Levi update

Levi has become more talkative in the last few months.  He'll even put together simple sentences now and again, although most of his communication sounds like sweet broken English :)  A few of my favorites: his affirmative answer is usually a clear "Yes" or "alright" (Jake's used to be "uh-huh"), Levi will say "love you mommy!", "hold you" when he wants to be picked up, "naked Levi!" when he runs around naked after a bath...or after removing his diaper even when he's not supposed to! Yeah, the lesson that he needs to wear a onesie to bed every night was learned the hard way :) And let's not forget what he says most often - "Sorry." His mischievous side has caused him to get a lot of practice with that one :)

He's learning so many new things...despite that I feel guilty for not spending more time one on one with him.  He surprised me the other day by counting! I was counting something and started out, "One", and he jumped in, "Two!" - didn't know the kid could count! Thank you Mickey Mouse! Really, I tested him & he can count to 10 pretty consistently! Of course usually he doesn't want to perform for me, but when I offer him a "treat", he'll happily do it, then run to his seat at the table and wait for candy :)  He's also pretty good with his colors & we're working on shapes & he'll repeat the whole alphabet, but can't say it all on his own yet.

Ok, so something funny.  Can't remember if I've mentioned this before or not, but this boy is super paranoid about bugs...especially flies.  He runs from them & screams if they come near him or land on him. He's definitely my son. :)

And if I haven't talked about his eating habits lately...Levi is a social eater.  Basically he wants whatever we're eating.  Even if the same thing is on our plate, he'd prefer ours. He'll come up close and say, "Bite too, bite too." With his sweet little face, how can we resist? Oh yeah, and he likes to drink the milk in the bowl after the cereal is gone...even if it wasn't his cereal :) Jake & Daddy won't drink theirs, but I think that's the best kind of milk, all sugary.  Again, definitely my son.

The little things...

As I tucked Jake into bed tonight, I said prayer as usual.  (Jake usually says it at dinner time and I say it at bedtime.) My face was close to his & during the prayer he kissed me on the cheek.  Made me smile. Made my day.

Current bedtime routine for Jake includes reading a couple books, rocking in the rocking chair & singing a few songs while rubbing his tummy or back (usual favorites are Wheels on the Bus, You Are My Sunshine, Itsy Bitsy Spider & Mary Had a Little Lamb), then tucking him in and saying prayer.  A few nights ago I had a headache & went to bed early. Jake came into my room & brought some extra blankets to tuck me in, then HE said prayer (which included requesting that my head would feel better soon :)), gave me a kiss goodnight & told me he'd be downstairs if I needed him. :) I love him.

Jake's thoughts on church...

So, for the last couple of years, Jake has complained every time he realizes we're going to church. He always has a good time in primary once he's there and he LOVES going to school, so I can't figure out exactly why he doesn't want to go to primary every week.  Seriously, it brings on the whole body collapse with a whine & pout.  I've asked him why many times before, but he always says the same thing, "I just don't like it!"  So I pressed the issue yesterday and asked, "Why? Are there monsters there?" "No." "Are they mean to you?" "No.", "Well why don't you want to go?" And he exclaims, "I just don't like wearing my tie!" So I said, "Ok, I'll make you a deal.  You don't have to wear your tie tomorrow." And he perks right up and says, "Oh.  Well I don't like my shirt either." (Too bad, still had to wear the shirt :))

Then on the way to church this morning he told me he wanted to go to Levi's class & play with toys.  I told him, "No, you have to go to your own class."  He said, " But Levi gets to play with toys & I want to play with toys!" I replied, "Well his class is for babies." And Jake said, "Fine, then I'll just stop eating, so I'll stop growing and turn back into a baby." Although clever, too bad for him that it really doesn't work that way :)

Lexi's dreams

Jake & I were watching Lexi sleep & noticed that she smiled.  I said, "She must be dreaming." Jake said, "Maybe she's dreaming of princesses and castles.  I really want to build a golden castle for you and make you a princess...but we don't have any wood."  Oh man, too bad. :)

First Days with the Boys & Lexi

I am so proud of Jake's sweetness toward Lexi! He just loves her so much! He told me on the first day we brought her home, "thanks mom for getting us this baby sister! She's so cute & little & I just love her!"

He's very sensitive to her needs too. A couple day ago I was putting Levi to bed & Lexi was downstairs. Jake came up to tell me she was crying. I told him I'd be down in a minute. He came up 3 times to remind me she was still crying in a 5 minute time period. By that point he was crying too & told me she must be sad because she thinks we're all dead! I said, "No, she's just hungry." So then he asked me, "well, did you do your pumping today?" Yes, I reassured him we had plenty of milk for her. :)

He's also very worried about her umbilical cord. It looks like an owie to him & he's very concerned that it hurts her. I have to reassure him at every diaper change that it doesn't bother her, everyone had that when they were babies, and it will fall off soon & we'll get to see her belly button.

Jake likes to hold her too. He's very responsible - he knows an adult has to sit with him & he has to be so careful because she's so fragile. He held her last night for 45 minutes while watching tv & what I really loved was seeing him periodically lean down to kiss her head. :)  At one point though, Lexi let one rip! Jake looked down at her, then at me, and asked, "What was that?" I smiled and told him she just pooped - silly girl, she poops in her sleep! He slowly started moving the hand that was underneath her bottom away and said, "Let's change her diaper." I said, "I'll change it in a couple minutes." Then he told me, "Um, let's change it NOW!" :) I think he was a little grossed out. :)

Today we were eating lunch while Lexi was napping in her swing and she let out a whimper.  Jake quickly looked to Michael & I and asked, "Could somebody calm our baby sister down?" A couple minutes went by & she started to wiggle and fuss a little more. I was in the process of getting her bottle ready, but since I wasn't fast enough, Jake thoughtfully went over to her swing to give her the passy and hold it in her mouth until I came over.  When he saw me he told me, "Nevermind, I'll do it myself."

Basically I could document something every day to show how he looks out for her! I love it!

And Levi has done really well with her too! We're pleasantly surprised :)  He likes to pat the top of her head and say, "Soft". And he likes to keep tabs on where she is.  If he can't see her, he'll ask in a questioning tone, "Baby?" and want to see where she is.  He's done really well about not taking her passy - hers are pink and purple and his is green and he's been very accepting of that.  He does think she should have her passy at all times; he seems concerned if she doesn't and tries to push it in her mouth...just trying to be helpful :)  And yesterday he started giving her kisses on the cheek, which is just the cutest thing ever!  I'm so proud of the tenderness displayed by both of the boys!!!

Grammy & Papa

Our kids are so fortunate to have such a great Grammy & Papa!  The boys went to stay with them for the week when Lexi was born.  Grammy bought special treats, Papa blacked out a bedroom so Levi could sleep better & built a water fort in the backyard for them to play in! The boys had a great time!  They watched lots of Shaun the Sheep, Papa & Levi took naps together, Jake helped Grammy bake & decorate cupcakes for Levi's birthday & they spent a lot of time in their water fort!  Jake was so excited knowing he got to stay there for 6 days, but partway through got a little homesick.  They came to visit us in the hospital and came home on Levi's birthday to celebrate.  Grammy made a nice steak dinner & we had cupcakes & ice cream. Levi was so cute as he sat smiling while we sang "Happy Birthday" to him & blew out his candles.  I'm sure he felt special and we just love his cute face so much!!  Then on the day they came home (the 17th) Jake told Grammy he had fun but he was really excited to go home and see his...baby sister! (No mention of Mom & Dad :)) But he reassured her that he'd like to come back another time and stay for 100 days!  Not sure if I could go for that...although it was nice to have a couple days at home with just Michael, Lexi & I, I missed my boys!!!

So Refined

Jake remembers our trips to Hawaii & Virginia Beach last year and has been talking about flying on a jet again lately.  He told me the other day, "Mom, I'd really like to go to Paris."  I had to laugh - how refined!  Forget Disneyland!  The same day he was requesting strawberries with whip cream at lunch.  I guess he's already interested in the finer things in life :)

Sneaky, Sneak

So, lately Jake has been working on his pick pocketing skills...not sure if we should be concerned :)  Most often the preferential items are Michael's cell phone or wedding ring.  He told us the other day, "I tiptoe, tiptoe, tiptoe & take the things I like best! Sneaky, sneak!" Little thief :)

Best Brother

I am amazed at how responsible and thoughtful our sweet Jake is for just being 4 years old.  He loves Levi and is totally looking forward to having a baby sister too!  The other day they were outside playing basketball.  Levi was too short to make a basket, so Jake assisted him by picking him up so he could reach...many times!  I love that he wanted to make sure Levi was having fun and was able to play instead of just wanting to entertain himself!  He loves to give him hugs and kisses and he always volunteers to get Levi from his room when he wakes up from his nap.  And Levi loves Jake & always does his best to imitate him.  Of course we have issues when one of them does something naughty & the other just escalates it, but I suppose that's to be expected :)  And sometimes it does feel like we're raising monkeys, bears or some other type of wild animals when they're wrestling, screaming or just being crazy, but I can't say enough how much we love them!!!

The other day Grammy & Papa were over visiting and Grammy offered Levi a drink of her water.  Jake leaned over and asked, "Does that have peanuts in it?" Puzzled, Grammy said "No." Jake said, "Good, because Levi can't have peanuts, he's allergic." That's that responsible side I mentioned!

So Excited for Baby Sister!

Jake is counting down the days until his baby sister joins the family! He is so, so excited!  We had a gift card to spend & I told him we were going to pick out a toy for her.  He said he really wanted to get her a garbage truck with roses all over it! "She would love it!"

He helped me set up the swing and pack n play for her too, then told me, "Baby Sister is going to love our home!"  And I'm sure she'll know she's loved :)

Our Sweet Jake-Man

I fell & hurt my knees on the tile while I was carrying Levi (keep in mind, 9 months pregnant!) Jake overheard me tell Michael, "What if I can't get up in the morning because I'm too stiff?" So Jake told me, "You can do it Mama because you're really brave!" He's so supportive :)  Then, the following week I mentioned that my knee was still hurting & I was on my way out the door to run errands.  Jake brought me his blanket and told me if I need to bend over (kneel) while I'm out, put the blanket down first and put my knees on that so they won't hurt. So thoughtful :)

Levi Update

I really can't say enough that Levi is VERY, VERY busy! He runs from one thing to the next.  He climbs on the kitchen table, climbs the stove, likes to help sweep or vacuum or put water in cups - he'll say, "help me" meaning "help you"!

He LOVES ice...or whatever we're eating, although he is a finicky eater.  He likes bananas, grapes, & chocolate covered strawberries, but any other fresh fruit he just chews and spits it out.  He likes cheese & crackers & yogurt too. And, he drinks lots of water!

He likes bathtime, LOVES balls & balloons & the Berenstain Bears cartoon.  He snuggles with his passy, brown blanky, bear & moose @ bedtime...seems to be getting more addicted to the passy, and although he's only allowed to have it when he sleeps, he tries to sneak it during the day. :)

If we mention going outside, he runs to get his shoes out of the closet & try to put them on...but instantly takes them off once he's in the car!

Levi loves "If You're Happy & You Know It" and "5 Little Monkeys Swinging From the Tree" & requests those before bedtime/naptime :)

He loves to throw & can dribble a basketball & throw & catch a football - he'll be good at sports, but lots of things have been broken! He's still in the throwing food phase too...little beast.

He's very sociable, waves to everyone & holds his arms out & says, "Hold you". Everyone comments on how sweet he is!

Changes to the Boys' Room!

With Baby Sister on the way, we planned for Jake & Levi to share a room. Jake has really been looking forward to this! At first we talked about bunk beds, which Jake was very excited about and kept waiting for Levi to get big enough to sleep in a bunk bed in his room. Funny thing is that he judged Levi's readiness by the amount of teeth he had :) He'd tell me, "Look, Levi's getting so many teeth! He's almost ready for bunk beds!"

But then we decided to skip bunk beds and go with twin captain's beds instead...but Jake was still excited. So we moved Levi into Jake's room a couple weeks ago, but didn't want to hassle with training him to sleep in the twin bed yet, so he started out in his pack in play. By the first night, Jake was annoyed with Levi in his room. Said he kept making noise & was bothering him when he was trying to go to sleep! Nice, that novelty wore off quick :) So then Jake moved into the loft and slept in a sleeping bag.

A week later Levi figured out how to get out of the pack n play, so there was no keeping him in it! Fortunately, he did SO WELL learning to sleep in his twin bed. (Just the mattress on the floor at this point). So, his sweet, small body now officially sleeps in a giant twin bed! And yes, just like when Jake was learning to sleep in his toddler bed, we are not above locking our kids INTO their room - works great :)

Valentine's Day

So we had an eventful Valentine's Day this year! Michael & I are not big on gift exchanging, but he did give me some really beautiful tulips that were a nice surprise. But I have to say that our gifts from Jake were super special! He had a Valentine party at preschool and came home with some goodies that he decided to share. He was so excited to give me his beloved heart shaped balloon and give a cookie to Levi. I asked him if I could have a cookie too and he said yes. There were 2 left, a big one and a small one. I asked him which one he wanted me to have, and he said, "Well, you're big and I'm small, so you can have the big one Mom." So thoughtful :) And then he was so proud to give Daddy his present too...a half eaten ring pop! Daddy graciously & excitedly accepted the gift - Jake made sure to tell him he only licked it a little :)

Later that evening Miss Jessica came to babysit while Michael and I went to dinner with some other Cluff family members. Levi gave her a hard time after bedtime and was fussy - teething, end of a cold, just plain cranky. We got home & put him back to bed, but he was up again at midnight. Normally Michael would have just given him a drink of water (a requirement every time he wakes up!), changed his diaper and put him back to bed, all in the dark. But this night, Michael couldn't find the diapers, so he carried Levi into our bedroom to ask where they were & I could clearly see Levi's poor face was very abnormally swollen! His eyes were swollen almost shut and his lips were so swollen they were hard to the touch. Off to urgent care in the middle of the night for us! Turns out he has a peanut allergy - Daddy was trying to be nice earlier in the evening by sharing a Reese's peanut butter cup...can't do that again! But now we know, and ultimately all ended well.