Levi, Month 10

Well, Month 10 was it.  Early this month (sometime around the end of Oct./beginning of Nov.) he officially became a little boy.  All of the sudden, somewhere around the end of 19 months-old the baby was gone.  It's hard to know exactly why or how you know that, but I always knew that one day we would wake up and find a boy instead of a baby.  Something about how he understands everything, even things you haven't taught him yet, kneels to play with his toys with no wobbling, starts to test out walking up stairs like a big boy, reaches up to hold your hand.  We only got about 10 months of babyhood, but I'm grateful for every day of it.

New obsessions for the month: He can reach some light switches (which apparently only get more fun the more  you turn them on/off - ah, blown fuses), puzzles and figuring out more advanced shapes, started waving bye without being asked, does small slides all by himself, points to lots of body parts, learned to ask for things by saying "Mama" instead of grunting or whining, strings a couple "words" together (like "umama" for "Up Mama"), can reach onto counters (sigh), very particular about turning books one page at a time and looking for his favorite pages, makes a dog noise like his German Shepherds ("Aroorooroo!"), bangs on the window (just like Mom does) to tell the dogs to stop barking.   Ha!

Language is still tricky for Levi, but he's coming along well.  It's going to take him more time than other little boys to verbalize the sounds for English thanks to not hearing it for his first 10 months, but he understands it all and adds more sounds/words all the time.

I discovered in our seemingly never-ending sleep, um, battle, that giving up hope can be it's own kind of hope.  So, that is what I did in Month 10.  I stopped trying to figure out what I could do to fix it, and gave in to milk during the night, his need to sleep with one of us in the twin bed in his room, the babbling at 5 a.m. (though I'm still not getting out of bed before 6:00), the thrashing, the wanting to get up and play at 2 a.m., etc.  He's such a sweet and lovey boy, I'm trying to just enjoy the fact he wants to cuddle with us all night.  Someday when he can communicate better we'll work on breaking any habits we've created.  But at least we will know for sure that we have replaced every negative brain synapsed caused by every time someone wasn't there for him as an infant.  I'll take that option.

The Month in Pictures:

First Halloween!  The only obvious choice for a costume was a dog, of course.  We had three events - Carmel Library, St. Luke's Trunk or Treat where we visited the Rawe's amazing display, and trick or treating at a few houses in Bob and Bonnie's neighborhoods.

First time wearing his costume, Carmel Library.

Then at St. Luke's Trunk or Treat with Maggie Rawe.

First time going up to doors.  He was disappointed he didn't get to actually go inside.

We had to make a stop at the Smith's in downtown Zionsville to see baby Truman bundled for his first Halloween too!

Still lots of fun at the Children's Museum, especially when friends like Lincoln Hoskins join us!

We broke down and got a generic Pillow Pet.  This smile is why those things are so ridiculously popular.

Brad's birthday!  Celebrated with Paula Dean's recipe for carrot cake.  The only way to go.  Also tried a Sardinian lasagna made with polenta noodles!  A keeper. 

Pumpkin Fest at the Country Market!  Amazing and creative display for the kiddos.  We went twice.

This is a whole play area of dried corn!  Genius!

Hay rides!

Picking out the perfect pie pumpkin

The beautiful fall weather continued and we kept enjoying all the gorgeous parks in the area.

Independent boy...sometimes, that is.

As some of you heard, I'm continuing the Searles' tradition of wrapping all Santa gifts in the same exact paper every year as long as possible. (My parents used the same paper for 15 years!)  This means 40 rolls were bought for Levi at Target this year.  That should last a while.  (I guess I can't let him read this post, huh?  Can't give away the secret!!) 

Levi wearing his traditional Ethiopian shirt (and a Colts bib, of course) and enjoying Ethiopian food at the Ethiopian church's annual cultural celebration.  We look forward to it every year.

Levi's first Thanksgiving!  He had no problem understanding that the mission is to enjoy the food.  But the best part was all four grandparents together at the same time.

First bites of Thanksgiving turkey.  Love at first bite.

Levi's first taste of his dad's famous pumpkin pie - truly the best ever.

Reading with Papa

All the grandparents!

Working on our letters!  

Chair Picture, Month 10

Levi eating his first orange slice.  It was a huge hit, as you can see.  Not sure why I didn't think of that before!

Singing an Ethiopian worship song at the cultural celebration at Grace Ethiopian Church.  I'm always amazed by the crowd!  Congrats to our friend, Chris Bell, for doing such a great job helping to organize it.

Eating Thanksgiving leftovers with the Todds, Bob couldn't get through his meal.  Levi kept insisting we all pause for group hugs.  What better way to celebrate being thankful this year?

For all you BU fans - the unveiling of the 2011 National Finalist tournament banner in Hinkle.  We've been enjoying splitting season tickets with Bob this season.  

Month 9 with Levi

During Month 9 Levi became quite the little comedian. Like most little kids, he gets funny ideas and has a lot of initiative. I love seeing him come up with his own plans instead of what I expect or, yes, suggest. (So often my ideas are significantly inferior to what he has planned.) I mean, it is now obvious that toy boxes are for sitting in with dogs (stuffed, not real), hats/curtains/chairs/the side of the tub/strollers are all for peek-a-boo, saying "ssssss" is much more fun than saying "snake", and most obvious of all, basketball goals are for hugging....Oh, and peek-a-boo, too. But that goes without saying. And his favorite? Why should we all stand a few feet apart from each other when we could stand side by side and have group hugs? Pulling us into group hugs is his is best idea of all.

It was a strange month in a way too. We had two 18 month apt.'s with both his pediatrician and the international adoption clinic. They all do a great job, but it feels he is very under the microscope. Everyone is so afraid they are going to miss something due to his harder start in life. So, after two long checkups (he's now in the 5% for weight and 90% for height - big progress!!!), we are then sent to the eye doctor (NOT fun to dialate a 19 mo-old's eyes!!! He's very strong and pinning him down is just no fun.  Turns out his left eye is a bit weak, but should fix itself.  Now we know.), had First Steps come out to evaluate his speech (They think he is just fine for a baby who hadn't heard English until he was 10 months-old, and that he is even ahead in some cognitive aspects. Check that one off.), and we are still supposed to see a hearing specialist. (Really, really, really don't think that one is necessary considering he hears dogs in the distance, sings all sorts of pitches, does all his consonants, etc. Sigh.) For one seriously happy, healthy child he is getting a lot of attention.

Brad had a lot of fun during this month on his dad's annual week-long fishing trip in Minnesota. That meant that my mom, "Nanny", came to stay for a week. A week with Nanny is always a blast! Levi was spoiled with attention from both his grandma's, Nana AND Nanny, that week.

Every month includes the sleep update. This month, just see Month 8, but add complete regression. Levi had a fitful month with lots of thrashing and twirling during the night, for some reason all against my head. (Once even dropping his full weight right on to my cheekbone!) And not only does he still sleep with me (or Brad on the weekend, or Nanny when she visits) from 11:00-ish on, but is now also getting milk in the middle of the night again. He's so, so, so active (NEVER stops moving) and growing all day, he just really needs the extra calories, I guess. So there we have it....Back where we started in month one. Oh well.

Fun firsts for the month:

Funny new "wave" where he tucks his hand under his chin and smiles; has started using Legos correctly (yes!); jumped in leaves; can point to almost any animal in his books; caught a ball a few times in a row!; got off the ground more when jumping; used some of his words a bit more (up, cat), but "A dog!" is still his favorite; strung a couple words together with "Mama, A Car!" (sounds like "Mama, A Da!"); Said his first animal noise: Ba for a sheep; can hold a squeezable snack and not squirt it all over himself, me and the car. (Again, it's the little things.....)

First big bubble bath.

The correct way to play with his Butler Bulldog, he informs me.

Note the toes peeking out from the curtain

Fun with our best church buddies, Elias, Isaiah, and Jennifer. Elias and Levi are 5 days apart in age!

While Brad was gone Mom, Levi and I took a trip to Tennessee to see Great (Great!) Aunt AnaMay and (Great!) Aunt Jennifer. This one's a little blurry, but just so, so sweet.

Running around the front yard with mom and Cindy.

It's just been a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful fall. Lots and lots of fun. I'm discovering all the gorgeous parks that are only minutes away. How did I not know about these things before Levi came home?

Fun at Coxhall Gardens with Mom.

We had a fantastic day up in Crown Point with Elizabeth and Keith. They were kind enough to recreate their Oktoberfest feast for us since we, along with Tim and Steve, had to miss it.

Can't stand how cute this hat is - a gift from a student. Thank you McLean family!

I couldn't help snapping this - and they didn't even wake up, flash and all.

This is generally what Levi looks like - constant motion.

Chair pictures, Month 10! This is almost what our chair picture was. Convincing him to pose in a chair is just not part of his plan.

Levi loves Aunt Jenny! He has a picture of her in his room and likes to carry it around.

If there is a basketball goal nearby, Levi will be running to it...and eventually hugging it.

Levi was just a piece of work one night while mom and I were cooking dinner.  He put on quite the show for us.

Levi's Greatest Hits - Peek-a-boo with a hat, stomping, twirling and jumping.  (Sorry I have to set the camera down a couple times.  Takes two hands to put on his hat, apparently.)

I know I've mentioned a couple times that Levi's favorite thing is a group hug.  I don't know how many times he did this with mom and me in the kitchen that night.  He would pull us together and then herd us up.  So weird, but very cute.  

Month 8 with Levi – Opinions, Opinions

Ah, month 8. It made me nostalgic for the days when it was my way all day every day after we brought him home. I know it’s good and normal development and all, but he has SO MANY opinions! Opinions about what he’d like to eat, do, where the dogs should be, where he should be, if his booster seat is acceptable or not, how his toys should be played with, which books we should read, where he’d like to sleep, who should hold him, and on and on.

On the harder days we’ve been know to have 10 “Time In’s” (we can’t do time out due to orphanage stuff, so we hold him in a boring place under the stairs for a minute and talk about what went wrong) before 9:30 in the morning. (It’s possible that after that morning I cried through his bath. Sigh. Otherwise, I have somewhat maintained my composure.) Throwing food and toys or pulling mom’s hair are usually the big offenses. Tantrums have become a bit more frequent, though certainly don’t rule the day. But there are definite glimmers of the 2’s to come. I will say, “Time In” seems to be working as I’ve noticed a significant improvement in the throwing of toys over the month. So, there is some small victory.

We end “Time In” by saying (well, me saying for him) “Say, 'Aznalo – I’m sorry, Mommy' ”, and then we give a kiss. Of course, now he tries to end “Time In” by giving me a kiss right away. I manage a straight face 90% of the time, I would say. Another small victory.

This all said, he is really one happy boy. He is a big snuggler and his happiest moments are when we do a group family hug. In his best world of worlds we would all three move in unison, joined at the hip, all day long. Though he still wants Mommy he has become almost equally a Daddy’s boy. When he isn’t feeling well he ping-pongs between the two of us, not sure where to settle.

As for sleep…Well, I must admit some regression. As he has become more and more attached to us he just can’t stand to stay in his crib all night after waking up scared, teething, wondering if we're still there, etc. The only way we both are going to get any sleep at all is for him to spend half the night with me in the twin bed in his room. The only other option would be to soothe him literally all night long or let him throw a tantrum for hours while I stand by the crib (and he tries to propel himself out of it). At some point, we both just have to lie down and sleep. Any chance I get, if I happen to wake up, I try to return him to his crib while he sleeps. But honestly, I just don’t wake up that often once he is finally back asleep.

So, there you have it! Here are the firsts he LOVES this month: lots more dancing, brushing his own teeth, almost jumping (got off the ground once!), understanding pretty much everything, finding our car, stomping, the sign for "Touchdown!", eating with a fork, getting in containers, throwing balls or treats to the dogs, putting things away, Sandra Boynton books, bringing us his favorite books to read and finding his favorite pages in them.

Fun at the beautiful Cox Hall Gardens down the street. They have a mini village, tunnels, a giant sand "stream" for the kids. I would have died for this place when I was little!

Greeting Dexter the Boxer on our way in to the Metzings for brunch with Monique.

First time taking Nana to the Children's Museum with us

Trying out some sunglasses

Fun at the zoo with Elizabeth Mott and her twins. Thanks for taking us, guys!

Levi went crazy chasing the tiger, who was DEFINITELY chasing us too.

One day I blocked off the kitchen in order to clean a bit and keep the dogs out of my way. It became very obvious on which side of that baracade Levi would prefer to be. I see where I rank.

This was cute. We had a great time at the Greek Festival with Levi. He thought the children dressed to do their traditional dances were very cool. They were so sweet and came over to play.

One of the more important things Levi learned this month - how to signal a touchdown. Now if only the Colts could score one or two more a game!

The adorable and delicious cake Bob and Bonnie brought to celebrate Levi's 18 months on Sept. 11. (Same day as Ethiopian New Year, the Sunday of football, obviously the 10th anniversary of 9/11 - whew! Crazy day.)

Throwing an impressive tantrum at the park simply because I asked him to walk to me. Sigh. I sat down nearby and waited it out (can't do the walk away and ignore with a child who has spent time in an orphanage, so I do the sit down and look bored technique), but the houses behind the park must have thought someone was killing him.

Finally deciding the tantrum was less fun than he thought and he would walk the 10 feet to me.

We always enjoy our almost weekly visits to Connor Prairie, especially as the weather has cooled off and the fall has been so beautiful.

Our month ended with our first trip to urgent care (naturally when Brad and I were all dressed up and ready to walk out of the house to go to Elizabeth and Keith's Oktoberfest party)! Poor little guy - he had a fever of 103 and was literally screaming and doubled over in pain (thankfully, just stomach cramps from the fever). Over the next week he broke out in a terrible scabby rash from the fever as well, but has since made a full recovery. Scary, but a right of passage, right?

Chair picture, Month 8! So close to being a little boy instead of a baby.

Levi is working hard on his vocab, seeing that English is his second language. (I mean, when he came home he didn't even know "Mommy" and "Daddy", so he has come far!) This is his first animal sound, right as we are leaving Connor Prairie and seeing the animals. So fun to see it all start to click!