First Halloween

How else are you supposed to celebrate a baby's first holidays? By going BIG, of course.

A few weeks ago, we drove about 45 minutes south to go to a pumpkin farm with Christian, April and Jeremy. We chose this particular farm because there were SO many activities to choose from for Jeremy, and Levi too, of course. There were trains, a petting zoo, corn mazes, a big pumpkin patch. What more could 2 little boys ask for?

We rode the train first, which Jeremy loved. Then we went to the petting zoo, which Levi really enjoyed. He pet the goats and the bunnies and was amazed by the turtle. The bunny was definitely his favorite. He couldn't stop moving his fingers through the bunnies fur. He was so tender with them.

The corn maze was tons of fun. Jeremy led the way and had a blast and Levi was so exhausted that he fell asleep mid-way through the maze. The parents were stumped by many of the maze clues but we made it out alive!

We managed to pick our pumpkin and attempted a few pictures of the boys in the pumpkin patch. Both of them were tired but Jeremy held it together much better than Levi did.

A few photos from our adventure to the pumpkin farm!

Levi was lucky enough to have two Halloween costumes this year. His tiger costume was given to him by his Buddy and Bettie. He was able to wear it to our birth class reunion and Athena's 3rd birthday party which was a costume party.

On Halloween, he was a giraffe (of course). 

Levi is 4 Months!

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!

Cheering on Georgia Tech with Daddy

Reading with BeBe and helping her turn the pages 

Falling asleep to Granddad's "piano playing" 

Spending time with the DiBernardos

First High Holiday service (sporting an adult sized kippah)

He loves his Sophie!

Big boy in his big boy stroller!

Tummy time!

First time on a California beach

Discovering the Pacific Ocean

4 months old!

Giggles!

Levi the Traveler - Part 2: Hilton Head Island

The second part of our trip to Hilton Head Island was a blast. 1 whole week of R & R at the beach with the Rosenfelds!

Despite the delays with our flights, Levi traveled well once again (thank goodness). We traveled through Chicago, and he hung in there through our flight delays, changing terminals and multiple flights.

It was pretty hot and humid during our trip so we found ourselves staying cool in the AC or at the beach almost every day. On the beach Levi hung out in the beach tent while we each of us rotated hanging out with him. He mostly slept each day we were at the beach because it was so warm. The atlantic was incredible and so warm...such a change from the cold Pacific ocean. 

Jeff and I were able to get out for a date on Wednesday night, which was so nice. We definitely talked about the little guy a bunch but tried to have 'adult conversation' as well. We both had fresh seafood (to start - Seared Ahi Tuna ‘Carpaccio’, for dinner I had a 'blue crab' crab cake and Jeff had the Palette', and assortment of seafood and steak). Everything was delicious. It was great to get some time out to ourselves as husband and wife, not just mommy and daddy.

On Thursday night we had some professional family photos taken on the beach. The photographer got some really great shots of Levi and some wonderful pictures of the family all together. We are so thankful that we will have some incredible pictures to frame.

We also had lunch at The Salty Dog Cafe, made it to the infamous lighthouse at Harbourtown and saw other parts of the island during our trip. It was a wonderful trip and are looking forward to going back when Levi can have some fun in the sun and play in the sand and the ocean.

Levi in his 'baby speedo'

"Sitting up" like a big boy

Mommy and daddy got out for a date thanks to Buddy, Bettie and Aunt Jenna

Silly Levi

One of our favorite family portraits

One of our other favorites

Levi the Traveler - Part 1: L.A.

Our family has been introduced to traveling. I was a little nervous leading up to our trip because I wasn't sure how Levi would handle all of the flights of our itinerary to L.A. and then Hilton Head. He's a pretty chill little guy, so we had hoped he would do great and luckily we were right. We were thankful to have a short flight to L.A. first to introduce him to air travel.

We got to San Francisco airport extra early to make sure we had enough time to get through security and to the gate with all of our gear. We showed up to the security line, they sent us to the first class line which was shorter and it ended up being a breeze. I managed our stuff and Levi's milk and vitamins while daddy carried Levi through the metal detector. We ended up having plenty of time at the gate before boarding. Unlike other airlines (United), Virgin lets families board early so they can get settled, so Levi and I got on the plane first while daddy gate checked his car seat and stroller.

Levi's first flight was a success, and he did great the entire flight. We got a few family pictures before take-off.

On our way off the plane, we bumped into our pilot and asked him for a pair of wings, which he kindly gave to us. We also asked him if we could get a picture with him, and he must have though we just wanted a picture of us on the plane. Before we knew it we were sitting in the cock pit getting our picture taken by the pilot. What a first flight for Levi!

We met up with my parents at the airport and grabbed dinner on the way home.

The rest of the weekend just flew by...

On Saturday, we went to Becca & Adam's wedding in Riverside. It was an absolutely gorgeous wedding and we are so glad we were able to be a part of the celebration. Jeff was asked to read a passage during the ceremony, so mommy was on her own making sure Levi was on his best behavior during the ceremony. Levi did pretty well and only got a little fussy for a few minutes, so we stepped outside until he calmed down and then he slept during the rest of the ceremony. Levi joined us for most of the reception and even got to participate in the photo booth and have his first dance with mommy.

On Sunday, Bebe and Granddad hosted an open house brunch so that friends and family were able to meet Levi while we were in town. He was the center of attention and was definitely the life of the party. It was great to see everyone!

Snuggle bunny

Meeting Tia Christina and Liliana

Hanging out with his Great Aunt B

Levi is 6 weeks old!

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. The last few weeks have flown by. We are definitely getting into the swing of things with Jeff back to work. Last week was my first week entirely on my own and it went pretty well. Levi is such an easy going baby so its been a (relatively) seamless transition although we always have our moments. We get out and about at least once each day running errands, meeting up with friends for lunch, going to mom groups, etc. Anything to help keep the day moving in anticipation for daddy to get home from work. I will speak for Jeff for a moment and say that he works diligently to be able to get home to us as soon as he can.

Levi has been a busy little guy, so here are some highlights:

• He has already had 2 baths and really doesn't mind them until we have to wash his hair and take him out of the bath. So far no waterfalls during bath time
• He has a lot more awake time each day and we love being able to play with him more
• He is talking up a storm! And there is sometimes a fine line between talking and crying
• He just started smiling and boy is it a melt your heart smile
• He interacts with his toys on his jumper quite a bit and smiles and talks when he hits them. His face just lights up!
• He is really starting to love his play mat. Tummy time - not so much
• He is a great eater (even with his squeals (aka impatience) during feedings). We introduced the bottle at 4 weeks, so Jeff is able to feed him once a day. We are thankful that he is taking a bottle now for when I go back to work in October
• Our little guy is not a burper. And you know what that means... We only get a burp every once in awhile
• He absolutely loves his pacy and practically asks for it with his hands and mouth
• He has gotten to meet quite a lot of our friends and seems to enjoy being held by almost anyone. We hope that means that he will be a social little guy!
• We have been lucky enough to get some longer stretches of sleep over the last week. Sometimes as much as 6 hours between feedings. Mommy (especially) and daddy love it!

We had his 6 week doctors visit in anticipation of our upcoming travel to L.A. and Hilton Head:

• As of Friday, he weighs 10 pounds, 11 ounces and is 23 inches long. No problem eating for little Levi
• He got his first shots and handled them pretty well after the first moment of shock where he turned red as a tomato before letting out a scream. He has recovered really well and hasn't gotten any fever or noticeably soreness. He has slept a lot the last couple of days but is more himself today - talking and smiling

Last weekend we hosted our birth class reunion at the house and had 11 parents and 6 babies between 3 and 12 weeks old over at the house. It was so much fun to see all of the little ones and all of their developing personalities. There are 2 boys and 4 girls so Levi and Harry were having a field day with all of the lady babie. We think he is going to be quite the ladies man :)


A few photos for your viewing pleasure!

First bath

Levi taking his first bottle from daddy 

Levi hanging onto the ring on his play mat

Levi cuddling with mommy

Levi with the lady babies and his buddy Harry (far right) from birth class

If you are interested, we've posted a few videos to YouTube. Check them out here.