48 Weeks

So just writing the title of this post made me tear up.

I do NOT want my baby boy to grow up. I'm so not ready. I may be ready to leave behind the formula and the diapers and the biting (yes, he bites), but I'm not ready to have him be a big boy. Hopefully not too much will change when he reaches the big O-N-E. One of the things I love most about his baby-self is his silliness.  He is incredibly silly. He loves to tackle Lucy and "run" away from me when I'm going to "get him".  He also is such a smart boy, and watching him learn new things every day is so much fun. I can only hope that I'm raising him to be a life-long learner and get as much joy out of having new knowledge as I do.

So what is the 11 month old Levi doing you ask?

He is WEARING clothing in size 18 months... yep. You read that right. EIGHTEEN. His shoe size is 4.5.


He is DOING anything he can to move more quickly. He has pretty much given up crawling and now tries to "run" as fast as he can. He "jumps" up and down although his feet never leave the floor. He dances when he hears music. He waves hi and bye-bye. He scrunches up his nose to say "cheese" to a camera flash. He climbs stairs better than I would like him to. He is learning to lift up his leg and I know soon he will be on top of all the furniture. He knows how to turn around backward to get off a chair or the stairs. He drinks water out of the bath faucet and searches for the water when I turn it off. He can put together his wooden ring stackers and is great at shape sorters and all "put in" toys. He is learning to stack 3-4 blocks.

He is EATING faster than anyone can cut up food.  He eats EVERYTHING. His favorite is meat and beans but also loves all squash and all fruit.

He is CHEWING with 7 teeth, the newest one arriving in the past couple of days.

He is SLEEPING 10-12 hours a night with two naps during the day. I'm sure he will move to one nap in the near future.

Our chair shoots are getting shorter and shorter... It only took him 2 shots to run away from me!

47 weeks

Everything is so crazy with houses and moving and all of that I forgot to take pictures last week...
Here is this weeks chair picture. I can't believe how big he is getting.

45 weeks

This week Levi wouldn't let his morning milk be bothered by the owl photoshoot... so he decided to multi task.

That in which I actually blog

I've been avoiding blogging. Mostly because I've been avoiding my feelings. Refusing to acknowledge the craziness in my life is sometimes a lot easier. Living the craziness is even easier than thinking about it.

About two months ago I was offered my dream job. It found me... the job that is. I wasn't looking for it, well at least not that job, and it blew me away. It of course was also mere days after William left the US. A million questions went through my mind...
Could I do this?
What would William think?
Can I move my whole life while he is gone?
What about Levi?
What about my school, my coworkers, my friends?
Where would I live?
Where would Levi go to school?
What would we do with our house?
The list went on... I was terrified.

Piece after piece things fell into place. Everything worked out perfectly for us... or at least as well as it could possibly go when you decide to move in a month and a half.

So on December 8th, my dad and I packed up all of Levi's stuff and some of mine and William's stuff and moved it all to his house. People keep asking me how long I'm going to live here... and I seriously have no idea. That wasn't part of the plan.  Just this week we signed a contract to sell our house. We should close Feb 8th. It is a huge blessing for it to be out from under us.

So far the job is going great. I love it! I mean REALLY love it. Of course I had new job jitters and constantly question if I know enough to be doing what I'm doing. It is amazing though. I have dreamed about this job since I was a sophomore in college. This is why I transfered to Baylor, this is why I went to UTD, THIS is why I became a speech pathologist. There has been a video circulating of a little boy having his cochlear implant activated. And him hearing for the FIRST time. I do that. Everyday. Seriously. On Friday I worked with a little boy that is profoundly deaf.  A jet engine could be next to him and he would never know. But last week he got hearing aids... and this week when I shook a box of blocks next to his head, he turned around and pointed to his ear. That, my friends, is the best dang feeling in the world.  And to watch his parents realize that their child might one day speak.... is amazing. It means even more now that I have my own son.
Here are a couple of videos that I think are very moving and show this amazing process pretty well:

Next up on our list of craziness... buying a new house in Houston!

44 weeks

Wow... Levi, you are 44 weeks old. That's 10 months and a few days!

This morning you refused to pose with the owl unless you got to hold my lens cap... so there you are... lens cap and all.

"I think I'll get down now"

"Bye Mom"

"Are you sure I'm not supposed to eat this?"

I'm going to get you Mommy!

Stats:

Height: somewhere between 29-30"

Weight: 21 lbs 14oz

Clothing size: Pants/Onesies 12-18m, Shirts 12m, Socks 12-24m, Shoes 4.5

Teeth count: 5 and 3 more on the way really soon

I can: walk, wave, clap, dance, "jump", shake things, say /p,b,m,a,i,u,o,n,g,s/, make an "indian" noise, yell, throw a fit, laugh, climb, crawl, stand up in my highchair, imitate, pull hair, hit, bite, grab Lucy's hair

I eat: EVERYTHING! 

I drink from: a straw cup... adios bottles!

I sleep: all night from 6:30-6:30, and take two naps usually an hour or two each

My first word: is probably an approximation of Lucy... he says "oooossssssiiii" consistently when he sees her and when he is chasing her around.