Levi: Week 28 Summary

For the most part, Levi had a really great 28th week! He seemed to be over the crazy "wonder week" we had last week and I really was able to see a lot of new developments. I'll cut to the chase, because this is going to be a long post!

FEEDING
Levi pretty consistently nurses for only about 15 minutes now! The only exceptions to that are his first feeding in the early morning, his late afternoon feeding (the one when I don't give him any solids afterwards) and his feeding just before bedtime. But even those have shortened to about 25 minutes, tops. I'm learning to love this new-found freedom of not being tied down to nurse him for 40-45 minutes at a time! He also started extending his feeding intervals this week--woohoo! Brian and I know that he has been ready to do that for a while now, but we think that our camping trip last week really pushed him to start doing it on his own. At the beginning of this week, I stopped forcing him to eat as soon as he woke from his naps if he didn't seem hungry or if he blatantly resisted. By the end of this week, he started taking at least one 2-2.5 hour nap a day, which stretched him to 4 hours between feedings. We still aren't 4 hours solid between every feeding--more of a mixture between 3 and 4 hours right now--but I am still excited to see this progress!

My boy seriously devoured some solid foods this week as well! Here is what he ate (breakfast, lunch, dinner):

06/15- 2 oz rice cereal mixed with 1.5 tsp pureed banana, BLW with 1 piece of watermelon
06/16- No solids today because we were headed home from camping. It's nice that he is still flexible in that way :)
06/17- 2 oz rice cereal mixed with 1 tsp applesauce
06/18- 2 oz rice cereal mixed with 1 tsp applesauce, 2.5 oz pureed sweet potatoes (an entire small jar!)
06/19- 2 oz rice cereal mixed with 1.5 tsp applesauce, 2 oz pureed peas and BLW with 1/4 peach
06/20- 1 oz pureed peas (this ended up being early afternoon lunch), 2.5 oz sweet potatoes and BLW with 1 strawberry
06/21- 2 oz rice cereal mixed with 1.5 tsp pureed peaches, 2.5 oz pureed squash, 1 oz sweet potato at a restaurant

I really stuck to rice cereal in the mornings this week, partly because we were running low on jars of pureed fruit :) We had natural applesauce on hand and I slightly overcooked his peaches for BLW, so I ended up just pureeing the peaches and mixing each with the rice cereal for his breakfast each day. He loved it! Three days for lunch he ate an entire jar of veggies, which is more than he has ever eaten before. And then one night we were at Cracker Barrel for dinner, so I ordered a sweet potato for him and I to split. He sat in a high chair like a big boy and I fed that to him. He couldn't get enough!

I also decided this week to start making some homemade purees for him. We bought 20 jars of Earth's Best baby food a few months ago because we found a great sale...and we are down to 4 jars now, so it's either buy more or make my own! I'm going to see how making my own goes! It seems easy enough and its considerably cheaper (literally $0.05 per ounce as opposed to $0.28).

NAPS
Naps were rough early this week, not gonna lie! Levi dealt with some serious rolling over issues again and that really disrupted his sleep. But, I might have figured out how to get him past that. He seems to roll over most when he has a sleep transition (usually around 45-60 minutes into his nap) and once that happens, he gets so worked up that he can't soothe himself back to sleep (he usually does that by sucking on his thumb). One day early this week, he rolled over and was completely inconsolable to the point where I just had to nurse him for a minute or two to calm him down. I put him right back in his crib and he slept for another 1.5 hours after that! I was amazed! Usually, I don't nurse him for comfort (just for his feedings), but it really helped here because when I cut him off from nursing so quickly, he realizes his need to suck his thumb again to soothe himself back to sleep. I know its not "by the book", but it seems to really work for Levi. From that point on, whenever he would roll over during his sleep transitions, I would nurse him for 2 minutes, tops, and lay him straight back down. If he was still tired, he would fall right back to sleep. Everyday since then, he has taken at least one 2-hour nap per day and has started extending to a 4-hour schedule! I hope he keeps it up!

WAKE TIME
When Levi takes a 1.5 hour nap, his wake time following is at about 1 hour and 20 minutes still. If he takes a 2-2.5 hour nap, his wake time that follows extends to about 1 hour and 45 minutes. His favorite activities still include playing under his floor gym, jumping in his Jumperoo, sitting in his Bumbo with various teethers, and walking to our garden (well, riding along attached to mama).

NIGHTTIME
Levi only slept through the night one time this week and that was last night (day 7 of week 28). I'm contributing it to the busy weekend we had camping and to him learning how to roll over. It usually takes him a good week to "bounce back" into his normal rhythms after we go away. Even so, he only woke once each night, I would feed him for about 5 minutes and he would fall right back to sleep. Not a huge deal.

POST-WONDER WEEK DEVELOPMENTS
In this past week, we have seen huge changes and developments in our little man. So, last week's crying, clinginess, and all-around fussiness seems to have paid off. Levi can officially:

• Roll from back to tummy with ease when awake (a.k.a. not half asleep and in his crib). He's a rolling machine now!
• Blabber tons of new sounds and "words". He seriously sounds like he is talking sometimes!
• Laugh! He's been working on this for a few weeks, but he does it so much more often now.
• Realize when he drops toys, locate where they are, and work so so hard to grab them again (to the point where he has almost thrown himself out of his Bumbo a few times!).
• Sit up on his own while leaning forward onto his hands. 

DIAPERING
It sounds extremely strange, but I LOVE cloth diapering. I'm officially hooked and will never look back. I plan to do another full-length post at some point this week with my experience on this. Levi seems indifferent, which is good, I suppose :)

OUTINGS/EVENTS
We returned from camping at the beginning of this week, so it has taken us all week to recuperate! We didn't really go out too much, besides the usual errands. A noteworthy mention is when we helped some friends move this past Friday. Needless to say, it is very very difficult to be of any help in moving a family with a babe in tow! After we were there for about an hour or so, Levi had a bit of a meltdown. He really needed a nap. I ended up rocking him until he was pretty drowsy and then I just laid him down in a bedroom of their new house, on the carpet (the furniture wasn't in yet). He slept for a good hour--just on the floor with his blankie! I was proud of him. Plus, it allowed me to be of some use to them :)

We had some family pictures done at the seminary this past week as well! A friend wanted to practice some skills she was using in her photography class, so she asked if we wanted some pictures done. Of course, I said yes! I have added them below.

Oh, and I almost forgot--Father's Day was this past Sunday! We were on our way back from the Red River Gorge and stopped at Sonny's BBQ in Lexington for a special Father's Day lunch. Once we arrived home, we just relaxed for the rest of the day. I think Brian enjoyed his day!

Brian's First Father's Day!

Whew! That was a lot this week. Lots of exciting new things happening with our little man.

Levi: Week 27 Summary

This is a reflection on Levi's 27th week; the good, the bad and the ugly.

FEEDING
This week Levi still struggled with nursing. And maybe struggled isn't the word. He is just going through a major transition. Instead of nursing for 40 minutes like he has his entire life, he is now down to about 15 minutes. Yes, it is great to have that extra time and for him to be a quick eater now, but it has taken me a lot to see that. I've always been so used to knowing he was full right around the 40 minute mark, so it's taken quite the psychological shift to realize that now that has dramatically decreased. I have to just trust that he is full when he just won't latch anymore--and he really fights me on this! And for the most part, all week, with his 5 15-minute nursing sessions plus 2 solid meals per day, he has kept his 3-3.5 hour schedule without issue. I've just come to terms with the fact that I have to trust him to know that he is full, now that solids have entered the picture.

Solids this week (breakfast, lunch):
06/08- Weekend. Pretty sure I fed him something, I just never recorded it.
06/09- Same as above.
06/10- 0.5 oz pureed pears, 0.75 oz pureed peas and BLW with 1 slice sweet potato
06/11- 1.5 oz pureed pears
06/12- 0.3 oz pureed pears and 1 oz rice cereal, 1.25 oz pureed carrots and BLW with 1 slice sweet potato and 1 kiwi
06/13- 1.5 oz rice cereal and 0.5 oz bananas, 1.25 oz pureed carrots and BLW with 1 slice sweet potato and 1 kiwi
06/14- 2 oz rice cereal mixed with 2 tsp of pureed banana

I tried feeding him rice cereal again this week (the last time he was 4.5 months old) and he seemed to really enjoy it (unlike last time)! I'll probably start mixing it with various fruits for his breakfast, so that he can get some more grains in his diet. The two days he had both sweet potato and kiwi, the first day he devoured the kiwi and the second day he couldn't get enough sweet potato.

NAPS
Levi's naps were fairly uneventful this week. We did have some more rolling over issues, but only a handful of times. Otherwise, he went down easily and without crying! He really got attached to his blankie this week. Every time I would put him down in his crib, he would lift his arms up and wait for me to put his blanket in his arms. He loves to immediately cover his face with it in order to get himself to sleep!

WAKE TIME
Levi was able to extend his afternoon wake times to about 1.5 hours this week, as long as he got a good morning nap in! One day I tried putting him down at the 1 hour and 40 minute mark, just to see what would happen, and it took him about 30 minutes to fall asleep (as opposed to his normal 5-10 minutes). So obviously, he isn't ready for that yet. His first wake time still varies from 1 hour to 1 hour and 20 minutes.

His sleepiness cues have now evolved into him screeching at a very high pitch, around his eyes getting very red, and him yawning.

NIGHTTIME
Most nights this week, Levi slept his normal 10 or so hours. And most of the times he woke in the night were because he had rolled over. For his 6 AM-ish feeding, I started nursing him for only 5 minutes tops. I realized he wasn't very hungry for his first feeding of the day anymore and figured it was because he was eating too much at his early morning feeding. He is doing better with that now.

WONDER WEEK
When I first heard about the concept of "wonder week", I thought it was a bunch of crap. But I really think we experienced it last week. Wonder Week is the idea that many babies experience a week of crying, crankiness and clinginess because in the week following they will undergo a mental growth spurt; there are 10 of these times total in a babies first 20 months of life and all happen at relatively set times. Well last week Levi had one! I believe it was wonder week #5, according to the website. He was uncharacteristically cranky (to the point where even Brian noticed) and he would cry every time I put him down, for no apparent reason at all. But this week (week 28), he is back to his normal happy self and it seems he has aged significantly in just a short number of days--but I'll explain that in next week's post.

DIAPERING
I've been researching cloth diapers for WEEKS now and Levi finally tried his first ones out last week! We reached the last box of disposable diapers that we received for his showers, so it was time to make a decision if we were going to continue to buy them or invest in cloth. We decided to go for the cloth! It was a scary choice, but I'm really happy we made it! We bought 4 diapers to begin with: 2 BumGenius 4.0's and 2 GDiapers. Both were very different styles, so we hoped that would help us determine which brand we should buy more of. Once we use them more next week, we should have a better answer on that!

OUTINGS/EVENTS
Towards the end of Levi's 27th week, we went camping with him for the first time! We rented a cabin in the Red River Gorge (Eastern KY) with our friends Ethan and Anna. It was so much fun and Levi was exceptionally cheerful the entire time! Seriously, he did great! We took him hiking each day and he handled it like a trooper--only had one meltdown total. This trip definitely confirmed that his current age (6.5 months) is our favorite! He is so fun.

Below are some pictures of our trip:

Levi: Week 26 Summary

Whew! I managed to make it halfway through Levi's 27th week and I finally have some time to sit down and write about his 26th. It's been a busy one, to say the least! I've been working a lot more than normal due to a busy season and being short-staffed. It's nice to have that extra income, but a lot to take on in one day on top of caring for baby and household chores. But alas, some time to sit and reflect on Levi's 26th week -- what I can remember anyway!

FEEDING
Oh boy, what a struggle we have had in this department! Levi's 26th week, he really amped up his solid intake, sometimes even eating half a jar of pureed fruits or veggies. But nursing was such a struggle! Ahhhh (that's my frustration). He would always eat super well at his early morning feeding (around 6 AM, give or take 30 minutes), but then throughout the day he would refuse to eat longer than 10-15 minutes most of the time. I considered maybe he is just weaning himself from his daytime feedings because he really likes the solids a lot better (which is great and wonderful), but he developed a habit of waking at the 2.5 hour mark without actually being hungry. So I'd feed him right when he woke, like normal, but the whole process would continue. Maybe it was a growth spurt and he just wanted to snack more frequently? I am at a loss here. Regardless, he nursed and ate solids and he survived, so I can't ask for much more. Here are the solids he ate (breakfast, lunch):

06/01- It was the weekend and I was feeling lazy. So no solids that day.
06/02- Ditto.
06/03- 1 oz pureed apples, BLW with 1/4 peach and 1/4 avocado
06/04- 1 oz pureed apples, BLW with 1/4 peach and 1/4 avocado
06/05- 1.5 oz pureed apples, 1 oz pureed squash and 1/4 peach
06/06- 1 oz pureed bananas, 1 oz pureed squash and 1/4 peach
06/07- 0.75 oz pureed bananas, 0.75 oz pureed squash and 0.5 oz pureed peas

I wouldn't exactly call what we do BLW anymore, because I've decided to incorporate a lot more purees than the philosophy permits. I want to take a bit more control of when he is weaned then the "book" allows, so I've decided to give him half purees and half "finger foods" to help facilitate weaning him from milk a bit quicker (at least by 12 months). He seems to enjoy both and I like that he is also learning how to eat from a spoon!

Last thing on feeding: Levi adores peaches! He absolutely devours them! The first day I gave him one, it wasn't as ripe as I would've liked, so it was a bit to hard for him to eat. So I boiled a few slices until they were more tender. He tore them up! It was so fun to watch him just suck all the juices out of the slices. He also really likes pureed squash as well, which was surprising to me!

NAPS
Naps were a lot like feeding this week. A bit more sporadic then usual. But not terrible! He didn't have nearly as many rolling over issues as last week. He will sleep anywhere from 1.25 to 1.5 hours for each nap, which I consider sufficient! I am hoping he will start sleeping a bit longer for each nap, so that he starts extending to a 3.5 or 4 hour schedule fairly soon. I know he is ready for it.

WAKE TIME
I am still putting Levi down for his naps at the 1 hour 20 minute mark from when he previously woke. That seems to be perfect for him right now and allows him about 5 minutes to get himself to sleep. 

He is really loving his Jumperoo and is learning how to actually jump in it now, which is hilarious to watch. He just flings and twirls himself around. I'm nervous that one day he is going to fling himself straight into the door frame, but no use in worrying I suppose!

NIGHTTIME
Levi has been doing excellent at night. I am super proud of him. 5 nights this week he slept from his 8 PM bedtime to at least 5:30 AM or 6 AM. One time he woke at 3 AM because he had rolled over. Another time he randomly woke at midnight. Still unsure why he did that, but he just ate and went right back to bed!

He seems to do well with sleeping in footy pajamas and his cotton sleep sack, even though it is getting warmer outside. 

OUTINGS/EVENTS
Big guy had his 6-month check up this week! He lucked out and didn't have to get his shots because they were out of stock in one that he needed (we'll actually be going back tomorrow to get them). He weighed in at 16 lbs even and was measured at 27.75 inches long; 30th and 90th percentiles. His doctor said even though his weight is on the lower side for his age, he is still steadily gaining, so she is not concerned. 

Levi also went to the zoo for the first time this week! He had no clue, but he went. It was super hot out and there was a lot of commotion, so he didn't necessarily enjoy it. But he tolerated it. We stayed for about 2 hours and he definitely reached his limit--he fell asleep as we were walking out. The picture above is Levi and his new buddy.


Well, that's all for now! Until next week. 

Levi: Week 25 Summary

Levi loving the pool!

Here is a recap on this past week in Levi's life: #25!

FEEDING
Levi really struggled to nurse this week. Toward the end of the week, he had gone 5 days without pooping, so I think that had something to do with it. He just doesn't want to eat a lot at a time when he is constipated--and I don't blame him. Whenever he wouldn't eat longer than 10-15 minutes, I would give him a break, try to feed him again, and if he wouldn't go for it, I'd offer him some solid food. I'm not sure if he is just weaning himself or what it is. Usually this would most often happen during his second feeding of the day--so I didn't push him to nurse in case he was just still full from his morning fruit. Usually, by the 3rd feeding and definitely by the 4th, he was back to eating for at least 30 minutes at a time. He made it at least 2.5 hours every time though, so we pretty much kept the same schedule.

We continued with pureed solids this week after his 1st feeding and BLW after his 2nd feeding. Here is what Levi ate:
05/26- Out all day with Brian's parents, so I didn't worry about giving him solids.
05/27- 0.5 oz pureed prunes
05/28- 0.5 oz pureed prunes, BLW with 1 kiwi and 1 slice of cucumber
05/29- 1.75 oz pureed prunes, BLW with 1/4 avocado and 1 slice of cucumber
05/30- 1.25 oz pureed apples, BLW with 1/4 avocado and 1 steamed carrot
05/31- 0.75 pureed apples, BLW with 1/4 avocado and 1 steamed carrot

NAPS
Saturday and Sunday of this past week, Brian's parents were in town, so Levi's naps were a bit more sporadic then normal. We tried to be at home for at least one of his naps a day, to make sure he got a solid 1.5 hours (at least). The others were mostly in his car seat as we did stuff with them around town.

Monday of this past week, Levi took terrible naps. I mean, absolutely horrible. He likes to sleep on his side, but he kept accidentally rolling himself over. He was screaming all day because of this. He was probably just overly tired as well from our busy weekend. And he and I were both sick with a cold. So all of those factors put together made for a difficult napping day.

Tuesday through Friday, he was right back on schedule with napping. He went down without any problems and slept for at least an hour each time. He might have rolled over twice the rest of the week and I just let him cry himself back to sleep when he did.

WAKE TIME
Levi's wake time is the same as last week. About 1 hour and 20 minutes in length and still playing with all the same toys. Oh, he did discover his feet this week though! He doesn't try to reach them when he is laying down, but he definitely notices them when he sits in his Bumbo. He lunges forward to try to grab them!

NIGHTTIME
He slept much better at night this week! Yay! Toward the beginning of the week, he was still waking anywhere between 1:30 and 2:30, but the last 4 days he slept solid from his bedtime to at least 6 AM. Fingers crossed that the rolling over won't disrupt his nighttime sleep anymore!

OUR SCHEDULE 
Our schedule has been fairly consistent these past few weeks, so I want to note it. All times listed are give or take about 15 minutes:

6:00 am (or anytime within this hour)- short 15 min feed, Levi straight back to bed
8:00 am- nurse, spoon feed pureed fruit (he eats anywhere from 0.5 oz to 1.5 oz, depending on how hungry/interested he is)
9:15 am- nap
10:45 am- nurse, BLW, bath time
12:00 pm- nap
2:00 pm- nurse
3:15 pm- nap
4:45 pm- nurse
6:00 pm- shorter nap
7:15 pm- nurse
8:00 pm- bedtime

OUTINGS/EVENTS
I took Levi to the seminary pool this week! It was a lot of fun and he really enjoyed it. He just kept watching all the big kids and he smiled constantly. I loved that time with him and I'm excited to take him more throughout the summer!

Moments.

One day this week, I decided to take photos of the moments in my day. Kind of like a photo diary. I know, sounds cheesy--you're right. But I really wanted to practice some editing. Plus, I thought it would be kind of fun to look back 5 years from now and remember what my days were like in May of 2013. Who knows how many kids we'll have by then, where we'll be living, and what everyday life will look like? So this was my day: May 31, 2013. 

I woke up to this guy. Just like this.

He nursed (yea, not photographing that) and then I fed him some pureed apples. He enjoyed them.

This was my breakfast. Iced coffee makes a good Friday morning spectacular.

8:00 AM: Got right to work while Levi had some play time.

And then took a picture of Levi playing, because he's too cute not to.

We read his Jesus Storybook Bible before his first nap of the day. Some days this happens and some days it doesn't. But it was a story about Joseph. And it made me cry--like most of the stories in that book do.

Sweet cuddly, bundly baby boy.

Then I did a little reading of my own. I'll be the first to admit this doesn't always happen either, but I'm trying to work on it. It greatly improves my day.

And...back to work.

Levi woke from his nap, he nursed and I striped him down...

Because it was finger food time! This day he had some avocado and two baby carrots.

Checking it out.

Yea, he loves that avocado.

By far one of his favorites times of the day: bath time! As you can see here.

Squeaky clean.

Then we picked out his outfit. And by "we" I mean myself. This day it had to be an extra special outfit because it was 6-month-photoshoot day.

Got his hair all combed over and fancy.

This is my favorite of the day. We were just chillin' in his room.

Ditto.

And then nap time rolled around again.

Time to sneak a shower in for this spit-up-smelling mama.

Made myself a sammich and headed back to work.

Then it started raining...which in my book means its time to light a candle and feel all warm and cozy.

God was looking out for our garden...

No day is without household chores. Oh joy.

Afternoon snack time. I needed a little pick-me-up, so I went for the "mismatched sandwich cremes." Sounds ridiculous, but they are the Whole Foods copycat of Oreos. Just as delicious (maybe even more so) and surprisingly cheaper (we like cheaper).

Little man was back up again and playing sweetly.

This is our living room. Humble and cozy. Welcome.

My love worked a 6 AM shift that morning...so he took a short snooze.

I got tired of taking pictures, so I leave off with this one as we headed to dinner. Brian isn't much of a hand-holder, but he actually initiated this. So it was picture worthy.


So that is my photo diary of May 31, 2013. It took like 4 hours of my time (with all the photographing and editing and blogging) so I don't think I'm up to the challenge again. I look forward to looking at this blog post again in 5+ years. Then it will be worth it.