Sleep training

Levi is generally a good baby... but, he has LOTS of trouble falling asleep at night. Last night we were up till 1:30am with him crying half in and out of sleep. Whenever we'd lay him down, he'd wake right back up. This has been going on for 8 weeks now, and we are TIRED (literally and figuratively) of it! So, we decided to start sleep training tonight, for everyone's good. We didn't start sleep training with Colt until he was 6 months old, and after 3 nights of letting him cry it out, wished we would've started sooner. Ty and I are planning a trip to NYC in a few weeks, and will leave Levi with his grandparents. Since we don't want them to endure this misery every evening, we thought we'd go ahead and start sleep training tonight. Well, I'm proud to announce that Levi only cried for 30 minutes, then whimpered for about 5 before he finally fell asleep. He is so much better than Colt, who cried for an hour and a half before he went to sleep on his first night of sleep training. Thank goodness for one night down!

Cooking with Colt

Colt has been helping me cook in the kitchen, just about every day. He loves it, and I don't mind too much either. We've made the following recipe a few times and it is easy and DELICIOUS, so just thought I'd share it. Plus, it includes carrots, apples and zucchini, which Colt snacks on the entire time we are making it, and he doesn't even notice he's eating healthy!

Golden Harvest Cake, taken from Cooking Light magazine:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine 1 cup flour, 3/4 cup sugar, 2 tsp. ground cinnamon, 1 tsp. baking soda, and 1/4 tsp salt, stirring with a whisk.
3. Add 1/2 cup grated peeled Granny Smith apple, 1/2 cup grated carrot, 1/2 cup shredded zucchini, and 1/4 cup chopped, toasted walnuts to the flour mixture.
4. Combine 1/4 cup canola oil, 1/4 cup nonfat buttermilk (I use half and half), and 2 eggs in a small bowl. Add egg mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until combined.
5. Spoon batter into an 8x4-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Cook at 350 for 50 minutes. Makes 9 servings.

Play time

Colt has always been really good about playing by himself. But lately he's been enjoying playing more with others, and has been more into playing games (like playing hide-and-go seek, and hiding the object in his brother's mouth). Colt LOVES bikes, so I found a cheap one on Craigslist last week. He's been riding it around the house non-stop!

Also, he loves for me to cover him up with a blanket, then he walks around bumping into things. He laughs and laughs while doing this. It is too funny! Here he is walking into our dog, Molly.
I took this next picutre a few weeks ago. I just love it. A boy and his dog :) They would play together in the backyard everyday, all day if I'd let them.

Levi at 2 months

First of all, Levi's screw finally came out on Thursday! No, I didn't take a picture of it, so you can keep on reading :) I didn't save it either. I have an identical screw that I'll save for his baby book. Levi had his 2 month well visit today. He weighs 13 pounds 12 oz, 24 inches long, and 40.3cm head circumference. No vaccinations for us, so it was a great doctor visit with no crying! They had masks sitting out, in case you thought you had swine flu. Interesting. Levi is a great baby. He eats well, doesn't spit up much, has an easy disposition, and makes cute coos. He has a really strong neck and doesn't mind tummy time. He does have some trouble going to sleep at night. He loves to be swaddled, but still refuses to take a pacifier. In the next few weeks, we'll start sleep training, so hopefully he'll learn to fall asleep faster and then we'll all be happier!

This past month, Levi started smiling. We LOVE it!

The Grove

Attention all you Austinites out there! Ty and I have found a restaurant that we LOVE, so just thought I'd share it with you guys. It's called The Grove Wine Bar and Kitchen. http://www.grovewinebar.com/home.html It's on Bee Cave Road, just west of Hwy 360. There is an outside seating area with great shade. If you go, you must try the bruschetta and the Popeye pizza. The wine is great too. They have flights to choose from so you can sample 3 mini glasses and have a taste test! This place seriously is good - everyone we've recommended it to has gone back repeatedly because they love it too. Anyway, if you go and want some company, just let us know :)

Levi Screwed Up

Today we (Levi and I) spent the morning at Dell Children's Hospital ER. He had swallowed a screw at 7 weeks of age!

Earlier in the morning, Colt and I were playing hide and go seek with a screw that he found in my bedside table drawer. Colt was hiding it under the sheets, pillows, comforter, etc while I was getting dressed, then I'd try to find it. At one point I walked in the closet to grab something and when I came out, I saw Colt standing over Levi, who was laying on the bed. Levi fussed for 2 seconds and had a look on his face like, "what is this?," then Colt started pointing at his own mouth. I knew right then that he had put the screw in Levi's mouth! There was no choking or gagging involved and no crying. I guess Levi is going to be one laid back guy. Colt, on the other hand, was wailing because he wanted the screw back! The pediatrician sent us to the ER to get an x-ray, just to make sure the screw was going through without lodging somewhere. The x-ray showed the screw in Levi's stomach (bonus: it was a flat tipped screw, not a pointy one). So, now we are on poop patrol until the screw comes out.

Could they give Levi any more of a girly hospital gown? He looks so little on the big hospital bed!

A MUST for all iPod owning parents

You may have heard that babies often respond well to white noise. With Colt, he had a diaper rash at a few weeks old, so we busted out the blow drier to dry off his tushie during diaper changes. It was then that we discovered he also quit crying when the drier was blowing.

This time around we discovered the blow drier also worked to calm Levi. But for fear of shorting out our favorite appliance, we sought out the vast assortment of iPod applications. And to the rescue came White Noise. It plays all sorts of noise - beach waves, rain, rainforests, seaguls, white noise, etc. And it's free! We use it every night, sometimes ALL night (yikes!) to keep our little bambino sawing logs. I recommend it to all parents of newborns!