Dear Levi,
In one more month, you will be one year old! It is so hard to believe that your first year of life is nearing it's end! What a blur!
The other day, you just got that new tooth that has been trying to come in for an entire month. It just poked through your gums :) It's the one to the right of your front teeth. Your hair is getting longer and you have a substantial wave in the back! The top can be spiked up when it's wet and it can even remain standing up when it dries! You are gaining lots of weight lately. You are wearing 18 month clothes--I had to go shopping and buy you some new pajamas one day because you couldn't possibly wear your size 12 month PJs another night! You are getting a little chubby and so heavy to lug around!
That weight gain is thanks to your enormous appetite! You are eager to eat everything in sight! At least you try everything--you aren't really a fan of beans yet. You eat a variety of big kid foods like bits of cheese, meat, watermelon, pears, bread/pancakes/banana bread/bagels, raisins, grapes, blueberries, Kix cereal, olives, and yogurt. You also enjoy food served in pouches. I have to hide veggies in fruit though. You enjoy eating meat dishes served in baby food containers. You beg to try whatever Mommy is eating, too. You are still nursing 4 times per day and have been refusing the bottle. I keep trying to get you to use a sippy or a straw cup, too, but you haven't caught on to the skill yet. I'm not sure why you used to take a bottle but now you won't. You hold out for Mommy to come home!
This month, you learned how to walk by holding onto our hands and you can also push your walker quite well by yourself. You are very proud of yourself!! You can side step along the furniture easily, too. You still prefer to crawl, though. I am sure that walking on your own is still a few months away! You can climb steps on the playground and love climbing on pillow mountains, too. You learned how to play ball, throwing it back and forth to Mommy, giggling all the while. You also still love to roll your cars across the floor.
In addition to being able to clap, you now can give high-fives and shake your head "no". You like to play peek-a-boo (makes you laugh!). You still don't know how to wave though! You love to slap your hands on the floor or a table--better yet if we play the slapping game with you! You also love to slap your hands in the water in your bathtub and in the water table. You have no fear of water and will bend over and put your face in the water and even crawl in the tub. Yikes! You keep me on my toes, for sure! And you give me nightmares.
You are always saying, Da-da-da-da. It's your favorite thing to say! This month, you started to say, "Dee-dee" and I think it might mean, "Whitney"! Not 100% sure, but I think so! Another thing you say is "Duh-nuh". You also say Ba-ba-ba. No "m" sounds or "l" sounds or anything else yet. You are still a baby in so many ways, and I'm okay with that! :)
You have been busy crawling around and stirring up trouble. When I catch you doing something you aren't supposed to do, you flash me an amazing sorry-not-sorry smile. You are always charming your mother! Some of your current mischief-making includes: pulling plastic baggies out of the box in a drawer that you can reach in the kitchen, crawling into the shower, putting your hand in the toilet, sticking your fingers in the electrical outlets, pulling the slats out of the blinds that you can reach, playing with Whitney's paperback books (pulling them off of her shelf), pulling her lamp off of the bedside table, and slapping the TV. I could go on and on! ;)
You are so much fun to be around though, mischief and all! You are easy-going and predictable. You are super sweet, smiley and love your Mommy so much. As your first year of life wraps up, I'm feeling so thankful for the little boy that you are becoming. You are--and always have been--such a gem!
