1 is Fun!

As a first time mom to Colton, I was constantly amazed by everything and anything the boy did...and still pretty much am!  As soon as I became pregnant with Levi, I wondered if I would find the same joy in his accomplishments, personality nuances, and even failures with it being my second time around.  15 months into it I would say the answer is pretty much.  
Obviously, each major milestone that Levi has reached...rolling over, crawling, walking, sleeping through the night (particularly sleeping through the night since it took him sooo freaking long to do it!)...have been huge!  I don't think it matters how many children you have; I can't imagine it ever getting mundane to see your child take his first steps, say his first word, etc.
But I also think that for the first year particularly some of Levi's lesser significant acts may have been less acknowledged than they were with Colton.  We were busy, and overwhelmed with this whole parenting two kids things most of the time, and there were many times we didn't find the "enjoyment" in it that we did when it was just Colton.  (***by the way, I'm not saying we didn't enjoy the whole year or that we were miserable...it was just harder than it was with Colton, and just like anytime things are stressful, you often overlook some of the good...right?).

Since Levi has hit the one year mark, though, our world seems to be brightening each day.  I remember vividly from Colton how much fun this year is...how they're constantly learning: new words, new responses, new tricks.  Levi is becoming his own person...a very happy, cuddly, sometimes clingy, funny little boy and I am absolutely loving every second of it.  Some of my favorites?
  *He calls Colton "brother" and looks for him as soon as he wakes up.
  *He says "bye bye" whenever we leave anywhere...bye bye to Chipper, bye bye to the babysitters, bye bye to Target.
  *He also loves to wave, but it's a very deliberate hand bend...and he usually turns his hand backwards to do it for some reason.
  *He loves to share and often goes around delivering snacks, toys, etc. to anyone in the room.
  *He gets absolutely giddy when he sees bubbles, even just a bubble bottle.
  *He's starting to learn his animal sounds.  He does a really good cow, sheep, dog, and duck, butI must say he's particularly good at monkey and elephant is probably my favorite...he sticks out his tongue and spits!
  *He does the cutest stomp in place if you tell him to "dance dance."  (Interestingly enough, I read in Colton's blog that he did the same thing at this age!).
  *He tries to jump whenever he sees Colton do it or if he hears the word.  But jump is often just him squatting down and grunting.
  *He kisses and blows kisses when asked...probably my absolute favorite!  Nothing better than a sweet baby kiss:)
  *Whenever I pick him up (which is pretty darn frequently considering he asks for "up" all the time), he burries his head in my shoulder and jumps up and down in my arms
  *He loves to play peek-a-boo.
  *He can point out most of his body parts, but particularly enjoys pulling up his shirt to show off his "bel-bel."  For that matter, he enjoys pulling up anyone's shirt to show their belly as well, so be warned!
  *He claps whenever he hears "yay!"

As we were driving to pick up Colton from school the other day, I was watching Levi in the mirror, seeing his ear-to-ear grin every time I said "where's Levi?" and he hid his eyes under his little hands (I know, safe!).  Anyways, I definitely had a moment in which I was a bit sad that we'll never have another one-year old again to watch.  The moment passed as I realized we would also have to go through another pregnancy...and another newborn stage... (both of which I'm not so much a big fan of!), but it did make me realize that I should really cherish each of these moments.  My baby is growing up so quickly...