All Smiles

This was the first time I was able to capture his smile on camera. Absolutely perfect.

Bath Time

This is after Levi's very first bath.

And this picture was taken last week sometime.

Levi loves his baths. He is already splashing around, unintentionally, but still gets water all over. Bath time is my favorite. I love to play with Levi while getting him clean, and the time we spend together while massaging lotion onto his smooth skin is wonderful. I will always cherish these memories.

But, the best part perhaps, is that it quickly calms him down. On the nights that he is fussy and nothing else will help, we fill the tub and stick him in. Within moments he relaxes and usually has a large smile on his face. We then continue to splash and clean as long as he stays content or the water gets cold.

On another note- Levi had his 2 month check up today. He weighs 12 pounds, 9 ounces, which places him in the 75th percentile. He is 24.5 inches long, and is in the 95th percentile for length. He is doing great. He also had his shots today. That was a very sad moment. Fortunately, he calmed down quickly and has not had any side effects.

A Road Trip and a Party

Getting ready to go. Thanks to Great Grandma Clements for the "I love to travel" onesie. Perfect time to wear it.

Sleeping. This is what he did for most of the car ride both ways.

Waiting on the bridge to get through customs. Took us nearly an hour to get into the U.S.A.

Back to Michigan. Only one more hour to go, that is if I get on the right highway. Woops.

The following are pictures of Some of our family. Try to keep track. :)

Aunt Nicole is very happy so see her nephew.

Grandma Sandy (tony's mom) and Grandpa Rick (tony's step dad) along with Aunt Nicole. They drove over from Muskegon to go out to dinner with us.

Levi was really happy to be out of his car seat and enjoyed our hotel room.

Grandpa Rick (tony's dad) loves his first grandson. And Levi is wondering what that is on his head.

Grandma Ellen (tara's stepmom) enjoys holding Levi.

Grandma Tina (tony's stepmom) and Great Aunt Nancy are working hard to get up decorations. Thank you guys for all of your hard work.

Grandpa Gene (tara's dad) quickly steals Levi away... and gets to feed him

The obligatory shower cake. Thank you guys. It was Yummy!

Great aunt Nancy stealing some time with Levi. She is wonderful with him.

Cousin Debbie- she was very excited to meet Levi.

Great Great Aunt (right?) Betty keeping Levi nice and warm.

Cousin? Jeremy Last time we saw her she was pregnant with her now 4 year old son.

Levi is happy to be in daddy's arms.

Everyone that came was very generous and I had a fun time opening Levi's gifts.

Tony, Grandpa Rick, Grandma Tina, and Great Grandpa Alex (Tina's dad) holding Levi

Grandpa Rick, Grandma Tina, Great Grandma Judy (Tina's mom), and Great Grandpa Alex holding Levi.
Pastor Tom and his daughter Erin. She was thrilled to get to hold Levi. It was really nice meeting the Cooper family. Erin's mom Diane was Super helpful and they all are really kind people. Stop by sometime if you're ever in Buffalo!
(funny coincidence- they know my uncle craig and aunt pam)

Levi cuddling with Grandpa Gene.

Great Grandma Clements (Gene's mom)
I think she's telling Levi secrets.

Great Grandpa Clements (Gene's dad)

Four generations. Always gotta get that shot.

A bit awkward, but hey, at least we got a picture of all of us. :)
Grandpa Gene, Great Grandma and Grandpa Clements, Grandma Ellen. Levi is getting tired of all these pictures.

On the way home. Again, a very sleepy Levi.

Back to New York. Getting into NY was a lot quicker than getting into MI.

Levi is overjoyed to be home. Thank you Aunt Nancy for the wonderful seat. He loves it already.

We had a wonderful time getting to see some of our family again. For those of you keeping track, that wasn't even all of our parents, siblings, or grandparents. Levi has a very large family that is glad he is here.

Thanks again to everyone that came to Durand and for all of the hard work and sacrafice that was put into making the shower happen. We are very grateful.

Cutest. Video. Ever.

We just returned from a fun and exhausting trip to Durand, Michigan. This video was shot a few days before leaving.

I will post pictures and stories soon from our trip.

Two Months

Levi was born two months ago. He is growing, changing, and learning so much. I love listening to his noises. He is so vocal and expressive. Everyday he seems to be doing new things.

For the most part, Levi does great sleeping through the night. Occasionally he stays up way too late and has a rough night, but usually he goes to sleep by 11:30 and sleeps for six straight hours. Then he wakes to feed and goes back to sleep for about three hours. He also tends to take a long nap from 3-4:30, give or take a half hour either way. The sleep at night along with his long nap has allowed for me to stay mostly well rested, and our house to stay fairly clean.

He now rolls over very often from his stomach to his back. I am amazed at how strong he is. Sometimes he gets fussy when we are holding him because he would rather be standing. He can fully support his own weight- just needs our help to balance. He can completely hold his head on his own (has been able to for a while).

His smile is priceless. It is the most beautiful smile. When he is really happy he smiles with his whole face. He has let out a few giggles, but has yet to fully laugh. I am sure it will be a wonderful sound that I will cherish. He is cooing and making all sorts of noises, mixing some consonants in with his vowels. When he is "talking" to us he will say "ahh goooo" a lot. He will mimic, or attempt to mimic, the faces I make.

He loves reading time and playing on his activity mat. When I put him down to play, he will talk to his toys and loves to watch them move. When he is content and I read to him he is interested by the pages and likes to look at the book. When we go out for adventures, he loves to take in his surroundings.

My baby is wonderful and has fully captured my heart. When he hurts I hurt, when he's happy I'm happy.

He is perfect in every way and I am so lucky I am his mother. I get to watch this boy grow into a man. I get to see him change daily, encourage him when he tackles new challenges, celebrate when he succeeds, and support him when he fails. That makes me very happy.

My Levi

I have thought about updating this quite frequently, but each time I attempt to I get distracted or fail to come up with what I want to say.

Tonight I want to try to get a few thoughts down. I am holding my precious Levi as he sleeps, which is occasionally interrupted with a smile and a giggle.

He has been sleeping in his crib since Saturday night. And he does great. He has slept through the night three times now, which I find to be amazing. We started sleeping him on his stomach*, which I think helps him sleep better. If only he would go to bed before midnight.

He has been smiling lately. A lot. And cooing and making lots of sweet noises. And I can now relate to the challenge of capturing these moments on camera. Just tonight Levi was smiling and mimicking everything I was doing, for a good few minutes. I had Tony pull out the camera and just like that he stopped. I guess that will be another moment that is ours alone to treasure.

He still has gassy fussy spells, but they are less frequent then they were. For the most part he is a happy baby that is very easy to love.

He is also a big boy. He weighed 11 pounds 6 ounces two weeks ago. He is already outgrowing some of his 0-3 month onesies. I went through the clothes we had packed away and pulled out some of the bigger stuff.

Little things, like taking the head support pillow out of the car seat because he no longer needs it, makes me realize how quickly time disappears.

He is an amazing gift. I am so lucky to get to spend my days taking care of him. It is such an awesome responsibility and I hope to protect and nurture him so that he never questions how much he is loved.


I am fully aware that it is recommended to sleep babies on their backs. For us, this works, but it is not a decision we made lightly.