Levi turns one!

How did this happen? I am pretty sure that I just gave birth to him yesterday. I have often heard it said that as you get older, time passes by more quickly and I have definitely noticed it since having children. It really doesn't feel like it was a year ago that after a pretty short labour and no time for pain relief (other than gas and air), Levi Luke Manning came into the world!

I don't even know where to begin when talking about this boy. It was pretty much love at first sight. He is just amazing and I have loved (and hated, every Mum knows the feeling!) watching him grow and develop over the last year.

He is the most chilled out little boy around. He rarely makes a fuss about anything and the only times I really hear him cry that much are when he is really tired, when he is teething or when Caleb gets overly affectionate! Other than that, he is so happy and smiley. He has such a cheeky little personality and I can already tell that he is going to be a feisty one. He is a nightmare to get dressed as he is constantly trying to get away from me and bathing him is an adventure in and of itself! When Caleb was his age, he would lay nicely on the bath hammock thing and although he would kick like a mad thing and get me pretty wet, he would stay in one place. Levi, on the other hand, thinks it's really fun not only to swim laps of the bath but to try and stand up, attempt to turn on the taps, etc!

Levi loves being around people. If any of us are in a different room to him at home, he will wander around until he finds us. He is getting very chatty in the usual way babies his age are, saying mama, dada, baba, wow, gaga, all those fun sounds. He recently has started to dance along to music and it is the most adorable thing to see. He loves being tickled and will squeal with delight when you do it. I must admit, I am far more rough and tumble with him than I was with Caleb at that age, but I think it's down to him being a second child, bless him!

Up until Christmas, he would only commando crawl around the house but now he is properly crawling and pulling himself up on furniture, people's legs, the oven door, whatever he can get hold of! He walks along holding on to furniture and I don't think it will be that long until he is walking properly. He loves sharing a room with Caleb and quite often I can hear laughter and chatter in there in the mornings before I go in to get them both up and ready for the day. Levi has a bit of a love / hate relationship with Caleb, he adores him and always wants to be around him (Levi is literally Caleb's shadow) but he hates it when Caleb plays with his toys or tries to take things away from him.

That boy is teething like mad and he is chewing everything. His favourite things to chew at the moment are my Cons! We always catch him with them in his hands, chewing away at the heels and when we tell him not to, he throws them away and looks at us with a startled expression, it cracks me up every time.

Levi is an absolute joy and delight. Before I had him, I couldn't imagine loving a child as much as I loved Levi and it's amazing to see how much I actually adore him! He is such a wonderful addition and blessing to our family and I just love seeing him learn and grow.

Happy Birthday, baby boy!