Levi

If rowdiness inside the womb is any indication of rowdiness outside the womb, Levi Helms is going to be one rowdy boy. We have been blessed to peek in on his warm little world via sonogram twice now, and to see that he is the smartest baby in the land. His tiny head is simply perfect, housing an obviously large, superior brain. I think the sonogram notes determined he was the most awesome baby ever, with a penchant for genius problem-solving and unparalleled athleticism. I'm positive that's what the notes said.

While Levi thrashed around inside his momma, we could nearly count all his bones, and Jennifer says it is because his skin is so thin at this stage. How smart of him to have such accommadatingly thin skin just when we are peeking!

(Each time I see Baby Levi, it feels like I'm looking into the mysterious quantum world, where the particles seem to know what you expect of them based on the experiment with which you choose to view them. This makes our grandson as clever as any proton - equipped with his very own "down quark".)  (Tee Hee)

The baby solicitously turned this way and that, allowing us full, unimpeded views of his face, back, and sides - even turning upside down once, as if burrowing to the bottom of the world. His world anyway. Which makes him the funniest little tater tot in the land.

The sonogram notes say Levi weighs eleven ounces. He's obviously been lifting weights and watching what he eats. Such discipline is unheard of in the arena of baby incubation, but we're not surprised. And though Baby seems displeased with the constant interference of his umbilical chord, this fascinating tether glowed red, highlighting to us the life-giving exchange between mother and son. While he is happily eating his mother alive, she sends down the best food she can provide. I hope he knows, but he probably won't appreciate it til he "has children of his own".

When leaning in closely, we could hear the baby's strong, miniature heart swishing away at 150 bpm.  Heartbeats sound like a melody, and if this makes our grandchild a music prodigy, well, we're not surprised about that either.

Levi's long legs were on view as well. Mark Thornton took one look at them and said to Allen, "He gets those from you." The well-developed calf muscles, however, come straight from the baby's father. But we don't like to brag. We really don't.

To go along with our show-and-tell experience, Jennifer let us all touch the baby through her tummy. As if in response, Levi rolled and moved for us, and Chrissy knelt and called his name and "knocked" at his door, making me laugh. Levi blessed us with firm pushes and pokes, clueless to the fact that we'd been spying on him. But maybe he did realize. He's no dummy, you know.

Ben, too, got to feel his nephew's aggressive maneuverings, and the look on his face was priceless. He seemed disappointed to be so far behind his brother in progeny as to have no cousins in the offing for Levi.

Allie's heart is already very much knit with her nephew in that she brings his subject up daily and always speaks of future events in terms of his age. I can see who I will fight with the most over holding-rights.

But sometimes, I fear we will all just be one giant snake's nest of jealous "It's-my-turn's!"

What baby could arrive in a more perfect world than that?