Growing

I wanted to take a minute and update on here the recent milestones and changes my boys experienced, if for no other reason than to have it written down somewhere so in the future I can remember this moment in life.

Levi is now over three and a half years old, closing in on four. This is the year Levi started school. His first taste of a pre-school program was at the local YMCA in September. He was incredibly shy and nervous at first, but adapted quickly. In early October, we found out he had been accepted at a local public Montessori program, and we made the switch. Again, the transition was difficult and full of struggle, but he is now thriving in his class. At the same time he started at his new school, we had Levi evaluated for speech and he is now receiving speech therapy twice a week.

Levi is full of energy, loves to run,chase,scooter,climb, jump and wrestle. He is incredibly kind and thoughtful, teaching his brother new things, working hard to share, and has recently started telling us he loves us completely unprompted. He is loving learning about letters and how to spell his name. While he is hard to understand sometimes, he loves talking and once he starts he will tell stories non-stop. His imagination is blooming, his favorite is to be a dinosaur/monster and chase Ian. He loves to growl. He gets himself dressed all by himself most days. He would go every where naked if we allowed. We've finally had to set a few rules about his level of undress- that if we have company, he must at least have pants on, if he is naked he is *not* allowed to stand in the front window, and he must wear underwear on school days. I love how creative Levi is, how curious he is about the world, and how generous he is with his love. He is absolutely wonderful and I love him more every day.

Ian is over eighteen months old, a few months away from turning two. He is simply amazing. I could not have asked for a more relaxed and easy going baby. He recently weaned, transitioned to his own bed, switched to forward facing in the car seat, and had his first hair cut. And he's starting to show interest in the potty. I'm afraid he's not really a baby anymore. He absolutely adores his brother and every single day gets really excited to meet Levi at the bus stop. Ian will laugh even when he's sick. He loves books. He climbs everything. And then tries to jump off.

He has so many words, and loves using them. He loves books and drawing, preferably on himself or any non-paper medium. He blows kisses and waves good-bye. He'll make friends with anyone. Anytime he catches me using my cell phone he gets really excited and says "hello! hello!" which is his way of demanding I call someone so he can talk to them. He is incredibly independent and prefers to do most things all by himself, like drinking out of a big cup, walking down the stairs, and brushing his teeth. He is a great eater- is favorite foods are eggs, cheese, bananas (a recent discovery), and anything with sugar. I love him to pieces and am lucky to be his mom.