Genetics

So we have a confession to make: we are terrible about remembering to give Levi a bath. We do manage it about once each week, and sometimes we get into a groove of twice each week, but usually several nights in a row pass where one of us says "man, we forgot to give Levi a bath tonight." He never gets to the stinky phase, but grimy is a state that he tends to exist in at times :)

Friday night, while the bathwater was running, Levi was putting his toys into the tub (which he for some reason does one at a time.... I had stripped him down to his socks and diaper, and went back to his room to get jammies and a towel. I hear a splash, so walk back to the bathroom - and he jumped in with his socks and diaper still on. I started laughing and ran to grab the camera. He seemed to notice after a minute that he was getting waterlogged, so he started climbing back out again. Silly boy! Although I must confess, I have more than once climbed into the shower with at least one item of clothing still on :)

While Levi's favorite word is still "No!" his second favorite word appears to be "cookie." If we need something from him, we'll ocassionally bribe him with his three favorite things to eat: a nutrigrain bar, a cheese stick, or juice (which is actually 90 percent water mixed with V8 or sometimes OJ). However, the other night Tim was trying to convince Levi to come inside after playing in our backyard for awhile. Levi insists on staying outside, but also would like one of us to stay out with him, regardless of the temperature or wind speed. He'll stand at the door sobbing to go outside, then stand at the door sobbing if we step back inside for a moment. So Tim offered him the usual to get him to come back inside - but he just shouted "no!" to each one. But. When Tim offered him a cookie, which he usually only gets when he's been exceptionally well-behaved, he immediately stopped crying and asked to be picked up and brought inside. Again, not much to be surprised about; I spent a good $40 this year on girl scout cookies, almost all of which are thin mints. And at least he regularly says thank you without being asked these days. Now how to keep that trend for the next 17 years...

I forgot I had more bathtime stories. They are at least memorable, if not often :) Recently, Levi discovered (entirely without direction or provocation) that if he fillls his bath toys with water or air, puts them up against his belly, and squishes them, they make fart noises. Yep. Not yet two years old. Normally I'd totally blame Tim for teaching him something like that, but Tim says he had no part in it - Levi just started doing that one night so he ran to get the camera! I can proudly say he did not pick up that sort of habit from me, but having grown up with two brothers close in age, I was not surprised at all. In fact, my main thought was "yeah. that's about right."

Levi loves to read more and more. Some evenings we'll just sit and read book after book in the living room. He also gets to bring one book to bed every night, to look at if he doesn't feel tired or just to have next to him (OK, sometimes he cuddles with them like a teddy bear. something he might also have gotten from me...) Sometimes we can hear him reading some of the words he knows to himself - usually animal noises or words like tractor, ball, or baby. This week, one night he asked to take Chica Chica Boom Boom to bed, which I think I might have read to him two or three times in total. I loved the book when I was a child - I remember thinking - these words that sound the same are genius! That night, for a good ten minutes after he went to bed, we heard random "BOOM"s from his room.

Sharing Ice Cream

The little man also continues to carry quite the belly, even though he's lengthening out. He and a little friend had a hilarious conversation the other day - Levi was sitting on the ground, playing with a toy. he had on a onesie that his jeans came up over (instead of a baggy sweatshirt or something similar) and his buddy suddenly asked what was in Levi's belly? He poked Levi lightly, and tried to look down his shirt and then inquired if Levi had a ball in there. HILARIOUS. Levi didn't even seem to notice, and though his friends mom tried to explain how you shouldn't touch other people and make statements about how they look, Levi's little friend still wanted to know what, precisely, was in Levi's tummy?? Its a confusing world - some ladies have babies in their bellies, of course we have food in our bellies regularly. Its perfectly logical when one seems large to inquire if there's something in particular making it so. I don't know that I can or should contribute Levi's tummy shape to either Tim or I -- while I certainly match it right now, I barely filled out my clothes as a  child, and though Tim was a bit  more round when he was younger, it was mostly because of meds he was on, because now he's a beanpole. (even on a pasta+meat=all good diet as a younger guy, he still barely weighted more than me. I tell him its because I have more muscle than him).