Levi: 1 Year Later

On December 1st, our former 5 lb 15 oz tiny baby became a big one year old. I know its cliche, but this year just flew by. Each day, each week, each month that passed--in the blink of an eye he was with us for 1 full year. Goodness, my heart just gushes with love for him and this year that we've spent with him!

I mean, look at that face. What's not to love?

FEEDING

We are currently down to only 1 nursing session per day and 3 sippy cups of milk per day. My plan was to wean him by 1 year, but with my miscarriage earlier this month, I really just wanted to keep that closeness with him for just a tiny bit longer. He still nurses for his 7 AM feeding, which is my favorite because I bring him to bed with me and we snuggle for a little while after he finishes, before I make him his breakfast. It's a special time for us! So maybe another week or two of that before I wean him altogether.

Levi is also almost completely eating finger foods now--very little purees anymore! For dinner, he is strictly eating whatever Brian and I are eating. For lunch, I still give him 2 oz of puree plus finger foods until he is full. That is only because I still have a few more days worth of homemade baby food from back in September that I am trying to finish up. After we get through those purees, I will officially start making him a "real" lunch everyday. Yikes!

He has tried a lot of new foods in the past two weeks! Among his favorites are minestrone soup (not really much broth, just the soup contents), a full Thanksgiving meal (he devoured some turkey), deviled eggs, and his birthday cupcake (more info on that below)!

SLEEP

We have been totally blessed in this area lately! Levi has been sleeping consistently from 7 PM-7 AM every night for the past month. Even through sickness and teething, which really surprised me. I am so grateful!

His naps have gotten very consistent as well. I would always put him down around the same times everyday, but the lengths of his naps would vary. In the past two weeks, he has become way more predictable! One thing that has changed, however, is his need for his 3rd nap. Some days he acts really cranky, like he needs to sleep, but then he'll never actually go to sleep when I put him down. It doesn't seem to be affecting his nighttime sleep, so maybe he'll just gradually get used to not napping in the late afternoon.

MOTOR SKILLS

At one year of age, Levi is finally crawling on all fours! Once he got confident in himself, he just took off and never looked back. Now he'll roam around the house and get into all kinds of mischief if I don't keep close tabs on him. Since doing so, he has discovered our staircase (which makes me a bit nervous) as well as where his toy bins and all the electrical outlets are located :) It's been fun, to say the least!

TEETHING

Well, the moment we've been waiting for, for nearly two months--Levi's top two teeth have cut through! It's been a long time of fussiness coming and I've watched them get closer and closer to cutting through by the day. He already looks older.

PERSONALITY

I'm trying to think of how to best describe Levi. I've mentioned before how stubborn and strong-willed he is...and boy, that is true. When he is determined to have something, he will not let up until that thing is either given to him or he gets it himself. That should make things interesting once he hits 2 years old. On the other hand, he really is laid back--if the two can co-exist. As far as being on-the-go or having a change in his schedule, he really bounces back quickly or is unaffected at all. That is a great quality to have in a baby!

We have seen even more of Levi's personality shine through within the last two weeks. He has discovered his voice and he sure does love to use it! He'll yell at inanimate objects (like his socks) in a fun-loving way and he has even started holding a conversation (through babbling) with Brian and I when we speak to him. He also has a mischievous side (as I'm sure most boys his age do when they finally become mobile) and he is loving being able to explore new territory. Throughout the day I frequently have to redirect him or tell him not to touch certain things. When I do so, he'll just give me this sly look that says, "Yea, I know you are telling me I shouldn't do that, but I'm really wanting to test the limits here." Welcome to toddler-hood, I suppose!

SCHEDULE

7:00 am- nurse
7:30 am- breakfast, independent playtime
8:30 or 9:00 am- nap 
10:00 or 10:30 am- bathtime
11:00 am- sippy cup of milk, lunch, playtime
12:00 or 12:30 pm- nap
2:30 pm- sippy cup of milk, light snack, run errands if necessary
4:30 or 5:00 pm- catnap if cranky (usually just 30-45 minutes)
6:00 pm- sippy cup of milk, dinner
7:00 pm- PJs, family time, bedtime

OUTINGS/EVENTS

While this has been an emotional and painful couple of weeks, we have been blessed with so much goodness and reasons to celebrate! 

Thanksgiving was last week and we enjoyed a relaxed day at home--just the three of us. After a lot of debate, we decided to spend the holiday at home (rather than going out to eat) because we wanted to make that our tradition. I cooked for hours that day, but it was so worth it to sit down at 5:00 PM and enjoy our delicious feast together. Levi loved everything, which was flattering. I'm not surprised though--he'll eat just about anything we put in front of him. 

We also went to Bass Pro the day before Thanksgiving to get Levi's photo with Santa! It turns out the line was about a mile long, so we just explored Bass Pro for a bit (I mean, why not?) and then Levi got some lovely pictures with us instead. He seemed cool with that.

Lastly, we threw a pretty low-key party for Levi's first birthday! Just a few close friends, a bit of food, and lots of fellowship. It was a fun time--as fun as a 1-year-old birthday party can be anyway! I chose a simple green and blue theme, since he really doesn't have any super "loves" yet to theme a party around. I was pleased with how it turned out!

The way Levi ate his cupcake is worth noting here! Once it toppled over, he barely even looked at it. He was just leaning back in his high chair, he would lower his hand (only one hand) to his cake and then bring bits of cake and icing to his mouth. It was like he was trying to act all cool, when he really knew that was the best thing he had ever eaten in his life! 

He received so many great presents for his birthday, including: 4 new books, a mini soccer ball, a new outfit and PJ's, a Thomas the Train toy, some Veggie Tales DVD's, a new leather covered Jesus Storybook Bible, and money to buy some new shoes and a big boy car seat! He didn't know what to play with most!

Well, that concludes this post (finally)! There was a lot to mention for the past two weeks. Happy 1st Birthday to my Levi Hudson!