5 months

Levi is growing like a champ and has been up to so much these days.

• He is talking more than ever (sometimes screaming)
• He loves to laugh but its usually because we tickle him. So far he is most ticklish on his neck, feet, and sometimes on his knees
• He's sitting up by himself, so doesn't really spend much time in the bumbo anymore
• While he rolls over front to back and back to front, he doesn't do it consistently, which we are thankful for
• He doesn't spend much time on his back on the play mat anymore because sitting up is too much fun
• He still loves his activity saucer and is able to play with pretty much everything. His new favorite thing to do is slam his hands on the buttons that play music. He'll do it over and over again
• He's still getting used to being in the jumper and could use another couple of inches to jump a little more consistently
• He's getting more interested in food, so we have him at the dinner table with us. He plays with his toys and we pick them up because he has discovered this thing called gravity. We are pretty sure he's going to love food when he gets his hands on it
• He has discovered how to knock things over and loves knocking over his stacking cups before or after we build the tower with the cups
  He loves banging things together and onto the table, which makes for very musical dinners
• He was almost sleeping through the night, but now there is too much exciting stuff going on in his world to sleep plus he's started to teethe
• He's had his second cold, and thankfully the only part that bothers him is the snot sucker and the not sleeping well part too
• He's starting to teethe and loves to gnaw on our hands and his hands mostly. He's not to into the teething toys yet
• He started daycare and so far so good. He's happy when we drop him off (if he's awake) and excited when he sees us at the end of the day
• He still loves his doggies. I wouldn't be surprised if his first word is da (as in dog not dad - sorry Jeff)
• He's getting a little attached and definitely likes to be held a lot more

A few 5 month photos of the little man:

 

Along Came Maverick

Our good friends Kim & Chris recently welcomed their son Maverick. He was just less than a week overdue so everyone, especially Kim & Chris, were so excited when he finally arrived. Happy and healthy little boy - 8 pounds, 6 ounces and 20 inches long. 

Levi is just over 5 months and its hard to remember him ever being that small. Thank goodness for pictures to remind us how little he once was!

Levi is excited that his little buddy is finally here!

What we've been up to

We've been up to a lot since our last post. I went back at work and its going pretty well so far. Daddy was able to spend 3 days a week at home with Levi while I was working (more on that in abother blog post written by daddy).

It was by far the longest I've been away from him, but things went better than expected. I was a little sad the day before, but it made it easier knowing that Levi was home with Daddy. I was lucky enough to receive a few pictures on my first day at work, which cheered me up!

Levi and Mommy before I left for the day

The Giants are world champs again this year, and we were able to partake in all of the action. Our friends from birth class, Jason, Kendra & Harry are die hard baseball fans and asked if he wanted to to to the Giants Playoff game against the St. Louis Cardinals. So we decided to be spontaneous and headed up to the city for the game. Proves that you can be spontaneous when you have kids...well at least when there is just one :)



One of my favorites



 

Little buds

 



The boys will be much more into the game one day



All 6 of us Giants fans



 

 

In other recent events, the Rosenfelds came into down for a long weekend. My mom came up for a couple of days to visit while I was still off on Mondays and Tuesdays. I helped to throw a baby shower for our friends. We've been busy!

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