Till now, most of what I’ve shared about Levi has been our wrestle with colic. And sure, these have been among the hardest months of my life, however it doesn’t inform the entire story in regards to the previous 10 months with Levi.
Because the four-month mark, I can’t imagine how a lot he has modified. Nobody can. He was at all times fantastic; he simply had a tough time adjusting to being alive (value noting that I can relate?). Typically I joke that he was in my stomach, cozy and content material and blissfully unaware, and when he got here out in September 2020, he took a go searching on the mess of the world and stated, no f*ing thanks. Who may blame him?
However now. Now he has grown into the sweetest, smiliest child boy. And expensive god almighty he’s cute. I really feel like I’m melting once I take a look at him.
Character
I do know it’s loads when dad and mom assign these massive traits to their child, however I’ll simply go forward and observe swimsuit: Levi has essentially the most optimistic, stunning power about him. He seems at you and it’s like he’s wanting previous your eyes and into your soul, assessing it, understanding you, supplying you with the peace of being each seen and accepted. You didn’t even know a child may try this for you, however he does.
Typically we describe him as, “simply glad to be right here.” Levi is our jolly little man. He loves making eye contact and giving this enormous one-dimple, cheeks-puffed-out smile that’s unimaginable to not return. He’s playful, virtually like an over-excited pet who needs to play however doesn’t precisely understand how. He stands up in his crib ready for us within the morning and as quickly because the door opens he dives again down and crawls to the nook whereas guffawing, like he’s beginning the day with some cover and search.
Regardless that he likes to smile, he’s a tricky chortle. Daniel and I are always doing new bits, making an attempt to get him going, however principally he simply provides us this lovely, well mannered smile and coos at us, basically saying, oh you guys are valuable. However occasionally, you actually hit on one thing and this boisterous cackling comes roaring out. It’s so satisfying. So so satisfying.
There was a time frame when he couldn’t be held by anybody aside from Daniel and me. A child born in a pandemic…it is sensible. Now he’s rather more OK with it.
Motion
James did the military crawl and Levi does the bear crawl. It doesn’t look straightforward, however it works for him. He motors by way of the home on all fours and his knees by no means contact the bottom. He loves wrestling with Daniel and James. However his favourite factor on this planet is when DeeDee visits and he chases her round the home on the ground, lastly having a playmate on his degree. He’s an adventurous climber. Final week he climbed up onto the sofa utilizing a pillow that was on the ground and he tumbled over the armrest onto the ground. Fortunately, he escaped with only a bruise, however we’re at all times on excessive alert.
Consuming
Once we first launched solids round six months, he wished nothing to do with them. He acted repulsed by something we put in his mouth aside from a bottle. However inside just a few weeks, he began to actually take pleasure in meals, a lot in order that he now tries to refuse his bottle altogether. He nonetheless wants the formulation to get all his vitamins so this created an issue. We now have to combine his formulation into oatmeal or purees now to ensure he’s getting sufficient.
At this level, I can’t consider a meals we’ve given him that he doesn’t like. He adores avocado and eats half of 1 virtually each day for lunch. He additionally actually likes broccoli, candy potatoes, scrambled eggs, shredded rooster, and something James leaves behind.
Likes
Merely put: James. He adores James. The look in Levi’s eyes when he sees his massive brother…it’s like a light-weight activates inside him. It was clear early on that he adored James and now that he’s crawling all over the place, he can form of “play” along with his brother—one thing James loves, too. James has warmed as much as Levi after being fairly impartial towards him for the primary six-ish months. However he has additionally turn out to be extra aggressive, particularly round toys. So he yells, “Levi, it’s not protected” and shoves him to the bottom. We’re engaged on making an attempt to sense when James isn’t within the temper for interplay however we additionally don’t need to be always interfering of their relationship as they struggle to determine methods to work together with each other.
Dislikes
The vacuum. And that’s a toughie as a result of we’ve by no means wanted to make use of a vacuum greater than we do now, with two wild animals roaming the home. Perhaps we must always get a Roomba and put it in a pug costume.
I like you, my valuable Levi! You make my complete life.
