or tried to get out...until now. This week he was supposed to be napping around dinner time, and we heard a banging coming from his room. He was sitting up, wrapped in blankets, kicking the crib  slats and laughing about it :)

I think I mentioned last post that Levi's been a bit of a teething monster - he has three teeth now, and at least three others right at the surface of his gums. We've almost used up one little tube of Orajel, which numbs his gums. We've also been rotating pacifiers in and out of the freezer, because the rubber freezes nicely for chewing and relief on his little swollen mouth.

He's also been waking up at about 5:45 every day. This could partly be from our neighbor's car that is obnoxiously loud, which he turns on and lets idle every morning around that time. Either way, 5:45 is not time for breakfast or time to be awake yet. Some mornings he'll wail for a few minutes and then go back to sleep. Other mornings we have to convince him to go back to sleep with a frozen paci to soothe him. And still other mornings we've found that if his gums seem to hurt a dose of Tylenol will put him back down until it's a reasonable hour.



Levi has been acclimating to some table foods. He's tried some carrots, sweet potatoes, avocados, pasta... I think that's it so far. He also tried his first hard food today -- cheerios. He made a funny face because unlike all the other foods he's tried, it's not very mushy and doesn't dissolve like the puffs cereal we give him.

For those wondering, his hair is looking less reddish than when he was smaller, now it's straight tow-headed blonde. His eyes are a bright blue and he looks more and more like Tim every day - though a few people here and there have told us he looks like me, which I don't see.

The boy is also making more noise than ever- no definitive meaningful words yet, but he's getting there. I call him a baby dinosaur, because that's what he sounds like with all of his squeaks and squeals.

Keeping us on our toes

Levi has many talents, not the least of which is keeping us on our toes. Whenever I think I have him figured out, he throws me for a loop.

Case in point: today he took a 3.5 hour nap. Other than once when he was sick, he's never slept that long during the day. I'm not complaining, but I did check on him about 14 times! I think it was a combination of his soon-to-pop teeth and a habit he probably gets from me: catching up on sleep on the weekends after a long week. I went to bed at 7 p.m. Friday night, true story.

In general, Levi's pretty flexible with sleeping - even if he's tired he doesn't fuss too much, and if he does he tends to go right down. We've kept his bedtime somewhat fluid, partly because he's travel-sized and partly because his nap schedule has never been well, a schedule. Some nights he takes an hour nap and wakes up at 6:30 p.m., so he won't fall asleep until after 9 p.m. other nights, he'll get tired around 7 p.m. and down he goes. We tend to wait for his cues, whether its looking drowsy or fussy (you know, pulling my hair and such).

The other night, he was very awake and chatty for most of the evening, so we sat him next to us in bed (with our space heater on it was warmer in our room for the moment) and cuddled a bit. Tim had brought up some snacks, including a bag of pretzels and hummus. Apparently Levi got very tired almost instantaneously, because he went from sitting up and chatting to relaxing backwards and getting comfortable - except the bag of pretzels were right behind him and he was trying to cuddle up  for sleep with them!

The teething is back full power these days (well, mostly these nights). When work is stressful and busy and I'm tired, which is most days, I love to come home and just hold Levi and play and read to him. But some nights this week he's been so fussed from his poor teeth, he just cries and won't be held and won't be distracted with toys and just flails around. Those nights Tim and I take turns a lot more :)

Levi had his first real snow this past weekend - it snowed on Halloween but has been relatively warm since then. I was going to walk downtown to market and trussed him all up in his snowsuit (thanks auntie Kara!) but decided after a few blocks that it was too far to carry the bug on my back. He may have been glad to get out of  the suit, he looked like a little marshmallow :)

Levi's transitioned the things that make him laugh. We used to just poke his nose and he'd go crazy. Now he needs actual entertainment :) He gives big belly laughs for some things though -- when you kiss his tummy; when you build a tower of blocks and it falls over, and when he throws things on the ground that make a loud noise.

We also took Levi on his first visit to the zoo last week. Yes, in January, but it was free. We kept him all wrapped up and I'm not sure how much he could see, but it was fun. Then he got to play at our neighbors house while we watched the Patriot's win :)

We have been delinquent about taking photos, but as tomorrow is Levi's nine-month birthday, I figured it'd be worth a nice little photo show.

 

We just had to tag-team a diaper change. Levi has begun to either scream like its torture or laugh and try to crawl off of the changing table. Tonight was the latter, only there was a very messy/smelly diaper that Tip was trying to keep away from his squirming, half-dressed body, and keep him on the table, and actually clean him/the diaper up. As I sat down to start typing this blog post, I heard "help" from upstairs, and ran up there (after I realized he was serious) to find him holding Levi in the air by his feet!

Levi continues to enjoy bathtime, and gets all excited, kicking his feet until we take off his clothes and drop him in. He even loves cuddling in his towels after, being all wrapped up.

He spiked another fever on Thursday, andhe either recovered from it faster as his immune system is growing, or it might have been from teething. He slept for three hours in the late afternoon and the fever was gone when he woke up. He stayed home from daycare on Friday, and actually slept most of the day as well, including a five-hour nap, a two-hour nap and going to bed at 7:30 (all unheard of in a normal day's schedule). So maybe he was getting a bit of an infection and slept it off. He's been fine most of the weekend.


It was our first weekend without Tim since Levi was born, and my first one without Tim since we first got married, actually. This is scary on may levels: if Levi wakes up early, we can't take turns getting up, so that the other can sleep in; if Levi is up a lot during the night (which he was on Friday) we can't take turns with that, I was in charge of making and keeping a good fire going both days to keep our house from being freezing, which I'm not terribly good at, and I needed to feed myself! I managed to build some good fires and stayed on top of them, so that worked out, and the rest of it we just took one thing at a time. Thanks, Conrads, for the Chinese food, that helped with meals :)

Levi had his first table food the other night - bananas. Up until now he's only eaten pre-mushy baby food. I got him to eat it, which was great, though he didn't quite understand the concept that he could pick it up himself and put it in his own mouth -  he just mushed it between his fingers when he did pick it up ;)

Still no crawling, if anyone's wondering. He can sit like a pro and reach everything he wants by either folding in half at the waist or scootching his butt toward it, but no hands and knees movement. 

Christmas fever

We have come out on the other side of Levi's first Christmas, first fever, and first....I can't think of something else but I always try to list things in threes.

The fever cropped up marginally on Wednesday before Christmas, but shot above 100 degrees on Thursday morning. I spent the last couple of days before the weekend working from home, which was actually manageable since Levi slept a lot of the time, and was mostly okay playing next to me on the couch or floor. I had a phone call on Thursday that I couldn't miss, and I was hoping Levi would be OK for that half an hour or so playing next to me. The moment the PR person put me on hold to connect me with a vice president, Levi started crying. Fortunately, I picked him up and put him in my lap, and was magically able to hold my cell phone on my shoulder, Levi in my lap and type out the interview word for word. I guess my hands mesmerized Levi because he sat there staring at them while I typed for the whole half an hour :)

Other than sleeping and a lot of whining, Levi is still pretty easy going during his cold, though his passy is his best friend and he wants to be held at all times, both completely understandable. The worst has been at night, because Levi couldn't sleep for more than a few hours at a time without waking up from coughing and being super congested.

The fever broke late on Saturday night, the fourth day of it, but the congestion is hanging on still.

The sick baby and rather sleepless nights made for a pretty quiet Christmas weekend, but it was still very fun. My siblings, parents, grandma and aunt were here for Saturday and Sunday, and everyone was gracious with letting us take naps and helping with cooking and cleaning.

All of the sleeplessness ended up leaving me with a sinus infection I couldn't fight off without drugs and taking a lot of naps, which worked out since I've had this whole week off of work, thank goodness. One of 56 percent of the workforce off between Christmas and New Year's, according to NPR.

The week off was mostly spent relaxing (no, my house is not sparklingly clean since I've had free time, I opted to be a rebel and not actually use my time to be responsible :) Tim's parents were here for Monday through Wednesday and his sister's family was here Friday and Saturday. So most afternoons and evenings were spent hanging out with family, and most mornings were spent reading, playing with Levi, or running quick errands. 

Levi has enjoyed his time with family, from getting held almost all of the time, to playing with new toys. Though his interest in opening presents was mostly with the wrapping, particularly any ribbons on his presents. He got some very cute little outfits for Christmas and a slew of new toys, including a handmade Noah's ark with several more pairs of animals from Nanan and Papa (Tim's parents).


Levi's been making some new sounds, though some are because of the phlegm I think. He makes this laughing sound in the back of his throat that sounds like he's trying to clear it and/or choking. He keeps making the sound because he thinks its funny. He also makes little hissing sounds like a snake,
though sometimes he ends up just spitting drool that way :)

He's become very good at grabbing things between his thumb and forefinger, and particularly like to play with and chew on tags - no matter how small they are. And of course, picking items up to bang them back down again... or throw them on the floor, if he's in his high chair.

I don't have any photos of our time with Tim's family, but every other member of the family took lots of photos, so feel free to email some to me and I'll add them to this post folks!