The Paul + Charity Show: Levi

Levi Daniel, you are two months old!

Levi, you continue to have a sweet and calm disposition! You typically only cry if you are hungry or cold. But mama and papa have seemed to figure out the right temperature for you and are pretty good about feeding you - so there is not much crying going on. You do have a 7pm-9pm witching hour, but even then you are not exactly fussy. You just do not want to be asleep. You love to smile and you have started "talking" to us more as you coo and babble.

Recently you have become such an efficient eater that mama and papa were worried that you weren't eating enough. But at your two month appointment you were 13lbs, 8oz (78th percentile) and 23.8 inches long (83rd percentile) which is right inline with where you should be. Your pediatrician says that your eating is great!

You love looking at colors and especially things with high contrast. We often find you smiling at your car seat canopy because of the fun pattern. You track mama's bright pink water bottle, and recently you were enamored with a friend's bright yellow princess dress. Your tracking isn't limited to just following things with color. When you are awake you love watching your big brother. You often smile at him, especially if he dances for you. Levi, your brother loves you so much. He will often wake up in the morning and ask about you immediately when Mama or Papa comes in the room. We hope this is the beginning of a really great bond between you two.

Levi, your sleep is getting better. Once you hit 7 weeks, Mama became more diligent about putting you in the crib for naps during the day. You have been doing really well with an eat, play, sleep schedule. You are typically awake for 45-50 minutes and then you start giving cues that you are tired. We have started laying you in your crib wide awake and you have done a great job putting yourself to sleep. Sometimes you fuss, but even then it usually only takes you 10-15 minutes to fall asleep. At night you will typically do a 4 hour stretch, a 3 hour stretch, and then a 1 to 2 hour stretch. However, just as you approached the two month mark you did two nights in a row with a 6 hour stretch of sleep which felt heavenly!

You have had a busy second month! You tag along on all of Elijah's adventures, but you have been getting play time with other babies like Beckett and Lucianna. You have also had several big doctor appointments around your vascular birthmark which have all been positive. We went to Leavenworth over the Fourth of July Holiday weekend with our friends the Baughn's and the Helmbrecht's and you loved watching all the kids run around.

During your third month of life we think you are looking forward to play dates with your friends and attending the Amazon Family picnic.

Here are some photos from you second month of life.

Levi Daniel, you are one month old today!

Levi, You are a wonderful addition to the family! It has been very exciting to finally get to meet you and call you by name. Mama and Papa love you dearly, as well as your big brother Elijah! He often wakes up in the morning talking about you and asking if you are downstairs, sleeping, or eating. He loves to talk to you, kiss you, touch you, and lay with you on your blanket. Your big brother also loves to help you whenever he can - from pushing your stroller, to throwing away your diapers, to helping hold your car seat. We hope this is the start of a wonderful, lifelong friendship between you two.

Your first month has sailed along smoothly! Levi you are calm and observant. You let us know if you want to eat, or if you're cold, but otherwise you are a very quiet guy. Even when you sleep, you do not make much noise which makes papa nervous (he checks on you several times a night). Before you were born both Mama and Papa were nervous about whether you would be a good eater and how you would latch. But you've been a wonderful eater and seems to really enjoy the special time with Mama. You have even started to respond to our voices by giving us a sweet smile.

Levi, you have settled into a pretty easy pattern. During the day you like to eat every two hours. You wake, eat for 20-30 minutes, play for 15-20 minutes and then it is back down to sleep. You are often sleeping in your swing or bassinet during the day. At night, you tend to sleep 3-4 hours between feedings. Usually mama and papa are up with you a couple times at night. We even had a couple nights where we were only up once, that was magical! As you have approached your one month growth spurt, you are up every 2-3 hours at night to eat.

During the first few days of life, you lost 10% of your body weight which is typical. However, you were on the slow side of gaining back to your birth weight. We found out (the hard way for mama) that you had a tongue tie which was affecting how hard you had to work to get your food. As soon as we found that out, we had it cut. Your weight gain started to increase from there and by two and a half weeks you were back up to birth weight. Your feeding times also went from 50 minutes to about 25 minutes. Just a few days ago, you clocked in at 9lbs, 13oz which is right on target.

Summer weather has started to show up, so we have been trying to get out and about. You have been on walks around the neighborhood and even an epic walk around Greenlake. You typically like being in the stroller as long as it is moving and on a bumpy path. But like your brother, you definitely will let us know that you do not like it when we stop walking.

Mama and Papa are trying to figure out special nicknames just for you. Typically we call you Tiny Man or Levi-Bear. It is hard for us to not call you the same nicknames that we have for Elijah. Sometimes Papa even slips and calls you Elijah or calls Elijah - Levi. Mama and Papa have especially loved being able to say "our boys" when talking about you and your brother.

It has been a busy first month for you Levi! Mama's dear friend Raena came to visit and take photos of you and Elijah, there was a shower to celebrate your arrival, and your Auntie Destiny, Cousin Eleanor, and Grandma Robin came to visit!

During the next month we think you are looking forward to celebrating your first 4th of July with friends in Leavenworth!

Here are some photos from your first month of life!