My Big Boy!

Today Levi turns 10 months old. This month has been equally the most fun and also the most challenging month in my parenting career. He is developing such a cute little personality, but I'm now having to discipline him and figure out what the right balance of TLC - discipline. I'm trying to figure out when he just needs momma because his mouth hurts and when I need to let him just whine so that he will learn to entertain himself.

Levi is morphing into a little boy right before my eyes. It's incredible to realize what he understands and how he's able to communicate a little better with us.

He is now a crawler. At first his little back legs moved faster than his arms - but he's got it all figured out now. He is pulling up and starting to cruise around furniture. He has become a little less content than usual, and I'm hoping that it's because I see two shiny white teeth JUST below his gums. Actually, they are raising his gums quite a bit and I'm surprised that the gum hasn't given up yet.

Now that he is mobile, he has discovered a few new favorite toys: outlets, stray leaves, remote controls, cell phones, dog food, and the most exciting thing - the TUBA. He has learned what "no" means, and is pretty compliant. He has learned that Phoebe's bowls are off limits, but he will very very slowly reach for them as daddy and I are watching without his knowledge. He will almost touch the bowl and then stop, then slowly move his hand toward the bowl again. He eventually put his fingers on the bowl and then we intervened. He now knows that outlets are off limits and pretty much steers clear of those now - such a good boy.

He LOVES birds and airplanes and the moon. We go on a lot of walks and Levi will just stare at the moon while his daddy carries him. We live a few houses down from a busy street and he really enjoys watching the cars.

He LOVES to play pattycake, and once you start he won't let you stop unless you distract him. He will continue to clap his hands hoping that you'll play another round of pattycake.

He LOVES to listen to his daddy play the Tuba. He will just sit and look up at him, and now he will pull up and touch the tuba and rest against Jarrod's legs while he plays.

He LOVES goldfish. I let him have a few after dinner every night so he can practice picking up his food, and when he sees me walk in from the pantry with the package he almost knocks the chair over he gets so excited.

He enjoys being outside and swinging on his swingset.

He LOVES Phoebe. He just thinks she is the funniest thing in the world. He's starting to chase her a little (although Levi isn't exactly a speed racer). He grabs her, and she will jump back, but not move far enough away from him for him not to continue grabbing her. I'm not sure what to do about that, because I don't want to get onto Levi about grabbing her and make Phoebe think she's doing something wrong and make her dislike Levi even more. (she doesn't dislike him, but if she had her way she'd be the only child).

Levi's vocabulary is expanding a little, he definitely says dad and bird, but I think he might be saying moon and ball too.
-dada
-ball (ba)
-Bird (buhr)
-Moon (moh)

The other night I asked him where his ball was, and he crawled to the other side of the room picked it up and said "ba." This happened twice today too, so I feel pretty sure that he's saying it.

He is clapping. It's so funny because he will be playing and very wrapped up in whatever he's doing, but if he hears someone say "yay" or if the TV is on and he hears applause he will drop everything and clap. He is waving too.

Almost every night when Jarrod and I go to bed, we stay up and just talk about how amazing Levi is. We recount all the cute things he did that day and talk about how beyond blessed we are to be his parents.

His 10 month slideshow should be up sometime tomorrow. The pictures are taking longer than usual to load on our new internet connection.