Levi...1.5

No freaking way!!!  That's what I found myself saying yesterday...and it wasn't from the patriotic overload.  As of yesterday, my sweet baby boy is officially 18 months old!  In some ways, he seems  older to me only because I genuinely can barely remember life when we were just a family of three.  He really does make our little family feel complete.  But when it dawns on me that my baby is really no longer a baby, well that just about freaks me out.
Luckily, I am completely in love with the little boy that Levi is becoming.  He is so different than his big brother in a lot of ways, and it is fun...and challenging at times...to parent a new kind of child.  Where Colton is hesitant and shy, Levi is wide open.  He will give just about anyone a hug, high five, or smile. And boy, does he give the sweetest hugs and kisses, sometimes grabbing your whole face to plant a good one right on your lips...I melt!  I have a feeling he just may be the life of the party one day!
 Just as Levi tends to have bigger positive reactions to things than I can remember Colton having, he also has bigger negative reactions!  Colton really never went through the tantrum phase, but Levi has begun...and I have a feeling he is still saving his best for us!
Like his older brother, Levi is active, active, active.  The boy does not stop.  He climbs things he shouldn't be able to climb, runs laps around the house, and chases his brothers with a vengeance, cracking up the whole time.  Levi is a much bigger talker at this point than Colton was.  His current favorite word..."no!"  But he does it with the cutest shake of the head and most emphatic tone that it cracks me up every time...probably going to regret that later on.
He's also starting to finally discover the iPad...much to our delight (see above about him being so active...this at least sits him still for a few minutes).
Levi is a real lover!  He lights up when his big brother is around (at least until he takes something away from him).  And I'm not being biased when I say the boy has a real special love for his mommy.  It may be because we have pretty much spent every moment together since he was born, but my boy doesn't let me too far out of his sights.  Obviously, sometimes it gets a bit tiresome, but I know it won't be like that forever and I try to cherish every moment!
I remembered doing a little picture with "loves" of Colton at 1 1/2 and thought it would be fun to do the same for Levi.

And just as a real quick comparison, here is Colton's 18 month photo

                               

I was going to mention how different they are, but actually it's amazing how similar they are.  Especially because I can't believe I forgot to include Levi's dee-dee as one of his loves and I probably could have done climbing and books as well!  Oh well, either way, they're both pretty special boys...at least in our world!