All Boy, All the Time

Levi is all boy. I remember when we had the 20 week ultrasound for him and they told us he was a boy, and my first thought was, "How am I going to do this? I don't do boys?" Now granted, my two girls were very active, bright and quite spirited, but with them I knew how to play and dress and bond. But a boy? What did I know about snakes and snails and puppy dog tails? In the four years I have been the mother of a son, I have learned a few things. Boys turn everything into a weapon. They throw, hit or shoot with anything they can get their hands on. We don't model this behavior (although I have been known to kick a few things) so I have no idea where he gets it from. We have had to put away everything that resembles a sword, including the extendable duster I bought and which promptly got bent when he used it to start whacking the sofa. I managed to clean ONE ceiling fan before he broke it.

Boys smell. They sweat and get grimy and they stink. Everything he wears gets filthy even if I never let him out of the house. How does he do that???? He also rips holes in his clothes, wears out shoes and has even managed to tear up pajamas (again, how???) Thankfully he has recently begun taking baths again. Thank goodness! We had gotten him to stand in the tub and get scrubbed or take a shower, so he was getting clean, but just last week he decided baths were fun and he sat down and played. For those of you counting, that was from the end of June until now. He is also stubborn. I repeat, stubborn.

He is more cuddly than my girls, but also more likely to accidentally give me a head-butt and crack my nose. He climbs everything like a monkey and then wants to jump off. He is fearless and coordinated beyond all measure. He is loud and makes sound effects for everything. He spontaneously throws himself to the ground making explosion noises, rolls around and then jumps up and runs off. He likes to ram his head into things.
But one big surprise about him is that at the miniscule age of 2 years old, he named his little manhood. Toot. He and Toot have a close relationship. They have shared many fun times, such as the day he tried to hold a paintbrush with Toot and help me paint, or the day Toot made an appearance to wave Hi to the family. He speaks about Toot as though it/he were his best buddy. Toot tells him things and he relays the messages to us. Toot doesn't like underwear. Toot has a boo boo. Toot this, Toot that.

On Friday, Nanny was changing the baby's diaper when Levi asked why she didn't have a toot. Nanny explained that boys have toots and girls don't. He looked serious for a minute, and then said, "I don't think my Daddy has a toot". Ummm, I think we will just leave that one alone.......

Hey Levi, do you want a Dum Dum sucker?????