Da-da

A couple weeks ago, I was talking to Levi, and I said, "Look at Daddy!" and pointed. I saw recognition on Levi's face as I said the words, and he looked over at Austin and smiled. I don't know how I knew, but I just knew that Levi recognized the word "daddy" and knew that it meant Austin. I was SO excited!

Yesterday, Levi was looking at Austin, then said, "Da-da." Austin said, "Yeah, that's me, come here!" and Levi speed crawled to him. He was so excited. I was even MORE excited! This is the first time that Levi's said something that we could tell meant anything. Levi has been saying da-da-da (and other variations of that) for quite some time now--at least a month or two--but it never seemed like he attached any meaning to it. I'm so excited that he's starting his first words, and he's only 9 months! From what I've read, 9 months is the early beginning of average for a baby to start attaching meanings to the words he or she says. I'm so proud of my baby boy :)

In Which I Laud Levi

It’s high time I wrote a post singing praises to my only son, so here goes! My main points shall be as follows:

1. Levi is incredibly smart. This is shown by stairs and boredom.
2. Levi is bold. He isn’t shy at all.
3. Levi is strong!
4. Levi is super duper cute

  1. Levi is so smart! I was complaining to one of my friends that he gets tired of his toys SO quickly that I felt like I could hardly keep him entertained. My friend said, “Actually, getting bored quickly is one sign of intelligence in babies.” I guess babies that get bored easily absorb everything in their environments more quickly than babies that don’t get bored as easily, and that is a sign of intelligence.

The other way that I know Levi is smart is that he learns from his mistakes. A little over a month ago, he figured out how to climb up the stairs. Usually I could tell when he was on the stairs, and I’d go over to supervise. However, one day he snuck past me to the stairs and started climbing without my knowledge. Soon I heard a loud THUMP! immediately followed by loud, desperate crying. I ran to his aid to find him lying on his back on the linoleum at the foot of the stairs. I calmed him down and felt so sad for my little boy. However, he didn’t attempt the stairs at all for at least a month after his fall. When he started climbing the stairs again, however, he was more coordinated and didn’t slip and fall. When he was tired of being on the stairs, he’d cry a little to let me know to come get him, instead of hazarding another fall by trying to get down by himself.

 2. Levi is bold! Austin and I often call him our “intrepid explorer” because when he sees something new and interesting, he makes a beeline for it in order to investigate. It doesn’t matter if there are obstacles in his way; Levi just climbs over, under, or through them. He doesn’t hesitate at all. I’ve noticed that other kids are more reticent, especially with other people around. Levi, on the other hand, doesn’t care that someone may be new to him. He makes friends easily and loves meeting new people (aka strangers).

 3. Levi is a brawny baby. He isn’t efficient with his energy at all—he just uses brute force to get things done. He doesn’t have to be as coordinated because he can just muscle himself to wherever he wants to be.

4. Levi is incredibly cute! He smiles a lot, laughs a lot, and loves playing. He coughs on purpose just to hear the sound (or to hear the echo that follows, if he’s in a place that echoes).

Books I've read since November 2011

When Levi was born, I discovered really quickly that it's pretty boring to nurse a baby.

So I started reading books while I fed him! I've read some pretty good ones (and some that were just ok). Here's a list of the books that I can remember that I've read since Levi was born:

Novels:

by Laura Ingalls Wilder:
Little House in the Big Woods
Little House on the Prairie
On the Banks of Plum Creek
Un granjero de diez años (Farmer Boy)
La pequeña ciudad en la pradera (Little Town on the Prairie)
En las orillas del lago de Plata (By the Shores of Silver Lake)

by Dianna Wynne Jones:
Howl's Moving Castle
House of Many Ways
Castle in the Air

by Terry Pratchett:
Wee Free Men
A Hat Full of Sky

by Jane Austen:
Pride and Prejudice
Northanger Abbey (this one is really good! I liked it for the same reasons I liked P&P)

by Suzanne Collins:
The Hunger Games
En llamas (Catching Fire)
Sinsajo (Mockingjay)

by Louis L'Amour:
The Burning Hills
Sackett

by Lucy Maud Montgomery:
Anne of the Island
Anne of Windy Poplars
The Blue Castle
Kilmeny of the Orchard

by Lois Lowry:
El Dador (The Giver)
Messenger
Gathering Blue

A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks
Esperanza renace (Esperanza Rising) by Pam Muñoz Ryan
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
Wolf by the Ears by Ann Rinaldi
Mine Eyes Have Seen by Ann Rinaldi
The Blue-eyed Aborigine by Rosemary Hayes
The Borrowers by Mary Norton

Non-fiction:

West From Home: letters from Laura Ingalls Wilder, San Francisco, 1915
On the Way Home by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Speech that Inspired a Nation by Drew D. Hansen (this was very interesting!)
Tell All the Children Our Story by Tonya Bolden
Childtimes by Eloise Greenfield and Lessie Jones Little
Born to Write: The Remarkable Lives of Six Famous Authors by Charis Cotter
Introduction to Speech Science by Jack Ryalls and Susan Behrens
A Real Boy: A True Story of Autism, Early Intervention, and Recovery by Christina Adams
The Autism Book: What Every Parent Needs to Know About Early Detection, Treatment, Recovery, and Prevention by Dr. Robert Sears

Biographies:
Martin Luther King, Jr. by Godfrey Hodgson
Louisa May Alcott: Her Girlhood Diary
Louisa May Alcott: The Woman behind Little Women by Harriet Reisen
Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Woman behind the Legend
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, autobiography by Maya Angelou
The Real Thomas Jefferson by Andrew M. Allison

The Biography: My New Favorite Genre

I have recently discovered the charm of the biography.

It all started around the beginning of this year after re-reading most of the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I knew that the series was based off of the author's life, but I wondered how much it was fictionalized. I checked out a biography from my handy-dandy local library, and it was SO fascinating! I learned so many very interesting details about the author's life, and life during her era of history. I also learned that while most of the events in her books are factual, many of them happened in a different order and some of her life experiences were completely left out of the books.

Subsequently, I read biographies of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Louisa May Alcott. I enjoyed them both and felt like they filled out my worldview. In addition to learning more about these two great people, I felt like I came to a better understanding of the world around me from reading the books.

Then I thought, "If I've learned so much from reading these two books, what can I learn by reading other biographies?" In light of the political opinions flying around me, I resolved to read biographies of past political leaders who had been generally admired for their performance in their respective offices. My reasoning was that as I read, I would be able to ferret out the qualities that had caused them to be so universally admired.

I started with Thomas Jefferson and Ronald Reagan. Unfortunately, the branch of my local library that is closest to me only had one book in the biography section on each. The one about Jefferson was focused on the development of his thought process and studies. I think I might have gotten about 20 pages into it before deciding that it was not going to supply what I was looking for. The book on Ronald Reagan was a compilation of articles written about him and had a ton of pictures. It didn't seem very cohesive, and also didn't supply what I was looking for. I ended up just looking at the pictures and reading the captions (and hardly any of the text) before I returned it to the library. I was disappointed in these two books, and decided to browse the library collection online to find a more suitable biography.

I wasn't disappointed. I knew I wouldn't have time to read a biography on Jefferson AND on Reagan before moving back to UT, so I just got one on Jefferson. It didn't go into as much detail as I wanted, but it gave a very good overall idea of who he was and what he did that made him great. I definitely know more about Thomas Jefferson the man, as well as the formation of our country. I felt like many of the things that I learned about in my American history class were put into context, and that I didn't have to slog through a boring history book to learn about our nation's history.

I'm really looking forward to reading more biographies and learning more about history and why the world is how it is. I highly recommend biographies to anyone who is looking for a new book to read!