Levi at 10 months

The cheeks. The double chin. The wrist rolls. I love them all!

Levi is hovering around 20 pounds. He wears all 12 month clothes and sleepers, except he is close to needing 18 month in one-piece rompers. He is wearing size 3 diapers but I think we'll try out size 4 when we finish this box. He still only has his 2 front bottom teeth.

We made some major sleep changes this month. He no longer sleeps in his sleep suit and now sleeps in just a footed sleeper. He often falls asleep on his back or side but rolls to his belly halfway through nap and shortly after falling asleep at night. Naps started out rough after ditching the sleep suit but he now takes 2 naps a day. The morning nap is hit or miss, ranging from 30-90 minutes (usually closer to 30-45) but the afternoon nap is more predictable, usually around 1 hour 15 minutes - 1 hour 30 minutes.

We hit the sweet spot of the first year this month. Levi's ears cleared up a few days after his new antibiotic that we got at his 9 month check up and he became a completely different baby. He was so happy all the time. Happy to crawl around and play by himself, not super clingy to me, just the happiest baby ever. Rodney and I would watch him play and say to each other, "Who is this baby and where did he come from?" We were back at the pediatrician's office last week for another ear infection but I think my mommy intuition caught it early this time because he never really got fussy at all. He had a runny nose for over a week (only symptom) and I've learned by now that any runny nose turns into an ear infection for him. We had just seen the ENT the week before who decided to wait for tubes unless he had another ear infection in the next month or two, so we called him back and Levi is scheduled to get tubes in July. His hearing tests came back normal (low end of normal, but still normal) and he has started babbling in the past 10 days or so. He has a clear "g" sound (ga ga ga ga) but the rest of his babbling is jumbled with no clear consonant. I wonder if that's how he hears us because of fluid in his ears. He'll be 11 months when he gets the tubes, a prime age to start hearing clearly and talking. I'm very hopeful that this will solve our problems.

We have reached the "put everything in your mouth" phase. I'm not talking about toys and books, we've been there for a while. I'm talking about every tiny crumb, piece of lint, cat hair, any other random thing he finds on the floor. I found him in the cat food for the first time yesterday. The other day he was under the table and I saw him put something in his mouth. I ran over and fished it out, only to discover it was a cheerio. Oh, that one's ok, buddy. You can eat that.

Speaking of food, Levi can take it or leave it. He prefers his bottle, which is totally opposite of how Isaac was. Isaac wanted food, not bottles. Levi likes finger food that he can feed himself, but he grows tired of it quickly and doesn't eat enough to fill his belly, therefore he's hungry again soon. He still eats mostly purees, with a little finger food at each meal, but he often doesn't finish a whole jar of purees either. He loves cheese, pancakes, and pears.

We have had to put the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs. For a while after he started crawling he wouldn't venture out on his own, but now he's all over the place and has tried to do the stairs a few times. He gets mad when I try to redirect him, so the gate had to go up. I think he's going to be a climber (Isaac wasn't a big climber as a baby/toddler).

Shortly after he turned 9 months his drooling came to an abrupt stop. It was like someone turned off the faucet. He had been wearing a bib every day for months, recently soaking through 3-4 bibs per day, so the sudden dry up was surprising. It's so nice to not have to worry about bibs now.

Levi is completely obsessed with cats, whether he sees them in our house, in books, or on tv. 

He loves reading books now and giggles every time we sit down to read. 

He examines toys and books by turning them over and over. 

He loves being outside, which is a very good thing when you have a 3-year-old brother who would stay outside all day if he could. He hates wearing his hat, which is quite unfortunate because with his blonde hair and fair skin he doesn't really have a choice. 

He now gives kisses (open mouth, very wet and sloppy) when asked, if he's in the right mood. It's stinkin' adorable!

He doesn't clap yet but he has started banging two toys together so I feel like clapping will come soon.

His favorite activity is crawling all over me and using me as a jungle gym. Sometimes that is all he wants and other times he's ok with venturing off to play and returning for a few minutes of climbing before going away again 

Our nightly cuddle sessions are a thing of the past. I knew it would happen sooner than later but I was still surprised and sad. We used to rock and cuddle every night before he went into his crib but now he's much more interested in sitting up and looking around, occasionally putting his head on my shoulder for a second before looking around again. 

He is not a fan of bath time. I'm not sure why, but he doesn't like to sit and play, so baths are usually short and to the point, ending before the fussing gets too much.

Levi is so much fun right now. I get so much joy from watching him and Isaac interact. He's becoming such a little person and I can't wait to see who he becomes in the new few months.