5 months.

Levi is five months old today! He's the happiest little fellow imaginable--and the most ticklish! He loves to laugh, and is constantly smiling. His temperment is easy-going, and it's not hard to make him happy. He is content to watch the world around him, and a smile in his direction always yields a big gummy grin back!

As always, Levi's favorite entertainment comes in the form of his big brother. Nate is fascinated by Levi's new ability to "play" with toys, and loves to hand him things to hold. (In true Nate-fashion, it's usually a car....or 50!)

Levi loves to shake rattles, and has recently learned how to transfer them from one hand to the other. He enjoys tummy time, and can often be found on the living room floor sifting through a pile of rattles for whatever catches his eye at the time. He very much likes the little stuffed fish that came with his fishbowl for Christmas, as each fish makes a different rattle/crunchy noise.

Another favorite activity for Levi is looking at books. Right now, he especially enjoys the black and white pattern books for infants, but he's beginning to take an interest in the illustrations of other children's books too. Every afternoon, Levi sits on my lap and listens quietly while I read the boys their naptime story.

Levi's sleep routine is fairly regular now, as long as we're at home. He takes a short morning nap, a long afternoon nap, a brief evening nap, and goes to bed around 8pm. He usually sleeps about 13 hours at night, waking once or twice to nurse. Recently, we've had a few more nighttime wake-ups while he's been teething. Levi still sleeps on his belly, arms down at his sides. When I lay him down in his bed (awake!), he just wiggles around like a worm to get comfortable, then goes to sleep.

Speaking of teeth, Levi has two! He popped his first through the gum about a week and a half ago. The second followed two days later, although it's still not completely erupted yet! During the day, he chews his fingers a lot, but isn't fussy at all. At night, he sleeps well--as long as I remember to give him his teething tablets before bed!

I am still exclusively breastfeeding Levi. I've accepted defeat in the "bottle battle", and have accepted that we just won't be apart for more than a few hours at a time until he starts eating and drinking from a sippy cup. We have not "officially" started solids yet, although Levi has tried a few bites of banana and apple already. Even though he's not eating with us, our little guy loves to sit at the table with us during meals--as long as he's got a few toys to keep him entertained!