Sweet Words

Scott and I have been amazed over the past couple of months at the speed and extent to which Levi's vocabulary has grown. It's like someone flipped a switch and he suddenly started repeating everything we said. He went from a total Barney fan to being obsessed with Thomas the Train in about two weeks. He knows at least twelve engines' names (Thomas is his favorite, of course) and knows at least six or seven of them by sight alone. Crazy!

We've often wondered if Levi has any memory of Aaron or our long stay in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. We have pictures of Aaron in several places in the house, but Levi usually doesn't mention them. One morning earlier this week, we were standing by the fridge gathering a juice cup and heading to school. Levi was looking up at several snapshots of Aaron on the fridge and he started naming off everyone he saw in the pictures. "Daddy," "Nanny," "Bebi" (his name for himself), he said, pointing at everyone. I pointed to a picture of a sleeping Aaron and said "who's this?" not really expecting him to know. Instead, he startled me by saying plainly "dat's Ahhh-non...he's night-night." I handed him his juice and smiled because it warmed my heart to know that he hasn't forgotten his brother. He smiled at me and I told him, "that's right. Aaron lives in heaven with Jesus." "Jesus," he said, and headed for the door.

Our conversation made my day. He is a proud big brother, still.

Potty News

Okay, so I haven't shared the news about potty training yet. I wanted to see if it was for real before I jinxed us. We did potty training over Labor Day Weekend--the three day method--no holds barred, hard-core PT. After two days of crying (me crying, not Levi) and cleaning up puddles, and a week of holding our breath, Scott and I are proud to say that Levi is officially a BIG BOY. This is a picture of the only acceptable underwear ON the big boy. So much for all the Cars undies, superheroes undies and Elmo drawers. Maybe they'll get some play someday...

Oh, and here is a picture of his sticker chart from over the weekend. You will see that he took plenty of opportunities to use his potty and get his sticker PRIZE. Fun times...

HIP HIP HOORAY FOR LEVI!

Worms

Yesterday afternoon the weather was so pretty that Levi and I played outside for hours while Scott did yard work (sorry Daddy). We slid, played with sand, found sticks, pulled up grass, poked holes in watermelon, blew bubbles, etc. etc. Scott had been pulling weeds in the flowerbeds and moving some dirt around when he discovered a worm. Levi wasn't interested in seeing it at the time, so Scott threw it on the ground. Some thirty minutes later, I was sweeping and washing off the deck. I stepped inside for about 6 seconds to put away the broom. As I was about to walk outside, Levi met me at the door holding the giant, squirmy WORM in his hands. I calmly escorted Levi outside and we returned Mr. Worm to the dirt. This is what he did shortly thereafter.