Colton v. Levi, Round ?

Levi hits the big 2-0 mark month this today (as in 20 months).  In his 20 months of life, I have constantly informally compared him to his big brother...and occasionally I have documented my findings for you all to compare them as well.  So guess what: here we go again...

Colton at 20 months

Levi at 20 months

                              

Appearance-wise, my boys couldn't be more opposite!  They share a lot of features and you can definitely tell they're related, BUT Colton is our olive-skinned, brown hair, dark eyes child while Levi is whitey-whitey with blue eyes and blonde hair!  I don't know how they came out so opposite, but it's kind of fun.

They've both always been peanuts in terms of height and weight, but honestly, I think Levi may be even a bit smaller than Colton was at this age.  I remember Colton having a little bit of a belly and some chubby cheeks at this age, and Levi's pretty much all slimmed out already!  

Colton also has way more/thicker hair than Levi!

Personality-wise, the boys aren't necessarily any more similar than they are in the looks department!  Colton has always been a very shy, reserved child, but not our Levi Shane.  The child is wide open!  He will say hello to anyone and everyone, and is very social when around people.  As a perfect example, when I would go into Levi's camp room to pick him up each day he would be snuggled up on a teacher's lap right in the middle of all the kids, while when I go into Colton's room to pick him up he is generally off doing something by himself (not quite in a loner way...just a "this is what I'd rather do" way).   Levi is helping to bring Colton out of his shell some, though! 

While Colton has always (and still does) struggle with sharing, Levi is actually a pretty amazing sharer.  He freely gives away just about anything he is eating and/or playing with, which also seems to be helping his older brother some (I thought the older ones were supposed to be the positive role models?!?).  

Colton, though, has always been very good at independent play, while Levi constantly needs to have someone around him.  I'm thinking both of those (the sharing and independent play) have a lot to do with their birth order!  

Colton was also regularly using the iPad and watching tv for significant time periods at this age, while Levi can't sit still long enough for either quite yet!  I always thought Colton was active, but Levi takes active to a whole new level!

From a milestone standpoint, I think they are both physically at the same place.  I used to be amazed at the structures Colton could climb at this age, but now Levi is doing the same thing so I don't know if both of my children are agile or if it's just common!  I do think they were/are both slightly ahead of the norm physically, at least from my observations of other children at this age.

Verbally, Levi is way ahead of where Colton was at 20 months.  It took Colton a long time to talk, but Levi already has a pretty large vocabulary.  I haven't taken the time to count his words or anything, but he can pretty much say anything he comes in contact with regularly: people (mom, dad, brother, Nene, Papa, Gigi), foods (juice, milk, water, snack, cracker, fruit), objects (dog, ball, book, etc), clothes, body parts, and some colors.  He loves the words "more," "again," and "no!"  He has yet to start stringing together multiple syllables quite yet (except baby which he can say) or multiple words (again except "right dar (there)" which he loves).  He is also really good at animal noises, although he usually can't show off his skill before his brother beats him to the punch!

Oh, and as the above picture shows, Levi incredibly (to me anyway) is already showing interest in potty training...and has even told us he has to use it...and actually did...a couple times!  Colton showed absolutely zero interest in potty training even up until the day we just went for it!  But in general, Levi likes to do anything and everything his big brother is doing, so I guess this is just another example.

What is really crazy to me is that at 20 months, Colton was weeks away from becoming a big brother!  We had moved him into his big boy bedroom and I really felt like he was a "big boy."  Levi still feels like such a baby to me!  Because Colton's transition to his big boy room was so painless, we will probably move Levi some time in the next few months, but he just seems so little to me.

I'm definitely a bit biased, but I personally think both my boys are pretty amazing kids.  It's so much fun to watch them develop as individuals and as brothers.  Despite their differences, they have an incredible friendship already and really do help each other grow and learn daily.