A Sword Fight

Sam engaged Levi in a sword fight using vacuum cleaner attachments. It was too funny--I just had to grab the camera.

The Cheesecake Factory

For Sam's birthday, we celebrated with Mom and Dad Thurgood by going to The Cheesecake Factory. Levi was really lovin' the bread and chowed down on several pieces. I noticed that he was choking, so I jumped up to help him, but everyone else could still see his face and said he was fine and had worked it out. Then two seconds later, he THREW UP ALL THE BREAD! It was everywhere and it smelled yucky! So we had to strip him down to his undershirt and diaper. The rest of dinner was uneventful, but Levi was getting pretty restless toward the end so Grandpa took him outside to play while we waited for the check. Grandpas are great because they let you do whatever you want. This time Grandpa let Levi play in a fountain. I think Levi might have liked yelling at the water more than playing in it.

Essence of Levi: New Skills and Talents

Levi has been developing exponentially over the last month. In the first year of his life, most of his development was marked by physical tasks he was now able to accomplish. Now, Levi's development is apparent not only in new physical abilities but also in new cognitive abilities. He has truly become a mimic, imitating just about everything Sam and I do. For example, he loves to sweep (we even had to buy him his own broom that is light enough for him to haul around), but he often insists on trying to wear my apron while he sweeps because Mom does. Another wonderful example is the other day Sam read our Dilbert-a-Day calendar, laughed, then handed it to me. I read it and laughed. Levi was not about to be left out... he demonstrated his desire for the calendar (by grunting and reaching, as usual), then he looked at it for minute and started laughing a fake laugh. It was hilarious.

Here is one of Levi's new physical abilities: climbing. A little scary, as he now tries to climb in and out of the bathtub, his high chair, the shopping cart....




Here is one of Levi's new cognitive abilities: mimicking. So Levi loves the great outdoors and would stand at our sliding door banging on the glass and pointing outside. We would take him out on the balcony so he could point at the birds and everything else he could possibly see, but one of us would have to stay out there the entire time because the railing is not up to code (a problem with living in an older building) and Levi could easily fall through the posts. Well, I got the awesome idea (thanks to Mom and Dad Clements) of buying a piece of lattice work and using wire to attach it to the balcony railing. Levi watched intently as I cut the wire and then used pliers to tightly twist it around the balcony posts. As soon as I finished and put down my tools, Levi was ready to show me he knew how to do it, too.

(Sorry... some of this video is WAY close up. I was backed into a corner.)

Essence of Levi: Over the Head, Around the Neck

I can just imagine what is often going through Levi's mind: "Oh, this is an object of any sort? Let's see if it will go over my head and then hang around my neck." Luckily, here it is just diapers. However, cords are his true love. My new motto should be "constant vigilance". The cutest new effort this fascination has brought about is Levi trying to dress himself, including socks and shoes. But... that's going to take (A LOT) more practice.

Essence of Levi: Books

Levi loves books: listening to them, reading them, standing on them, destroying them.... Here's proof.




(Did you notice how Levi tried to put the books back on the shelf? He is such a good cleaner-upper... provided he doesn't injure himself in the process.)

Essence of Levi

So I thought is would be fun to take some videos just trying to capture Levi in his essence. He is such a character, and it is so fun to just watch him as he goes about his business. Hopefully these videos will give you a taste of Levi's developing personality.... especially since that was my point in shooting them. :)

p.s. Most of these are pretty much silent films with the occasional sound of my bum scooting along the carpet as I move further away from the approaching Levi or my "sultry" voice talking to him every once in a while. Oh, but the good news is, I did catch him babbling a little bit!

Birthday Cake

I found another (shorter) video of Levi with his birthday cake. Here's our birthday boy really getting into the spirit of first birthdays!

Flip Flop

Finally, we're all up to date! Hooray! I will try to be better about updating the blog in a more timely manner. All you Clements' will recognize this patented move. Here are Levi and Sam with their new trick: the Flip Flop.

BIRTHDAY BOY!!!! HIP HIP HOORAY!

Finally, here is Levi's birthday. We're sad that everyone wasn't here to celebrate with us, but we are glad that Grandma and Grandpa Thurgood could be here. I think Levi really liked his birthday. While he was taking his morning nap, Sam and I decorated the house with balloons, streamers, and a "Happy Birthday" banner. Levi thought it was a pretty cool thing to wake up to. I made him a basketball cake, since our basketball is currently probably his favorite toy. From Mom and Dad, Levi got a big ol' Tonka truck and from G&G Thurgood he got a smaller, soft Tonka truck and some blocks. G&G Clements also got something for Levi, but we are still waiting on UPS to deliver it.

A Very White Leap Day

Our leap day looked... white. Very white. I remember my OB/GYN telling me how lucky I was to be having a Spring baby. So far, I wouldn't really consider Levi's birthday as being Spring. Here we are a day before Levi's big 0-1 (as Ben T. put it) enjoying the "1-2 inches" (you might be able to tell in the video, it is a bit more than that) of snow that was forcasted. I have decided to post both the video clips that we took because Levi's wipe out are pretty cool. Keep in mind, in classic Murphy Law's fashion, Levi only crashed when we were filming. Of course.

We've got a Right Hander

This video represents one of those once-in-a-lifetime things: I actually caught on video the very first attempt of one of Levi's "firsts". Levi grabbed a pen and went to work on his first drawing. I love this video because it just shows so many of Levi's mannerisms and his character. Sorry, it is a bit long and doesn't have much audio-- it just really captures Levi. Here he is about two weeks shy of his first birthday.

Belly Laugh

I had to run and grab the camera to film this. Levi (11 months) and Sam were playing right before bedtime one night, and Levi's laugh was just hilarious. It is always right before bedtime when Levi gets the silliest... I think that's a Thurgood trait, or at least a Kelsey trait as Sam will attest.

First Steps

Levi first took a couple steps back in December, but this is the first time we caught it on tape. Here is Levi in Janurary (10 1/2 months) taking a few shaky steps. We are now proud to announce that he is officially walking. Granted, he does still crawl quite a bit, but he at least starts out walking almost all the time and can sometimes make it all the way across the room.

Levi's First Christmas!

Here's a couple videos of Levi's first Christmas. We had a nice, long, drawn-out Christmas. I really liked it that way- Levi could open a present and play with it for a while. Then when we was ready, he could open another present. The first video is of Levi first thing Christmas morning at Grandma and Grandpa Thurgood's. The second video is of Levi Christmas afternoon at Grandma and Grandpa Clements'.

Oh Fudge!

So was back in November, Levi (8 1/2 months old) was being a bit fussy, and I was getting tired of struggling with him so I set him on the floor in front of my chair. A minute or two later I thought to myself, "Hmmm... it smells like chocolate. That's weird." Then I looked down at Levi. Mom Thurgood had given us some fudge she'd made and it was sitting in a tupperware container on the floor. Well... Levi, being the brilliant child that he is, figured out how to open the container and was helping himself to some fudge. It was quite possibly the cutest, and biggest, chocolate mess ever!