Interesting Facts about Levi

Awesome Facts About Levi

1. He never wears pants at home. Not even in winter. He just doesn't want to. I try to make him keep them on at least until the daycare kids go home, which most of the time I manage, but sometimes, he is just too persistent! He used to actually throw his pants in the garbage, but he doesn't do that anymore.



2. He says whatever he wants. One day he wanted to go to Wal Mart, but I told him we had to stop at Fareway first, and he said, 'son of a bitch!' The funny thing is, so much of his talk is so random, but 'son of a bitch' came out making perfect sense, and in context. Oh, he got in trouble, I don't just let him get away with it, but it was really hard not to laugh...



3. He has more of a social life than I do. He has friend nights with Jered two nights a week, and they go out to supper and go swimming! For those of you who haven't been lucky enough to meet Jered, he's a good time!!



4. He can imitate any language perfectly, and one time, his teacher was testing him on his counting, and she said, "I KNOW he can do this, but when I was actually testing him, he would only do it in Spanish..." HAHA! This was when he was 4!



5. He draws better than me. Especially cars...but he's getting really good with dogs (perros), cats (gato), and mice (raton).



6. He is probably the only person I know who has licked the conveyor belt at Wal Mart. He really enjoys licking things...this has kind of slowed down since he gave the soap a curious lick...



7. He still gets to ride in the cart at stores...and this will go on until I can't lift him in there anymore! Don't want him to run away!! He gets pretty independent!



8. He laughs more than anyone. Such tiny things are SOOO funny...I wish I laughed as much as him! He can watch the Geico commercials forever, and they are funny every time!



9. He can spin any object impressively. You just have to trust me on this one, it's amazing. Ask his teachers. He has to have 'spin time' scheduled into his day.



10. He has the sweetest singing voice ever...and once in awhile he will even sing a whole song all the way through without stopping, or getting stuck on one phrase...I just LOVE when he sings to me!

These are things that I look at and think of over and over again, especially when we have a period of time when things aren't going so well, like recently.

He's sick. I mean BAD ear infection and sore throat and coughing his little head off. To the point of puking. So...here's what happened.

First of all, my sister in law wanted to get my mother in law the best present ever. A FAMILY PICTURE! And honestly, that was an awesome idea. Now, I know Levi doesn't dig pictures, but I'm telling you, I truly thought I could mentally prepare him enough that he might not be SMILING, but he'd be...indifferent, at best. BOY was I WrOnG!

We decided on wearing black and white for the pictures, and everyone showed up looking sooo nice! I thought we did well picking out tops!! Well, Levi walked in and instantly got so worked up that he started coughing to the point of puking. So, needless to say, the picture is of thirteen people. Of those thirteen people, twelve are smiling, one is screaming, covering his ears AND his eyes. In my hand, is a wad of paper towels filled with his barf. :) I know, a lovely visual, right? I felt so bad. I felt bad I put him through that knowing how bad he was feeling, but I also felt SO bad for ruining my sister in law's amazing idea for her Mom's Christmas present! Ugh!!

This is when autism gets tough. First of all, had he not gotten himself that worked up, no barfing, right? So that wouldn't have been an issue. And, who knows what threw him. The fact he didn't feel good? The lighting? The sound of the building? Someones perfume? The camera? WHAT?? The truth is as it always is with Levi...I will probably never know. And, if Dawn and Judy are reading this, they are going to tell me NOT to be upset! They love Levi no matter what, and it is what it is, and no picture is worth it...and even though I know they mean that 100%, there is that part of me that feels so responsible for screwing things up...a feeling that kind of comes with the territory.

But, one night, I had this dream, that Levi was just your typical boy. He did everything like he was supposed to, he had 'normal' meltdowns and he could tell me what he was thinking, straight out....not in a roundabout way...and I didn't know him. Here was my little boy talking like every other little boy, and I didn't know him at all...and I realized that was because that isn't my Levi, and it never will be. I can say 'I've come to accept that' but the truth is, I have to accept it in different ways every day, almost. Every trial, every time something in our lives change, I have to accept it all over again in a different way. But I will always choose to accept that child for exactly who he is. No matter how frustrated I get at times, I have never wished that Levi was anything but himself, and I never will.

God made Levi exactly how he wanted him. And I was lucky enough to get to be his mommy. God also gave me two amazing boys, JT and Ben, who have had their own hurdles to jump, and have always done so with strength and determination. I am so proud of the children that God has entrusted to me and I hope that I can always be the mother that they need. I also pray that I can always be improving and always be insightful to the things they need, but cannot express.

If you are a mommy or a daddy, give your kids a hug tonight. Thank God for what you have been given, because children are gifts straight from God. So many people want them, and cannot have them for many reasons, so we need to remember to never take ours for granted, or wish for one second they are anything that they are not.

GOD DOESN'T MAKE MISTAKES.