Love Lev: 18 Months Old

Lev is 18 months old today and he is a riot. He is a good time and really fun to hang out with now. The boy likes to run everywhere, and if he is particularly happy he put his arms in the air and roars while running. This leads to a lot of stumbles and tripping, but he gets back up and keeps going. He loves each and every dog in the complex (but somehow neglects or tortures is own dog) and insists on a daily stroll to pet and hug as many dogs as he can get his hands on. Cats, crows, and squirrels in the complex are in good standing too but they don't let him hug on them. He is very inclusive and insists that if he is eating, you eat too, if he is dancing you must get up and dance with him too, if one person gets a hi five then everyone in the room gets one, etc. He is very kind hearted and generous, but stubborn too. He will grunt and point his way until he gets what he wants.

The boy loves airplanes, birds, bikes, and music and will stop whatever he is doing to point these out and admire them. His sleeping is getting better(ish) - he wakes up only once a night now, maybe twice and generally sleeps from 7-7 and takes one long 1 1/2 nap each day. His vocabulary has grown from dada, dog, bird, bike, plane, poo poo, and bye bye to variations of the following:

mama (finally)
cheese
shoes
cheers
tushie
duck
truck
tree
meow
bar (ice cream bar)
bah bah (banana)
diaper (sort of)
book
pool
boo!
my favorite: "oooooooooh" when he is excited about something like a food or cute dog
Zeze (his girlfriend)

His favorite gams are hiding in obvious places and jumping up to yell boo, and making everyone in the room pull up their shirt to show their bellybuttons when we say poopik. He does simple puzzles and plays with his train set.

He is so awesome. I love him to bits even when he is being difficult because he is so huggy and kissy. He already had his first open mouthed kiss with Zeze from Penny's and smiles when I show him her picture on my i-phone.