Fall is Here

Cooler weather and football. Fall has come. Here are some pictures taken the end of September while Levi is 4.5 months.

Naked Levi cuddled up in the soft, warm blanket our friend, Linda, made for him.

Roll Tide!!

We celebrated our friend, Tammy's, birthday. Of course, as a parent, you no longer blow out your own candles . . .

Abby just loves being around Levi and greeted him before acknowledging D and I. She even went out of her way to greet us at the door and hold it open for us when we arrived. She was so looking forward to her opportunity to hold Baby Levi.

I can't remember whose glasses these were, but Caleb tried them on, and he was fasincated (and confused) at how it was affecting his vision. It was hilarious watching him carefully take each step while quizzingly looking at his feet.

Cold weather brings some cute, warm clothes for Levicho! (the Bulgarian pet-name we have for Levi.)

This hat is a hand-me-down from cousin Isaiah, and it is absolutely adorable!

These 2.5 months back to work, I have been able to breastfeed Levi in the mornings before work. I am thankful that I've been able to maintain this connection with Levi and provide for him in this way. Here's his post-feeding cuddliness one morning.

So many times, Dustin and I wonder, if what we're doing in parenting Levi is what we should be doing. What should his bedtime be now? Naps? How much do we put into a bottle? How are these things suppose to change over time? (Levi usually never stops nursing on his own nor doesn't finish a bottle given to him. This is one of the reasons for my nerosis in renting a scale at the end of Levi's 3rd month to weigh him before and after nursing to determine the number of ounces he was taking in so to figure out what to put in a bottle. Oh, how I wish I had one of these fancy scales! The store Motherhood Express, in Florence, KY is a blessing!)

We read the book Babywise, which we thought was really helpful in giving some sort of frame-work from which to work. However, I wish it gave more examples beyond the 2nd month. Unless they were currently in that stage, most parents I talked to couldn'i remember these details.

Well, to document what we put together (so I can answer when asked later), here's what Levi's schedule looked like this during his 4th month:
Wake him at 7am
(1) Nurse 7:15a-7:40a or so.
Dustin takes Levi to Brittany's while I gather my pump supplies to pump for that morning and head to work. I pump twice a day--in the mornings after the am feeding and during lunch.
Naps around 9-10:15a
(2) Bottle (approx 5 ounces) - at 10:15a
Naps around 11:45a-1pm
(3) Bottle - 1pm
Naps 3-4pm? -> Dustin usually picks up Levi at this time and takes him home.
(4) Bottle - 4pm (Maybe once/week I can be home for this feeding, like on Tuesday afternoons when I can be done at 3pm or so.)
Naps around 5:30-6:30pm (around the time I get home)
(5) Nurses at 6:30pm
Time with Mommy and Daddy. Every 2-3 days we do bath time here.
Occasionally he may get a little nap in between 8-8:30pm.
At about 8:30pm, get into sleeper, ready for bed.
(6) Nurse at 9pm
Bed at 9:30pm, immediately after nursing. (We would often try to get him to bed by 9pm, but often it would be later since we were trying to get the last feeding in.)

So, that works out to feeding 6 times a day (about 4.5-5 oz in each bottle, increasing over the month) and 4 to 5 naps per day. Hmmm. Not sure if any of you find this interesting or helpful . . . but's a frequent topic of discussion for Dustin and I!