Eleven Months

Levi Everett, today you are ELEVEN months old!

Baby boy, it is almost impossible to believe we are here.  The old cliche rings true, you have grown too fast!  I am so grateful for all of the precious moments you have brought into our lives, we love you so much.  You are turning into a toddler before our very eyes.  This month has proven that there is no stopping you.  You took your first steps!  You haven't quite fell in love with walking yet (which is fine by your Dad and I), crawling is much more efficient and you prefer to use your mastered form of transportation for now.  And crawl you do!  All over the house, on and off the couch, over the ottoman, you name it.  Containing you has gotten harder and harder, we are picking up our baby proofing game.  You are a very vocal little guy, though mostly committed to babbling for now.  We still get a lot of "Mama", "Dada" and "dog".  Your laugh is so contagious, we love finding silly new ways to make you giggle.  You love to give us kisses and hugs, my loving baby.  Your appetite is still amazing and you are eating everything and anything!  You like spicy, garlicky, intense foods along with all of the typical favorites.  I can only hope you continue to be adventurous, or perhaps this is a symptom of your underlying personality and I will one day eat these words?  The only thing you have not been crazy about are eggs, well, cold eggs.  Who can blame you?  I hate cold eggs too.  We find the incredible in the little things.  Fall is here and I cannot help but look forward with anticipation and excitement for the holidays and your first birthday.  You are such a joy, my loving boy!

Today you are eleven months old.

Ten months

Levi Everett, today you are TEN months old!

Ten months and you are GO GO GO.  I have absolutely loved the past few months, it just keeps getting better!  You are crawling anywhere and everywhere.  You are even trying to climb on, and OFF things.  You are getting closer to walking though you are not too enthusiastic about it and would rather crawl for now.  I cannot believe we are starting to plan you first birthday party already, nobody exaggerated when they told me how fast the first year would pass.  You are very vocal and have a lot to say, though mostly incomprehensible for now.  You said your first word this month (after "Mama" and "Dada") and it was DOG!  I especially thought this was exciting since that was my first word too.  Most certainly a genetic trait from the "first-word-chromosome".  Speaking of dogs, you have really started to interact with Lexi and Atticus, our dogs.  They are pretty fond of you too, especially anytime you are feeding yourself in your highchair.    You are crawling all over the house, following us from room to room and exploring more.  I see the wheels turning in there!  You like to bang on your drum, (and other less desirable objects) with your drum stick; bowls, buckets and boxes are hours of entertainment!  We are having so much fun with you.  You are still sleeping throughout the night which is more wonderful than I can truly express, sleep is precious!  You are sleeping 8-10 hour straight most nights, fabulous!!!  I haven't weighed you or measured your height for awhile but you definitely fuel all your activity with your hearty and adventurous appetite.  I hope your willingness to eat practically anything continues into toddlerhood.  We are so glad you are a healthy, happy baby and we love you so very much!

Today you are ten months old.

"We Made It"

We survived.  As I told my Husband "only by the skin of our teeth", nonetheless we persevered. 

Sleeping. Through. The. Night.  Amen!  

I do not boast advice, or outline the details of our triumph; I do not profess to have such wisdom.  I merely want to share in the bliss that comes with the first solid uninterrupted night (week, month, ahhh!) of sleep after X amount of nights (weeks, months...) without.  Loss of sleep may be the worst parental obligation, at least among the top 3.  We waited until Levi was ready, and then until we (I) were ready.  I think that desperate, magic time varies widely from parent to parent and everyone gets there at their own pace.  My Husband and I have our bed back, and our Son has learned to sleep independently in his own room; yesssssssss!

If you were blessed with a baby that falls asleep and stays asleep, bless you!  I have heard these mythical creatures exist and I hope to cross paths with one, perhaps for #2?  But for now I will give thanks for mercy, in our case, at 9 months.  For those still roughing it I offer a knowing and somewhat obligatory well wish of "it does get better, hang in there!"  Family and friends have told us that since Levi was born and I DID really try to believe them.  It did give me a glimmer of hope for the sliver of light at the end of the tunnel and made the 24/7 zombie haze moderately tolerable.

This sleeping business is most likely a phase that will pass quickly (possibly tonight) or perhaps I have just jinxed myself hardcore.  Either way I am sure I will be back to not sleeping before I know it.  Its okay though.  I will treasure these weeks we have had and tell myself to hang in there, ultimately it will get better.  It just has to, right?

Nine Months

Levi Everett, today you are NINE months old!

Busy, happy, lovey boy!  Boy oh boy, you are ALL BOY!  This past month has been a flurry of exciting changes as you have really started to move out into the world around you.  With your crawling skills mastered you have decided you can get where you want to be and manipulate your environment, a thrilling milestone to watch!  I laugh when you rediscover a toy you haven't played with in a few months and have your way with it.  You love your new toys too!  A current favorite is your shapes box, I cannot wait to see you master putting the shapes in the right slot.  For now you have decided it is much easier to pull the lid off; my sweet, smart boy!  Through all your developments, your personality remains constant.  You are happy, but sensitive; laid-back, but particular; you are smart and inquisitive; outgoing and shy at the same time.  Our biggest accomplishment is that over the past month you have started sleeping through the night, IN YOUR OWN BED!  HALLELUJAH!  It took me nine months but we finally reached the point where we were ready to sleep train you.  Yes, we 'cried it out'.  It actually was not as bad as we anticipated.  Since you have never been a great napper, I knew we were doing you a disservice when we were not allowing you to learn how to self sooth.  After three long nights you started sleeping through the night and learned how to put yourself back to sleep.  It is touch and go, but we have all gotten more sleep in the last two weeks than in all the months before!  It makes me happy that you are learning to be an independent sleeper and I hope you learn to love sleep as much as your Dad and I do.  I am positive you will have this mastered by age 14, wherefore I am plotting my revenge, ha!  Another thing that has picked up momentum is your appetite. You have a hearty appetite lately, and an adventurous palate.  You will eat ANYTHING!  I can hardly get a bite in during a meal, you want everything on Mom's plate.  We recently started you in ISR swimming lessons, I am positive this has contributed to you increased hunger and improved sleep.  To be honest, you hate lessons.  Despite the disdain you are making great progress and it reassures me to have that extra layer of protection from the pool as you learn to walk. Walking is right around the corner, though I am not in a hurry.  You are already into everything and walking will only complicate matters, oye-vey!   I anticipate we will have to be on our toes indefinitely; what a crazy, beautiful life.  You are our sunshine baby boy.  We cannot wait to enjoy all of the exciting things to come.

Today you are nine months old.

Eight Months

Levi Everett, today you are EIGHT months old!

My sweet boy, eight months!?  How can this be?  Two-thirds the way through your first year on this earth and the wonderful moments with you continue to fill our lives with joy and laughter.  You are BUSY!  Sitting still is no longer an option, you have way too much to explore and learn.  You have done a little hand-and-knee crawling in the past few days but mostly you rely to your "inchworming technique", as I call it.  You only crawl long enough to reach the couch, coffee table, etc., then it is up to a standing position and taking steps.  I am sure you will be walking sooner than we are ready for, uh-oh!  You are getting better at the maneuver I refer to as "the bailout".  After a few bumps, you are starting to learn how to fall on your butt instead of your head, a quick learner!  It is so much fun watching you hit these milestones, but I am acutely aware of how fast your first birthday is approaching and that is both exciting and TERRIFYING.  I see you changing from a baby into a toddler, you are so smart and sweet and loving.  I adore spending time with you, our days at home together are so precious and wonderful.  Your Dad and I do our best to make the most out of our weekends together as a family.  Today was a beautiful day, we slept in (after your initial early wake up call), then we ate breakfast together - you loved Mama's homemade cinnamon nutmeg waffles.  We turned on some music on the patio went swimming.  You LOVE the pool, such a water baby!  Then we laid around and relaxed, did mostly nothing except watch a movie and spend time together.  Then your Daddy BBQ'd and we sat on the patio for some fresh air.  We ate dinner together at the table, you are now a confirmed fan of couscous though in truth more ended up in your diaper than in your mouth.  After a shower I read you a book and rocked you to sleep.  Today was simply wonderful!  You are very vocal these days, a lot of "Mama", "Dada", and "baba".  I have noticed a change over the past month and we are pretty sure you now know that "Mama" is Mama and "Dada" is Dada now, so heartwarming!  The sleeping situation has seemed to plateau.  You go down in your crib to start the night and somewhere in the early hours you request our company, to which we oblige, sleep at any cost!  I am convinced you will be in our bed until you are not nursing anymore, your Dad is convinced you will be in our bed until you are at least 5.  Either way we are glad we invested in a California King bed.  I hang off the edge of my side, your Dad hangs off his side, and you sleep/squirm/kick/pinch/turn/flip in a perpendicular direction between the two of us.  There is a new sheriff in town!  After your first two teeth busted through at 4 months I was sure more would soon follow.  This past week all four top teeth have broken through, four at once - yikes!  This too shall pass, ever so quickly.  I am looking forward to seeing what month eight brings, sweet babe of mine!

Today, you are eight months old.

Seven Months

Levi Everett, today you are SEVEN months old!

Much like the rest of your short life thus far, this past month has been full of amazing changes and developments.  One thing is for sure, you are ON THE MOVE child!  The days of sitting still are long gone as you much prefer to be bouncing, scooting, crawling, and rolling.  You have not officially coordinated the hand and knee crawling but you jet across the room faster than we can keep up with nonetheless.  A few weeks ago I found you crawling out of your co-sleeper into our bed and we decided it was time to take down the bassinet.  I admit as exciting as it is to see you changing so much, I shed a small tear as the newborn gear started to come down.  Now you have started pulling yourself up on Mommy and Daddy if we sit on the ground with you, and you are trying to pull yourself up to standing at the coffee table too, with a few bumps and bruises along the way.  I am pretty sure you may skip right over hand-and-knee crawling and start walking.  You are also able to go from your stomach to sitting up no problem, such a strong boy!  Another exciting phase has been watching you continue to enjoy eating solid foods.  You are such a great eater!  I have been planning on dedicating a blog entry to this very subject, but free moments are few and far between these days.  I am going to make sure to cover this topic within the next month so we can look back someday and remember how much fun it was to expose you to all sorts of tastes and textures!  You are also babbling more and more.  You hum and squeal and scream and giggle constantly.  You have started saying "mamama" and "dadada" and though it does not yet seem to correlate with you knowing I am "Mom" and "Dad" is Dad YET, it gets us excited for the day you call us Mama and Dada.  One of the biggest changes over the past month has been your sleeping quarters.  Since we put your co-sleeper away we have started putting you down in your crib at night.  You usually make it to 12:30 or 1:30 am before you wake us up and announce, rather forcefully, that you would rather be in bed with Mom and Dad.  Our exhaustion is your advantage in this instance!  One night you made it until 4:30 am, what a great night of sleep we all had.  We have come to the conclusion that you are your own person when it comes to sleep needs and we are making it work!  A few weeks ago we went to your 6 month check up and you were 19 pounds 3 ounces and 28 inches long.  I am pretty confident you will pass up your Dad in height someday.  The weather has started heating up and you seem to love the pool already.  We are really looking forward to a beautiful, fun summer filled with family, BBQs, and more milestones!  We all love you so much!

Today, you are seven months old.

Six Months

Levi Everett, today you are SIX months old!

As I begin to write this entry I cannot help but be blown away that half a year has already passed since you came into this world and blessed your Daddy and I with so much love and happiness.  In six short months you have transformed from a tiny, precious newborn to a happy, wiggly, curious infant.  You have not quite mastered crawling yet but "LOOK OUT", you are on the move nonetheless.  You can crawl backwards, army crawl and roll to get from point A to point B.  Seeing you get up on your hands and knees and rock back and forth I know you're weeks away from becoming a true crawler.  Uh oh, time to baby proof!  You are able to sit up on your own and you are pretty steady.  We can make you laugh with silly sounds or tickling, there is nothing sweeter than the sound of you giggling over and over again at the same thing.  You still love bath or shower time and we cannot wait to take you swimming for the first time this summer.  My little water baby!  You are still sleeping with Mom and Dad and some nights are better than others.  Especially on the days Mommy is working we notice you want extra cuddling and nursing on those nights.  I really look forward to being close to you and catching up on our time together even if it means a less than stellar night of sleep.  You have started eating solids and you are a wonderful eater!  You have a great appetite and have loved almost all of the fruits and veggies you have tried.  It is really exciting to watch you experience new tastes and textures!  I am looking forward to branching out to different food groups with you and taking advantage of those (still) two sharp teeth.  For my first Mother's Day and your six months Daddy took us to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.  You were so attentive and seemed to love watching all the fish and sea creatures.  I cannot believe you are old enough to be paying such close attention to all the things around you, I can see the wheels spinning as you take it all in and learn!  We also took you to your Grandmother's gravesite for the first time.  It warmed my heart to bring you there and spend a little time telling you about my Mom and how much she would have loved you and spoiled you.  I want to make sure you know about her as you grow up, she was such a special lady!  Recently we have heard you making more and more noises including exercising your screaming voice and babbling "words" including one that sounds a lot like "Dadadada....".  It reminds us how big you are getting and that we really must take in every moment as our baby will grow into a little boy before we know it!  You are the light of our lives and we are so thankful for a healthy, happy boy who makes our Family complete.  Thank you for making me such a happy Mommy!

Today you are six months old.

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