Levi is 4!

Loving: Everything farm related, he is the cow man. Also school, baking, talking, eating, and playing outside. 

Hating: This is the same as last year - being told no! Especially if it is a no to some sort of food item he NEEDS to have. Also he is getting better now but all fall he threw a huge fit whenever I left home without him. Daycare was only rough for a few weeks but he continued to get mad whenever I had night class for the entire semester. 

Eating: Still a great eater but mostly enjoys fruit (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries,grapes, oranges, clementines, grapefruit, apples, peaches, pears, etc...I don't think he could pick a favorite), anything with sugar, pancakes, mac & cheese, pizza, etc. There really isn't a whole lot he'll turn down. He doesn't like chili beans and always picks them out. Other than that, another pretty solid eater. And the quantity he eats is downright frightening sometimes. He is still the pokiest.eater.ever. Daycare says he eats so nice & is always the first one done. Not at home. We're always waiting for him at home!

Reading: He still loves a variety of books. His favorites are probably "Levi's Lost Calf" and a book about kindergarten that Charlie got last year at round-up. He also loves the big Apple Tree Farm book. He is much better about picking different things whereas Charlie always wanted the same ones (in the same order).

Writing & Drawing: eh, he'll trace his name and can make an L & I but other than that there's not much interest in writing or drawing. He has started coloring a little bit now. We were shocked when he colored for 10 minutes one night.

Doing: EVERYTHING!!! I often say that he is a 2 year old trapped in a 4 year olds body. He is just always moving and almost always up to something. He does a pretty good job playing by himself & has a pretty good imagination so he's always making up stories about his farm and his cows. Also still does plenty of digging in cupboards and drawers, dragging stuff out, and generally making sure I am giving him 100% of my attention 100% of the time. 

Talking about: Which skidloader he's going to buy from town, his cows and his farm. At daycare he always has plenty of stories to swap with Spencer at lunch time. He is ALWAYS TALKING. We were saying how we always thought Charlie talked a lot but no, Levi has him beat.  

Singing: ALL THE TIME! He loves to sing. And we still sing the same set of songs before nap & bedtime every day. He still has a lot of Christmas songs heavy in the rotation. 

Wearing: He spent most of the winter in a stripes phase. Pretty sure preschool teachers probably thought he only had 2 shirts because he always insisted on the same ones. (Charlie was in a button down phase at this age). He also prefers sweatpants to jeans (he gets that from me). Also, he hates wearing pajamas, unless they are "tight" because the regular ones wiggle around too much while he's sleeping. Most nights he sleeps in shorts & short sleeves. Whereas Charlie sleeps on the top bunk with long pants and a sweatshirt most nights. He also changes before naps but if I'm lucky I can get him to put the same clothes back on again.

Watching: hahahahahaha. Levi does not watch anything. Sometimes at daycare he will say he "watched" a show but i'm pretty sure he probably just stares at the TV and has no idea what is actually going on. I've never caught him totally zoned on a show. He still likes Mighty Machines, so he says, but really he will pay attention for about 2 minutes and then take off. 

Sleeping: Still needs a nap everyday, but can get by without. Sleeps from about 8pm-7am, sometimes a bit earlier on each side since Charlie is so tired and ready for bed pretty early. For the last few months, he's been getting up to go to the bathroom at least once, if not 2-3x during the night. Which would be fine, if he didn't yell and cry until one of us got up with him. Even 1x would be tolerable but OMG on the nights where he's up multiple times yelling for us. And he goes to the bathroom 100% on his own so I'm not sure why he needs a chaperone. He promised me he would stop this when he turned 4, but I'm still waiting :) 


Feelings about family: He still loves Nora a lot but now that she can walk she has learned to just avoid him. He can be very helpful with her when he's not smothering her or trying to carry her around. Charlie and Levi are BFFs and also not friends who are never playing with the other again...usually within 2 minutes. They can and do play together so nice but Charlie tries to be bossy and Levi does not appreciate that. It seems like they'll play just fine if I just sit and watch them, but as soon as I get up and try to do something it all heads south. I'd say Levi is a mama's boy big time, but he likes hanging out with dad outside and "workin on the truck".  
He also likes playing with his cousins and I think it's because he can boss them around a little bit ;) Grandpas & grandmas are high on the list too, and he's always "calling Grandpa" to check on cows, skidloaders, hay, etc. 
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This wild middle child. So sweet one minute & so mean the next! He does not like not getting his way and is a hitter. He is most aggressive to Charlie & to me. It's so tricky because I firmly believe nobody deserves to get hit, yet Charlie knows exactly what he's doing and he knows that Levi is going to smack him. We've been working to teach Levi how to redirect his anger and not get physical but he can be a hothead. Threes (& twos) were definitely much more challenging for Levi than they were for Charlie. He is just sooooooo emotional.  Thankfully, (?) this terrible behavior only comes out at home. He's never gotten into trouble at daycare or school and is always perfect. 

Oh Levi. He has everyone under his spell :)