4 months

Levi Ben is 4 months old already! Actually a few days ago. Growing and learning lots of new things! Not sure where the time is going, but it's definitely going FAST. I'm trying to enjoy every day with him and cherish every moment. It's funny how even though he's only 4 months old, when I look back at the pictures of when he was first born I think, awww he was so teeny!! He's getting to be a chunk :) We just love him so much!!

 

At 4 months....

 

weighs 16 lbs .5 oz (according to the Public Health Nurse that stopped over a few days before his 4 mo. bday)

not sure about length, the P.H. Nurse measured 25", but at his 2 mo. check-up he was 26.5"?? Not sure, but I'm thinking more towards 27" now. Find out soon I guess!

loves to smile! it doesn't take much to make him smile if he is in a good mood!

has the most adorable giggle!

grabbing for anything that is within reach, then pulling immediately to the mouth

found his feet! he is always grabbing them, especially when getting his diaper changed. brings them right to his mouth too.

getting wise to the car seat...he pushes his feet against the bottom, arches his back, and lifts his butt up. once he's in he's fine usually, just gotta be difficult! :)

lifts his butt up off the floor/changing table when getting his diaper changed...makes it tricky!

rolls over from his back to his tummy. doing this when I put him down to sleep now too.

speaking of sleep. going backwards in that department. the past few weeks have been tough. throw a few days of vacation in there and it makes it worse. gone are the days of waking up only once to eat. I'm not sure why he won't sleep better, but it's making one frustrated and sleep-deprived mommy. Especially the last week or so, he does not want to go down for a nap or anything. I can tell he's tired, but it takes me FOR-EV-ER to get him to go to sleep and stay asleep when I lay him down. He has a bit of a stuffy nose, but I brought him to the dr. this wk-end and he is fine, no ear infection or anything, so I've been using saline drops and suctioning the mucus out a few times a day. So I don't know if that is making him wake up, or what. It's possible that he's teething, but I don't know what to look for to know for sure. What I do know is that he is overtired and needs sleep, but won't stay asleep. I am to the point where I'd be willing to try the cry-it-out method, but I kind of want to wait until his 4 month check-up to talk to Dr. Meyer first. Too bad that's not for another 2 weeks. Can you tell this is stressing me out? Anyways...moving on...

still breastfeeding, with me pumping at work so he can take a bottle at daycare.

just moved into size 3 diapers. they're a little big, but 2's were too small.

wearing size 6 month clothes, and already growing out of some.

has a bit of cradle cap that won't go away. just tonight I tried some baby oil, so we'll see if that works. it made his hair super greasy though, even after I washed it. but I want the cradle cap to go away because it's making his hair fall out. :(

still loves bath time! kicks and splashes with his feet a lot.

just started practicing sitting. we've got a ways to go with that yet.

he loves to hear his own voice! he squeals and screams and babbles. it's so cute :)

now here are some pics of my peanut from the past month:

 

Mr. Aaron Gregory!

This little cutie just turned a year old! Crazy how time flies. Before we know it he and Levi will be causing all sorts of mischief! Ha!

Jess asked if I would take a few pics of him in a pair of Mark's old overalls and of course I said yes. I'll never pass up a chance to take pics of the kiddos, and also practice my photography skillz. :) lol.

Here are a few of my faves:

Love this little guy to pieces!

I will have Levi's 4 month update hopefully tomorrow!

kansas cucumber salad

This is our new favorite way to make creamy cucumbers! I've been making it for a few months, but finally remembered to take a picture when I made it for dinner this afternoon. I'd been trying to find the perfect combination for quite awhile, since Paul loves creamy cucumbers, but we could never get it perfect. Then I saw this recipe in one of the church cookbooks I have (LOVE those!) and thought I'd try it. I wasn't sure, since Paul isn't always crazy about dill, but in this salad, it's what makes it stand out! Usually I don't peel the cucumbers when I get one at the store, since I usually get the seedless English kind, but these are garden fresh (yummy!) and the skin is a little thicker so I decided to peel them. Either way it's great!

Kansas Cucumber Salad

1 c Miracle Whip
1/4 c sugar
4 tsp vinegar
Sliced or chopped onion
1/2 tsp dill weed
1/2 tsp salt
4 to 8 med. cucumbers, sliced thin (or 1-2 English cucumbers)

Mix all ingredients, except cucumbers and onions. Add cukes and onion; toss. Chill at least one hour.

sleeeeeeep!

After the last couple weeks, everyone in this house needs some of that. Especially me and Levi. He is still waking up every few hours. Usually it goes like this... jammies/change diaper, read a story, feed/rock to sleep, put him in his crib, sleeps 3-3.5 hours, then wakes up (well, he doesn't actually open his eyes all the time, just whines/fusses) so I usually feed him, then sleeps another 2 hours, wakes up, I go in and give him his pacifier, and from then on I end up going in to give him his pacifier every 15-20 minutes, and he usually ends up coming to lay in bed by me for an hour or two.

Being that his is almost 4 months old, it just seems like he should be sleeping more. All night ideally. Ha. He doesn't nap that well either, so that worries me a little too. His 4 month check-up isn't until the 30th, so I'm not sure what to do. He was doing so well for awhile, then all of a sudden he just has been going backwards.

I checked out a few books from the library and both of them seem to have the same technique: let them cry. Well, that is the basic idea. What they say to do is go in and check on him in progressively longer intervals until they fall asleep on their own.

Well, last night when Levi woke up at 11:30, I fed him like normal, then he woke up again at 2:00 and we decided to see if he would put himself back to sleep if we let him fuss a little. An hour later, after checking on him after every few minutes, he finally fell asleep when I gave him his pacifier. Then only slept for another hour. Ugh! It was really hard to let him cry and I don't think I could have if Paul wasn't there with me.

I know we'll have to just do it eventually, but I wonder if he is too young yet, and I don't want him to be hungry if I don't feed him, and so on and so forth. I guess I just need an ok from his dr. or something that he is the right age, etc. I keep hoping he'll sleep better on his own, but I have a feeling it's not going to be that easy.

jumping bean!

We put Levi in his Johnny Jump-up the other night for the first time. He seems to like it! Doesn't quite 'jump' yet, but he sure kicks his legs around! Here is a video I took with my camera...

3 months

Levi turned 3 months old on Thursday! *sigh* Time is just going way too fast. He's such a handsome little guy, always looking around and watching what's going on. I just love him so much!!

I'm planning on taking some [hopefully] nice pictures outside with him, but the last few days have just been horribly hot and stick around here. Either that or it's raining. So as soon as we have a decent day I'm going to give it a try and see if I can get some good ones. But I wanted to get his 3 month info up, and will post the picture later...I have others to share too so it won't be a photo-less post.

At 3 months::

I'm sure he has gained since his 2 month check-up; my guess would be about 14 lbs.

27" long (about)

Size 2 dipes

Moving into 6 month clothing size...he can still fit into some 3 month, but many of his onesies are getting too short

We've gotten a few laughs out of him, but it doesn't happen consistently yet. Just those big grins!

Rolls from his tummy to back. Again, not real consistently yet. Sometimes he does it right away when we put him on his tummy, sometimes he gets frustrated and just starts screaming. I'm sure he will be doing it all the time really soon!

Hands are always in his mouth! Either chewing on his fists or sucking on his fingers. He still likes his binker when he is tired though.

Talking and cooing all the time. I love watching the expressions he makes with his mouth when he talks...it's just cute. :)

Drooling a lot more. Sort of wonder if he is teething....seems early, but it's definitely possible.

Naps. What are those again? Still being a stinker when it comes to naps. He sleeps, just not for real long periods of time at once. Guess he is just a cat-napper! Which I guess is fine since he is usually happy and smiley most of the time. Right now he's been sleeping in his pack 'n play for about 20-30 minutes which does not happen often, so we'll see how much longer it lasts!!

Still likes bath time! Washing his hair isn't so bad anymore, he tolerates it!

He has a bit of cradle cap going on. At first I just thought it was some dry patches, but it kept getting worse. At first I just tried to use his comb to get some flakes out, but then I noticed that some hair was coming with it so I stopped that! Now I started using a special shampoo I ordered online. We've only used it a few times and it seems to be going away, so hopefully it will be gone soon!

He does great at holding his head up. Such a strong little guy! The last couple days he's been getting better at keeping his head level when I pull him up from laying down too...he laughs and thinks it's a game! :) Usually he's just pulling his head towards his hands to get them in his mouth!

That's all I can think of for now. It got kind of long! Here are some recent pics!

2 months

A little late, but I am going to try and do monthly updates for Levi from now on. I missed one month, so I'll start with 2 months! His 2 month check-up was actually when he was about 2.5 months, but I'm still going to use those numbers.

26.5 inches long -- 99th percentile for his age!

13 lb 7.5 oz

Smiling and 'talking' like crazy! He's a ham! :)

Loves his pacifier, but is starting to suck on his fists more often

Still swaddling him at night

Sleeping good at night, usually waking only once after sleeping anywhere from 4-6 hours, then going back to sleep after eating

Napping, on the other hand, is hit and miss. He seems to do better at day care, and even then it is only 1 out of 3 days usually. He is more of a cat-napper most of the time, taking 20-60 minute naps here and there instead of one good morning and one good afternoon nap. We have to work on getting him to sleep in his crib or pack 'n play, instead of in mommy's arms. That's normally when he wakes up, when I put him down, little stinker. Anyhoo, moving on!

Still breastfeeding. He has his moments, but does good over-all. He takes the bottle good at day care.

On the subject of day care, he has been doing really well there, too. For the summer she only has 3 or 4 other kids, so he gets plenty of attention.

He just started following me with his eyes when I move around.

Loves bath time until I have to wash his hair...getting better though

His hair has lightened a little bit to more of a dark brown instead of black when he was born, and he has a bald spot on the back now

Tummy time doesn't usually last too long....he's not so much a fan of that yet. He does good with holding his head up though. Lots of people comment on how strong he is for his age.

Just moved into size 2 dipes (after mommy bought a ginormous package of size ones...figures. ha!)

Clothing size 3 months, but not for much longer!

And a few more pics of my cutie, just for good measure!!