Levi

I dedicated a post to Ian and Caleb, so now it's Levi's turn. He's such a sweet little guy. He can really get into what he's playing, he gets really mad when I make him stop to eat. He likes trains and cars and buses and his backpack and most of all lately, the missionary "little people" type toys we have. He has them ride in the bus, take naps, drive cars, you name it.

I think he looks like a spaceman in this one! He's wearing the hood to Ian's coat.

Levi loves to play with Caleb and Ian, he loves to be silly with them, but he also likes to just play by himself, like with the cars and trains.

Exactly 2 years from the day Levi was discharged from the NICU he returned to the hospital to do a swallow study - they sat him in this chair and brought the x-ray machine to the left side of his head, and gave him pudding and milk that had barium in it, and did a video x-ray (it has more technical terms, of course) to see on the screen how he swallowed (that's not his profile on the screen, that was the last person's). And from that, it was determined that he needs his tonsils out! John thinks I'm a little crazy to be happy about this, but I am! The little guy can't eat. He can only eat pureed food. He's interested in trying new foods, and will suck on or even bite pieces off foods....but he spits them right back out. He'll even bite through a whole apple slice and spit out each bite, and then ask for more. But he can't chew and can't get any solid food down without gagging. So, I think that getting rid of his tonsils will be a huge help, and that then the therapy he's getting (plus more he'll get afterward) will be able to help him learn to eat. The recovery might not be so fun, though!

I laughed when I went in to find Levi one day, he had got down the wipes because Eeyore needed his diaper changed :) He's really observant, and things need to be done the right way, things need to be in their right places (except the toys that are all over the house, of course :) ), drawers and cupboards need to be shut, even if I'm trying to use something in them.....

This is Levi when his therapist was here - he was playing in cornmeal. As you can tell from the video below, he doesn't like things on him; but he actually did pretty well with this cornmeal - he had it all over him! He was so distracted by this blue-haired guy, I suppose, that he forgot to mind the cornmeal touching him.

So here's a video of Levi - part of his therapy is sensory-oriented. Some kids have problems with things touching them, all over their bodies, making it hard for them to want to have different textures and foods in their mouths. So, part of what she does is use things such as suckers, that stimulate his mouth, but also she does sensory activities, like playing in the cornmeal from the picture above. She also brings beans and I also have some for him to play in; with Caleb around it's easy to tell the differences between them. Caleb will get in and get covered, Levi tries not to touch it, as you can see. Next there's him singing while playing the piano, and finally my favorite - he always asks, "What are you doing, Mommy?" and I answer with what I'm doing and ask him what he's doing - and I love his answer - "oh, pretty good".