Saturday, March 24, 2012

7 Months!

Seven months old and not much of a baby anymore. Since when did he get big enough to sit in the shopping carts?!

He's trying all sorts of new feats this month. I've witnessed him pull himself up a number of times and he's trying oh so hard to crawl. At a whopping 20+ pounds, it's definitely got to be a workout for those little arms. I have no doubt he'll get there soon, but I am in absolutely no rush this time around.

He rarely sleeps on me these days so I had to take advantage of his sick moment recently. He was so pitiful, but I really enjoyed the cuddles.

I have never met a baby that actually enjoys going to bed. There is no rocking him down these days, and even nursing down is becoming obsolete. When he gets sleepy and fussy all this boy wants is his bed! When we lay him down he gets so genuinely happy. After we cover him up, kiss him goodnight, and walk out, he may fuss for 30 seconds or so...if at all. He really prefers to just stare at the ceiling until he dozes off into dreamland. It is definitely much different of a process than we had with Lucas, but hey, it works! If he wants to act like a big boy and soothe himself to sleep, that only makes my life easier in the long run.

Now how many babies have you actually seen that look like this when it's bed time? Or even wake up this happy? Sometimes I wonder if he's really my child.

He's such a happy guy and loves to be involved in everything around him. Baths have become a fun night time activity and he loves to sit in baskets while his daddy and big brother push him all through the house.

He's also become quite the little eater! He loves his mum-mum crackers, drinking water from his sippy cup, and practicing his pincer grasp with small food items. This boy caught on fast! Anything to do with food...he's all over it!

He still loves to be worn in the ergo, too. Its no wonder why babywearing has been around since the beginning of time. It's impossible to get things done without it...especially when you have multiple children. Daddy wears him more often than me, but he's not partial. He just loves the closeness!

Sometimes his level of attentiveness and participation really does surprise me. He has been joining in on activities we do and trying hard to imitate. Lucas and I were singing him the itsy bitsy spider and it was only moments before he was trying to imitate our hand motions. Such a smart, smart, boy!

He is sure one cool cat! Couldn't imagine our lives without this handsome little fella!

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Not so 'spring break'

It most certainly does not feel like spring, nor am I getting much of a break.

As of now, Anchorage's seasonal snow fall is at 129.4 inches. As you can imagine, that is a ton of snow! We are on our way to topping the charts for the snowiest season that this city has ever seen. The record sits at 132.6 back in the winter of 1954-1955 and we are only inches away from sliding into first place. I think this is pretty exciting and would love to be able to say that I survived one of Anchorage's craziest winters...but I am also so over snow! I have never seen so much and I am honestly tired of looking at it. It's the middle of march and I don't see any grass and green growth anywhere in our near future.

The above pictures was taken over a month ago so you can imagine how much more snow we truly have. My mailbox is literally almost buried now and we've had to continuously shovel our roof for fear that it may collapse.

And although this has been my 'break' from school, it's actually been more exhausting. Levi is out of town working, baby is sick, Lucas is on break too, and I have two exams to study for and a PowerPoint presentation to complete. I am getting nothing done here. Nothing. I literally have an exam the day I return, so this would never have been a break to begin with. Overall, being stranded and quarantined at home has made this a pretty difficult break for me. But at least my house is getting some got 'ol TLC. I clean when I'm stressed, as a distraction from school work, and when I get bored. It's nice to feel accomplished in at least one area.

Not to mention the number of problematic events I've been juggling. Why must everything go wrong while my husband is gone? I need a break from this break!

But on a happier note, I only have five more weeks of school this semester. Can you believe it? After these next few weeks I will be 1/5 of the way through nursing school and I finally get to start my clinicals! So anxious to found out which hospital I'll be working at!

Friday, March 16, 2012

Eel...eek!

Tell me this isn't the ugliest, nastiest, most creepiest thing you've ever seen.

Levi has been joking for years that he wants to get a snake. I am terrified and would never be able to sleep if one was in my house. I made the mistake of allowing Levi and Lucas to go to the fish store together and this is what they came home with. Say hello to Lucas' new snowflake eel.

I panicked....literally. I had a full blown panic attack where I was sweating, my heart was racing, both hands were shaking and I starting crying uncontrollably. I was somewhat embarrassed, but I wasn't joking when I told Levi that they creep me out! I don't do snakes or eels.

We've had this little guy for a few weeks now and I guess he's sort of growing on me. Feeding time has turned into a family event and we gather around to watch him devour some shrimp. He is in Lucas room and he's told me that he likes to watch him swim around at night. Personally, I prefer NOT to see him swim! I don't mind seeing him stick his head out from under the rock but seeing his entire body gives me the chills. And he's only a baby...ahh!

I guess this is what I get for having boys.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

6 Months!

My baby love is now SIX months old! Can't believe it's been half a year since I pulled him up from the water and looked into his eyes for the very first time. He's definitely not a helpless little blob anymore. At six months he's his own little person! And boy has this been a big month. So many amazing changes in our baby boy.

Levi and I are certain that he is going to be our troublemaker. He's such a happy and easy going baby, but MAN, this kid is into everything! Levin thinks that anything in sight belongs to him and that if anything is in arms distance...its free range. Take my laptop for example. Trying to type next to him is nearly impossible. Hence, his contribution: +--*8-+*/-+-r *

It's almost as if the six month mark was this huge milestone in itself. The morning of his half birthday I found him sitting up in his bed for the first time. We've had him in his sleeper until recently when we had to transfer him into the crib. When I walked in, Levin was sitting up and rocking the entire bed back and forth like a boat. All while giggling!

He's been doing a great job at soothing himself to sleep these days. That afternoon I put him down for nap and never heard a single peep. I figured he went straight to sleep but decide to take a peak anyways. Not only did he sit up in his sleeper, but he turned around and stood up! Talk about nearly giving me a heart attack.

He tries to talk and spends a good portion of the day babbling away. He is well aware of the word 'dada' and I listen to him say it nearly 500 times a day. Still patiently waiting for him to call out to me too!

He's also learned how to wave! He was trying to get his daddy's attention one day and sat waving repeatedly. Levi didn't look over so he blurted out "dada, hi!" I nearly died of amazement. We say hi to him repeatedly throughout the day and it was such a big moment to hear him repeat it back.

We haven't given him a large variety of solids, but he sure does love to eat! He's doing great at it too and we haven't come across anything he doesn't like just yet. He scarfs his food down so fast I wonder if he's even tasting it half the time. We also introduced him to a sippy cup of water and he really seems to like that too.

He is such a distracted nurser these days, too. It's nearly impossible to nurse if we're anywhere besides home because he's so intrigued with his surroundings. But even at home is sometimes a challenge. He loves to stick his feet in my face while he's eating or grab at my chin until I engage in play. What can I say though, I still love it!

I am truly impressed with his rate of cognitive development. Lucas was always a very advanced baby, but it seems that Levin is even surpassing him up. There are times when I feel like he knows exactly what I'm talking about. I like to ask him where various people/things are and he turns to them quite often.

Lucas has a night light in his room that projects the solar system onto the ceiling. Of course this is a huge hit with Levin, too. We've gone in there a few nights and sat looking at the pictures. Last night I turned the lights off in the living room to start getting everyone shifted into bedtime mode and Levin instantly looked up. I sat in amazement as he looked over the entire ceiling searching for the planets. The mere fact that he associated darkness with the lights was astonishing! I walked into Lucas room and his entire face lit up and he started kicking his legs in excitement. What a smart cookie he is!

He is very interested in making music these days, too! He loves to play on his little piano and drums, and is starting to catch on to the cause & effect of sounds.

As much as he loves his mommy and daddy, the way he looks at Lucas always melts my heart. He already wants everything that Lucas has and wants to be next to him at all times. He lights up the moment he sees him and laughs hysterically at the things that he does. Honestly, neither of us can get him to laugh the way Lucas does. He can make him laugh on demand and never fails to remind us. They truly do adore each other.

We decided to try out a bath with both the boys since Levin has been sitting for quite some time. Levi ended up hoping in too because there was no way that Levin was going to sit still. He loved being in the water and once he figured out how to splash there was no stopping him. He laughed hysterically almost the entire time and nearly cried because he couldn't stop laughing at Lucas. I'm glad they are able to experience fun activities together now that Levin is getting bigger.

Although he's not crawling, he sure is getting mobile. He is starting to scoot forward on his butt and continues to spin around everywhere. There have been a few incidences where I left him playing and came back to him in a different spot. I recently had him in the bathroom backed up against the tub and when I walked back in he was nearly standing up on Lucas' stool. I swear he's most mobile when I'm not looking!

I love this little man and all the different expressions that he makes. He is such a character and truly adds joy to this family!