7 Months

Dear Levi,

Today you are 7 months old. The months seem to be flying by! This month you've started eating "solid" foods, and you seem to like them. You have had sweet potatoes, butternut squash, avocados, and bananas. Next up are carrots. Bananas are by far your favorite, and you squeal in between bites. When you are eating avocado, you squish your face up and act like you don't like it, but you keep on eating it! You are interested in everything Dad and I eat and drink, and you love to play with cups and spoons.

You like to talk and have been experimenting with lots of new sounds lately. You like to fake cough, and you've started making a new noise that sounds like you're really surprised or sucking air in. It's a funny noise to listen to you make until you are trying to eat and you just end up choking yourself. You also love blowing raspberries. You like to do this when you're eating too! You spit sweet potatoes all over Dad the other day. :)

You can sit up for longer periods of time, but you're still not very sturdy. We've put you in highchairs and grocery carts and you seem to like them. You usually end up leaning over onto the side of the cart, but I think you like having a different view of the world! You seem so proud of yourself when you are sitting up, and sometimes you look at me like you're trying to say, "Hey! Look at me! Look at what I can do!"

You seem to love anything electronic- remotes, cell phones and even the laptop. When we open up the laptop and you are sitting with us, you immediately start trying to grab the keys. You also love the lights on the computer and always try to grab them!

You are scooting/army crawling now. I know my feelings about this will change, but it's so fun to watch you find something you want and then be able to scoot over to it and get it. Today you even got up on your hands and knees and started rocking back and forth. I know it won't be too long now before you're in to everything!

We have started seeing a little bit of a temper in you lately. The other night, after your bath, Dad took away your towel you were chewing on and you threw your head back and started screaming! You did the same thing to me today when I took a hanger away from you.

This month you had your first antibiotic. Last Friday, Megan called and said you had a temperature of 102, so Dad took you to the doctor. You had a sinus infection. When I got home you were just laying in Dad's arms. It was so sad to see you like that, but after a day of tylenol, amoxicillin, and snuggles you were a new kid!

You weigh close to 16 pounds. You are still wearing your 3-6 month clothes, and you're wearing size 2 (and sometimes size 3) diapers.

We are so in love with you. We love watching your grow and explore new things. I have 2 more weeks left of school, and I cannot wait to have so much time with you this summer! I know that we are going to have so much fun.

Love,

Mom

Mother's Day

To celebrate Mother's Day we drove home to spend the weekend with our families. We had a great time and even experienced a few firsts:

- The first time Levi and his cousins, Kadence and Cameron, "played" together. Kadence seemed to be content (for a little while) to sit and watch Levi roll around on the floor. It was also very important to her that Cameron not take Levi's things. She even tried to share her candy with Levi!

Cameron enjoyed playing with Levi's giraffe and standing over him. She would walk right up to him and just stand there staring down at him! :) I think she enjoyed having someone around that is smaller than her!

- My first mother's day- We celebrated by going to the Astros game!

- Levi's first Astros game- The two nicknames I've heard lately for the Astros are the "Disastros" and the "Lastros", so we were worried about what kind of game we were going to see. It ended up being a great game! The Astros came from behind to win in extra innings. Levi did GREAT at the game! He even slept through the last 2 innings (which were the most exciting and loudest).

Mat, Levi, and Junction Jack

Pops and Levi

- Levi had bananas for the first time this weekend. So far, he has eaten pretty much anything I've offered him, but bananas seem like the first food he actually likes.

- One strange first- Levi's first fire drill- and it happened during church! Thankfully it was just a false alarm, but the fire trucks showed up and everything!

Sweet Potatoes

Today we ventured into the world of "real" food. Levi tried sweet potatoes! He seemed to like them, but wasn't overly excited by them. He just acted like it was the same old stuff he'd been eating!

Our Top Draft Pick

6 Months

Dear Levi,

I cannot believe you are already 1/2 a year old! You are such a curious little boy. You are taking everything in and learning so much! You are starting to explore everything with your mouth- your toys, your feet, other people's hands... You love cups and love to watch people drink out of them. The other night, you grabbed my cup, pulled it to your mouth, and started sucking away.

Tonight we gave you a sippy cup for the first time. Dr. Spellings said to start giving you one with water when you were eating solids. She said it would be good for you to explore for now and eventually you'd figure it out. Well, it didn't take you long! You pulled it right to your mouth and started sucking. You were a little surprised to get water instead of milk, but you didn't seem to mind!

You are still enjoying your rice cereal, and soon we will start to feed you "real" food. You are much more distracted now when you are eating. You'll eat for a few minutes, look around, laugh, smile, watch George, and then go back to eating... This makes feeding you a little more difficult, but I can't resist those sweet smiles and giggles! You are also very particular about where your feet are while you eat. You will kick my arm and wiggle your feet until you get them just right.

When you are playing, you would prefer to be sitting up rather than laying down. This is frustrating for everyone since you aren't too sturdy on your own yet. If I sit you up, you can sit there...but not for long! When you are laying down, you grunt and struggle to try and sit up. A few weeks ago you got a jumper, and you seem to like it as long as Mom or Dad are nearby.

Today at the doctor you were 25 in. long (10%) and 14 lbs. 4 oz (10%). You're a little guy but growing just as you should be. The doctor said you looked great! (She used the word perfect 3 times and perfectly once). You are wearing size 2 diapers and finally into your 3-6 months clothes! That's a good thing since all of your summer clothes are at least 3-6 months!

Most nights you are still sleeping pretty well- from about 8:30 to 5:30. We still have some challenging nights, but for the most part you are a great sleeper. You seem to have gotten into a routine with naps at Megan's house too. Most days you sleep for a few hours in the morning and catnap throughout the afternoon and early evening. I can always tell when you are sleepy because you start rubbing your eyes and then just before you fall asleep you start grunting.

"Mmm...This looks good."

This month you have become even more attached to me. You love Dad and have a great time with him...as long as I'm not in the room! When I walk in the room or you hear my voice, you freak out!

You've also seemed to start enjoying music recently. Pops bought Dad a new CD called Rockabye Baby. There is a whole series of these CDs that have turned songs from bands like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zepplin, and the Pixies into lullabies. Dad loves it, and you seem to also! We also got you a few Praise Baby CDs, and you love listening to Mom and Dad sing to you.

"Hey Mr. Bear! What's up?!"

Levi, We love watching you learn and grow. We are so blessed to be your parents!

Love,

Mom and Dad

Blessed

Sometimes (or a lot of the time!) I get caught up and overwhelmed with life. The end of the school year is coming quickly (which I am thankful for!), but it is a crazy time of year!! Taking time to stop and think about how blessed I am helps me refocus on what is truly important in my life.

Just a few things I am thankful for:

1. Mat- I have a husband who is more than I deserve! He loves the Lord and strives to live a life that is pleasing to Him. He works hard at work and then helps me keep up with everything at home. He loves me unconditionally, and he keeps me from going crazy (or at least tries- it's a tough job!)
2. Levi- I've reworded this line quite a few times- I can't even adequately put into words what this precious gift from God means to me! I love him so much it hurts.
3. My family and friends- I was thinking just this morning in church how blessed Mat and I are to be surrounded by so many people that love and encourage us- our extended family, our friends from all stages of our lives, and our church family.
4. My team at school- They are so supportive- especially this year! I don't know how I would've survived coming back to school without them!

P.S.- Mom, I know you've been looking for Levi's 6 month post...it's coming. I'm waiting for our Dr.'s appointment, so I can update his stats too!

Bluebonnets

I've always loved bluebonnets, and I knew that I wanted to get some pictures of Levi in them this spring. We found a beautiful field of bluebonnets and indian paintbrushes close to our home that were perfect for a photo shoot.

There were quite a few families out there taking advantage of the flowers. I took about 125 pictures in about 20 minutes. :) Here are a few of my favorites:

This is Levi's Easter outfit that I didn't get a picture of last week!

My dad got me some new filters for my camera. I was amazed at the difference they made. Here's a picture for comparison. The other pictures I posted were taken with the UV filter, and this one was taken without it.

Thank you, Dad!