More: cuteness.

I have a confession: the idea of dressing Levi up in a costume for Halloween I think is the best thing ever. I imagine him dressed up as a cute little lion or tiger, or maybe a little sailor outfit. But  while visiting Wendy's on the way home from Gigi's this past weekend, we hit the jackpot Halloween idea: Where's Waldo! Wendy's kids' meal toy was a little set of glasses. Or rather, two sets...which might have been a fluke. But isn't he the cutest thing you've ever seen!

First taste of sushi!

Speaking of the cutest thing ever, Levi now reads books to himself almost every night. After brushing our teeth and getting ready for bed, we sit in his chair and read one story before lights out. And after I read the story out loud to him, he takes the book and starts turning pages, talking out loud to himself, pointing at pictures  and chatting about what's on the pages. Also the cutest thing ever :)

We had a big accomplishment while riding in the car on Long Island this past weekend - Levi finally signed the word "more." We've been trying to teach him a handful of signs for about 9 months now, focusing mainly on the words "more" and "all done" so we know what he wants when he's yelling or throwing food at mealtimes. In the car on the way to the beach, I was asking (sitting in the back next to him) if he wanted more goldfish crackers, and he signed it correctly (some kids just clap their hands or make a fist with one hand but have an open palm in the other)! He also will sometimes copy us when we add "please" or "thank you" signs before or after giving him food. So it seems that Levi is good at doing things well, just....after awhile. Someone asked me at a party how long he'd been walking because he's so sturdy on his feet, and the answer was three weeks. I can't blame him, I hate doing things unless I'm good at them - so he's just watching and waiting until he's sure he'll be successful :)

We've been traveling the past couple of weekends - first for a weekend with my family in the Hudson Valley. My brother is a camp director off the Taconic Parkway, and he booked a couple of hotel-style rooms for us and the rest of the crew to stay in for the weekend. We all showed up after dinner on Friday night, and then spent Saturday hitting up a semi-famous (and expensive) county fair there. We got our (OK, my dad's) money's worth even though it was pretty nasty out in the direct sunlight: we saw big horses and little ponies in the ring, watched some dirt bike jumps, ate fresh apple cider donuts, apples, and fresh peaches, went on a couple of legit rides, ate fair food, saw baby farm animals, watched a Frisbee dog display, and saw contests of dogs jumping into water (deck dogs I think it was called?). All kinds of stuff. And ended the day with some yummy milkshakes and a dip in the camp's lake.

We also went to visit my grandma, now known as GiGi (for great grandma) and spent time at the beach and playing in her yard. I brought some finger painting craft stuff, but Levi either wanted to spill the finger paints or to eat them. sooo...at least we talked about the colors. Levi loves playing in the ocean, of course, and while we were at one beach on the bay side (read: teeny tiny waves and a sandbar that Levi could have walked out on himself for quite a ways), he just sat right down in the water and played with the tiny pebbles in the sand. He will also play with his sand toys, but its a distant second, and if he could see the water he tended to walk toward it. And when standing in the water on the non-bay side, he kept trying to walk farther and farther in, even as the waves crashed and washed up to his waist. Swimming lessons start the week after next :)

Visiting GiGi was, of course, fabulous. Delicious food, great company, the beach, and getting to sleep in while she watched the little man :) He's become kind of addicted to his little sandals. We can't put them on fast enough in the mornings for him (he shoves the second one at my face while I'm trying to push his toes into the first) and he not only insists that he put them on every time he notices them by the door or by his changing table, but he brings us our own shoes to put on. Even if we've just taken our shoes off, he keeps bringing them back to be put on. It's a good thing I own about 50 pairs or shoes :)