Stories

It is so fun to see Levi's personality develop.  Here are three brief stories of things he has done:

Last Friday, he was sitting on my lap on the couch, and we were reading a book about animals.  He enjoyed listening to me make all the animal sounds, but he started to get a little fidgety.  He turned around, climbed up, put his arms around my neck, and gave me a gentle kiss on the cheek!  (Maybe in order to appreciate this story you need to know that his version of a kiss is usually more like a bite.)  It was the sweetest thing he has ever, ever done!

Yesterday we were all eating lunch together.  Levi had finished half of his finger foods (banana, egg yolk, and multigrain bread).  Next I spoon-fed him his pureed garlic green beans and his butternut squash.  I decided to let him try using the spoon himself, so I loaded the spoon with squash and set it on his tray.  He picked it up and managed to get some of the food in his mouth.  I loaded his spoon again.  He took it again, and he got almost all of it in his mouth.  Yay, Levi!  I loaded his spoon again, but this time he was slow in picking it up.  He was looking at me, and the corners of his mouth were starting to turn down, and his eyes were starting to brim with tears, and he stifled a sob, and he started to sniffle.  By the time I loaded his spoon again, he was all-out crying.  The look on his face absolutely said, "I'm trying to be brave, but, Mommy, why are you doing this to me?"  It broke my heart!  We couldn't figure out what was wrong, especially since he was successfully feeding himself and receiving praise for it.  Later on I realized that I was sending him mixed messages.  Often at the end of a meal, I give him his spoon to lick and play with.  He was thinking that lunch was over, and he was devastated!

Also yesterday Levi and I were playing in the living room.  He had a cardboard tube that he was randomly flinging around, and he accidentally hit himself in the head a couple of times.  When he hit his head, I said, "Bonk!"  After a few times of hearing "bonk," he started to laugh at the funny sound.  But he kept twirling the tube, so I kept saying it.  He laughed more and more, so his hands moved more and more.  That child must have hit himself in the head about a hundred times!  I laughed so hard I had tears running down my face.  I probably should have stopped him, especially since he didn't seem to be enjoying it so much by the end, but we both had a great laugh!