9 Months

Levi is 9 months old today! I can't believe that my little boy has been around for 9 whole months! Time really is flying by. We go to the doctor on Monday for his 9 month check-up, so I'll post his stats then. For now I'll just share a few things about oru growing boy.

• He loves to crawl and pull himself up on everything. Lately it is the window sills, but he hasn't learned how to get himself down yet.
• He has 8 teeth! You'd think he could eat anything he wants, but he refuses to chew. I've tried him on stage 3 foods a couple of times, but he gags everytime. He will eat the Gerber puffs, toast, french fries (once), banana (sometimes), oatmeal, and any 2nd food you try to give him.
• He is talking all the time. He will say dada, mama, and many other syllables, but I'm not sure he quite knows what they all mean. He often mimics the things we say and it sounds just like the words we've said.
• He will put himself to sleep for his nap when he is tired. He crawls to me, I love on him for a few minutes, and then lay him on the couch and he'll go to sleep within a few minutes.
• He is still a great sleeper. He sleeps through the night every night and then usually takes a 2-3 hour nap in the late morning. Sometimes another short nap in the late afternoon.
• He still sucks his thumb, but only when he is tired, going to sleep, or when he wants to nurse. I'm over being paranoid about it.
• He almost always sleeps on his tummy.
• He loves his Papa.
• He loves books - especially when his Papa reads to him. Aaron is so annimated about it. His favorite books are Dr. Seuss books...Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You, Horton Hatches the Egg, Fox in Socks, Hop on Pop, and then my favorite...I Love You Stinky Face.
• He loves being outside.
• He is VERY curious. He watches everything and everyone around him, thus it is easy to distract him. I think he gets that from his Papa.
• His favorite toys are his bouncy ball, horse, empty boxes around the house, cars, and blocks.
• He enjoys listening to music.
• He is wearing mostly 12 months clothes and a few 9 month things.
• He is learning to climb.

Levi is such a great kid. I could go on and on about all the things he is learning and discovering each day. It is truly amazing to watch him find his way through this life. I love being his mom and being able to help him on his journey.

On another note, Levi has gotten really good a peek-a-boo. He is always peeking over things to see us. The video below is of him playing peek-a-boo with me. When you watch it pay attention to his tongue. He's just learned how to stick his tongue out, and has been doing it constantly the last couple of days. It is so cute. Enjoy!

Help

Levi has been pulling up on everything lately, and has recently discovered our window sills. I really thought he would have discovered them long ago, but he's just begun to get interested in them the last week or so. He pulls up and looks out them all day. He is so proud of himself, and then he realizes that he is stuck. He hasn't quite figured out how to get back down yet. I'll hear him start a little whimper when he is ready to move and I know he is stuck somewhere. Yesterday it was a kitchen chair and today it was the window and his basket of toys. It is so cute.

While we are on the subject of help, Levi went to the doctor yesterday and had his catherter removed. He was SO brave. You could tell he was hloding back the tears as they took the adhesive off and removed the catheter. Finally he couldn't hold them in any more and just let them fall. I've never seen him cry like that. It was heartbreaking. On a good note the doctor said everything looked real good and was healing well. He also got to play with a big tractor while he was there, so he was pretty happy. We go back in two weeks for another check-up.

What A Trooper!

Some of you may have known that Levi was born with a pretty common condition known as hypospadius. Feel free to google that if you feel the need, but basically it means his plumbing needed a little repair work done. We have been seeing a specialist since he was born, and his surgery was originally scheduled for April. We are traveling to Texas in April so we were really hoping that we could move up the surgery if someone had a cancellation. Well I got a call Tuesday morning with a cancellation opening for the next day. It was short notice, but it worked out well for us. We made all the arrangements and we suppose to arrive at the hospital at 1:25pm on Wednesday. Here is the beginning of our journey. Levi's surgery was at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Levi got to ride in a little wagon on his way into the hospital.His surgery was suppose to take place at 3:25pm. He wasn't allowed to eat anything after midnight, and I was only allowed to nurse him once at 9am! Here we are waiting in our room.

They gave him this gown to wear. It was purple with blue space koalas! It was a little gay, but he wore it proud.He was so hungry, and his surgery go pushed back to 5pm!!! He was starving, but you wouldn't have known it except for the thumb sucking he did all day. The finally came in to prepare him for surgery around 4:30pm.

They gave him a little Tylenol to help prepare him for surgery, and then I was able to put him to sleep while we waited for them to come and get him. They came in about 5:00pm to take him down. He was so precious asleep on the big bed as they wheeled him down. Aaron & I were so impressed with Children's. Levi had a personal nurse during surgery and she called us once he was asleep and surgery had started and then every hour to give us an update. It was nice to know he was doing well when you couldn't be there to hold him. The surgery took less than two hours and he was our of recovery and back in the room by 7:15pm.

He was a little out of it at first, but was quickly back to his chipper self. The only thing he didn't like was his sensor and IV. We were able to leave the hospital around 9:00pm and arrived home about 10:30pm. He went right to sleep and slept the whole night! I was a little worried this might interfere with his sleeping habits, but so far he is still on schedule.

He had a good night's rest and this was him this morning. He looked a little groggy, but has been in a great mood today. In fact, I have barely been able to keep up with him. The only thing he doesn't seem to like is his medicine. That is a battle, but at least it's only two or three times a day.

Will You Be My Valentine?

This was the most special Valentine's Day I have ever had. The primary reason for that is the little one pictured at he bottom of this post. His daddy isn't too shabby either. I must be honest and say that I didn't expect much for Valentine's Day. Actually, I didn't expect anything. Maybe a card or a "Will you be my Valentine?," but really not even that. To my surprise, I got much more than I expected. Aaron & I had gone out on a date last Friday. I kind of thought..."This will be our Valentine's date"...so I was completely surprised when he called me Friday morning to inform me he was taking me out. I was SO excited, but had no idea what he had planned. He made arrangements for someone to keep Levi and all I had to do was be ready when he got home. We took Levi to his grandparents, and then headed to Atlantic Station to check out the Bodies Exhibit! I was so excited! I know what you are thinking...dead bodies - how romantic, but I have been wanting to go to this exhibit for a while now, so it was perfect. The exhibit was so interesting and we had a great time looking at all the exhibits. Our favorite part was the exhibit on fetus development. This exhibit showed the human development in the womb. It was amazing to see. After the exhibit we went to dinner and then home. It was great, and that would have been enough, but Aaron had a little more up his sleeve. Saturday morning I gave Aaron a card from me and a card from Levi. I really wasn't expecting anything, but Aaron had a two cards for me. One from him and one from Levi. Everything was great, but my card from Levi was the icing on the cake. He then served us breakfast...Krispy Kreme doughnuts!! I know it wasn't some elaborate cooked eggs and bacon breakfast, but Krispy Kreme doughnuts are my favorite and an indulgence I rarely get, so it was a special treat. I've already told Aaron how wonderful he is, and now this is my chance to share it with everyone else. He is amazing, and I am so lucky to have him in my life. Thanks for being my special Valentine not just today, but everyday. Levi was my other Valentine, so I couldn't leave him out. This is him enjoying his special Valentine from Grandmama & Grandaddy. I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine with those you love.

And the Warm Weather Just Keeps Coming

Yesterday was such a nice day that Levi and I went for a walk with Aunt Lou and then hit the swings and slide at the church for a little fun. Levi had fun going down the slide and riding the see-saw. Later we stopped back by on the way home with Papa. My camera battery died, so I wasn't able to get many pictures. We are sure to return so we'll post more pics from our next trip soon. Hope the rest of you are enjoying the warm weather as much as we are.

Where is the Pause Button?!

Oh my goodness! Can someone please find the pause button and push it fast! My little boy is growing up... and growing up way too fast for his mama to handle. In the last week and a half he has mastered crawling, sitting himself up from crawling, pulling himself to his knees, and from the pictures you can see he has mastered pulling himself up to standing! These are too many little milestones that he has mastered so quickly. It just shows me that he is growing up. The picture above is from this morning, so tonight we had to lower the mattress in his crib. Just one more thing to say that he is no longer my little tiny baby.

I guess I thought it would take him a little while to master some of these skills, but it hasn't taken him any time at all. Yesterday was the first time he pulled himself up to standing. He was so proud of himself, and after he did it once, he never looked back. Now he wastes no time crawling around and finding something to pull himself up on. I must admit he is so adorable as he discovers all these new things he can do, but it makes me just realize my sweet little baby is turning into a sweet little BOY. Time is flying by! I know I write that in every post about him, but it is so true. He's growing so fast, and I'm SO proud of him.

Yay for Warm Day!

Today's weather was so nice that Levi and I decided to venture outside and enjoy the day. We played in the grass in the front yard for a while, then went on a walk down our street. Levi loves being outside, so I have been looking forward to the warm weather to arrive so we could enjoy some sunshine. He had the best time watching Dodger run up and down the street while we walked. I'm sure the 60 & 70 degree temperatures won't last, but while they do we plan to enjoy them. Hope you are all enjoy the day wherever you are.