Cradle, Cross-Cradle, Football...

Living with Levi has introduced us to a whole new vocabulary...evidently there are specific names for the ways you can hold a baby, and babies tend to have preferences. So far, I've learned that Levi can be cradled for hours, and his grandparents have happily obliged over the last week. When he's eating, Levi prefers the cross-cradle hold. Rob often carries Levi in the football hold. Here is a demonstration:

Aggie is slowly warming up to Levi. At first, she gave everyone the cold shoulder. We were all on her bad list for bringing that little being home. She refused to let me pet her as long as Levi was in the living room. I put one of Levi's blankets on top of her bed so that she could get used to his scent, and she chose to sleep off the bed rather than touch his blanket.

Levi had a bout with jaundice over the last several days, and we had to place him in the window seat to soak up some sunshine. Unfortunately, the window seat is Aggie's territory. We put Levi in the car seat and moved Aggie's blanket over to the side, and I worried that this would be the final straw. I watched her carefully over the next few mornings as she came closer and closer to his car seat. She wanted a closer look, but she also didn't want me to know that she wanted a closer look. I snapped this picture when she was busy sniffing Levi:

Yesterday, Aggie crawled into my lap when the baby wasn't around, and she sat on the next couch cushion and sniffed his head while I fed him. The cold war is ending.

The first three nights at home, Levi refused to sleep unless he slept on Rob's or my chest. After three wakeful nights, we decided that 1) sleeping on our chest is NOT safe, and 2) we were losing too much sleep. We learned the secret of swaddling, and Levi has slept in his bassinet two nights in a row now, without too much fussing.

And as for fussing, Levi rarely cries without reason. Most of the time, if he begins to fuss, you can guarantee that he needs to eat, needs a change, or has a bubble in his stomach that's making him uncomfortable. When it's time to change his diaper, though, he screams with all the energy and volume his little body can muster. I worried at first that I wasn't being gentle enough as I changed him, or that he was hurt and I wasn't aware of it. The cries cease almost as soon as the last snap on his onesie is fastened though, and I realized that he was just registering his displeasure with the procedure. Now, it's funny to me. This is a shot after one of last night's diaper changes:

We're really having a great time with Levi. We adore him and all the little faces and sounds he makes. As much as I enjoy holding and spending time with Levi, I really enjoy watching Rob with Levi. I walked into the living room a few mornings ago and caught this moment between Levi and his daddy. Rob loves his little boy, and that makes me love Rob even more.

Lynda