5 Months Old

Levi is five months old!

He has two teeth. 

He rides in the shopping cart, much to his big brothers’ delight. 

He is noticing books and tries to turn the pages. 

He plays 911 call center with his brothers. 

He prefers to nap on his own. 

He loves his bible study buddy. They cuddle every week. 

He dabbled I’m sleeping flat again, but it was short lived because of a cold settling in. 

He’s so easy to get to sleep. I enjoy cuddling him for a few minutes as he falls asleep before I put him down. 

He’s been sitting up for a month already. He can not believe the red lady at the top of his hanging toys. He looks at her like this every.single.time he sees her and flails in excitement. 

He was fascinated by the vacuum the other day. When he is trying to figure things out he knocks on them with his fist and talks about it. It never gets old. 

The Leader

I talk to Augustine about being the leader of the brothers a lot. His behavior matters because everyone else will follow suit. It’s a big responsibility but I know he can do a good job in his role. 

The other week Augustine was in a bad mood for days. He just couldn’t shake it. This particular day I was growing weary of his mood, and I asked him what would help him snap out of his bad mood, what would make him feel happy. He said all he wanted was for Levi to fall asleep on his lap like he used to.

You better believe I said a fierce prayer under my breath right then and there. 

And lo and behold...Levi fell asleep on Augustine’s lap for the first time in months. 

It happened the next day too. Thank. You. Jesus. 

Augustine seems to have a natural nack for babies. He’s just really good at making them happy and meeting their needs. I’m so grateful for the little ways he helps his baby brother. 

He loves to read. I love the example he sets by sitting around on evenings and weekends reading chapter book after chapter book. The middle boys usually check out a couple of chapter books each week too, but not because they want to read them. It’s simply because that’s what Augustine does. Lewis just puts them on the shelf all week, and Elias flips through every page “reading” like Augustine. 

They sat exactly the same way in two different poses while they took apart the dead video baby monitor with Logan. It’s a favorite activity around here...take apart electronics that are no longer working to see how they work. 

My view every day we walk home from school. I can’t hear their conversation, but the big boys talk all the way as they lead us home. 

First Haircut

Before












After

First Broken Bone

On Saturday Elias hopped off the bar stool like he always does, except this time he fell forward a little more than usual and caught himself with his hands. 

It was a cry I’ve never heard him cry. I knew right away we were going to the ER 

The ER said it was nursemaids elbow. 

They didn’t X-ray it...

and the next day we were still doing nothing more than icing and cuddling blankie. Something wasn’t right. 

So we had an X-ray taken and the pediatrician said it was a fractured wrist. We headed to the children’s hospital to get a short arm cast. 

When we got there the doctor told us it wasn’t his wrist. It was two pressure fractures in his elbow, so we would be going home with a full arm cast. 



In all my experience with children, this was completely new. The casting process is fascinating. 



And completely overwhelming too. He felt quite defeated, but was very calm. When I asked him if he liked the orange cast he chose he said, “I should’ve picked blue.” in the saddest Eeyore voice I’ve ever heard.  

He’s been a brave little boy through the whole thing. He got right to work figuring out life for a month in a cast. 

His brothers stepped up like champions through the whole thing too. When I initially said, “everyone back in the car. We’re going to the ER.” they not only obeyed right away but anticipated needs of our family and helped out. I was blown away. 



Each day he gets more confident in doing things despite the cast. 

He is on strict large motor restrictions, so we are figuring out things to do as we go, day by day. He’s a lot less tired than usual because there aren’t many ways to burn energy when you’re not allowed to jump, climb, ride, or swing. We skip nap every other day. 



One thing is for sure...he can still chainsaw!