The Munchkin Chronicles: October 2012

Levi is already 4 months old, which is so hard to believe. Time flies because we are having fun!

What's he been up to since we last posted? So much!

Levi is strong!
He's been able to hold his head up pretty well since he was about 2 months old so we've been able to face him out in the baby carrier and he can take everything in
He is grabbing at everything including toys, our hands, our hair (including Jeff's chest hair - ouch!). He has quite the grip so its hard to get him to let go when he grabs on tight. We slowly pry his fingers so as to not do too much damage
One of his favorite things to do is stand. When he fusses, sometimes all he wants is to stand and get a different view of his little world
He's working on sitting up with his hands as support (aka tripod). He's getting pretty good at it but isn't a fan of sitting up for more than a few minutes. He loves the bumbo seat (on the floor, of course) and it gives him the support to work on those core muscles
As you can imagine, his interest in sitting in standing makes it hard to put him in the bouncer or on the play mat
We introduced him to the exersaucer/activity saucer a couple of weeks ago, and he's become a fan already. We put a towel or book under his feet because he still can't quite reach the bottom yet. He's really starting to explore all of the activities and spend quite a bit of time in it
He's successfully rolling from front to back pretty often. He is still not a fan of tummy time so he has quite the motivation to roll over. He's not rolling over all the time but he knows how so we keep a close eye on him. We've found him on his tummy at night or during naps, so its only a matter of time before he rolls that way too. Maybe he'll enjoy being on his tummy someday!
He's getting really good at tracking people and objects. He loves to watch people when they are talking and just takes it all in. He especially loves his dogs and watches them all the time when he sees them. He takes advantage if he gets a glimpse of the TV. I think he's going to take after his daddy and Buddy :)
He's talking, giggling and smiling. He's quite the social little guy and loves to smile at everyone, especially when we are holding him and he is looking out. We absolutely love his giggles and just can't get enough of them. We were finally able to get some of his giggles on video!
He's becoming more aware of familiar faces and those that he doesn't really know. If someone that he doesn't quite know or remember holds him, he's not always the happy guy we know him to be :(
We finally moved him into his crib last weekend and he's doing pretty well (much better than mom). We moved the bassinet out of our room this weekend, and it was bittersweet because I really liked having him so close.
He's finally in 3 - 6 month clothes. Some of his 0 - 3 month clothes still fit and some of the 3 - 6 month clothes will be big for a little while.
He's sitting in his big boy stroller now without the car seat. Its so much more fun taking him for walks in it because he gets to see so much more facing forward.

In other news -

3 weeks ago we were in L.A. for Rosh Hashanah for the weekend. We flew down late on Friday and flew back on Monday, so we were able to spend a coupe of days with BeBe and Granddad, see Great Aunt B and Uncle Dean, hang out with the DiBernardos and see many of our family friends. We had an awesome weekend!

Before I go back to work, we decided to get away as a family. We stayed pretty close and went to Santa Cruz for the night. The hotel we stayed at was a brand new renovation - really modern and walking distance to downtown and a lot of restaurants. We had a delicious dinner at a local Italian restaurant (best Italian food that we've had since moving to the bay area). The next day we took a walk and got some yummy coffee at a local coffee shop, had a light brunch at a local bakery and headed down to the beach to put our feet in the water and sand before meeting up for lunch with some friends. It was an awesome little trip even if it was short.

I head back to work this week and will be back 3 days a week through mid-November while Jeff stays home 3 days a week with the little guy. I'm a little nervous about going back but I think the hardest part will be walking out the door on the first day. I keep reminding myself that many, many of my friends are working moms and if they can do it, so can I.

Enough babbling - here are some recent pics and videos!