Dear Levi, 12 weeks old

Sweet boy time is flying. You are growing so fast. You are in 3-6 month clothes all if a sudden with your recent growth spurt, and we especially noticed it in your feet which outgrew your socks overnight!
You are starting to fill out. Your cheeks are getting chubbier and even though I didn't believe you could get any cuter, I have been proved wrong.

You are still so alert and fifth your sleep but with your lovey to rub on your face you have been known to settle yourself to sleep.

Your days sleeping in the co sleeper in our bed are coming to an end. Not because I don't love having you there but simply because you have outgrown the bassinet. When we get back home we will be moving you into your own room, so I am making the most of each sweet morning I can wake and watch you sleeping next to me.

We celebrate your 12 week milestone in London. You have flown quite a lot already for such a little guy. The long flights to Florida and back and the even longer trek to London. You were a fabulous flier and did us proud by sleeping and not really fussing at all. For now you are still small enough for us to change you on our laps when you needed it but those days will soon be over too.

You love your activity gym and will kick your legs and talk to your reflection in the mirror for ages. You can now reach and grab the toys and in the past week have figured out how to bring them to your mouth where you suck and chew to your hearts content. Speaking of, you have recently also become a drooler. Your non spit-up days are also far behind us so we have made good use of the burp rags in our possession.

Your tummy and gas still bother you but they seem to cause you less hassle than they used to. I started doing some massage on you at each nappy change and it seem to help. At the least you like  it and beam at me the whole time.

You have mastered the pee fountain in recent weeks too and we are now much more cautious to leave you nappy-less for any length of time.

You are a pretty laid back little dude for the most part, but you always have something to say :) You certainly let us know when something is not to your liking or standards and have made it very clear that dirty nappies will not be tolerated for more than 30 seconds before you melt down. On the otherhand, you are generous with your smiles and have just started to laugh which was a real treat for Nana and Grandad to hear in person.

Each day with you is a gift, even the fussy poopy ones.
Love you bugaboo, Mama x

Adventures this side of the pond

So far our time with my family and friends have been wonderful. Levi has been a real trooper and coped so well with all the travel, the time change and all the new faces. He has been napping well during the day and sleeping some long stretches at night too which has made for a much more pleasant trip for all of us. I am not sure how that will translate when we get back to the USA and we face the reverse time change but I am hopeful it won't be too crazy.

We have done a day trip to London, going on the tube the Docklands light railway, trains and buses and having the baby in the front pack was much easier than I anticipated. We managed to time lunch and coffee breaks to fit with nappy changes and feedings and Buggy napped in the carrier as well as being happy in there facing out when he was awake. We also went on the new cable cars high above the river, they were a bit scary because they are so high up and swaying in the wind, or when your husband stands up to wander around and take pictures! I was relieved to be back on land again.

We have eaten lunch in many local pubs and enjoyed lots of traditional British grub. I am sure that I have gained 10lbs before we get home. We are on our second tin of Quality Street chocolates too and I am responsible for much more than my fair share of those. We have enjoyed curry night with our friends and have had nationally award winning fish'n'chips!

We spent the day today in the Kent countryside where we ate at another pub for lunch before heading to Hever Castle, home of Anne Boleyn. We ended our time there with a cup of tea and scones with jam and clotted cream. Cultural and Delish.

I wish that I had some more to share than just the play by play of our trip but honestly, I have had little time to think beyond our daily schedule. jet-lag seemed to hit me the hardest, a week later and I am still struggling to sleep at the right time and stay awake after 3pm! I brought three different books with me to read but so far I have only managed to crack one open, and even then I only got through a chapter before I was needed for nappy changing or feeding or something. I am hoping that when Levi is in a bit more a schedule at home I will be able to actually finish some/any of the books that are on my reading list.

Here is a picture of my two sweet boys at the castle today. I love how much they love each other. Plus check out the super cute boots that I picked up for Levi yesterday!!

Dedication

On Sunday we were thrilled to dedicate Levi at my parents church and in the Christian community that I grew up in . We will have him dedicated in our home church in Seattle too, because that will be the community that our family is a part of day to day, but it felt special to have the chance to also have my old church community celebrate his arrival. So many friends and family were able to come and be a part of our day and I loved that he had been dedicated in the same church that I was baptised in, and that Jeremy and I had had our marriage blessed in.

Levi was a star, he smiled the whole time, even when the minister held him. I confess, I was a little nervous about how he would hold it together. His little body is still confused with all the time change and he has been a little more emotional since we got here, but I had nothing to worry about.

After the service, we had family round to the house to continue the celebrations and introduce Levi to our extended family. It was lovely to see my cousins, aunts and uncles again and special to have such a sweet little reason to gather.

Things will continue to be busy here as we visit friends and see some sights. We always wish there was more time once we get here because even though it feels like we are gone for a long time, the days fill up fast.

Trick-or-treat

Growing up I never really celebrated Halloween. We often had some kind of harvest party with games like apple bobbing but we never trick or treated. Moving to the U.S. I soon realised that Halloween was a much bigger deal, and trick-or-treating was an "essential" part of the Halloween experience.

I am never one to shy away from dressing up. I loved Halloween parties (all costume parties actually) and finding a fun costume. I am not shy about looking the fool :)

In fact, Jeremy and I went to a Halloween party together four years ago before we were officially dating. Well, the day before we started officially dating...I guess my costume was good that year! haha! All that to say, I have some fun Halloween memories and was really looking forward to dressing Levi up this year. If we were not in the midst of packing and getting ready for our trip we would have hosted friends with their little ones so we could just all show off our bubbas in their costumes and Halloween attire over a mug of hot cider, I was trying to find a way to fit it in before we left but sadly I just couldn't swing it.

I wasn't sure if we would have any Halloween celebrations this year but when I saw a penguin costume in the bag of baby clothes we borrowed from my friends I just couldn't resist. Jeremy's office has kids come in and trick or treat around the cubicles so we decided it would be a great opportunity for Jeremy to introduce Levi to his colleagues as well as a nice excuse for us to get out of the house for a couple of hours and take a break from the packing madness.

Levi has about four different Halloween onesies and outfits, too many for one day so we might have to do a photoshoot later just because they are all so cute. I think he is adorable in his costume, I am not sure how many years I willl have a say in what he wants to dress up as, so I am going to make the most of it and make him as cute as possible for the years I am picking out costumes!!

Happy Halloween everyone, and happy Trick-or-treating!!


Here is my sweet penguin boy -

Opinions of an 11 week old

In the last few days, Levi has developed quite a strong opinion about his car seat. Sadly, his opinion is that he hates it. He will scream from the minute he is in to the minute you get him out at your destination. And when I say scream, I mean scream. Until this point he has not been a big screamer. When he is upset, hungry, tired etc he certainly lets us know but it's more with yells and grunts than sustained screams.

I am not sure where this new opinion has developed from but I am sure hoping its a phase that passes or my nerves will ruin me. I just hate listening to him. I started sitting in the back seat with him but there was little I could actually do to console him, and me shushing and stroking his fac ejust seemed to make that little face redder and more aggravated. "Why won't you just GET ME OUT OF HERE !!!" But it's not like the ride in the front seat is a peace of cake either, it just hurts me ears a little less.

He has also developed a dislike of strollers and all things where he is strapped in. Lucky us.

I am really loving seeing his little personality develop as he grows. I think we have wuite a little goofball on our hands. He certainly likes to talk, just like his mother, and he is pretty generous with the smiles and almost giggles too. When he thinks something is funny he will certainly make it worth repeating with his sweet reaction. However, the downside of his personality coming through is that he inherited a stubborn streak and pretty strong opinions about most everything...he gets that from both his parents so it's not really a surprise but we had our fingers crossed :)

I am seeing that he gets pretty mad when he has an opinion about something which is different than mine. He is starting to understand that he can have a say in the world and that our interactions with him are connected to his actions. My prayer is that he feels loved and secure because his cries have brought comfort or food or a dry diaper when he has needed them, but as he grows older I am able to see that teaching him that he is not the center of the universe might be tricky. Especially because if I am honest, in so many ways, to me he is exactly that.

We are off to England very soon to visit Nana and Grandad and introduce Buggy to all the friends and family who only know him through Facebook so far. That's a big time difference and with just getting him over the confusion of Florida I have no idea how he will respond or how much sleep any of us will be getting at night time! I am excited to be home, I know it will be a special trip but I am also excited to be home, and to be staying home for the foreseeable future so we can begin to introduce Levi to more of a schedule. I think it's time for him, and for me. I know that I mentioned on here that forcing a schedule was just adding stress to the mix of new parent emotions when I tried it a month or so ago but I think enough time has passed that I am seeing the need of it more than just the obligation to have one!

We want to start sleep training of some sort. Having Buggy sleeping at night and for naps in his crib when we are at home. Having a set bedtime and bedtime routing rather than him just going to bed when we do and not really having much of a routine. I think it would help his little body and mind prepare better to settle if he could anticipate that it was moving towards sleep time. Of course the mama in me is almost in tears at the prospect of not sleeping in the same bed as him or watching him nap, not to mention the possibility that encouraging this might elicit some pretty powerful opinions from our son, but I truly believe it is the best thing to bring a little order to our chaos. Starting and ending our daytime routine at a consistent time.

The sleeper in me is also resistant because now middle of the night feedings will mean getting out of my nice warm bed and heading to the nursery and Saturday morning lay-ins will no longer have a place in our lives. But these sacrifices are worth it to offer the security to Levi that routine brings. Not that it will make either of them any less painful in the moment.

I am prayerfully reading a sleep book hoping that it will help Jeremy and I in our conversations and plan making. I know God's heart is for us to have a healthy and safe place for our son to grow up in, giving him boundaries and guidance that allow him to flourish and become all he is called to be so I am trusting that we can find wisdom through some of the books which will allow us to create that environment.

Here is a pic of Buggy in his stroller...before the wailing started!!

No place like home

So thankful that we were on one of the last flights out of Palm Beach yesterday. Not long after ours they closed the airport because of the strong winds and heavy rains from Hurricane Sandy heading in. Usually an extra day in Florida would have sounded wonderful but being stranded in a hotel room while gale force winds and rains lashed outside is not my idea of fun. Especially because we would have had to venture out for food and supplies at some point. Yuck.

Our fight home went great. Levi got over his 'no napping on the plane' stance which had coloured our journey down and instead decided that being able to nap in our arms and on our laps for a whole day was something he couldn't pass up. I nursed him for take off and descent again and its seemed to work, there was just one instance of sad tears when he woke up suddenly and we happened to be heading down so I think that might have been a reaction to pressure in his ears or something, but the boob quickly fixed that and he was snoring again in no time. We actually had family nap time for about an hour when Levi was laying across both our laps, one of the other passengers commented on how lucky we were to have all been able to sleep. Glad I wasn't drooling because clearly we had an audience! That is one thing about traveling with an infant, you get noticed. You have to stop and make polite conversation with multiple people throughout the day!

I must say that our Florida travels make the thought of our longer flights next month much less intimidating!

I love being home, I love walking back through the door and feeling home. My body just relaxes and my heart is content. Then we go and unpack and I remember that coming home is also the gun that signals the start of the laundry Olympics! Seriously, how is it possible to go through so many more clothes on vacation than when we are here, especially when I feel as though I wore a swim suit the whole time.

It's barely 10am and I am on load 3.

Welcome home to me. Off to make a cup of tea and snuggle by the fire with my bubs while I medal in said laundry Olympics. Not the most exciting day but one that's good for this little homebody's spirit.

ICLW Coming at you from the sun

Yesterday Hubby, Buggy and I got on a plane and left the newly gloomy Pacific North West and headed for sunny Florida. This was little guy's first flight and at 10 weeks old he's got about 23 years on his land-loving mother!

Of course he had little idea what was happening but I was worried. He ended up doing a great job our flights were 4 hours and then an hour and 18 minutes or something, and even though we had little time at our layover he did great. He didn't sleep much but he was in a good mood for the most part, smiling, cooing and generally making friends with passengers in every direction. I admit to being a very proud mama when at the end of both flights multiple other passengers complimented our well behaved little guy.

I nursed him on the take-offs and landings to help ease any ear popping which might happen andit seemed to do the trick. I also nursed on and off as I hoped to ease him to sleep, that was less predictable in its effectiveness but as I said, he still managed to hold it together. 

The no napping continued into our second day with so much so see and no swing to lull him to sleep. Not sure when it will all catch up with him. I had hoped it would last night between the hours of 10pm and 8am but it didn't quite happen that way. He did some good stretches, but he seems to have adjusted quickly (or just be utterly confused by) the coastal time change, going to bed at 8pm but being up bright and early at 6am. Mummy on the other hand is still well and truly on Seattle time and finding it hard to be awake. Luckily you have gone down for a morning nap already (it's almost 7am) and I will be following close behind.

Hubby started his conference this morning - no thanks to an alarm which didn't go off - so it's just me and the boy until later this afternoon. Our plans? I am hoping that he will take some good naps if we can be in our room and he can be in his little bassinet so it feels familiar, and that I can nap too :) I am also hoping that in between everything sleep related we can go and enjoy the pool and the beach, or at least take a walk in the sunshine.

We certainly didn't wake up to the sunshine of yesterday this morning, but according to the weather reports it;s still warm outside, even though some kind of tropical storm is rolling in. Quite exciting for us considering that we don't see much of that kind of weather in Seattle.

I am glad for these few days away, and so glad that we are are here as a family - even though J has to work. He has been very clear to me that I am to treat this time like vacation, because for me it is. I am to go out to eat, make use of the onsite childcare if I want to go to do any of the spa stuff offered etc. There are lots of restaurants at the resort so after Buggy wakes up we can go and do some more exploring for lunch!

Trips like this are definitely different with a little baby. Without him I would have spent hours laying out in the hot sun yesterday, drinking Sangria by the pitcher-full, and staying out late at a fun bar or restaurant. With him, I made sure he was not in the heat too long, even in the shade because I worried he would be too hot. I have had to eat one-handed at most of the places we have gone to eat because I have needed to nurse him, and so alas I have been on the sparkling water. Last night when he took a long nap, I took a bubble bath in the huge hotel bath rub, and watched an episode of Downton Abby. It's a change, but not a bad one and thankfully I was prepared for it by the stories and experiences of friends so no crushed expectations for this new mum.

In less exciting news, seems political advertising is just as annoying in other states. I actually wonder if its even more intense here in Florida because the final Presidential debate is here soon.

[If you are stopping by from ICLW for the first time, welcome!!]