Doctor's Visit

Levi had his "Two Month" appointment yesterday. He weighed 11 pounds, 5 ounces (28th percentile) and 24.25 inches long (85th percentile) putting him at the less than 5th percentile for weight-to-height ratio (translation: long & lean; perfectly fine per his pediatrician). His head circumference is 41 cm (60th percentile). Right on track! Way to go Levi! :-)

As all you parents know, these early appointments are mostly for those dreaded immunization shots. I had to watch my little boy get stabbed with 4 needles (2 on each thigh) AND drink the Rotavirus vaccine! Two nurses each gave 2 shots at the same time. I've never seen his face turn so red before!! It scared me, and I hurt for him. It was definitely difficult to watch as a parent, but as a doctor, I knew the pain from the shot would be out of his memory by the time we got into the car. I wasn't, however, completely prepared for that night. The Rotavirus vaccine gave him gas pains, he was clearly sore, especially in his legs, fatigued, and he had a mild fever (100.6). He was so pitiful, crying looking at me with his big eyes, and not moving his legs like he always does. It broke my heart and brought me to tears. There we were, both crying together. Poor Dustin had to comfort the both of us. All I have to say is, thank goodness for baby Tylenol.

(p.s. I promise Levi has other outfits other than this tan-striped one, also taken in the same spot as his 2-month picture, on the changing table. Purely coincidence.)

Levi is doing better today (after sleeping for 9 hours last night!!), but was definitely more lethargic all day with an occasional mild fever (no pitiful crying!). The sweet part was he has been a lot more cuddly than usual, something his mama loves!

For fun, I've included some other pouting / tired pictures.

His silent pout, before he' s decided whether or not he needs to commit to a cry. Dustin claims Levi gets this face from his mom.

Calm and serious.

A close-up of his piercing-blue eyes.

Time For Change – Finally!

I finally did it. I really hadn’t spent a lot of time thinking about it. Everything seemed to line up, and the decision was just a natural one. For the first time in my life, I got a different haircut. I have *tried* to get a different hair cut in the past, but always ended up being basically the same thing. My hair is currently the shortest it has ever been. What prompted the change? I think the biggest thing is that I am currently in a new phase of life and a new hair style can represent that easily—a mommy haircut, if you will. I guess it will take my body a while to recover from pregnancy, so the new do helps me feel better about myself—something I can easily change. I think the thing that pushed me over was the fact that my 10 year High School Reunion was around the corner, and I decided I couldn't go to it with the same hair-do! I am also a big nerd, and I spent about an hour online "researching" what type of hairstyle I should get based on my face-type and looking at celebrity/model pictures, fueling my confidence for the change. Over 8 inches were chopped off. Not enough for Locks-of-Love, but enough to donate to the Aveda Institute for students to practice cutting and coloring my hair.

The "graduated" or "reverse" bob.Since I'm quite behind in blogging, I actually got this done about 1.5 week ago, and I have no regrets. :-)

Drought

We just came back from a 6-day vacation with my side of the family to Sevierville, TN (just outside of Gatlinburg) and concluded in Atlanta for my 10 year high school reunion and visiting more family and friends. (Thus, the hiatus from blogging; look for updates on this past week soon). Today was to be a day to clean up, settle in, do the mounds of laundry that had accumulated, clean Levi's bottles from the road trip, etc. However, at about 11 am today, I found that the washer wouldn't start. Neither would the kitchen sink faucet. Nor the toilet. After calling the water company, it turns out there was a fire nearby and resulting water-main break leaving our neighborhood without water for at least 8 hours. I wish I didn't discover this with my hands covered in food, having to use a water bottle to clean off.

This home-drought got me thinking about a few things. It actually reminded me of an occasional recurrent nightmare I had as a child of the exact thing I was living out--no water to the home. Funny that as a child I dreamt of this. I started realizing a lot of my day revolves around or involves water. I realized I was not about to go for a walk today in the 90-degree weather without a shower to follow, so no exercise today. I was glad to have hand-sanitizer available to use after changing Levi's diapers. I couldn't sterilize Levi's pacis and bottles. I couldn't clean the dirty dishes or countertop. I was thankful to have bottled water on hand to quench my thirst. I had to pick which one toilet to use and hope that the visits would be sort and no long stays, if you know what I mean.

Although our bodies are made up of 2/3 of water, we would only be able to survive 7-9 days without water (if you are healthy and in the shade). Actually, 7 days seems like a long time--I don't think things would be very pleasant after the first 24 hours. Why is it during a storm people rush to the grocery store to buy milk and bread? Why not bottled water? Actually, my family in preparing for the potential Y2K scare, not knowing what technologies could go wrong, including the water company, stored 4 to 5 large drums of water in our basement. As we all know, nothing went wrong, but I think it was definitely a smart thing to prepare for.

Out of His Wisdom, Jesus described Himself as being the source of Living Water, eternal and ultimately thirst-quenching, knowing how much we depend on water, wanting us to see that our Soul cannot live without Him. I am glad to have been reminded of this truth today.

These are just some random thoughts from a upper-middle class person who takes water for granted on a day-to-day basis knowing full-well that my inconveniences today are nothing in comparison for the search for water, even clean water, that many all over the world encounter . . . Meanwhile I am wishing I took a shower earlier this morning.

Two Months Old!

Our precious little boy is 2 months old today! He is growing up so quickly. I was looking at pictures and remembering him in his first couple weeks. My heart was heavy knowing that he would never be little again, and he currently is the smallest he will ever be. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed his milestones, but I cherish his cuddly newborn days. Now when held close, curious little Levi pushes out to see he world around him, over my shoulder. He prefers to be held facing outward, taking in his surroundings. He thinks he's such a big boy!

We celebrated his birthday in Sevierville, TN (near Gatlinburg).

Cow Appreciation Day

This past Friday (two days ago) was "Cow Appreciation Day" at all Chick-fil-A's nationwide. It's a high-energy, fun day as customers come dressed to the restaurant as a cow to get free food (Chick-fil-A sandwich). If one is dressed up in a full-body costume, then they can get a free combo meal. The stores are usually packed all day long, Dustin's being no exception.
Levi and I went to support his Daddy, and, of course, we had to join in the fun! We stood out in front of the store in the food court, advertising Cow Appreciation Day as I took pictures of the different customers decked out for their free food. He was such a good boy, and slept through the entire commotion!

Doesn't hurt to support the family biz!

In case you're wondering, some good friends of ours, the Boytes, saw this baby cow suit and bought it with us in mind when they saw it BEFORE we were pregnant. They waited to give it to us when we were pregnant--so perfect and thoughtful!

Dustin and some of his employees got to work early to cover the food court with balloons for the event.

What's really funny is that a customer early in the day, unaware of Cow Appreciation Day, thought Chick-fil-A was celebrating the NAACP that is also currently in town . . .

The store-front was packed with 6 lines of customers, wrapping in front of some of the other restaurants. (Notice some of the costumes in the photo). Dustin gave away TONS of food this day.Of course, The Cow was there!

Our little family business.

I think this one is funny because you can see how long Levi is!!

Deep Thoughts . . .

My Aunt Carol (my dad's sister) came in town to visit over the 4th of July weekend. I just love this picture of Levi with her. I laughed for 5 minutes straight when I first saw this picture and still crack up every time I see or think about it. So deep in thought!

This face (a sleepy one) is too cute--it deserves a close-up:

Levi and Aunt Carol really hit it off. Right when he first met her, she started talking to him, bringing out a big smile! A rare finding among guests.
I think he likes her voice.

He's talking back to her.

She successfully comforted the fussy Levi (allowing mom & dad a little break) and finally got him to fall sleep.

First Smiles & Other Milestones

I'm saying Levi's first social smile was on June 23rd, when he was a few days over Five Weeks Old. It happened in the morning after a feeding, and it was in direct response to something playful I said. Oh, it was so exciting! His smiles were sporadic initially, but I set out on a mission to try to capture one on camera--a challenging feat! The first couple days, I would just miss it. As you can see, the first two pictures are the residuals of a smile (but still very cute!).

The next 6 pictures were taken a week ago (6 weeks old). He has taken to the camera, and we had a great photo shoot. And a lot of fun!












































































Here's some photos of Tummy Time and how high Levi can raise his head already. :-)
You can also see how much of his hair he's lost. Already sporting the male-pattern baldness. ;-)




This other one is a silly pic of some of Levi's first thigh fat rolls. :-) He's a long and lean baby, so it's taken a little longer for him to pack on the chub.

He did it!

Usually one of the first things people ask us is "How is Levi sleeping?" "Is he sleeping through the night?" I think it's funny that it's such a common question. I guess it makes sense because, really, the only thing infants really do is eat, sleep, and poop. I guess it's not really fun thing to ask, "how many diapers do you go through in a day? or "what does his poop look like these days?" I guess it makes sense to discuss a baby's sleep habits as one of the most difficult things for a new parent to adjust to (especially the nursing mother) is their new sleepless life.

Last night on the eve of his Seven-Week-Birthday, Levi officially "Slept Through The Night"! (aka "sttn" to blogging moms ;-) ) Levi slept for 7.5 hours straight!! We put him down for the night at 10:45pm and he didn't wake up until 6:15am. The extremely ironic part of it was that the night before I prepared a bottle of pumped milk because Dustin offered to do a night feeding for me to allow me to get some much-needed sleep. How does it figure that it was THAT same night Levi doesn't have a middle-of-the-night feeding?! Figures. Dustin did do that 6:15am feeding allowing me to sleep even more. However, I could only sleep for a couple more hours because of the extreme pain from engorgement--my first of such an experience! Funny, but those early morning dreams consisted of dreams of feeling like I had to find a breast pump, but none was to be found as well as the need to nurse, but Levi nowhere to be found! :-) I had to pump both before and after feeding Levi and got a total of 6.5 ounces!

Levi has actually been doing fantastically at night, going down relatively easily and sleeping consistently 4-5 hours at a time. I definitely can't complain about that! But 7.5 hours?? Hallelujah! Will he repeat such a wonderful night? We'll see . . .

Levi's First Month of Life: Pictures Galore!

Levi is so precious--I love taking pictures of him! This blog is evident of it. This is definitely the longest post I will probably ever do--so many pictures to show during Levi's first month. Think of this blog as a month's worth of blogging all rolled up into one. Well, instead of much words and thoughts, it's more pictures. It's actually neat to have all these pictures together to see how he's changed so much over this month. I've picked a representative picture for each week, labeled in bold so that you can see how much he changes!

We also had different family members visit the entire month with only about 3 or 4 days to ourselves, so you can also see our family here too. Hope you enjoy!

At the hospital, in between contractions. I am on a "birthing ball" with my focal points: Levi's Snuggly &
his ultrasound pictures. I'm about 5 to 6 cm dilated here.

Mama gets to hold her boy for the first time.

Our first family picture--about 45 minutes after Levi was born.

One of my favorite pictures of Levi, taken about 1 1/2 hour old. It was so amazing how alert he was for the first few
hours of his life. He has blue-gray eyes, as you can kinda see
here. For some reason, most of the pictures below don't quite capture the true color of his eyes.
Levi actually looks a lot like my (Amy's) baby picture here and his first week. He , however, starts to look more and more like Dustin by the end of month!

Dustin changing Levi's first dirty diaper. That meconium is sure sticky and difficult to clean up!


Levi with his Snuggly--about the same size of him.


Levi and Daddy bonding.

These are the decorations outside our home that surprised us on our way home from the hospital.

The DiChiara family all home together.

The boys getting some shut eye together . . .

Two-day-old Levi (look at those cute chubby checeks) checking out his crib.
[note to Concerned Family Members seeing this 'Bama T-shirt: the official date stamp on this picture is 5/18/08]

So cuddly . . .

Grandma Laura reading to Levi his first book.

Grandpa Brian working his magic in getting Levi to fall asleep on his chest. (Apparently it's contagious)

Dustin wore this 'Bama shirt when he was a baby. :-)
Look at all the hair Levi has and his chubby cheeks--they will disappear by the end of the month!
[Also note the date stamp is: 5/19/08]

Levi's first (sponge) bath at home!


All clean!

M-Go Blue!
[note to Concerned Family Members: the official date stamp for this picture is 5/19/08]
(Levi's participation was completely spontaneous and unplanned! I was so surprised when I took the picture.)

Levi with Grandpa and Grandma McEwan

Now a new set of grandparents came in town to see Levi and help out: Mama Lu (my mother) and MaGe (Levi's great grandmother!)

Levi snuggling up to Mama Lu (aka MaLu).
He is 5 days old here.

Levi spending time with his Great Grandmother, MaGe.

Three generations: MaLu, Mama, and Levi.

Trying to decide if he's sleepy . . .

One Week Old:

All done eating, and content!


Don't be fooled--he's not always content!




He loves looking at his picture book!

The next set of family came into town--Uncle Brian (Dustin's brother), Aunt Sara, and Cousin Isaiah (11 months old).
On Levi's 2-week birthday, we took him to his first Red's game.



Two Week Old Levi:
Cousins!
(you can already see Levi's face changing. His cheeks are slimming down).


The next set of parents now came into town--PaJ (Dustin's dad), MaJ (D's stepmom), Aunt Amanda (D's step-sis), Uncle Joey (D's step-bro), and Aunt Melina (D's half sister).

PaJ hanging out with his grandson dressed in the 'Bama shirt.

Three Weeks Old:
Aunt Melina loves giving Levi kisses. He likes it too!

The next set of parents came: Nana and Pawpaw (Dustin's mom & step-dad).



Chillin' at the end of Tummy Time

Gotta love his tiny hands and feet!(of course, for a baby, he's got long fingers and toes!)

Four Weeks Old:
Looking more and more like Daddy!

Falling asleep with Daddy on Father's Day.
(He loves to sleep like this!)

Great Uncle Donny and Aunt Jody come to visit Levi too.

A good friend of mine, Brittany, was pregnant the same time as me and due 2 weeks later. I ended up delivering 9 days early, and she a couple weeks late. So, her little girl, Ruthie was born one month later on June 15th. We went to visit Brittany, Daniel, and their little girl Ruthie in the hospital when she was one day old and on Levi's One-Month Birthday. We went to introduce the two to each other. This is what Levi did on his own right when he saw her!
Already a Ladies' Man! He knows a pretty girl when he sees one. :-)
They stayed content like this for a couple minutes!

This concludes Levi's first month. I love these next pictures. You can get a real good look at his pretty blue eyes. You can also see how he's thinning up on top, and his face looks so different from when he was first born. A "little man" face! :-)
One Month Old: