The Latest on Levi

I always thought that the best thing about having more than one child would be watching their personalities develop. I'm realizing as Levi is approaching 18 months old how different he is from Sam.

Levi really likes cars. Sounds pretty normal for a little boy, right? But Sam never got into them. Levi will play for 20 minutes at time driving them around the apartment. He also likes dogs, something that Sam has NEVER liked.

Levi loves to draw. We have a magna-doodle and an aqua-doodle, both modern-day versions of a slate and chalk, and he can entertain himself with these for long periods of time.


He is also very friendly to strangers. Lately any time we are in public he waves with animation at strangers and gives a loud and sing-songy "Hi!" (which sounds like he has a southern accent - "Ha!"). Talk about getting some positive attention!

In all these things, Levi is very different from his brother. But one similarity Sam and Levi share is their love for music. Levi has begun to sing! Sure, he doesn't get the words, but he sings the tunes of "London Bridges", "Twinkle Twinkle" and - amazingly - "Blessed be the Name". I've been trying my hardest to get it on video, but every time I try he gets distracted and stops singing!


I'm finding that at 18 months, Levi goes from being cute and endearing to exasperating on the turn of a dime. Life is hard when you have uncontrollable impulses that get you in trouble! Yet at the same time he is so funny - coming up with new words to try out each day, mimicking our activities, and experimenting with anything he can get his hands on. Life is a classroom, and everything is new to him. Watching this process is so incredible!

Third Trimester, Here I Come

Well, today I'm officially 29 weeks along, which is actually 2 weeks into the third and final trimester of this pregnancy. This is the latest belly pictures, taken at 28 weeks.

I find that, as a pregnant woman there are two things people say to me often:

1.) "How are you feeling?" This is a hard one for a couple of reasons. 50% of the time the most truthful answer is "lousy" or "big", but it's just not a great way to start a conversation, right? Although I do try to be honest. The other 50% of the time I truly feel great, and don't have much to say about it. At those times I feel more like I should be giving a more thorough report, haha! It's nice of people to ask, of course.

2.) "You're looking great!" (or some variation of this). Now, don't get me wrong, it's great to hear. But it's humorous and ironic to me that when I have gained many pounds over my usual weight and don't often feel like I look great, I'm told this almost daily. It is a blessing.