Momma Doc

Walking all over!!!

2009-08-12T19:32:00.006-04:00

So, two days later, Levi is now walking around like a pro! Here is his walking AND multi-tasking--drinking from his sippy cup.

It's getting a lot harder to get a good picture of this boy, moving around so much!

Some other pictures from earlier this month:

The construction progress as of August 9th, of Dustin's store: Chick-fil-A, Houston Road FSU (Free Standing Unit).

Some pictures of Levi and one of his favorite toys--his Little Einstein Rocket. Really, every kid that comes over LOVES this toy, even as old as 8 years old!

Levi has actually gotten really good at pushing it around, turning it around, and adjusting the direction it goes.

Levi loves this picture frame with a little baseball on it that he likes to spin.

Officially Walking!!!

2009-08-10T22:19:00.011-04:00

Here's a little video of us catching Levi doing a few steps in a row on video. He really hadn't repeated the walking performance he did at daycare over a week prior. We had to bribe him with food to get him to walk.
This was taken on August 5th, 2009, almost 15 months old.

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Now, the REAL walking came 5 days later, on August 10th, 2009, when Grandpa came in town. Grandpa had an idea to try to play the walking game, and Levi decided he liked it! We quickly pulled out the video camera and caught it all on tape! (err, I mean on pixels...)

Our soon-to-be 15 month old is officially walking!!!
It's amazing how much Levi has grown in these last 4 months in motor skills, when 4 months ago, he didn't know how to go from laying to sitting nor pull himself up to stand! We praise God for his development and are so thankful for the therapy he received!

Hope you enjoy the videos of this momentous occasion captured!

Up close action shot!

First Steps! (and Atlanta visit)

2009-07-28T08:55:00.026-04:00

This morning, Levi took his first consecutive steps!!! Dustin was dropping him off at daycare today (where he's been more clingy, not wanting to let us go) when it happened. Dustin put Levi down, standing him up, and backed away. Levi took four steps toward Dustin (as he was trying to keep backing up) before falling into him!!! How exciting! Of course, I wish I was there (I was on my way to work), but I got to see his first single step just a couple days earlier. We were over at my Dad's house (Grandpa & Grandma's house in Atlanta), and on Saturday, July 25th, at 14 months, just before we left, Levi was standing up, and took one step on his own before sitting down. Very exciting!

I'm sure the next month will be a big change for us as his confidence and new-found motility increases.

This is a video taken two weeks earlier. It's nothing too fabulous, but it captures Levi now pulling himself up to stand easily, cruising, and excitingly crawling well to Dada when he hears him talking on the phone in the kitchen.

Here's some pictures from our recent Atlanta visit. Sadly the last time I had been to Atlanta had been 1 year ago!! Dustin had a business meeting in Atlanta starting on Thursday, he went ahead and brought Levi to stay with Grandpa and Grandma. I joined up with them on Friday, spending 24 hours with both set of parents for a whirl-wind, fabulous weekend!

Everyone came in town from my Dad's side of the family, and we spent Saturday afternoon at Lake Alatoona.

Levi and Aunt Heather bonding. He likes her hat. :-)

Uncle Ben, Aunt Megan, and Grandpa!

This weekend we discovered how much Levi LOVES watermelons!! Aunt Heather was Levi's hero for giving him the goods.

This video is hilarious in seeing how vigorously and enthusiastically Levi consumed the watermelon.

Some sweet pictures of Levi and Dada together:

Around this time is when Levi started his love of wearing hats. He refers to all baseball hats as "baseball" (or "bayball" as he says). You can see here how excited he gets about putting it on.

We watched on Friday night Dad win the winning tie breaker set for his tennis team allowing them to move on in the playoffs.

Grandma and Levi!

Levi with Aunt Heather and Uncle Greg.

At MaLu and MaGe's!

MaLu was Levi's personal escort helping him walk all over the place!

He loves Bulgarian food!

This picture perfectly typifies my mother and MaGe, especially when it comes to feeding Levi. They both really get into it! :-)

For like 10 minutes+ straight, Levi and MaLu just played with an empty water bottle and its cap. He just loved it!

So cool!

Levi had fun trying out the stairs with MaLu.

Here is the fig tree that was planted on Levi's birthday!

Here's a little fun video of Levi dancing at MaLu's.
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My 14 month old boy, looking like a little man!

Back in Atlanta, Levi gave the walker for a spin outside in our driveway.

Words, Words, and More!

2009-07-18T15:00:00.019-04:00

Levi just turned 14 months old!! Time sure does fly. He continues to develop such a sweet personality. He is very sociable and engaging. He loves being playful and laughing. Knowing one of us is in the kitchen or around the corner in another room, he'll slowly creep up then bounce himself around the corner with a boyish smile on his face, proud of "surprising" you. Along the same lines, he loves to play peek-a-boo and will initiate it on his own many times. He also loves to dance--you can catching him bopping his head to some music coming from his toy or playing on the T.V. Sometimes he'll just be silly and put a toy on his head, look at us, and just laugh at his own silliness.

I'm so proud of his language development, I wanted to document some of the words he's saying these days:

Ball
(This is his absolute favorite word. He'll spot a ball anywhere and yell "ball"--be it among his toys, out in a restaurant decorating the wall, on T.V. , or in the background of my pilates workout video. It's so cute. And, he'll keep saying it the entire time his playing with one of his balls and throwing it around. He's really taken to watching baseball with Dada.)
Bye, bye
(This was actually the first word, other than Dada, that he said clearly. He surprised me in saying it when I picked him up from Daycare, and he waved "bye, bye" to them. He continued to say it multiple times that day. I think this phrase is #2-3 on the favorite-list.)
Dada
Mama
(A LOT less frequent than he says Dada. Sometimes he calls me Dada too.)
Tiger
Bubbles
Diaper
(This one is so surprising. But, he says it almost every time I'm changing his diaper. Lately, I've handed him the clean diaper, and he even tries to put it on himself! He'll also help me pull it up, just before I fasten it! Maybe this will translate into early potty-training?? *wishful smile*) Banana (pronounce "nana")
Doggie
Bop
(Dustin taught him to say this when he discovered Levi could make his "p" sound. It's just so adorable to hear him say this.)
Yeah
(his enthusiastic "yes" he's just recently started saying. It's so adorable. And, it's funny because I think he gets saying "yeah" from me because I say it a lot, as opposed to "yes".)
Moo
(usually when we say "cow" or show him a picture of a cow. Also, so much fun!)
Night, night
(pronounce "Na Na"--you can definitely hear a difference between this and banana.)
Duck
(he went through a phase saying this word all the time, but has dropped off saying it lately)
That
(Said only occasionally, sometimes when motioning toward something.)
Flower
(He said this once when we were on a walk last week, and I gave him a black-eyed susan to hold. He repeated "flower" after me and kept saying it over and over!)
Papa
(The name for my father-in-law who visited recently)
Bottle

Words he's only said a few times after we've said it:
Michael
(As in, Uncle Michael. This word will likely soon join the list above. Levi loves playing with his Uncle Michael!)
Watch
(Usually when he's playing with my watch when I'm changing his diaper, after I've said it)
Water
Block (almost sounds like "bop")
Bellybutton
(pronouced, "Be-bon". It looks like he tries so hard to say this word!)
Bath

We had been doing sign language with Levi since he was about 5 to 6 months old, but he really didn't catch on to doing it himself until he just turned 1 year, about when we were ready to give up on it.

Words he can sign:
Milk
Drink
Eat
All Done
More
Please
Thank you
Fan
(Fan is actually first word he signed. It's part of his bedtime routine to turn on his fan. He's just always been fascinating by fans (and lights), even when very little. Now, he'll "say" fan whenever we're out and he spots one!)
Light

Lately, he's been jumping straight from signing "more" when eating directly to "please" because I think he's discovered quicker response when he's being "polite". :-) It's also fun because at Daycare, they say that Levi was the first to sign "Thank you" and have finally got the other kids to do it also. He's even one of the younger ones there. Apparently, he can say more words than the older kids. However, they are walking and even running, and Levi still is afraid to let go and walk on his own. I hear that some kids progress more quickly physically and others verbally/socially. I guess Levi fits in the latter group.

Other Sounds Levi makes:
Oohhh (When he discovers something interesting and new to him. Be it a new item or toy or a pretty flower.)
WooOww (Kinda a long "wow" and said interchangeably to the one above. When discovering something interesting. I think he copies these two from me.)
MmmMmm (Usually after eating something that's new and delicious. Also probably from me. it's funny how much you discover about yourself when you have a child around!)
WooWee (What we say when we change his diaper. He thinks it's hilarious and has been imitating us, sometimes even saying it before us.)
Aaaahhhhh (when opening his mouth very wide to get some more food.)
Aaayumm (Said when he scarfs some food into his mouth. He usually proceeds by repeating this action and sound over and over when he's hungry and likes the food [and likes our subsequent giggles])
Pfffeeeee (Ok, not sure how to spell it, but it's the noise that an elephant makes. You know, when you purse your lips together, blow, and then make a high-pitched noise. Levi loves it when Dustin does it, and he's been trying to do it himself. Hopefully I can catch this on video. It's so cute.)

So, that makes 18 words he can say on a regular basis (24 counting the newer words; not counting the sounds) and 9 words he can sign! Thirty-three words in total (with 7 bonus sounds)! Not bad for a 14 month old!

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Now, onto the picture-update, the real reason people follow along . . .

Yum, chocolate cookie!

My father-in-law and sister-in-law (aka, Papa & Aunt Melina) came in town to visit for a long weekend!

Bro & sis

I thought a cool picture Michael took of Levi. We left the mirror in the car, which provides a great deal of entertainment for Levi!

As a belated Father's Day present, we took Jerry out to a Reds baseball game. These few shots are just before it started raining through most of the game . . .

Levi and his Papa.

DiChiara men, before BBQ dinner.

Levi likes his dinner!

Not the best picture, but Melina and Levi had a lot of fun playing together.

Swings!
I can't help but take a picture of Levi in the swing when we go to a park b/c he loves it so much.

Levi swinging with his friend, Olivia.

Fountain Square, downtown.

Water, Mama!

Our friends, Jordan & Hannah Self and their son, Solomon (who is 1 month older than Levi), came in town to visit for a weekend. We're in front of Dustin's store, downtown. They are raising support to go to Guatemala to be on the mission field long-term. They're a real neat couple and have a heart for ministering to missionary kids (Jordan was a Youth Pastor and former MK [missionary kid]) who often can get left behind while their parents are giving their lives to serving others. Let me know if you're interested in hearing more! We're praying they can reach their support goal!

Walking around, I pointed out a flower to Levi, and gave him one that had fallen off. He immediately started saying the word "flower" over & over again! Amazing!

More Swinging!!

Solomon having fun in the background, too!

Levi & Solomon looked so cute riding side-by-side in the car together.
This is the BEFORE picture.

This is the AFTER picture--after church & a long weekend. :-)

These pictures are from this amazing sunflower field we came across in a north Cincinnati suburb. We stopped to get some pictures.

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Dustin's new store is coming along in construction. Here's a shot from this time.

Dustin stops by the construction site frequently, so he has his own hard hat he wears.

As you can see, Levi LOVES putting Dada's hard hat on while riding in the car. So cute!

These next couple pictures are of Levi's crazy hair after waking up from a nap. We thought it was funny, but Dustin really liked it in particular. He wouldn't let me brush it down b/c he thought it was so cute.

This is one of the cute strollers available in Kenwood Towne Centre Mall. Levi loved taking it for a spin!

Here's a little random video of Levi. It captures him cruising a bit at this time and crawling rapidly to Dada when he hears him talking in the kitchen.

First Haircut!

2009-06-27T17:00:00.023-04:00

Levi got his first haircut today! (which was long over-due, as you can see in the "pre-pictures" at the salon!!)

I had been holding out for as long as I could, because I knew getting it cut would be a visible departure from babyhood to toddlerness. But, even I knew it was time.

(You can also see his three bottom teeth, taking him to a grand total of 5 at this time)

A little apprehensive on the pony and what was to come.

The first cut!

Verdict: He did NOT like getting his hair cut!

We had to abandon the pony and finish the cut in my lap.

We found out the best way to distract him was to feed him some snacks!

Already looking so handsome!

Looking good from behind!

He knows he's looking sharp! This is the toy razor he played with while getting the final touches.

A big day for the DiChiaras! Levi got his 1st haircut, and I was going to my Residency Graduation Banquet that night! (I still had 6 weeks left of Residency to make up my maternity-leave time, but this evening marked the official end of "in-patient" care months. That means no more working weekends nor call! The end in sight!!)

Dustin and I at the Residency Graduation Banquet.

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Here are some other picture of events that happened a few weeks earlier this month. (As you can see, before Levi got his haircut)

This is the 1st of a series of shots that we took in one day. We had 3 different parties to go to on this Saturday. Dustin was really cute and intentionally dressed in a shirt to match Levi's. I love it!

Levi LOVES balls! He'll say "ball" over and over again, and loves tossing it around!

Levi also loves dogs. He's tickled here with one of the Cadora-dogs at Lisa Huffman and Lucie Hoogland's graduation party.

One of Levi's babysitters, Lisa Huffman. Congratulations on graduating from High School!

Abby Rosenfeldt planting a welcoming kiss on Levi.

Levi liked it!!

So, Levi went in for some more! (gotta watch out for these kids, already! ;-) )

Fun time on the pool!!

These kiddos love the camera-attention. :-)

Happy Father's Day!! (6/21/09)

Very short, but great video on Father's Day. Dustin is throwing Levi up in the air, as per his usual (Levi loves it!). This video is also sweet because Levi gives me a big, sweet kiss, and says "Bye, Bye" nice and clear for the camera, a few weeks after first saying it.

Uncle Michael comes over, now, on a weekly basis to do all his laundry.

This is Levi's favorite cabinets to play in while I'm cooking. This evening, apparently I was sleeping post-call on my Cardiology CCU service, and Dustin did some cooking. He let Levi go crazy and he pulled out all the pans and decided to climb on in!

. . . Fun at first, but he got stuck and couldn't figure out how to get out! (I know he's crying here, but I can't help but laugh at this picture!)

Dada and son, again.

Levi really is a pro cruising around now. I just know he's close to walking, but just needs the courage to let go!

Ball!

Just a little silly clip of the kind of "jibbering" Levi was doing these days.

Crawling!! (kind of)

2009-06-10T16:18:00.010-04:00

A few days shy of turning 13 months, Levi did some of his first crawling! The picture to my right is Dustin working with Levi, trying to teach him to crawl and Levi HATING it. It's quite funny--he is definitely strong enough to support himself, but often just rests his head on the ground and cries in frustration. (The picture below is Dustin trying to convince Levi that crawling is FUN!)

I wanted to capture on video Levi's fighting of the crawling, but instead caught him crawling! The video is below. Please forgive my repetitiveness in narrating on the video. I had to start and stop then restart again a few times in recording...

Here's some more pictures of Levi doing really well standing and cruising around.

This is how Levi often rides around. I just think it's the cutest and funniest thing, especially since he's been putting his hands behind his head since he's been born, and even while in the womb (thanks to 3D pics at 17 weeks).

Bonus video: Daddy and Levi being silly together:

MEGA POST: Mother's Day, Miami, 1st Birthday, & More!

2009-05-17T22:56:00.062-04:00

May was a fun and busy month for the DiChiara family. Beware! Here contains many-o-picture & video of the many happenings!
This post is what has been slowing me down in getting updated on this blog (hopefully it's all "downhill" from here...). Note to those getting this in email--make sure you go to the website link to view the videos!

The picture to the left and below are Levi & I on my first Mother's Day. I'm so happy to have a little boy!
(Note--the shirt and necklace I'm wearing are Mother's Day gifts from Dustin to me!)

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MIAMI!

I had a medical conference in Miami, FL to present some research just days before Levi's birthday (May 13-15th). I actually had won an all-expenses-paid trip after being named SGIM's (Society of General Medicine) Midwest Best Resident Presentation of the Year Award for my research (retrospective study) on Post-polypectomy Surveillance Colonoscopy. Since I knew that I would be specializing in Gastroenterology, I wasn't particularly interested in attending much of the conference. So, we decided to turn it into a little family vacation.

There was an empty seat next to us, so Levi took advantage, being a good, big boy!

Good morning, Miami! (from our personal balcony of our awesome room!)

We stayed at the Fountainebleu Resort, a premier resort in Miami. Here's the view from our balcony. It was perfect weather!

Fun in the pool!

Levi had lots of fun playing in the water!

This is his modeling shot. To me, hilarious.

We spent most of our time at the pool and a little time at the beach. Although Levi loved his first time around at the beach, this second time, he wasn't so crazy about the sand.

Poor little boy; he didn't like how the sand stuck to his hand--it freaked him out.

My little boy, enjoying the beach a lot more when I'm holding him.

Levi was a little hesitant about the ocean itself, but he eventually warmed up to it and got use to the feel and the wet sand. He's having fun here with Daddy.

Pooped after a long day of fun-in-the-sun! If you can't tell from the pictures, he loves to wear his sunglasses! Such a cool boy! He turned many heads out there. :-)

Some footage of Levi at the pool.

As you know from this blog, Levi has been delayed in his motor skill development, and being seen by a Physical Therapist, thanks to Hamilton County tax-payers. Just a couple days before turning One, Levi started pulling himself up to stand successfully. Here's one of the early times caught on video as he's trying to reach my coveted cell phone while on vacation.

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Happy First Birthday, Levi!!!!
May 16, 2009

We had a birthday party in our home for Levi on his actual birthday, since it fell on a Saturday. And, in case you were wondering how we did it, we left Miami Friday late morning on the 15th, flew into Cincinnati, went back to the airport a few hours later to pick up my mother-in-law, my mother drove in later that night, and we hosted a big party the next day! Talk about a whirl-wind! I am very grateful for all the help my mother-in-law and mother did in helping us clean up and get ready for the party.
(Note: I want to thank my friend, Amanda Laginess, and my brother-in-law, Michael, for the pictures of the party, featured here with only a couple from myself.)

The party was a balloon-themed birthday party. Levi LOVES balloons and balls and always points them out whenever we are out somewhere, usually followed by smiles and giggles. So, even though I guess balloons are party of a generic birthday party, I wanted to have a party centered around that theme.

Yay for Busken's cakes!

Birthday boy looking so grown-up!

I really like the above and below pictures because it looks like Levi is now "old enough" to play with the big boys, Caleb and Jackson.

The following pictures are of the decorations, etc.

(9 month old pics on the left, 6 months on the right)

Newborn pics in the background.

Unfortunately, I don't have this captured in picture, but I had also decorated the kitchen cabinets with representative pictures from birth/newborn-time and each month leading up to today. So, in one place, you could quickly see how much Levi has changed and grown up. I gave family a photo book of the same pictures as a memento.

Chick-fil-A catered for us. :-) (I don't think anyone was surprised)

Balloons!

Up-close on Levi's cake.

Levi just loves to eat. He often (today not excluding) would scoot up to someone and "beg" for some of the food they had on their plate. Here's silly Uncle Michael catching in action a photo of him feeding Levi.

Thanks, Velma, for helping set up!

Dustin and my Mom.

Dustin and his mom.

Aunt Megan and Uncle Ben came in town along with Grandpa and Grandma for the birthday party! Just a long drive for such a short time, but Levi (as well as Dustin & I) were so glad to see them!

Nana, Uncle Michael, and MaGe.

BTW: Dustin's brother, Michael, decided to move to Cincinnati the end of April in hopes of working his way up through Chick-fil-A, using Dustin's connections. Until Michael found an apartment, he stayed with us, in the basement, the month of May. We really enjoyed his stay during this time. It's been so great to have a family member in the city! It's so good for Levi, and not to mention, the blessing it has been to us to have a (free) babysitter! :-)

Mama & Dada with our One-Year-Old boy! So hard to believe!

MaGe playing with Levi before our guests arrived. I don't think there will be anyone in our family who won't remember this singing balloon and its jazzy rendition of Happy Birthday. It stuck around for at least the next week and a half. Levi loved it, though, and would dance whenever it was played (usually more frequently that the adults would've liked).

Nana & Levi. :-)

Grandma is reading to Levi.

CAKE TIME!!!
(really, what everyone was waiting for)

The "Before" picture.

Two angles (above & below) of Levi's first taste. Of course, focused on the red balloon. :-)

"Oh, yeah, this stuff is good!!"

Pure delight.

Levi's approach to the cake was quite funny. He was quite methodical. He only used his right hand the whole time and kept his left hand clean the entire time. No head dives! He first ate all the red balloon icing, then went for the rest of the blue icing. Then, I helped break up the cake part for him, and he slowly and surely, kept shoveling in the yummy cake at a steady, constant pace. I wonder if this will be a reflection of his personality when he's older??

Gotta wash down all that sugar with some water!

"Mama, why have you been hiding this 'cake-thing' this whole time? I can get use to this!"

Proud parents of our big boy!

The other kiddos enjoyed the cake too. :-)

Here are most of the guests that came to the party (minus Jessica, who had to leave early. Sorry, Courtney, that I cut off your head!). So thankful for all the family that came in town!

Amanda's counter-picture as I'm setting up the camera from our loft balcony. Hehee, I look "sneaky" here...

Levi got this present from his Great Grandpa & Grandma Lear, who weren't able to make it. This was one of Levi's favorite toys. We caught on video him dancing to the music this toy makes. He started dancing/bopping to it right when he opened it up!

This talking, singing, rocking pony was another instant favorite of Levi's, from Great Aunt Carol. Here's Levi giving the pony a big hug. I can hear his joyful "haaaawww" while hugging it.

Post-party fun with the family:

Such a sweet picture of Grandpa and Grandson.

Grandma knows that Levi loves being turned upside down!!

Clapping!! Levi was such a good birthday-boy and quickly discovered he got tons of attention and reciprocated clapping at the party when he clapped. He definitely loves being the center of attention! :-)

Thankful for my Dad's side of the family being able to drive up for the party only!
(We were sad that Aunt Heather & Uncle Greg couldn't make it because of an important test Aunt Heather had to take!)

MaLu playing with Levi. It was so great to see MaLu and MaGe this weekend!

Levi found Nana's mouth.

"Bye, Bye! Thanks for coming to my party!"

{Note: I have a great video I put together of the party, but I've had problems uploading it b/c it's so long. So, check back later, if interested, once I figure out how to get it up here.}

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DUSTIN'S GROUND BREAKING CEREMONY
OF THE NEW FREE-STANDING CHICK-FIL-A UNIT THAT IS BEING BUILT IN
FLORENCE, KENTUCKY (20 min from our house).
This marked a happy, and momentous time for our family!!

Dustin kicking off the ceremony.

I found a way to make it there too!

There was a good-sized crowd that was there to celebrate with Dustin, although you can't tell from these pictures. Dustin welcoming the guests and expressing his excitment.

This is the Mayor of Florence, Diane Whalen, also expressing her excitement of Nothern Kentucky's first free-standing Chick-fil-A store (and only current N. KY store!).

Ph0to-Op!

(left-to-right:) Bruce Cameron (Dustin's Chick-fil-A consultant), Cow #1, Dustin, Mayor Whalen, Cow #2, Judge Moore (a Boone County judge).Moving the first dirt!

Good shoveling, Judge! :-)

The DiChiara's digging with the Cow (Levi helping too!).

Velma, thankful, was able to be in town for this too, since it was just a couple days after Levi's birthday!

Levi's excited that the store is Opening Soon!

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The last segment of this MEGA-POST: Uncle Brian, Aunt Sara, and Cousin Isaiah come to visit the weekend after Levi's birthday! (Memorial Day Weekend)

Fun with bubbles in the park. Is there any kid that doesn't like bubbles?!

Isaiah was being very sweet and sharing the bubble wand with Levi. But we all know what was to happen next . . .

Yep. Wand in the mouth.

Levi loves the swings!
More bubbles:

Wow . . . Thank you, Aunt Sara!

Levi loves to wear Mama's sun glasses. Chillin' with Uncle Brian.

We all went to a Red's game that weekend too. It was fun to have all the DiChiara brothers together!:

So funny, each of the DiChiara men individually woke up Sunday morning wearing the same pajamas!

Isaiah is watching out for his cousin, making sure he had everything he needed for his meal.

Isaiah and Levi had such fun playing together. It was so precious to watch. They are just 10 months apart, and played so well together. It made me start wanting to have a sibling for Levi.
Here's a little video of them playing together. I never seem to get the best on video, but they had been doing this routine of Levi throwing down his cup and Isaiah giving it back to him for at least a solid 5 minutes prior to this.

There was an Italian Festival in Cincinnati which we went to. Levi is sportin' his "I Love My Italian Dad" shirt.

Levi's "basta face" (my personal favorite this far). Every good Italian child must have such pictures! Thanks, Uncle Michael, for some good basta!

The above video is Levi signing "all done". We had been doing sign language with Levi since he was 5 months old. The only sign he really did was "fan" for the longest time. Just this month he started doing more signs consistently, such as more, all done, and eat.

Another milestone this month is Levi's third tooth finally came in on May 27th. Teething is never fun!

Levi progressed pretty quickly these weeks in May in regards of his motor skills. May 18th, just 2 days after his birthday and about a week after just learning to pull himself up, he started cruising around the furniture! He continued to improve, and these pictures are just a couple weeks after his birthday.
Check out his squatting action below!

Phew! Congrats on finishing reading this post! Hope you enjoyed catching up on our little family! If so, please comment and let me know!

Baseball, Swings, & Birthdays

2009-05-02T14:10:00.039-04:00

(**I'm finally updating the blog with posts I started long ago. Sorry for the "old" pictures--trying to stay chronological. Hopefully I'll get this up to speed in the next week or so... Do I even have any followers of this blog anymore?)

Levi's first Red's game, dressed in style. Dustin registered us in the Hamilton County drawing at the beginning of the year, and I got a call early April to let me know that I won 2 tickets to a Reds game in the County Suite seats. What a way to watch a game! Free dinner, dessert, and drinks, nice outdoor seats, and A/C with multiple big screens just steps inside. Thank you, Hamilton County! :-)

Go Reds!

Levi chilling with Dad.

A fun day at the game!

April 23rd was Levi's last day at ChildTime daycare. A last-minute opening came up at Mt. Washington Baptist Daycare just 5 minutes down our house (great staff, less kids in one room, and even better priced!). Levi saying bye to Tasha and Tasha.

SWINGS!!!
Here are pictures of Levi's first time on the swings. He loved it!

I loved trying to catch the delight on his face. :-)

I love his giggles!

Relaxing in the park. :-)
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Happy 29th, birthday, Dustin!!!

Levi with birthday-Daddy.

Out to eat at P.F. Changs with the Larsons and Laginesses.

Dustin is showing Levi how to blow out the birthday candle (Levi's 1 year birthday just around the corner....)
Courtney & Dustin--"cheese".

Ladies of the group. :-)

The following weekend, I threw Dustin a "Rock Band" birthday party. Fun times!

(Yes, I made this . . . :-) )

Jammin' times:

Birthday boy! :-)
(**thanks, Amanda, for a lot of these birthday pictures!!**)

Family and friends all came together for Dustin's birthday to surprise him with a treadmill. (Yes, this is actually something he wanted. We had been talking about this for a long time.) Since Levi was born, Dustin hadn't been working out at the gym after work, because he felt more of the burden of picking up Levi earlier from daycare. He would feel guilt in spending that extra time at the gym. And, Levi usually had to nap in the afternoon, so no opportunity for Dustin to leave the house to exercise. Many thanks to all the wonderful friends and family that came together to make this gift possible! No way we could've afforded it on our own. Dustin has been enjoying it (and me too!). Here's Dustin trying it out (and being silly):

First Words

2009-05-02T14:10:00.038-04:00

At 11 and 1/2 months, Levi started saying his first words. Officially, Dada was his first word. (I have assured Dustin that's it's just because it's a lot easier to say than Mama. ;-) ). A couple weeks of intermittent "Dada's", Levi surprised me when I picked him up from daycare today. Almost as if it was a normal, every day occurance, he waved and said "Bye-bye" to the ladies as we left. I was shocked--did I really hear correctly?! Later this same day he said "ball" very clearly. He also started saying a verison of "diaper". So exciting!!! Almost out of no where, we had 4 words: Dada, bye-bye, ball, & diaper. He would only say these words very intermittently and unpredictably--but it was a fun start!

These 2 pictures are part of a collection every Italian child must have--"basta face" pictures. He loves his basta!

Just some fun in our yard.

Here's a very short clip of the cute babbling he was doing constantly around this time.

Levi is so funny. It really is amazing how a little child can already have so many "quirks." Levi is really weird about touching new textures. He is really not a fan of his skin touching the grass.

Lifting up one foot to minimize time in contact with the grass.

He's thinking--can I lift both of my legs up??

Here's a picture from 2 weeks earlier with Levi doing the same thing in the grass.
Not the best picture, but you can see he's not so sure about that green-stuff.

Also, around this time, Levi just started mastering his clapping (just in time for his birthday-audience around the corner!). Below is a video of it. It was fun to start seeing him clearly understand what we were saying and responding appropriately.

11 Months

2009-04-16T22:13:00.006-04:00

Some of you know that at 8 months old, Levi's pediatrician referred him to a government-funded program called, "Help Me Grow", to evaluated his development. The referral was at a time when he wasn't gaining weight AND was behind especially in gross-motor development (ie: he couldn't get himself into a sitting position, although he could sit up well). Levi ended up qualifying for the program due to his motor skills. Well, be the government, it took 3 months for someone to start coming to the house and help him.

This is all background and context for the following picture. Levi JUST started learning how to get up into a sitting position about 1 week before turning 11 months old, thanks to some moves one of the HMG physical therapists taught us to do with Levi (he picked it up, after that, in 4 days). As a result, there were a few nights where Levi would wake up crying because he sat up in the crib, but didn't know how to lay back down. The below picture, taken 2 days shy of 11 months, is how Dustin found him during nap time, apparently exhausted, but unable to lay back down!

Poor boy was hard asleep!!

Grandpa was able to visit and read Levi a bedtime story. One of the most attentive times I've seen Levi at this point during story time!

Our happy boy.

April 24th was Levi's last day at Childtime Daycare. Here are picture of Levi with Tanya and Tanya, two of the 3 ladies Levi with whom he spent his weekdays. We are thankful for the care they provided for Levi--they would always do everything we asked.

(Yes, Levi chunked up quite a lot this month as well!!!)

We moved Levi to Mt. Washington Baptist Daycare, at a church walking distance from our house! A spot opened up early, and we took it. We knew we had to eventually move knowing that Dustin would no longer be working downtown in the next few months, and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity we had.

For the past two years, Dustin has been signing each of us individually up for a drawing that Hamilton County does to give away tickets for Reds and Bengals games. Well, they drew my name for tickets in one of the Luxury Suites! Wahoo! Although they lost that game, it was a fun, beautiful day!

Dustin went a little overboard with Levi's Reds gear, so I had to get many pictures capturing it!

Here are some pictures at a nearby park. It was sooo hard getting a good picture of Levi because he wouldn't sit still long enough--he'd start scooting to me or away from me! Below is the best I could get.

Levi loves the swing!! It was so fun to hear his giggles! You can hear some of the giggles too in the video below.

Happy Resurrection-Day! (and some more scooting)

2009-04-12T23:03:00.009-04:00

Better late than never, right?

I've started many posts in these past couple months so that I could have the correct date assigned, but am actually completing the post in a very tardy manner . . .
I wonder if anyone is still

Anyways, happy (belated) Easter!! Unfortunately, I had to work, so I didn't get to go to church. Thankfully, my friend, Amanda, took the wonderful picture of my good looking men at church!

I just adore this suit my mother got for Levi. So, I get to share all the fun pictures of me trying to capture him in it when I came home from work.

The DiChiara family on Easter.

My sweet little boy and his Mama.

Just starting to hold himself up standing (not yet able to pull himself up, though!)

On the go!! (see the video below)

Just mesmerized by those eyes . . .

This picture makes me laugh. He was giving me the frustrated/mad look. I think he wants something I have. He's tightening his butt cheeks in frustration.

Still at 11 months old, he loves to sleep like this. He looks like such a little man with this suit!! :-)

The first video I recommend everyone to watch. It's him scooting around to get his Easter basket (which he absolutely LOVED from his Nana). It's hilarious!

This second is longer, and probably more for family to watch Levi open his Easter basket, though. The first minute, however, is also pretty funny with Levi "pacing" back and forth (read: scooting) because he wants us to give him his bottle.

Crawling Alternative

2009-04-05T23:15:00.004-04:00

Levi still cannot crawl. Really, I'm not sure if he ever will. He never really has gotten into spending prolonged time on his belly. He has developed an alternative to crawling. We fondly call it the "Butt Scoot". It is honestly one of the funniest things to see. I have two videos capturing where it all began. The first video is from Jan 31st--the very first time we noticed him doing his scooting (at 8 1/2 months). The second video is particularly hilarious, taken March 4th (at almost 10 months), really on of the first times he was really mobile in scooting, including the carpet. You can hear how hard he's working at it with all his panting. :- He's even quicker now--I'll have to take another video to share!

Self-Prescribing

2009-03-24T05:37:00.007-04:00

I have been living in the Medical Intensive Care Unit this month (aka, "MICU", "M.I.", "Mic Uoo"). The sickest of sick people come through here. I have seen many people die this month despite the most valiant efforts of the best of Western Medicine. Yesterday was a crazy morning, for example. At one time we had someone being intubated (a breathing tube getting put down their throat) and 2 "Code Blues" going on at the same time (that's when someone is actively dying--not breathing and no pulse). The 1st Code was on a patient that was an alcoholic "found down" and unresponsive in his apartment by his friends after a binge of drinking. He was hypothermic (body temp was 90 degrees) and had no brain stem function. You can't declare someone dead, however, until they are normal body temperature. When he got warmed up, he actually started waking up some, but was very, very sick. That Code lasted for a long time. He regained his pulse and blood pressure a few times, but a few coding-episodes later, he died.

Simultaneously, I was cheering on a fellow resident preparing for a non-urgent intubation. While I was outside the room, the nurse from the room next door calls for my help stating his patient's blood pressure is only 29/13! I quickly went in there to find out he had no pulse, and I quickly initiated chest compressions (this patient was already intubated). It took a couple minutes before more people came in to help out. Thankfully, this code did not last that long--the patient quickly regained his pulse and blood pressure after some intervention.

All this happened before 10am.

FYI: some stats regarding "Codes": [Saklayn:]
- It's bad news. The survival rate is far, far, higher on T.V. than it is in real life.
- Only 30% survive at 24 hours.
- 13% survive 1 month.
- 6% survive 6 months.
- Survival to hospital discharge is only 10-15% for ALL patients, but <5%>15 minutes, patients don't live to 6 months.

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Seeing these many sick patients in the hospital has inspired me to compose a preventative medicine list.

Preventative Measures I Have Decided to Take:

1. Never smoke.

2. Don't become an alcoholic.

3. If it is ever slightly suspected that I might have sleep apnea (daytime sleepines, snoring, etc.), get a sleep study ASAP, and USE my CPAP every night. [Right heart failure is AWFUL, AWFUL. Preventing this is also coupled with #1 and preventing COPD.]

4. When I get to be 40 years old, taken an aspirin every day. [Prevent heart attacks and strokes.]

5. If there is any concern about my heart (ie: chest pain, exercise intolerance, etc), get a stress test.

6. If I start to feel really sick, don't feel bad for going to the hospital sooner than later.

7. Unless I am having a heart attack, take me to University Hospital for care. Other private hospitals are scary in their treatment decisions, and often doctors are not in the hospital overnight. Multiple residents are here overnight just waiting for admissions to come in.

8. If I develop a blood clot to my lungs, take my blood thinners every day. (to prevent right-sided heart failure from developing).

9. Double-glove during invasive procedures--take every precaution to not get Hepatitis C through a finger stick. End stage liver disease is one of the worst ways to go.

And finally . . .

If it looks like my condition is terminal, change my resuscitation orders to DO NOT RESUSCITATE. Staying stuck on a ventilator is NOT cool.

Perfect 10!

2009-03-18T23:28:00.011-04:00

Levi just turned 10 months old! Of course, I was stuck in the hospital on overnight call. My wonderful husband, however, brought Levi over to visit brightening my particularly overwhelming day. Here is my big boy!

He greeted me with the biggest kiss (that's what I call it). :-) Does my heart good. :-)

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A little over 1 week earlier, we took Levi to his first circus. Here are some pictures of me trying to capture his amazement. Talk about sensory overload! He was particular fascinated by the lights and different little laser displays highlighting the acts.

Poor little boy was out well-past his bedtime. He couldn't make it the whole time; we left early to take him home. It was a great evening of fun for the DiChiaras! Really, everything we do is so much more joyful because we also get to "experience everything for the first time" through Levi's eyes.

Going Dry

2009-03-14T21:41:00.013-04:00

Levi has decided. He's done with breastfeeding.

It has been a roller coaster these last 2 months regarding feeding-times. Actually, the day after my previous post about breastfeeding, I introduced formula for the first time to Levi--a few days shy of 8 months old. My frozen milk supply was practically depleted, and we had just taken Levi to the doctor to find out that he had not been gaining weight well. He had dropped from the 20th percentile to the 5th percentile. It was a big shock to me, because Levi always seemed content, sleeping through the night, and wouldn't drink more than 6 ozs of milk from the bottle when introduced previously. The doctor had said that everything was medically OK with Levi, and he just encouraged us to try to get more calories in him. We moved from solids two times a day to three times per day. We also knew that we had to try again to get him to drink more ounces of milk in a bottle. Since I was, to begin with, barely able to keep up in pumping, we introduced formula (Similiac Advance). My frozen stash of breast milk was almost gone.

Levi did not like his first formula bottle, but he took to it quickly after the second. Slowly, he move up to 7 ozs. in each of his 4 bottles. Things were going smoothly--he went easily between nursing with me, drinking breast milk from a bottle, and drinking formula from a bottle.

I was nursing him one evening, and he bit me pretty hard (a rarity for him). I jumped, pulled him off, and said, "No!" quite loudly. Poor little Levi just started bawling uncontrollably. It was such a pitiful thing. I think our little boy is very sensitive (where did he get that from?). So, for the next few (3 to 4) days (over a weekend, when I was home from work, nonetheless!) he refused to nurse AT ALL. In fact, he would start crying at the sight or would hesitantly start to latch, then pull away crying. Levi had declared a Nursing Strike. I wasn't sure if he was teething, or what it was. I read a little about it, and it looks like my yelp from the bite had traumatized him, and apparently, it is a common event. It was quite a stressful and sad 3 to 4 days. No fun feeling rejected, and I hated to return to the pump while at home. Still committed to nursing Levi, especially through the colds of the winter-season, I did some of the suggestions I read about to reverse the Nursing Strike. After some skin-to-skin contact in a prolonged nap together, Levi finally started nursing again. (Hallelujah!)

Knowing that in mid-Feb we'd be away from Levi for 5 days at Seminar, and he'd be 9 months old then, I thought it'd be the easiest thing for him to drink all formula and not worry about transporting 5 days-worth of breast milk to my parents in Atlanta. I had planned to get formula well-established and start a partial wean of pumping or nursing twice a day. That way, I wouldn't have to spend my entire vacation pumping. Providing for half of his milk-meals was a good compromise. I knew, however, that nursing was slowly coming to an end because Levi would be so distracted--popping off every few SECONDS to look around. It was becoming harder to nurse him consistently (it would take FOREVER), but I wanted to push through the winter season.

The down-fall all started when Levi got sick 4 days after going back to daycare. This resulted in a 2.5-week illness lasting the very end of January and the beginning of February. He started off with bronchiolitis, needing antibiotics (ampicillin) and an inhaler! That moved quickly into an ear infection needing more antibiotics (Augmentin). He then got real sick from the Augmentin, vomiting and diarrhea. So, we had to switch to Azithromycin, which he finally got better on--just in time for us to go on vacation mid-Feb. While he was sick, he was eating HORRIBLY, to very little. It was quite stressful because we had just learned of his low weight to begin with. Initially, he wouldn't nurse. Then, he started not taking the bottle well, and/or taking in only 6 to 10 ounces of milk/day. We were so worried about dehydration and had multiple conversations with his pediatrician. During Levi's ear infection, it seemed like he could only taking in about 3 oz with his bottle, then start crying. It was then that we decided to switch to a faster-flow nipple to see if that helped.

That was the beginning of the end of our nursing relationship.

I don't regret introducing the fast-flow nipple to him, because he really needed to start eating better, and that was more important to me than the actual source. Changing the nipple seemed to really help as he didn't have to work as hard to drink, and it resulted in him taking in double the amount he had been previously.

Since then, over the last month, Levi has slowly developed a preference for drinking from the bottle over me. He started getting fussy towards the middle-end of nursing when the milk flow would decrease, and he'd just start crying, impatient to stick with it. For the most part, we'd get through it, and he'd nurse twice a day. Because of the difficulty in nursing, and because of my busy work scheduling coming up in March and April, AND because I'm just sick of always pumping and not being around to nurse, I had already decided to start to do a long-wean: nurse just twice a day, and stop pumping at work. Such a relief!! For the record, I'm going to go back and add to my previous post on breastfeeding that using a slow-flowing nipple the entire time you supplement with a bottle is KEY to maintaining the nursing-relationship and prevent bottle-preference (and the reason I had done so up to that point despite his "older" age). I read that recommendation on several breastfeeding sites, including my favorite site: www.kellymom.com.

Anyways, since I have been living in the hospital this month, I have not nursed as frequently. Over the past 5 days, Levi has refused to nurse AT ALL. No matter his mood, sleepiness and presence or lack of hunger, laying down or position, he wants nothing to do with breastfeeding. In fact, he uses all his energy to turn the opposite direction or push away. And lately, if he latched, he started biting right away. So, that's it. No more. I have been pumping these last few days with greater spacing, slowly finishing my wean off the pump. Where I am right now, I believe the last time Levi will have breast milk will be on his 10-month old birthday (in just 2 days!!). I feel blest to have been able to provide breast milk for Levi as long as I have been able to, and I look back on nursing with fondness. Weaning definitely been harder on me than on him!!

Sweet things that I will miss:
- The private closeness we'd share.
- The pleasure of knowing that I am providing all his essential nutrition.
- Enjoying what he does with his "top" hand. In his earlier months, he would kneed my skin. Later, he would just hold onto the top of my shirt or bra. Or, my favorite, he'd hold onto my finger. In the last few months, his arm would flail around looking to grab onto what ever was nearby--a necklace, burp cloth (and would usually rub his face with it), try to reach out behind him and grab something off the table nearby.
- The last 1-2 months, his favorite thing to do with his top hand is to play with my hair. He would just run his fingers through it or just hold onto it for reassurance (he would never tug on it).
- Being forced to sit down and relax with him.
- Occasionally popping off to share a private smile or laugh.

In honor of breastfeeding, I have posted some random pictures, mostly earlier in his life, of nursing Levi (under a cover), or him cuddling afterward. :-)

Showing off my multi-tasking prowess. Nursing Levi (at 6 weeks) in public out at the zoo while eating ice cream.

Milk-coma.

Coast to Coast

2009-02-22T23:05:00.008-05:00

I love vacation!! During one week's time, Dustin and I have been to the Pacific Ocean then Atlantic Ocean. I know that I'm quite "behind" in my blog, and I hope to catch up, but I thought I'd post some pictures hot-off-the-press.

Like we do every third week in February, we went to Chick-fil-A's yearly Seminar, located in Long Beach, CA in L.A. County. Children are not allowed to come, so Levi got to spend some quality time with Grandpa and Grandma during those 4 days. We got a flight from Cincinnati that connected in Atlanta so that my parents could get a gate pass. We handed Levi off to them with his bags, and had only 10 minutes to get our connecting flight. He was very happy to see them, reaching out for Grandma and giggling as he kept waving at Grandpa. I teared up to leave my little boy behind . . . It's the longest stretch I'd ever been away (2 days previously). I brought plenty of pictures with me and called multiple times during our trip to check in on him.

Of course, it was nice to have some time to get away with just Dustin and I.

Catalina Island--26 miles off the coast of Long Beach.

Dustin touching the Pacific Ocean for the first time!

Catalina Island, as we were leaving on our boat. A beautiful and fun ride.

Sun setting on the coast of Industrial-Long Beach.

Of note, during the Seminar, it was announced in front of everyone in the Northern Region of Chick-fil-A that Dustin was selected as the Owner/Operator of the new Freestanding Store, "Houston Road FSU", in Florence, KY. The new store will be in an amazing location and about 20 minutes from our house.

Exhausted Grandpa and Grandma passing Levi back to us at the airport in ATL.
Thank you for letting Mom and Dad go on their vacation!
-----------------
We got back in town on Thursday with Levi, then set back on another plane Saturday to St. Augustine Beach, FL for our first family vacation with just the three of us.

View from our hotel balcony--right on the beach! :-)

Levi's first time at the beach!

Levi LOVES the sand. He kept playing with it, digging in the sand and watching it fall through his hands.

Levi and Daddy relaxing together.

Levi's Great Grandpa and Grandma, who have been staying in their RV right on the beach in St. Augustine Beach since late December.

Great Grandpa and Levi exploring a local antique store together.

DiChiara Beach Bums.

Turned Upside Down

2009-01-20T00:34:00.008-05:00

Levi will be going back to daycare--today being the first day. Unfortunately, things did not work out with Brittany to continue taking care of Levi. It is too bad . . . I, however, praise God for His provision in allowing one more open spot available in Levi's age group at the daycare in such short notice! Usually, people are on the waiting list for 3-6 months. God is gracious in providing for us in this quick transition.

I am sad for the change in care and nervous about the unknown. The uncertainty of how Levi will do in daycare and WHO will be taking care if him (I have yet to meet these new people; I am currently working 12.5 hour night-shifts . . . ) is difficult for this working mother. Up to this point, it had been nice to have Levi with someone that I trusted to provide excellent care, where I had a handle on how things were going with Levi's "routine," thus alleviating any worries I would have while working. Now I have to enter a new phase of developing that trust with new people. I also pray that Levi will still flourish in a 4:1 ratio of teacher-to-child setting (vs 2:1). I hope the transition is not too difficult on him. I also hope he is able to nap well and eat well while there. [Currently he's napping 1.5-2 hrs 3 times per day while at home and 45-75 min at Brittany's. He's drinking milk 4 times per day, now 7 oz., and taking in solids 3 times per day.]

In honor of the past 4.5 months under Brittany's care, here are some recent pictures of Levi and Ruthie (courtesy of Brittany).

Levi is always just content sitting there playing with/gumming toys while Ruthie is moving and crawling all over the place.

Ruthie is telling Levi, "This is how you do it!"

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I am confident in the Lord's goodness and provision for our family. I know that He will watch over Levi, and He is the One that truly has Levi in His hands.

Happy Eight Month Old Birthday!

2009-01-16T19:23:00.004-05:00

He's such a big boy! Just wanted to share some pics on his day. :-) We spent it in Birmingham visiting Dustin's family (my mother and grandmother were also able to drive to come visit).
[I'm sure I'll post more pics from that trip a little later.]

2nd One!

2009-01-12T22:51:00.006-05:00

Just six days later, Levi's second tooth came on through! The night prior was not bad, but that night was a difficult one for the little guy. I can't believe we have to go through this 18 more times! These pictures are taken 3 days later of his not-so-gummy-anymore-smile. He is intrigued about the way his teeth feel and is constantly touching it or rubbing his tongue over his teeth. :-)

Working Cow

2009-01-06T23:31:00.013-05:00

[*I realized I started this post awhile ago, but never got around to posting it . . .]
Levi is almost 8 months old now, and I have been able to provide breast milk exclusively during this entire time. I hope you can allow me some self-indulgence here. Levi has never had any formula during this time. Not that there is anything wrong with formula, but no one can argue that breast milk is the best and most preferable source of nutrition for your baby. Plus, since I knew that Levi would need to learn to go between taking milk from a bottle and then nurse with me, I wanted to avoid another variable of formula that could possibly make continued breastfeeding difficult.

Here's thanks to my pump (pictured above). If I could have a moment to address my pump: "Thank you for making it possible for me to provide the best food possible for my little baby. I don't really enjoy our time together. No offense, please. We have spent quite some time together, haven't we? Sometimes 4 times a day! Thank you for cooperating on our morning car-rides together. That has been a real time saver. I won't miss you at all when I have to say goodbye. Don't be sad--I am sure we will reunite in the future. And although I don't like you, know that I love what you have been able to do for my baby. "

My hope is that people reading this post would feel encouraged and not discouraged if they chose or went a different path for their own personal reasons. I wanted to share some of my experiences and things I've come across along the way to help those who want to accomplish a similar goal currently, or in the future. I wonder if random people ever come across this blog from internet searches. If so, I hope they are helped too because I was helped by random people from the internet in constructing my "support system".
First off, I wanted to list some reasons why I chose to continue to breast feed while working full-time.

Reasons to Breastfeed:

1. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends it as well as World Health Organization and UNICEF (recommended for the first year).
2. Breast milk provides perfect infant nutrition.
"Human milk is uniquely superior for infant feeding and is species-specific; all substitute feeding options differ markedly from it. The breastfed infant is the reference or normative model against which all alternative feeding methods must be measured with regard to growth, health, development, and all other short and long-term benefits."
3. Breastfeeding promotes bonding between mother and baby.
4. Not breastfeeding increases mother's risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer.
"If all women who do not breastfeed or who breastfeed for less than 3 months were to do so for 4 to 12 months, breast cancer among parous premenopausal women could be reduced by 11 percent, judging from current rates. If all women with children lactated for 24 months or longer, however, then the incidence might be reduced by nearly 25 percent. This reduction would be even greater among women who first lactate at an early age." -Newcomb PA, Storer BE, Longnecker MP, et al. Lactation and a reduced risk of premenopausal breast cancer. N Engl J Med. 1994;330:81-87
5. Breastfeeding increases baby’s IQ. The cut-off seems to beyond 8 months in the studies I saw.
6. Breast milk is always ready and comes in a nicer package than formula does. It’s always the right temperature! Well, it’s more convenient while at home, but, of course, more challenging while working.
7. Breast milk contains immunities to diseases and aids in the development of baby's immune system. There are live antibodies and cells that cannot be reproduced with formulas.
8. Breast milk is more digestible than formula. I know some babies have problems with formula, and it is then a stressful journey trying to find the best one to use.
9. Suckling helps shrink mother's uterus after childbirth.
"Nursing will help you to regain your figure more quickly, since the process of lactation causes the uterus (which has increased during pregnancy to about 20 times its normal size) to shrink more quickly to its prepregnancy size." -"The Complete Book Of Breastfeeding", M.S. Eiger. MD, S. Wendkos Olds
The uterus of the non-breastfeeding mother will never shrink back to its pre-pregnant size. It will always remain slightly enlarged. - Chua S, Arulkumaran S, Lim I et al. "Influence of breastfeeding and nipple stimulation on postpartum uterine activity." Br J Obstet Gynaecol 1994; 101:804-805
10. Nursing helps mom lose weight after baby is born.
**I needed all the help I could get here!!!**
“Breastfeeding requires an average of 500 extra calories per day.” -Dewey KG, Heinig MJ, Nommwen LA. Maternal weight-loss patterns during prolonged lactation. Am J Clin Nutr 1993;58:162-166
“Mothers who breastfed exclusively or partially had significantly larger reductions in hip circumference and were less above their prepregnancy weights at 1 month post partum than mothers who fed formula exclusively." -Kramer, F., "Breastfeeding reduces maternal lower body fat." J. Am Diet Assoc 1993; 93(4):429-33
Man, at the rate I’ve been losing weight, I’m afraid what would happen if I stopped breast feeding!!
11. Breastfeeding protects against Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, asthma, diarrheal infections, bacterial meningitis, respiratory infections, eczema, food allergies, Hodgkins disease.
12. Formula feeding increases baby's risk of otitis media (ear infections) up to 3-4 times.
13. Breastfeeding decreases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (S.I.D.S.).
14. Formula-fed babies are more at risk for obesity in later life. Levi needs all the help he can get with our genes! ;-)
15. Breast milk is free, and formula is very expensive!!
16. Breastfed babies get sick less often.
17. It's what breasts were designed for! Sorry to break the news, guys.
18. Providing milk for Levi every day was one way I could stay connected with him while I was away at work.

I am quite proud of what I have been able to provide for Levi despite working up to 80 hours per week. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, "over 50 percent of mothers with children under the age of three are working outside the home. Among mothers who work full-time, more than half begin breastfeeding in the hospital, yet only 12.5 percent are still nursing five to six months later, in contrast to nearly 23 percent of mothers nursing who are at home" (from Breastfeeding and the Working Mother. by, Diane Mason, Diane Ingersoll).

How Did I Do It?

1) First off, I had already decided ahead of time that I was going to *make* it work. Before Levi was born, if he was able to latch and breastfeed (which wasn't a breeze for us—a very challenging first month!), I had made up my stubborn mind that I was going to provide exclusively breast milk at least until he was 6 months old (as much as possible). It is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics to exclusively breast feed for the 1st year, so I was going to shoot for that goal, step-by-step, as much as possible—the first goal 6 months, then the next goal of 9 months.

As I usually do with challenges and questions I faced: I researched it and read as much as I could about it. What kind of bottle should I get? What kind of pump? How should I store the milk? On and on. I was obsessed. See below for what I found.

2) I pumped frequently, and early on, while at home on maternity leave in order to become an “over-producer”. I knew that your breast milk supply comes in based on demand, so I was going to trick my body into thinking I had 2 babies to feed. I didn’t go too over-board on this. Outside of the time during my 1st month when my supply went down and I pumped a lot more to build it back up (Levi was falling asleep during nursing sessions, not taking in enough, leading to a decrease in my supply. I would have him nurse, then pump immediately afterwards.), I pumped most of my 2nd month at home just twice a day. I would pump, religiously, immediately after the morning feeding when I would have the greatest supply. The second time I would pump was usually in the evening, after putting Levi down for “the night”. Towards the end of the 3rd month, I would just pump after the morning feedings. I actually continued pumping after the morning feedings for the next 2 ½ months back to work, even on my days off, to keep my supply up, keep up with Levi, and add any excess to the frozen storage. I knew once I hit November, back in the wards, I wouldn’t be able to nurse him in the mornings prior to work, and would rely a lot on the stored milk. [I want to thank my friend, Amanda, for letting me borrow her pump those first months at home. I wasn’t sure how breast feeding would go and apprehensive about buying an expensive pump ahead of time. I am indebted to her in allowing me to use her pump to build up a storage supply before going to work, before I bought my own pump.]

3) I accumulated a hefty supply of frozen breast milk before returning to work. I actually was able to store approximately 140 ounces of breast milk in our freezer before going back to work! I am quite proud of this storage, and it took away a lot of stress once I went back to work if I wasn’t able to pump enough milk a particular work-week.

4) Hands-free, double-pumping—A MUST. Very early on, I invested in the “Expression Bustier”, basically a bra with holes cut in the center for the pump shields to go through and hold the pumping apparatus in place, leaving your hands free. This was an absolute necessary for sustainable pumping, at least for me. I was able to multi-task. At work, I could return pages I got, type my clinic notes, look up info on my patients, and even put in orders in the computer.

5) I pumped on the way to work. This was probably the most comical (and scary?) of all my efforts, but so crucial for me. I would hook everything up, put the Hooter Hider cover over my neck, hook up the pump, and 15-20 minutes later when arriving to work, I would be done pumping, and could just take it all down. This was important the first couple months when I nursed Levi at home before work and was still pumping afterwards. There wouldn’t have been enough time to do both and get to work on time (without waking Levi up even earlier). Then, as I transitioned to working in the “wards” (aka, inpatient hospital care), I would have to be at the hospital so early—it was too hard for me to wake up even earlier (the month of November, I would have to be at work at 6am!). Plus, I was already hooked at that point (no pun intended . . .). That way, I would only have to pump once at work, and only a third time if I had a late day (every day in November was a late day), or if I was on call.

6) I nursed Levi whenever I was home with him. This was, of course, so much more enjoyable than the darn pump! It was a sweet reminder on why I was doing this.

7) I LOVED my small Medela Freestyle pump (pictured above). This pump fit can fit in just one hand! Some rotations I had to carry my bag with me everywhere as well as my pump supplies, “cooler”, lunch, and study material with me wherever I went. It was good to have everything in one big bag instead of a separate bag for my pump. Plus, it made it so very discrete. (ok, I know I’m starting to sound like an advertisement. I’m not getting paid . . . but maybe I should?). NOTE: I was able to find a deal on some obscure website online—thanks to google—and got it about $90 less than usual retail!!

8) I developed an efficient routine of storage and pumping. After much research before I had Levi, I decided to get the Playtex Nursing Drop-In system.
This is how it works:
The bottles are not actual “bottles” (they are “nursers”), in that there is no bottom to it. You pour milk into a disposable liner that is BPA-free which is placed into the nurser. The fact that it was BPA-free was important to me and a reason why I didn’t choose other bottle-systems. The crucial part of these bottles in sustaining the breast-feeding relationship are the nipples itself. They are wide-based, so baby has to get use to opening his mouth wide to feed—so important in breastfeeding! Levi was able to easily go between the bottle and me!

The efficient part of the system are the actual liners. I could pump directly into the liners with an adapter (good with Medela pumps), freeze the milk in the liners. When it’s feeding time, I just pop one of the liners in the bottlw, thaw out the milk in the liners, add the nipple on top, and feed Levi from the same liner without having to pour any milk! So easy! The lack of transferring is also important for several reasons: (1) Each time breast-milk is poured from one container to another, a film of nutrient-rich fat is left behind along the sides of the previous container. I wanted to minimize transfers to retain all the nutrition. (2) Didn’t have to clean pumping bottles. (3) Didn’t have to also buy milk-storage bags and deal with them. (4) It’s a lot quicker to heat up a bottle with warm water through a little liner vs. through the plastic of a bottle.

The milk I froze was milk I pumped directly into the 4 oz. liners. Playtex sells a freezer-storage-system, but it’s not good for high-volume storage (too many parts to buy; note: you’ll need at least 2 boxes of the storage-system if you double pump b/c only one pump adapter comes in each set). So, I used this storage-system from Playtex to freeze the milk, then once frozen, I would disconnect the attachments and store just the liner in a double-bagged, freezer-strong-Zip-lock bag. I would have the liner labeled with the date and amount of milk.

The down-side to this bottle system is that you have to keep buying liners. But, they are not that expensive, and the little expense is soo worth not having to clean bottles daily in addition to the pump supplies I have to wash every night. Plus, the liners are suppose to reduce colic in reducing the amount of gas baby drinks buy collapsing during the feeding.

To further increase efficiency, I also bought a couple extra pump adapters to use during my work day so that I wouldn't be slowed-down by having to wash the supplies in order to use it again later that day. It was hard enough to find time at work to pump, so all that I could do to make the time more efficient was better. When I had to wash a couple pieces quickly, I used these Quick-Clean wipes from Medela, which was great to have on hand.

9) I got comfortable breastfeeding in public. Of course, I would always be tastefully covered up with my Hooter Hider. It would have been impossible to get anything done on the little time I had off if I had to always nurse Levi at home, in “private.” Not to mention, it’s important for me to get out and enjoy non-working time out in the world. So, I got comfortable with nursing Levi in restaurants and malls, even when I got the occasional strange look. (I’m sure it must’ve looked funny to see Levi’s flailing arm come out from beneath the cover as he likes to do.) Honestly, most of the time, I don’t think people noticed what I was doing.

10) When giving a bottle, use only slow-flow nipples. Even though the nipples advertise that slow-flow is only for 3 months or less, it is actually recommended by www.kellymom.com, my favorite breastfeeding website, to keep using the slow-flow nipple so that the baby won't tend to prefer the bottle with quick, easier flow over breastfeeding. I can't emphasize how important this is!

Whew. Congratulations if you read this all! Hope this was helpful or encouraging to someone!

Yet you are He who took me from the womb;
you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
On You was I cast from my birth,
and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
Psalm 22: 9-10

Break on Through!

2009-01-06T23:28:00.004-05:00

Levi cut his first tooth yesterday! It's a little nubbin of a thing, but it is clearly there, and wasn't there the night before. It was difficult a night for the poor little boy! We were actually out at a friends house that night, and he was fussier than his usual self--we knew it was his teeth. He cried multiple times through the night . . .

The first picture is a "before" shot of Levi toothless 2 days prior and a little fussy.

The second picture is the fussy evening when his tooth was fighting on coming through. He looks so pitiful, even though Ruthie is excited about seeing him and wanting to give him a hug.

A tooth now; so strange! He's definitely leaving infancy . . . I just want to slow him down!

Merry Christmas!

2009-01-06T13:12:00.017-05:00

Levi meets Santa!

Levi was definitely very happy and intrigued by Santa.

One of the benefits of working 30-hour call shifts is that "post-call", you are able to leave work at noon. I was able to avoid the Saturday Santa-line, and walked right-up to Santa Monday afternoon with Levi and Dustin.

As you can see, Levi was interested in his beard. :-)

Levi loves Santa!

WARNING: There are an excessive number of pictures on this post. Since no family was able to be in town for Christmas, I thought they would enjoy seeing how their grandson/nephew spent his First Christmas.

Our family at Dustin's Chick-fil-A Christmas party. We ate a Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse downtown. Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling good that night (had a GI virus that morning), and I couldn't even eat my steak! (don't worry, I took it to-go and had it the next day . . .)

Some Christmas tree posing . . .

I love his eyes. :-)

(I think he was getting sleepy. Thought this was a funny face.)

Some more Christmas Tree posing. These pictures are in his little rocking chair, which use to be Dustin's when he was a kid. Nana and PawPaw refinished it for Levi to match the rest of his furniture. It's sweet--it plays music as it rocks.

Present-Time!!

We spread out our "Christmas" over 3 different evenings since I was on overnight call at the VA on Christmas Day (ie: went into work at 7am on the 25th and came home at noon on the 26th). Since I was still working during the day during the week and would come home in the evenings, we only had 30 min to an hour of Levi awake-time to open gifts after dinner and before he got too sleepy, wanting to go to bed. (yes, this boy WANTS to go to bed come 7pm or so). We started our Christmas on Monday, Dec 22nd and continued through the 24th. Levi opened some presents each of those evenings. Dustin and I exchanged gifts on the 22nd, and that left the evening free on the 24th for us to go to church together for a lovely Candlelight Service and have a nice dinner together. I actually prepared Italian Pot Roast the evening before and had it cooking on the crock pot all day; I was quite proud of my domestication considering my working time constraints. Although it was unfortunate for me to be on call on Christmas (especially when I have many colleagues who don't celebrate who were off), the DiChiara family had a very pleasant Christmas celebration.Levi is enjoying his Christmas Bear buddy, given to him from MaLu.

And like everything else Levi gets his hands on . . .. . .it ends up in his mouth. :-)

Opening MaLu's card.

Our Family Christmas.

Levi LOVED the bows. That would be the first thing he'd grab for (and then promptly put it in his mouth).

ADORABLE three-piece suitfrom MaLu and MaGe. I can't wait until he can fit in this!

. . . and the Kenneth Cole shoes to match!!

OUR little Christmas present. :-)

Levi loved the little drum Santa got him :-)

The drum lights up when it's hit and plays either different drum sounds or music (all pleasant to the parents). A recommended toy!

Daddy and his little boy.

Uncle Michael got Levi his own piano! (The musical instruments are getting pushed . . .)
Play away!

Sleepy boy relaxing with Mama.

Adorable winter vest and book from Aunt Heather and Uncle Greg.

PaJ and MaJ had the same idea as Santa with getting Levi a drum! This one teaches him the alphabet (English or Spanish). Levi and Daddy both have their drums to play with!

Back into his mouth . . .

What's funny is that each time he plays with either of the drums or the piano, he always turns it upside down! I guess the little boy is curious where the noise is coming from. So funny!

He loves his blocks Santa got him. For a few minutes he sat there trying to see how he can hold and gather all four of them at the same time.

. . . And back into his mouth.

Levi always finds the tags on all his toys, and it tends to be his favorite part to play with.

Our little family at church after the Christmas Eve Service.

(The adorable outfit is a gift from PaJ and MaJ).

Cincinnati Reds ball cap from Nana and PawPaw.

"My First Sounds" Baby Einstein DVD from Nana and PawPaw.

What's in this box??

Whoa! It's Jack!

My two good-looking men. :-)

I'm in denial that Levi will soon be walking and able to use this toy . . .

Mama and her boy. :-)

Thanks for sharing in Levi's First Christmas!

Let it snow! . . . and other December Fun

2009-01-06T13:10:00.018-05:00

Happy December! (belatedly so). Below are pictures from Levi's first snow.

[A note to our family--contrary to your popular opinion, the snow does NOT get that bad here; it was all gone the next day. NOT a good reason to "avoid travelling in the winter" :-) ]

He's not so sure . . .

Whoa--it's way too cold!!

I don't think he liked the snow that much--he's face turned red out of shock on how cold it felt. Just wait until next year . . .

He is really just content sitting there playing with his toys. Still no hint of an interest in crawling.

I think the below two pictures are hilarious. We went to visit some friends, the Wootens, and Levi was just content chillin' on the couch, mesmorized by Christopher (he seems to be fasinated in men with glasses or facial hair). He just sat there loungin' like a little man!

Don't get too excited from this picture!! It is posed. Levi cannot yet do this on his own; infact, it is even quite difficult to get him in this position. Grandpa is the culprit:

My parents, Grandpa and Grandma, were our only Christmas visitors this year. They came up the 1st full week of December. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures of there visit (other than that above). I was still working and on overnight call twice during their stay, so I, unfortunately, saw them a little bit. There was good bonding time, however, on their end with Levi, which is great.

Grandma discovered that Levi could sit in this spot for quite awhile playing with the basket of toys. Good to know!!

Daddy and Levi have gotten into quite a routine. While I'm heading out to work early, Daddy give Levi his morning bottle while he jumps in the shower. This little boy, 7 months old now, can palm that bottle like nothing else. Here he is just one-handing it.

The following great pictures are taken by Grandma when she visited. Thanks for the sweet pictures! Merry Christmas!

Momma Doc

2008-12-31T11:06:00.006-05:00

. . . and my little doc. :-)
So, I've been working full-steam now as a new mom. Working over-full-time. How has it been? Well, thanks for asking.

Overall, it has been going well, and life is good. I really do enjoy my work: enjoy taking care of patients, enjoy the intellectual challenge of the medical field, and the push to always keep learning and passing that onto others--patients and other residents / medical students. I feel very blessed to have such a unique profession where I can significantly impact many people and receive personal satisfaction.

The hours. That's the kicker. I am not a big fan of working 70-80+ hours per week. I don't like having only 4 days off per month. That's really the hardest part. I guess that's a big DUH. You know, because of my hours, I had been really worried about missing out on Levi's growth and development in such a fun, exciting time where so much happens. The worry is not completely gone, but it is not as bad as I thought it'd be. I am not missing out on as much as I thought I would. Yeah, it stinks to not come home some nights until after Levi goes to bed. It's sad that I'm lucky to nurse him just once per day (dinner time) (yeah, I'm still pumping/breast feeding). And, I am sad to miss out on just hanging out with him during the day, experience life together, and enjoy his babbling, laughs, and sitting "happy dance" when he gets excited.

Despite all that I could be sad about (and am sometimes hit with), life as a Momma Doc is good. I really treasure our time together. Levi definitely recognizes me and knows me as his Mama. When I come home from work, or when Dustin brings Levi to visit me at work, he recognizes me and expresses an excitement in seeing me that he doesn't do for anyone else. It warms my heart so. I have been able to spend good, quality time when we are together. Thanks to Dustin (and Brittany!), he keeps me in the loop so that I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything, and I am able to have an active role in "directing" his care. Really, Dustin is just an incredible husband, and he is the reason I give when people ask me, "How do I do it?" I am humbled by how much he serves our family in taking care of Levi when I'm not around and keeping our household from falling apart. I praise God for him. I also praise God how he continues to grow our marriage, and how things are better now than they have ever been.

All in all, I am happy about being a working mom. I get the best of everything. Sure, I have little-to-no down-time for "myself", but it's OK. I look forward to the day when I can control my schedule and eventually work part-time (how amazing that will be!). Meanwhile, I am trying to practice "contentment in all things". As Paul continues to say in Phillipians 4, "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me" -- even finish medical training while being a wife and mother.

Just some fun pics of Levi sportin' his scrubs, like his Mama:

Here's me passed out, post call from one of my 30 hour shifts. Dustin came home early from work and put Levi in bed with me for his afternoon nap. We had a nice 2+ hour nap together! :-)

November pics

2008-12-31T00:10:00.019-05:00

Just chilin':

Happy, 6 month-old Birthday, Levi! (when the below picture was taken--November 16th, 2008)Six months really is a significant milestone. It is just about this time that Levi started sitting up well, unsupported. On one hand, it is exciting to watch Levi grow, experience the world, and reach new milestones. On the other hand, it is bittersweet to know my little baby boy is no longer a little infant. It's weird to see all these other new babies being born and babies *younger* than Levi!

It was the beginning of November, just prior to 6 months, when Levi first started rolling from his back to his belly. Below are a series of fun pictures that Brittany, his sitter, took of Levi, capturing one of these first moments. I was so thankful for her sharing this with me! Below is Levi battling Ruthie for her book.

He see's what he wants . . .

Here he goes . . .

Can't quite reach the book . . .

He did it!! (Levi is saying, "Ruthie, no, it's mine!!")

A week or so later, I tried to capture my own step-by step roll at home:

Apparently, books are a great motivator!

Proud Mama with her big boy!

Dressed for the cold, and holding his favorite ball.

Our sweet friend, Mandy Marshall, made this sweet hat for Levi--an early Christmas present. It will be treasured in our family for years! It is the cutest Santa hat I have ever seen. :-)

Some more random shots as the month progressed:

He's still a skinny boy, but loves to eat!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

My mother-in-law was so sweet to come in to town for Thanksgiving and did most of the cooking for us. I had to work the majority of Thanksgiving Day (I actually got off work a lot earlier than I thought I would--like at 1:30pm), so Nana came in town and helped make the yummy, southern Thanksgiving dinner for her boy. :-)

D very happy and excited about the spread: roasted turkey, corn pudding, sweet potato casserole, stuffing (my contribution), macaroni and cheese, cranberries, green beans, and, of course, corn bread. Oh, don't forget dessert: chocolate pie, pumpkin pie, and fudge. Needless to say, we didn't have to cook for a long time after this meal. :-)

Levi's Thanksgiving Eating Experiences:

This boy cries whenever the food stops coming. Sometimes I can't shovel it in fast enough! He wants more sweet potato here . . . :-)

First vanilla wafer! It was a winner . . .

. . and bread!
Nana loving on her grandson.

Aunt Carol also came to visit the weekend after Thanksgiving.

Levi LOVES his "Johnny Jumper"--he goes crazy bouncing in these things. I tell ya, this boy has some serious leg muscles. :-)

Levi sportin' his Alabama PJs after Alabama's win over Auburn. Roll Tide!

I love this little coat for Levi and his adorable moccasins.

Sweet Fellowship

2008-12-30T23:52:00.011-05:00

There's something to be said about good friends in which you can connect in so many different ways and areas in life. Sharing our fellowship in Christ makes the friendship that much sweeter.

Here we all are: David and Hadyn Boyte, and their boys, Xiabe and Salem, who all came to visit from Cary, NC. They are Levi's Godparents, and this visit was in celebration of his recent baptism. We are thankful for their friendship and encouragement. We only wish they lived closer!!
*Disclaimer: I stole some of these pictures from Hadyn's Facebook page--thanks, girl!*

Left to right: Salem, Levi, and Xiabe.

They were all looking at the camera on this one! Below, however, are a couple photos leading up to this moment of "perfection." I found it pretty fun. So, this is the rowdiness of boys I have to look forward to?

Salem teaching Levi a thing or two about life as an up-n-coming toddler.

What a cutie! :-)

Xiabe is such a charmer!

Thanks for the great pictures of Levi, Hadyn!

Levi and his Godfather having a bonding moment.

We also had some fun with the Wii. Here's some DDR and Rock Band action.

The boys jammin'

Levi getting some solo time in. :-)

The Boytes got Dustin and I addicted to Settler's of Catan and also introduced us to Knights and Cities. Here's a photo of a game we never finished . . . (something about little kids around?) . . . just in case we want to recreate it later . . .

Levi with his dear Godparents.

We look forward to when we can see them again!

Levi's Fifth Month--October

2008-12-30T23:32:00.019-05:00

So much to catch up on with Levi and these past few months!! He continues to change and grow so much--it will be even more evident as I go through these pictures over the past 2.5 months.

It has been hard to find time to update with working every forth night on overnight call at the VA hospital in December (ie: 30 hour shift every forth night) and trying to squeeze Christmas shopping, wrapping, and shipping gifts off to everyone. Blogging, unfortunately, had been put on hold. I hope to catch up on all the wonderful moments captured on camera during this time and post them in the next few days.

Here is a rare shot for Levi. He's comfortably laying on his belly playing with a toy. This boy prefers his back. We'll place him on his belly for "Tummy Time", and the little stinker quickly will roll back onto his back to play with his toy.

Here's a little photo-shoot of 5-month-old Levi in his "Levi outfit", for the last time. It's sad when he grows out of cute clothes!

I think this picture is so funny! It's rare for Levi to have his mouth closed, and this picture highlights his pouty lips and mesmerization by the camera.

Not quite sitting up too well yet. He can only sit up with some support. After a few seconds, he starts folding in half. :-)

My sweet boy. :-)

At the time of this posting, Levi still has not cut any teeth. But, I swear, it seems like he's been "teething" for months now, as evident in these next pictures. It is actually quite difficult to read to Levi because when he sees the book, he reaches for each page and wants to put it in his mouth. If I'm having him sit in my lap, he wiggles and reaches for it until he gets a hold of it. Eventually, I just give in and hand him the book. Really, chewing on books is one of his favorite past-times. . . . I hope that translates into something intellegent later ? . . .

Here's some examples (thank goodness for Board Books!!):

Really going to town!!

Now, just posing.

This is Levi's favorite position to sleep in at night. He's such a little man! What's amazing is that I have in utero pictures of him in the same positions "smiling"!! (See one of my first posts)

More fun with food!!

He's so eager!

Mmmm, sweet potato!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!
I was indecisive about Levi's costumes, so I dressed him in various outfits and took pictures. :-)

The happy little ghost.

Every baby has to be a pumpkin for their first Halloween! (it's like a rule)
[This was actually a very challenging photo-shoot. I was doing it alone, and Levi really can't sit up well yet, so I had to try to catch it before he folded in half or fell on top of the pumpkin. :-) ]

And, of course, our family-favorite Halloween costume:
I think this might become a family tradition for our future children . . . :-)

At the end of October/first of November, we went to The Picture People at a mall nearby and got some photos done. Levi is 5 and 1/2 month old, and there were just too many great pictures to choose from! Here they are:

I love my little boy so much!

Our little family. :-)

First Solids

2008-11-23T21:44:00.007-05:00

October 19th, the beginning of Levi's 5th month, is the first time he had something other than breastmilk to eat! We decided to start introducing solids slowly this month, just during dinner time, because he seemed to be a bit hungrier in the evenings and was very interested in watching us eat.

Levi's first experience with solids went real well! We started with rice cereal, mixed with breast milk, and started it pretty runny, thickening it in future meals. One thing is for sure--this boy loves to eat!

Here's a little video of Levi's first adventure with food!

Levi's Baptism Video

2008-11-23T21:35:00.005-05:00

For those who weren't able to make it . . .

. . . we pray the Lord's guidance to faithfully raise Levi in His grace and in His ways.

The Final Battle

2008-10-30T21:47:00.004-04:00

Today was the end of one season and the start of another. My year-long of "elective time" (outpatient clinic-care; read: no call and weekends off) has come to an end. I will now restart the phase of my medical training that lives more up to it's name of "residency", in other words, living in the hospital once again. For the next 8 months (with the exception of February and May), I will be taking care of in-patients, admitted hospital patients, in the "wards". This involves only 4 days off a month and an average of 65-80 hours per week. Our residency program calls the year I just came out of, the year of electives with an out-patient focus, the "Long Block." My colleagues have then coined these next 8 months, appropriately so, as the "Hell Block." At the end of this battle, however, is the completion of my Internal Medicine residency!

It was bittersweet saying goodbye to my clinic patients this last month as I have taken care of some of them for 1.5 years. A few patients even cried, a few gave me hugs, and a couple vowed to track me down "somehow" in the hospital. (I told them they could maybe find me if they get a colonoscopy next year. ;-) )

In this new season, I am definitely very sad about the diminished time I get to be around Dustin and Levi. This month I am doing the Cardiology service which is from 6am to 6pm or later Mon-Fri and 6am-12pm or later on Saturday with Sundays off. This morning was the first time that I haven't nursed Levi in the morning--it was sad to start my day without seeing him. Also, by the time I get home from work, he is really sleepy, and I just have a few minutes before putting him down for his short nap from which he wakes up to nurse before going down for the night. What I have to keep reminding my self is that this is just a season and that I just need to maximize my time with him when I am at home.

Although the schedule is far from ideal, I am excited about being back in the wards, taking care of sicker patients and being a Team Leader and Senior Resident. (ie: for those who watch Gray's Anatomy, like Dr. Bailey was to the rest of her interns the 1st couple seasons). It'll be fun to work on making the team run efficiently, do some teaching, and see more patients (and, therefore, learn more) with less busy-work (interns write the notes and orders). I am just very thankful I am not an intern anymore.

If I can keep up with uploading my pictures in a timely manner, look for more words from this Momma Doc. :-)

October-Fun

2008-10-30T20:44:00.019-04:00

On the Sunday of Levi's baptism, it was pretty neat to have most of my immediate side of the family in town on the same day. We hung out with my dad and Laura's side of the family the first half of the weekend, then we spent the second-half with my mother and grandmother. Here is Levi in his "post-baptism" outfit (courtesy of Nana). I couldn't resist taking some pictures.

One of my favorite past-times: tickling Levi and making him laugh.

October 5th also ended up being the first time Levi put his foot in his mouth! I happened to catch it on camera. (I think he liked his new Robeez he wore for the baptism) . . .

Actually, a few hours after the baptism, Dustin had to catch a flight to go out of town for a week to help open a Chick-fil-A in Iowa (the longest time Dustin and I had ever been apart since we've been married :-( ). So, my mother and grandmother stayed in town for the next entire week helping me out and spending time with Levi during the day while I was at work. It was a blessing to have them in town, and I know Levi enjoyed his time with his MaLu and MaGe!

MaGe has decided to only speak to Levi in Bulgarian, which he loves to hear. MaGe is so cute with Levi, singing him Bulgarian rhymes and sweet expressions, and she always is able to bring a smile to his face.

Here's Levi laughing at MaGe during dinner.

MaLu and Levi bonded this week. She took care of Levi during the day, giving his bottles, changing him, and putting him down for his naps.

More fun with Levi and his great-grandmother, MaGe.

Four generations together. Of course, I'm in my PJs . . .

I LOVE this sweater. I lovingly call it his "old man sweater." My friend's mother made it for Levi, and his been getting good use out of it this fall.

Levi is starting to get more mobile, and you have to keep an eye on him in his Bumbo seat. I realized it this day when I saw how much he can twist around in his seat and reach for stuff. These series of pictures are taken one-after-another, and is about when Levi started his reaching for anything-any-everything-phase (which, I believe, is a LONG phase!). It's funny to watch him go after everything (but challenging when holding him and trying to get stuff done!)

(He actually was able to grab that bag of bread!)

Reaching his time-limit in the seat and trying to pop out . . .

In his exersaucer.
One of my favorite pictures of Levi!

He looks so long here!

Here's a couple pictures of Levi watching his first "T.V." We got a Baby Einstein video that we decided to show Levi. He absolutely loved it and was fascinated with all the colors, shapes, and music. Dustin and I couldn't help but feel guilty knowing that we were let our 5 month old watch T.V. . . . Were we being bad parents??

Loving the video!

Dustin and I finally went through our basement to get ride of some stuff. We decided to do a yard sale with friends of ours, the Laginesses. The yard sale was also inspired by the "Financial Peace University" class we'd been doing through church (13 week course by Dave Ramsey) to be "gazelle-like-intensity" in getting ride of debt. I'm not sure all the effort was worth the pay-off, but at least we made some more room in our house.

The men working the yard sale. :-)

October 14th was my 28th birthday (yikes!), and Dustin honored my by getting me these beautiful flowers as well as organizing a little party at "B=dubbs" (aka "Buffalo Wild Wings") to celebrate. (He also got me tickets to the "So You Think You Can Dance" show that was on tour. I completely got into the show this past season, and the concert was amazing fun!!!!)

My wonderful husband also made me this delicious strawberry cake.

Birthday Mama with her baby boy. :-)

Washed Clean

2008-10-30T20:43:00.016-04:00

October 5th was a big day for Levi--he was baptized. Through the act of baptism, Levi is now a beneficiary of God's Covenant with the Church. Baptism is the outward symbol of entry into this covenant. We pray that one day his baptism will be effective upon his own personal faith in Christ.

Baptism itself symbolizes faith in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and our cleansing of and pardoning of sin. It symbolizes the believers' participation in Christ's death and resurrection as well as testifying to the final resurrection of the dead.

Baptism does not guarantee salvation for Levi. It is God communicating to Levi and establishing His relationship with him. It is the New Testament version of circumcision--a sign of the Covenant we have with God. Here's a great explanation of why we do infant baptism by Peter J. Leithart:

"As we establish loving and trusting relations with our infants through symbols [talking to them and loving them through gestures, hugs, and kisses], so God speaks to infants and establishes a relation with them through the “visible word” of baptism. Thus, the question “Should we baptize babies?” is of a piece with the question “Should we talk to babies?” Paedobaptism is neither more nor less odd and miraculous that talking to a newborn. In fact, that is just what paedobaptism is: God speaking in water to a newborn child.

[. . .Parents] speak to their children so that the child will learn to understand and talk back. So too, we baptize babies not because they can fully understand what is happening to them, nor because we expect them to undergo some kind of immediate moral transformation. We baptize them, and consistently remind them of their baptism and its implications, so that they will come to understanding and mature faith. "

My first "matriarchal" decision (phrase used by Dustin) was choosing the baptism gown. We hope to use the gown for all our childrens' baptisms, have their names and baptism date embroidered in the slip, and hopefully also have our grandchildren baptized in it as well. It's amazing to think of a potential generation of those loving Jesus that Dustin and I could leave behind through our children. That's how I got Dustin to allow me to put our son "in a dress." :-)

Yummy cake Mommy baked to celebrate Levi's Big Day!
(The beautiful wooden platter is hand made by Levi's Great Grandfather Lear as a gift to our family!)

Some shots before, during, and after the service:

(Of course, Levi was fussy during the entire baptism. It was time for the poor little guy to eat, and he was tired too because he missed his nap. I think it's a given to have babies cry during baptisms, no matter how "good" they are!)

Levi's godparents, David and Hadyn Boyte (and their two sons, Xiabe and Salem). They weren't able to come up the weekend of the baptism, (mostly b/c all my family was in town), but we taped the service for them and were able to show the video to them with they visited. We are honored to have their loving commitment to pray for our son and encourage him in the Lord.

Following are some pictures/snap shots. A friend has taken better pictures, but I haven't received them yet. (that's why we're not looking at the camera for any of the pictures)

With Levi's Grandpa and Grandma.

With Levi's MaLu and MaGe.

Fun before and after baptism weekend:

Levi's great grandparents, Laura's parents, Don and Alice Lear, got to meet Levi for the first time after their 6 months of travelling through Alaska. They were also able to stay for Levi's baptism.

The adorable moccasins Grandpa Lear got Levi on their trip. (Also referred to as "mucalucks")

Grandma is showing Levi around outside and introducing him to leaves for the first time. Of course, he wants to put it in his mouth! (I think he may have swallowed a little piece . . .)

Aunt Heather and Aunt Megan sharing in some Levi-love.

Uncle Greg teaching Levi how to be cool.

Aunt Megan and Grandma having fun on the ground with Levi.

Uncle Ben even got to play with Levi.

A busy weekend with family! Levi is in his favorite sleeping position--his hands behind his head. Although the lighting is not the best, I love this picture. It is a "classic" relaxing/ chilling picture, especially after a packed weekend!

B'ham Videos

2008-10-28T22:07:00.016-04:00

Just a couple videos from our time with Levi (when he was 4 months old!) while visiting family in Birmingham. Really, family will probably be the only ones interested in these videos . . . The first is of my mother playing with Levi and the second of my father-in-law bonding with Levi.

Fall is Here

2008-10-28T22:07:00.012-04:00

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!