A Week of Progress

Last week seemed as though the boys transformed from infants to toddlers.

As I have mentioned before the boys have been moving all over but weren't quite to a full out crawl.  Well, they are crawling all over the place now.  I got the gate installed in the nick of time.  William started going for the entryway which is also where the stairs to the basement is at.  Now that the gate is up he won't be making the journey on his own to the great outdoors or to the basement.  They have been going, going, going.  I have been closing the door to the bathroom so that they won't get into trouble there either.

William has stated his discontent at having a gate in his way.  He crawls up to it and butts his head on it then cries.  He can't figure out why it won't move for him.  Silly little boy.  He has also taken to chasing the cats around.  Well, he tries to anyway.  They obviously move faster than he does when they don't want to be bothered.  Sometimes, however they will let the boys pull on their tails or pound on them.  I have very tolerant cats.

One of their favorite places to head for is the glass slider.  They love to pull on the curtains and bury their head in them.  It must feel soft on their faces.  They get so excited they giggle and shriek with delight.  They know the glass door is their too.  They bonk their heads on it.  It doesn't hurt.  They are more learning what the boundary is.  You can see them thinking about it.  They do it once, stop and think.  Then do it again a little slower and gentler.  There seems to be some excitement and recognition about the cause and affect.

In addition to the crawling they have figured out how to pull themselves up to sitting on their knees and then within a day of that occurrence they figured out how to pull themselves to standing.  I have a picture of Levi doing this for the first time.  I missed out on snapping the picture of William doing it.  He did it the evening before Levi did.  I love seeing the look of excitement and joy on their faces when the accomplish something.  "Look Mom!  I did it!"

Now that they are more mobile they have many more opportunities for getting hurt.  There have been plenty of falls and tears this last week.  The up side to all of it is they are learning fear.  You can see the fear in their faces when they get wobbly and lose their grip.  They know that they could fall and if they do it might hurt.  They don't want to hurt.  I don't rescue them for the most part.  I let them learn the hard way.  I know that most of the time they cry because they were more startled than hurt.

Yesterday, Levi was trying to climb into his walker.  He couldn't do it of course but it won't be long.  It is so hard to believe they have come so far in such a short week.

 Levi pulled himself up from the floor without any assistance.  First time!

 William pulled himself up without assistance.  Second time I've seen him do it.

 Trying to climb into the walker.

"Nope, I don't need your help.  I'm good."

Merry Christmas

This week we have been getting gifts in the mail from Grandparents everywhere.  Time for a party.

 Pretty paper!

 Always with the pacifier.  Oiy!

 My mechanically inclined Levi figuring out how the toy works.

 William says, "what is it?"

 A train!  For me?!

 Look at all the loot!

 A couple of the outfits from Grandma Deborah

 So stinkin' cute

Wrestling with William

I'm feeling pretty bad right now.  William is in bed screaming his head off as though I completely abandoned him.  He has been in there screaming for three quarters of an hour.  I have sung to him, talked to him, left him to himself, and given him a toy.  None of it is soothing him.  He wants to be held and I refuse to give into it.  I must conquer this stubbornness.

I have been a little lax lately about making him go down to sleep on his own.  Instead I have been allowing him to be held in the evenings and for naps until he falls asleep.  But the last few nights have been just awful.

Both boys have been waking in the night and wanting to play.  Three nights this has gone on.  I am running on very little sleep.  I don't cope with my emotions very well on so little sleep.  Once Levi is tired he goes to bed without a problem and thankfully that is still the case.  He has just been waking in the night with some energy that needs to be burned.

William on the other hand has been a downright pill.  He insists on being held while he sleeps.  Last night I let my Mom hold him all night only because he was having some congestion and he seemed to have a hard time breathing while he laid in bed.  Well, I'm paying for it tonight.  The congestion seems to be gone but he now thinks, no demands to be held and will not calm down.  You would think he would have worn himself out by now from all of the energy he has expelled in screaming so.

I feel like a terrible person to let him cry so aggressively.  But I will not survive if I let it happen night after night.  I feel like a zombie and have been sick to my stomach from losing so much sleep over the last three nights.  I could use some prayers that I am able to conquer this battle of the wills.  We both need the rest.

There's a musician in the house

The piano we were waiting for came on Tuesday.  It is so cute.  Smaller than I pictured it to be but it is the perfect size for Levi.  I put Levi in front of it and showed him how the keys made music.  He started banging on it and having quite a hay-day.  Boy is it loud when it is being pounded on.

I limited him to only a few minutes.  When I picked it up to put it out of sight he started complaining with gusto.  He cried for a few minutes until I could distract him with something else.

We did not pull it out yesterday because we were gone for a good chunk of the day visiting some friends. But we pulled it out this morning.  The second Levi saw it he got so excited he started shaking and squealing.  He knew exactly what it was.  I set it down about three feet in front of him.  Talk about a motivator.  That is the first thing I have been able to find that will make him want to creep forward more than a few inches.  He couldn't crawl fast enough across the floor to get to it.  I sat him up at it and he was banging away.  I make sure that I stay right there with him so that he doesn't pull the piano over in all of his excitement.

As Levi was pounding away at the keys it made William get excited and laughing.  He came crawling over and wanted to try but mostly he wanted to watch Levi and laugh.

After five minutes or so I took the piano away and put it out of sight.  I thought Levi would cry but he didn't.  He was still happy and went on his way to play with other toys.

Levi is my lil' musician.  Can't wait to see him in a band someday!

Movers and Shakers

Levi is my mover but he is usually good about staying nearby.  Occasionally he would roll into the hallway but he likes to stick around where the people are.  However, the last couple of days he has rolled through the hallway and gone to the bedroom as well as toward the dining room.  Perhaps he will be my little explorer.

William is ready to take off too.  I hope the gates I ordered get here soon.  William has started creeping.  He is almost to a crawl but not quite.  A week from this past thursday he made his first movement forward.  He figured out to move his hands forward and slowly started to figure out how to use his knees.  Now he pulls with his hands and pushes with his feet and he has gotten quite good.  Now he moving quite fast.  He is almost able to keep up with Levi.

This last Wednesday Levi was rolling around on the floor as usual and I was just watching him.  There was a toy ahead of him that was too far out of reach.  He wanted it.  So he put his arms forward and pulled with his hands and pushed with his feet.  There he was.  Close enough to grab the toy and put it in his mouth.  There was no struggle or trying to figure out how to get at the toy.  He just did it as though he has always been able to do it.  Well, since then he has been pulling himself forward more often but he still rolls most places.

My Mom noticed that Levi has been moving to the sounds of music or someone singing.  I have kept an eye on him and sure enough.  It has happened way to often for it to be a coincidence.  When she sings to him he will sway back and forth.  Again he does it when he plays with a musical toy, hears a song on tv or coming from my computer.  I love it.  Maybe he will be a musician.

Grandma Heidi asked me to pick out some things for the boys and while I was looking I found a little piano.  On a whim I decided that would be fun for the boys.  The more I watch Levi bee-bopping to music the more excited I get about that little piano.  Can't wait!  Actually it has me looking at other musical instruments.  I found a little guitar and a little drum set.  Maybe the boys could start a band.  Hee hee.  Unfortunately I don't know the first thing about music.  I suppose I should start learning so I can teach them.

Levi shows interest in so many things that it is easy to imagine him in so many roles.  Musician, park ranger, explorer, mechanic.  He loves to tinker and to use his fingers for little tasks.  He could be anything.  I have a harder time imagining with William.  Not that I don't think he would be good at anything.  It is just too early for me to see signs of his interests.  So far the one thing he shows a lot of interest in is computers, cell phones and remote controls.  Perhaps he should be a techie.  When I have my laptop open and he is in a position to see the screen there is nothing but complete determination to get to the computer.  I'm going to have to lock it up at some point so that he doesn't destroy it.  Maybe he will take over Papa's business someday.

Lovin' Levi

I love that Levi adores me.  It makes my day brighter when I'm feeling down.  A couple days ago I was at my Dad's painting and when I came home several hours later Levi was so excited to see me.  He had the biggest grin and started jumping up and down on Grandma.  It made me just melt.

Levi knows his name and will turn to look at me when I call him.  He has a gentle touch, most of the time.  When he reaches out to touch my arm or face I don't worry that he will hit, pinch or scratch me.  It's so nice to let him just play without worrying about being beat up by a 7 month old. 

He hasn't cut any teeth yet.  I keep thinking it will be any day now but I'm still waiting.  He chews on a lot of things but I don't see any other evidence of a tooth coming.  Although this does not deter him from munching no some cheerios.  That is cause for excitement.  His little arms and hands start shaking when he hears me reach into a bag of cheerios and the second I toss one on the tray he is on it like a fly on honey.  He does a fair job about picking it up between his thumb and first finger and getting into his mouth without any assistance.  William not so much; he seems to have no interest in cheerios but he will eat them if one is placed in his mouth.

Levi had a really awful rash on his bottom this past week.  I felt so bad for him.  It was so raw and yet he didn't seem too bothered by it.  He fussed sometimes when I would put some cream on it but for the most part he ignored.  It sure made me want to cry looking at it.  I'm wondering if it was from the peaches or apricots.  Whatever it was had quite a bit of acid in his poop to cause such a terrible rash.  I put him on a formula only diet for a couple of days to cut down on how often he would poop so that his little bum could heal.  It is looking so much better.  No more peaches and apricots for a while.  

He is so good about playing by himself.  Every once in a while he looks for someone just to make eye contact and get a reassuring smile.  Then he goes back to playing and talking to himself.  Levi can entertain himself in this way for a long time.  He likes to play with his brother until he makes William cry or William makes him cry.  It doesn't take very long for that to happen.  Then I have to pull them apart and get some distance between them.  Until Levi rolls back over to William and starts it all over again.  They seem to have a similar affinity for one particular toy.  It is similar to a jack-in-the-box but it has for different characters and when you hit one of the buttons then one of the characters pop up.  I don't know what it is called but they enjoy it.  But... it isn't a soft toy and so they sometimes play a little to hard with it and will shut their fingers in it or try chewing on it.  It is inevitable that they will cry at one point or another when they play with it.  And of course there is crying when one steals it from the other one.  They still need to work on the sharing concept.  You would think they would get it by now. I mean they are seven months old.  Shouldn't they be civilized by now?  Ha!

Levi is just a happy baby and finds fun in nearly everything.  Changing his diaper is even an adventure for him.  Lately he hasn't been very happy about getting his diaper changed so he decided to turn even that into a game.  He rolls over as soon as I take my hand off of him.  A taks that should take me a minute to do has turned into a seven minute sparring match.  He rolls like a crocodile trying to drown his prey.  It's not easy to put a diaper on a moving target.

And of course bathtime is his all time favorite thing.  He is such a little frog the moment he touches the water.  Splashing everything and everyone in the room.  It doesn't bother him one bit that he gets water in his face.  It is difficult to wash his hair because he doesn't want to be on his back.  He does everything he can to turn over and keep on playing.

Here are some pictures to enjoy.

I found this hat and sweater at a second hand store and it just screamed "Levi" to me

 Baby in a basket.  He managed to climb in there on his own.

 He LOVES bathtime!

 Hello Kitty!

Wily William

I feel like I won the lottery.  Okay, okay that may be an exaggeration but I am pretty excited.  William was put down for a nap and he fell asleep on his own.  That's right.  I didn't rock him to sleep.  In fact he didn't even seem tired but it was nap time and so to bed he went.  He made some racket but it was playful racket.  Within 15 minutes it was quiet.  I checked on him and sure enough he was asleep.  I danced a little jig and here I am bragging about it to you.

William has been doing pretty well about going to sleep at night without being rocked to sleep.  It takes him an hour or longer to get there and he still goes through his routine of playful, restless, cranky, really restless and then crash.  But after todays momentous moment (can I say that?) perhaps we have turned the corner.

I have been able to keep the boys on a very consistent schedule for the last week and a half and I believe that has made a significant difference in their attitudes.  I have been trying to get them on a schedule but it seems that things have finally fallen into place.  And a wonderful place it is too.  They have a lot fewer moments of crankiness which makes for happier babies and definitely a happier Mama.

My little William is so close to crawling.  He knows what it is he wants to do but just hasn't figured out how to do it quite yet.  He tries so hard.   It is fun to watch him get up on his hands and knees.  Then he has to really show off and he gets up on his hands and feet with that butt sticking waaaayyy up in the air.  I can't get over how strong he is.  All of his attempts to crawl are not without a success of some sort.  He may not make progress going forward but he sure can get somewhere in reverse.  Too bad he isn't aware of his talent because he could put that to good use.

Tippy toes!

Is this a indication of how hard-headed he will be?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yesterday a second tooth broke through for William.  Still none for Levi.  I have been waiting for that tooth to break through since the day after the first one arrived.  I could see it there under a thin layer of skin.  It decided to take its sweet old time to erupt into this world.  It is pretty entertaining to watch William run his tongue over those teeth.  He sits and stares with his lips pursed together tightly and yet you can see the tongue moving behind that closed mouth.  Other times he has his mouth wide open and he is sliding the tongue over the teeth and it makes him look like a lizard or snake.  Too cute.

For the last week or so William has been getting up on his knees and now he is rocking somewhat.  I thought Levi would be the first to crawl because he has been so mobile by rolling everywhere.  But, now I am thinking it will be William to be first.  William has been much more mobile this week.  He used to stay in a small area but he suddenly began traveling a lot more.  His travels have allowed him to discover the cupboard doors on the tv stand and the canvas bins under the changing table.  The world around him has just grown larger.

Levi hasn't even entertained the notion of getting up onto his knees.  Maybe he will skip the crawling and go right to walking.   Hey, it has been known to happen.  Actually he is very happy rolling everywhere.  He knows where he wants to go and he does get there.  

Levi is so content to play on his own.  He talks to himself and the toys.  He "works hard" at whatever toy is at hand.  Maybe he will be a little mechanic.  Those little fingers of his know how to maneuver things, especially his pacifier.  Getting that pacifier in his mouth is like second nature to him.  Heck, he can do it with his eyes closed and barely awake.  I think he would be lost without it.  

William doesn't seem to have as much control as Levi has shown.  I'm not sure how to exactly explain it but he likes to do things with his hands without fully realizing he is doing it.  He grabs at things, pinches, pulls, hits or attacks (in a playful way) but sometimes he isn't fully aware of what he is doing.  It is like he is reacting without knowing it.  It is funny but sometimes it isn't and that is usually when he is tired.

I can't get over how big these boys are.  They are three times their size at birth.  I must say that I absolutely love this age.  They are so much fun.  And their learning curve is amazing.  It seems as though they learn a new thing overnight and then they act like they have always been able to do it.

Well tomorrow is their first Thanksgiving celebration.  I know my top two things to be thankful for are my precious boys.  I can't imagine not having them.  I can't imagine having only one of them.  They make me a whole person.  The mommy void has been filled.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.  May there be Shalom in your home tomorrow.  Tell me what you are thankful for this year.  :-)

6 month photos

6 month photos are here!  

Levi is in the orange diaper and William the green.

 Lovin' Levi

Wily William

What a couple of hams

Awe! They love their Papa.

Houston, we have a tooth!

Tonight my Mom was giving William a drink of water from a glass and we could hear a tiny little clink.  I stuck my finger in his mouth but I couldn't feel anything sharp.  She felt in there and she found it.  I felt again and sure enough I felt a tooth.  I have been waiting for one to break through for the last few weeks.  He has had several signs that there was a tooth trying to break through.  Below his lower lip was red and chapped and his tongue has been exploring his lower gums like a ship in a storm.  The faces he makes when he does this just makes me laugh.  He has been ornery the last couple of days and slept a lot today.  He had a three hour nap and I was actually worried about him so I kept checking to make sure he was still breathing and then an hour or so after he awoke from that nap he fell asleep again.  That soooo not like him.  Well I am relieved to know it has finally broke through.  And yet I am a little saddened to know his days as a toothless wonder are over.

The week started off good.  Monday and Tuesday the boys were pretty much on the same schedule.  Taking naps, feeding, playing and even one time pooping.  Yeah, who doesn't smile when you think of synchronized pooping.  But then things kinda went south on Wednesday.  They have been a tad cranky which seemed to have rubbed off on me.

(As I write this at 10:30pm William is still awake and not showing any signs of slowing down.  I have him laying on my bed and he seems content to kick and laugh and talk....)

My Mom gave me a much needed break today.  She took care of the boys and I went out for some me time.  I went over to a friends home who happens to be away for the weekend.  I took a nap on her couch while her cat napped on the bed.  It was a happy arrangement.

But let's get back to what this is all about.  The boys.

Levi is a lot of fun to watch right now.  He knows how to use his hands so well.  Reaching out to grab large or small items is so natural to him now.  If there is something behind him or to the side he knows exactly how to move his hands on the floor and spin his body around to get to that thing with such ease.  There is so much thinking going on in his little mind about how to get what he wants.  And he seems to get what he wants.  He has really been into patting with his hand.  He pats his other hand or my face or my shoulder or his toy.  It's so cute.  He makes different noises in his way of "talking" to let me know what he wants.  From his whiney voice that says "I'm done with this" or "pick me up" to his loud shouts that says "I am really enjoying myself" and "I love life."  Unfortunately, he also lets me know when he doesn't agree about me leaving the room.  Thankfully he hasn't started crying when I leave the room but he sure has a whine that says, "you forgot to take me with you."

William has always been a challenge to get to sleep.  (And yes, he is still awake right now.  Energy like his is wasted on kids.  If only you could put that in a pill....)  Anyway he has never been able to go to sleep in his crib on his own.  He gets so wound up when he is tired that he doesn't know how to calm himself down.  It just turns into a disaster and then it wakes up Levi which then makes for a very unhappy mommy.  So we have settled into the routine of letting William fall asleep in someone's arms.  That in itself was a struggle. He would thrash around because he was so cranky and you could barely hold onto him.  Now if you stick pacifier in his mouth and wrap a blanket around him and rock him he settles down fairly quickly and will usually fall asleep in a few minutes.  I don't exactly like this routine but I figure he just needs to outgrow this thing.  I don't even know what to call it.  Anxiety maybe.  He has not been good about naps either but in the last couple of weeks he has been improving.  For the longest time he was only taking 20 minute naps a couple times a day.  They seem to finally be stretching into 45 minutes to an hour naps about three times a day.  Yay for me.  He has even slept through the night for the last five nights or so.  Even bigger yay for me.  I am going to try getting him to a place of being able to calm himself down enough to fall asleep without being in someone's arms.  But in the meantime I need to keep my sanity and if that's what he needs then that's what I do for him.  I love snuggling with William and there is nothing more sweet and precious as a baby sleeping in your arms.  I can't help but stare at that sweet innocent face.

I admit that I am so thankful that Levi will fall asleep on his own.  In fact it is easier for him to fall asleep on his own than it is for him to do it in someone's arms.  Which is a good thing not only for him but for William because I can't hold two babies at once.  Levi knows most of the time that when he goes to his crib he can go to sleep and it doesn't take long for him to do it.  In fact he knows that if he is on the floor playing and he feels tired he can just lay his head down and take a nap right there.  I think he gets that trait from me.  I love my sleep.

(And now William is getting cranky because he is so tired.  I'm trying to let him sleep on his own but we will see how long this lasts before I cave in.)

The boys have been doing very well with eating solids.  Levi loves everything that I give him.  I think his favorite is the peas.  William is very good about opening his mouth to take food even when it is something he doesn't like.  He doesn't like peas and he has decided he doesn't like sweet potatoes either. I think it has to do with the texture and not so much the flavor because these two things are so similar texturally.  When the food goes in the mouth he doesn't want to close his mouth and almost gags to let me know he does not approve.  He will then eat it with a displeased look on his face.  He loves his fruit though.  I'm so proud of both of them for being such good eaters.

Okay, he has calmed down and is nearly out.  I think that transitioning him to fall asleep in my bed with me nearby is a step in the right direction.  So if this continues to get well then the next step would be his crib.  I hope.

Oh my, how time goes by!

My boys are six months today!  They have grown before my very eyes.  Some times I wake up in the morning and they seem bigger than the night before.

Yesterday they were measured.
William is 25.5 inches long and 15 lb 10 oz.
Levi is 24.5 inches long and 16 lb 3.5 oz.

So William is an inch taller than his brother but Levi still weighs more.  For now.  William is starting to close the gap on weight.  Each time they have been weighed Levi has gained more than William had.  At four months Levi was one pound heavier than William and now there is only 9.5 ounces difference.

Levi's day in pictures

Levi was in a mood today.  He slept most of the morning but then the rest of the day was his playground.    He decided to pick on his brother and constantly vie for my attention.  I couldn't do much because he would get upset if I wouldn't at least look at him....constantly.

I awoke from my morning nap and decided to play on Mom's lap.

I want my Mommy to look at me and hold me constantly.  I'm needy that way. 

I'm feeling frisky.

Must.  Touch.  Brother. 

I can't tell you how much I love William.

See.  He's my best friend.

I want to eat him. 

I guess he doesn't like me right now.

Okay okay!  I'm not bothering him anymore.

Be quiet already.  I won't do it anymore...today.

I want my Mommy!

Is she down there?