Sunday Breakfast

He did it!  Levi rolled over from his back to his tummy last night for the first time!  OK, he did it during the day yesterday too but that one doesn’t count.  He was on a slightly downward slope.  Gravity helped him.  Last night I put him down on his play gym on his back so he could stare at his toys hanging above him.  He doesn’t swat at the toys yet, at least on purpose but he does like to look at them.  He immediately rolled on to his right side like he always does.  And he kicked his leg over and kept rocking back and forth, trying to get all the way over.  Annika was sitting on the floor next to me cheering him on and I made sure Kris was watching from the recliner behind me.  And then he did it, he rolled over!  I think he was pretty surprised because he ended on his tummy with his arms tucked under him, propping his torso up a little bit and his eyes were wide open, looking around.  I got down on the floor, eye level to his, and cheered him on.  It didn’t take too long for him to start crabbing that he didn’t want to be on the floor on his belly anymore.  I flipped him back over but he was tired of being on the floor entirely.  So I scooped him up and brought him upstairs and put him to bed.  He’d had a big night and needed his rest.  Hee.  You can bet I’ll be putting him down on the floor again tonight though so he can practice his new trick.  Oh, and I gave everyone strict instructions that Levi is not to be placed on the couch, bed, etc. anymore and then left unattended.  We can’t have him rolling off anything!

Saturday we went to my cousin Matt’s wedding.  The kids had a great time as usual.  Cupcakes, dancing and unlimited attention from aunts, uncles and grandparents?  What could be better!?  James is so cute sometimes.  He makes me want to just scoop him up and kiss him all over.  And sometimes I do just that.  Friday night we were getting his clothes picked out for the wedding (all his 3T dress pants are too small – he’s in 4T’s now!!!) and he asked me if he should bring his ring pillow and ring too.  Isn’t he precious!?!  I told him that no, he didn’t need to bring it.  That was just for Auntie Krystle’s wedding and is his to keep now.  He was OK with that.  Annika and James and I danced for a while together.  Annika didn’t like it that James was trying to dance with Mommy because she wanted Mommy all to herself at that moment.  Maybe she misses me while I’m at work?  Either way, I made sure that she got a good long turn.  My sweet girl.  Annika was also upset that James was spending so much time with Uncle Dale.  She wanted her turn but every time she looked there was James on Uncle Dale’s lap.  Jealous much Annika May?  She got her turn though, as she did with Grandpa and Uncle Mathias.  She had to know where Uncle Mathias was almost every possible moment.  She’s a little attached to that awesome guy.  I sure wished he lived closer.  She is so lucky though because each of those adults plus all other aunts, uncles, grandmas and grandpas love her and James and Levi so much and indulge them their every desire…sometimes a little too much!  But if they want to sit by one of them or have one of them help them or dance with them or play with them they always, always make time for them.  My children could not ask for a better family!

Yesterday was another fun day.  We went to Grandpa and Marcia’s house for lunch and played out in the back yard.  I won the bean bag toss game for my team (Uncle Mathias and myself) against the opposing team (Kris and Uncle Pierce) right after Mathias was teasing me about my play.  I’ll show you how to get points, Mister!  Then we packed up and went to the beach and played on the boat and in the sand for a few hours.  We couldn’t fit everyone on Grandpa and Marcia’s boat at the same time so we took turns.  First out on the boat was Grandpa, Marcia, Mathias, Kris, Pierce and Annika.  Time for tubing!  I’m told Annika absolutely loved it and squealed with delight the whole time again, even when she’d get tossed from the tube into the water.  That girl doesn’t have much fear when she has her life jacket on in the water.  I’m glad she had fun.  Next on board was Kris, James myself, Grandpa and Marcia.  James was a little nervous on the boat so first we just cruised around the lake for a little bit.  James sat right next to me and held my hand during that.  Then we stopped the boat, even turning it off so James could see that we float, no problem.  Then Marcia sat on the back of the boat and had James sit by her, which he did very carefully.  He let her hold him down a bit so his toes touched the water.  Then we put the tube in the water and had Kris climb on that, showing James that Kris was floating and it was OK.  A few minutes after that James joined Kris, floating on the tube.  And then we asked if he’d like to go for a ride on the tube.  At first he was scared but he said OK.  So Grandpa started the boat and he led Kris and James on a slow tube ride.  They were having fun until the tube caught a wave and the nose went under and Kris and James were tossed off.  James went underwater for a second (his life jacket brought him right back up of course) but that was enough to scare him and he started crying pretty hard.  I didn’t want to scare him further so I started calling him silly and saying “whoopsy!”  “You silly boy!  You and Daddy fell in the water!  Whoopsies!!”  You know, sing-song-it’s-OK-voice.  And then he was fine.  He wanted back in the boat but he was smiling again about his fall off the tube.  Next Kris and I went tubing together (despite my ever so ungraceful climb onto the tube).  We fell off once after a particularly violent collision with a wave and James got really concerned again.  He said it was time for us to get back in the boat but we assured him we were fine, we were having fun and we were going to go for another ride.  And we did, and we didn’t fall off and when we got back in the boat James was no longer as scared.  Whew!  Annika went out again with another crew and again had a great time.  James was content to play in the water and sand near shore though.  And Levi had his first water experience too.  I brought him to the edge and had him stand with his feet in the water.  He didn’t mind that at all, even when a little wave would come and the water would go higher up his legs.  Later Kris had him stand so that his feet were in the sand.  He was OK with that but didn’t like it so much when Kris was brushing the sand off his feet.  For the most part though Levi enjoyed the outdoors with little snoozes, lots of cuddling and big eyes taking it all in.

Two days at work completed.  And I didn’t cry once.  Aren’t you proud!?!  Of course I cried on and off the entire weekend and days leading up to my return to work but the actual days of I was OK.  I still wish I could stay home though.  I’ll always wish that.  Annika wishes that too.  She told me on Tuesday that she wished I stayed home during the day.  If only we had the same maternity leave policies here in the U.S. that they have in Europe and Canada.  That would make things so much easier!  Or, even better, to be independently wealthy!  Now that would be great!  Alas, it’s back to reality for me.  I’m sure we’ll find our new normal and all will be fine.  I’ve done this (be a working mother) for almost six years, I can surely do it some more.

And the report from Kris Wednesday was that things went well.  Levi took a couple good naps in his crib.  Annika and James didn’t get into too much trouble and the tantrums were kept to a minimum.  Success!  However, last night James decided he needed me to do everything for him (go upstairs and get his shorts, get him his shoes, pull out his stool, etc.) and would cry and pout and whine if I didn’t do it for him.  I’m sure it was his way of showing he missed me…or he’s just being three and trying to exert some power but I didn’t bend to his tantrums.  When he wouldn’t put his sandals on so we could go outside I left him to tantrum (complete with feet kicking the floor) alone and ignored and went upstairs with Levi.  Annika was already outside at the neighbor’s house which is where I intended to take James and do some visiting.  It took 45 minutes to get his shorts and sandals on and us out the door.  And of course when we got there they were ready to send Annika home so they could eat dinner.  Too bad for James that he only got to play for a few minutes.  Maybe one of these days he’ll grow out of the tantrums.  Anyway, Thursday’s challenge for Kris was to get all the kids up, fed, dressed and out the door for soccer this morning.  Hopefully that went smoothly too.

And how about a little Levi update?  Last night he was so, so close to rolling over. He was on his side (he always rolls to his right side) with his leg kicked over and he was kicking and almost got over his shoulder.  But then he’d get frustrated and cry so I’d pick him up.  Maybe this weekend he’ll do it when I’m home.  As for the other big question always asked about newborns – he’s sleeping pretty well!  He usually wakes up around 2am and then again around 4:30am to eat.  He usually goes to sleep around 9:30pm so that’s a good chunk of time initially.  Of course I need to take full advantage of that by getting to bed by 10pm which doesn’t always happen.  It has to now that my alarm clock is going off at 5:30am!  Another funny thing about Levi is that he nurses at bedtime but then when he’s done eating he starts yelling at me.  So, instead I give him his pacifier and he settles down and falls asleep in my arms.  If I hold and rock him long enough he’ll be in a deep enough sleep that he spits his pacifier out.  It’s so cute to see him spit it out.  Sometimes it’s with some force like “get this thing out of here!”  Other times he’ll still be drowsy but not asleep and I’ll put him in his bed…and he’ll go to sleep on his own!  I’m still amazed by this.  A baby who will go to sleep on his own.  I don’t think Annika or James ever did that.  Annika would wake up every time you tried to put her down (another reason we co-slept) and James you had to rock to a deep sleep before you could put him down.  I’m trying to get myself in the habit of putting Levi down drowsy instead of sleeping so we can build good sleeping habits with him.  One night last week he even yelled when I tried to rock him so I put him in his crib and he went to sleep all on his own!  I was literally amazed and had to immediately go tell Kris.  Then I joked that our babies keep getting better the more we have them.  Kris didn’t think that was too funny.  There is no way there will be a number 4 if Kris has anything to say about it.  And of course he does.

How in the world has it been almost three weeks since I’ve posted here???  I guess my mind has been elsewhere.  I’ve been trying to cram fun things in for the kids while also enjoying Levi as much as I can.  I’m sad to have to go back to work on Wednesday and have been weepy and crying on and off for days.  I also think I went through a bit of the baby blues in the past couple weeks.  I was so down about everything.  Ugh.  You don’t even want to know.

Anyway, what fun things have we done?  On the 5th Annika, James and I went to see Toy Story 3.  It was James’ first movie in a movie theater and I was wondering how he’d do with that.  He did great though!  He sat on the literal edge of his seat the entire time, as did Annika and just took everything in.  We all shared a big bucket of popcorn and a huge cup of pop although I think I ate most of the popcorn.  Addictive that stuff is.  Annika decided she didn’t like the movie due to a scene with a “scary, naughty monkey” and had a nightmare about it that night.  We talked through it though and now she’s decided that she does, in fact, like the movie.  When the movie was over we rushed out, not even waiting for the credits to start rolling because Annika had to go to the bathroom NOW.  So we ran hand in hand through the halls to get to the restroom and made it just in time.  How embarrassing that would have been for my big girl if she’d had an accident!

We’ve also had two play dates in the past couple weeks with Annika’s friend Elyse from preschool and Elyse’s mom Krista and brother Liam who is two and a half.  The first time we met them at the park in town and played for a couple hours.  The kids chased each other around the park the whole time.  Sometimes it was just the girls running around playing hide and seek or making up some princess story for them to act out.  While they were off doing that both boys wanted to swing, swing, swing.  Krista and I stood there for a half hour one time just pushing our boys on the swings.  It was very nice to chat with her though.  They are such a nice family.  Levi slept most of the time there in the baby bjorn and stroller with Kris watching over him.  The next play date was just today at our house.  As soon as they walked in the door Liam was chasing James up the stairs to go play in the bedroom with trains.  And as soon as Elyse had her shoes off she and Annika ran upstairs too.  Krista and I sat downstairs and visited for over an hour while the kids played upstairs.  Again, Levi was with Kris while Kris put him down for a nap.  When Levi woke up Kris brought him down to me and Krista held him for a while.  Then we brought the kids outside to play for a little bit so Annika could show Elyse how she can ride her bicycle.  They also played hopscotch.  It was a fun morning and I hope we can do it again before school starts.

The third fun thing we did was go back to the Minnesota Zoo.  Now that we have a membership there we can go back as often as we want!  We didn’t see the bats the last time we were there and we promised Annika we’d go back before I went to work so we did on the 12th.  We did indeed see the bats along with the monkeys, kimodo dragon, brown bear and lots of other animals.  I do wonder though if their favorite part was not the huge new playground area though.  They had a great time playing in there while I sat on a bench and fed Levi.

Yesterday was the fourth fun thing – a trip to the Children’s Museum!  Yesterday was the third Sunday of the month which means free admission thanks to Target.  We took advantage of that and only paid $3 for parking for three hours of fun at the museum.  A pretty good deal if you ask me!  We enjoyed each room of exhibits.  Annika’s favorite part was the ant room with the tunnels to crawl in.  We had to drag her out of there.  James’ favorite part was crawling through the log and crawling in the cave of the tree.  I think we’ll have to go back again.

On the way to the museum yesterday Annika and James were making up silly names for each other.  I told James that his name was “Lightbulb” and he said “No, Daddy’s name is lightbulb because his head looks likes like a lightbulb!”  Oh, did we laugh at that.  Although he does have a point too.  With Kris’ shaved head, it is lightbulb shaped!

And how about my precious baby?  The one leaving me in tears when I think about leaving him?  Well, he’s completely adorable and lovely and terrific.  He smiles and laughs and coos up a storm.  And he’s so close to rolling over from his back to his stomach!  We put him on the playmat on the floor and within no time he’s over on his side with he leg kicked over.  Just a little bit more and his shoulders will follow and he’ll be on his stomach.  I’m hoping he does it tomorrow so I can see it before I’m off to work!  Otherwise Kris has strict orders to have the camera ready so he can video it and send it to me at work.

And now Levi is awake from his nap so it’s time for me to go.  Wish me luck as I go back to work!

Yesterday Levi had his two month well baby check up. He is a big boy, yes he is.  But we already knew that, right?  He weighed in at 13 pounds, 13 ounces which put him at the 90th percentile.  And he is 25 inches long which put him at the 97th percentile.  He has grown four inches in two months!  His head was only 15.3 inches around which is the 23rd percentile.  Kris and I just make small headed babies I guess.  I knew my baby was big though and this just confirms it!  No wonder he’s in 3-6 month clothes already (which go from 12-16 pounds and from 24 – 26.5 inches).  Before I know it he’ll be out of those too!  The good pediatrician declared him perfect and healthy in every way.  I love our pediatrician!  And she said he has the head control of a four month old.  She was very impressed with our baby Levi (whom Annika likes to call LeeVee as a nickname).  She also commented on just how long he was.  His legs are long, his arms are long, his torso is long.  She wondered if he’d be a good swimmer with those long limbs.  Time will tell.  For now I’ll take the perfect and healthy part.

Tonight at swimming lessons Annika jumped off the diving board twice and went down the waterslide once.  They were the highlight of her lessons of course.  And tonight at bed she had to tell Kris that she liked jumping off things.  Silly girl.

Yesterday in the mail we got a letter from the school telling us Annika would be in afternoon kindergarten.  This is good for at least one reason – Kris doesn’t like getting up in the mornings and now he won’t have to worry about a morning schedule.  This is bad for at least one reason too – James will be in preschool on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and we’ll have to see if the bus schedule for Annika lines up with when Kris has to drive James to school.  Hopefully there are no conflicts and everything runs smoothly.  If nothing else, we have two neighbors who have told us Annika can stay at their house those two days a week to catch the bus if Kris has to bring James to school at that time.  We won’t have to worry about the going home part because James is done with school at 3pm and Annika doesn’t get out of school until 3:45pm so there is plenty of time there.  It’s just the start of school we’ll have to figure out.  Another good thing is Annika’s “best” friend from preschool, Elyse, is also in PM kindergarten.  There are three classes there so Annika and Elyse have a 1 in 3 chance of being in the same class.  Here’s hoping!

And now for James.  My dear sweet little James.  He fell asleep on the couch tonight and I had to wake him up to get us to swimming lessons on time.  And he spent most of the time there cuddled on my lap instead of playing in the sand.  He’s not been feeling well this week, sometimes running a 100-101.4 fever and he’s taken a few naps.  Hopefully he kicks whatever virus he has to the curb soon!

Speaking of James, he has said a few cute things lately.  First a week or so ago we were driving and Levi was fussing.  Levi does not like car rides unfortunately.  James piped up with this commentary on the situation: “I don’t want to whining from that baby anymore” to which Kris and I both responded.   Then Jamesy tacked this on to the end of the conversation: “Or I’ll freak.”  And then Kris and I both cracked up.

And here’s another one.  Today our town had a little kiddie parade to celebrate the 4th of July.  It was basically just a bunch of kids on bikes and in strollers and wagons walking around the block while being decked out in red, white and blue.  On the way to the parade Annika asked why were having a parade.  Kris responded “to celebrate our independence.”  And then Jamesy laughed and said “No, Minnesota!”  (Because you know we live in Minnesota, not “in Dependence!”)  And then I laughed for blocks.  Kris asked me if I was going to be all right.

And that is all that’s new with our little family.  We have very little planned for the holiday weekend but we have a bunch of things to go do and see before I go back to work on the 21st.  Sigh.

Happy two month birthday Levi!  You are so loved!

Our day at the MN Zoo – 6/25/10

Jamesy cuddling with Levi 6/23/10

A rare Mommy and Levi picture – 6/23/10

Daddy and Levi with Daddy showing his human pacifier trick – 6/23/10

Levi on his two month birthday – 6/28/10

Annika cuddling with Levi – 6/28/10

Levi meeting Great Grandpa Wally for the first time – 6/27/10

Wednesday is his two month check up.  I’ll report back with his official stats then.

First, let’s just all agree that my head is filled with haze.  OK?  I can’t remember the funny things the kids say five minutes after they say them.  I am constantly going up and down the stairs forgetting what I went up or down for and making endless trips.  I think the constant interrupted sleep is catching up with me.

And that is why I forget to tell you three very important “firsts” that have happened in the last couple weeks at our house.

#1 – James is now officially potty trained!  He’s been trained during the day for a little while now but we were still using diapers at night on him.  Then, a little over a week ago we ran out of diapers and I didn’t want to buy more so I put him in a pair of underwear with a plastic diaper cover over them and sent him to bed.  And he woke up dry!  Since then he’s been dry every night but one!  And that one night he had more than normal to drink before bed.  Another first was the last two nights he’s woke up during the night to use the potty.  I’m so proud of my big boy!  A little over three and fully trained!

#2 – Laughing!  We have laughing!  Levi has started to laugh.  He started a little over a week ago.  His laugh right now sounds like a backwards “Ha.”  What do I mean?  Well, instead of saying “Ha, ha” and exhaling on the h, he’s inhaling.  I know that sounds strange but do it yourself.  He gets really excited and repeatedly inhales ha-has and flails his arms and legs and smiles.  It’s definitely his primitive form of laughing.  And I absolutely love it when he does it!  My happy little guy.  He’s napping now, in his crib like a good baby and all I want to do is go sweep him up and cuddle him and take a nap with him!

#3 – Bike riding – Annika has learned to ride her bike without training wheels!  We tried this last summer and last fall and she just wasn’t ready yet.  But last week I took her training wheels off and Kris and I took turns helping her around the driveway and in the grass.  At first she didn’t have very good balance and it was a lot of work to keep her upright on the bike!  But with practice she learned and on Sunday she was able to go from our garage door to the neighbors (in our T-shaped driveway) completely on her own!  Kris was out on a bike ride with Dusty most of the day and while Levi took a three hour nap in his crib, the kids and I played outside.  It was then that it clicked for Annika.  When Kris got home we had to show him what we could do and when Krystle and Pierce stopped over later she had to show them too.  And when Nana and Papa stopped over Monday evening she had to show them too.  And Monday she was even able to make the tight U-turn and go back to our garage door without my help!  I’m so proud of my big girl.  She’s gaining more confidence with each bike ride.  If it stops raining today, I’m hoping we can take a family walk this afternoon/evening with Annika on her bike.  She still needs a little practice so she can start and stop on her own.

The past couple weeks have been filled with firsts.  Annika and James each had their first swimming lessons of the summer.  Annika’s are on Thursday nights.  She has a grand total of 3 kids in her class, including her.  That means a lot more individualized attention and hopefully some big strides in what she learns in this course.  The lessons are at the outdoor water park in town and Annika keeps complaining that the water is too cold.  Both times she’s had lessons so far have been on days when it’s been cooler outside.  I’m sure that didn’t make the water feel any warmer.  She was excited to tell me that at her last lesson she went under water to pick up the toy at the bottom.  And that she “swam” using her arms and legs.

James has started lessons too but his are on Sunday nights.  There are seven kids in his class and two teachers.  During last nights lesson they got to all go down the smallest waterslide.  James was very excited about that, telling me he only got to go down once but he went under the water at the bottom.  Now is that not cool or what, Mommy?

Another first has Annika starting an organized sport!  She is playing soccer this summer.  It’s times like this when I want to go into mama bear mode and protect her while also “coaching” her to run faster, try harder, be more aggressive.  Annika’s timidness is inhibiting her soccer I’m afraid.  She dribbles the ball oh so slowly and carefully.  She’s doing it all correctly, but not with any real effort.  And when they play sharks and minnows (sharks try to steal the ball from the minnows) or practice dribbling down and shooting goals she is timid around the other kids, never aggressive to go after the ball.  In just the couple practices she’s had so far I do see her improving though.  When she’s a shark, she will go towards the other kids and get the ball away from them and at the last practice she even went after one of the boys on the team who is aggressive and quick and has obviously played before and she did indeed get the ball from him.  I hope the continued twice weekly practices will build her confidence.  She can do it.  She just has to believe she can, let loose a little bit, have some fun and go for it.

Here’s another first for James – his first dentist appointment.  Now that he’s three we’re going to start the every six months regular check ups for him too.  He had his first one last Friday and I was so proud of my little boy!  He sat in that big chair and let them take x-rays, clean his teeth and let the dentist poke and prod a little bit too!  And he, unlike his sister, spoke to all the adults with no problems.  He received a new toothbrush, dental floss and hourglass sand timer and is so proud of those items.  It was a very successful first visit.  Annika had a check up too and received another clean bill of health – no cavities!  Yay!  Score one for the nightly teeth brushing!

I’m not sure if Levi’s had any noteworthy firsts in the last couple weeks.  He is such a good little baby though.  He takes great naps during the day if he’s swaddled and in his sleep positioner and either in his crib or in the bassinet.  He’ll sleep for three to four hours some times!  I hope he keeps that up for Kris when I’m back at work.  Next week he has his two month well baby check up and first round of shots.  Poor baby!  He’s on a pretty consistent schedule right now though, at least at night.  He goes down around 9pm and gets up between 1 and 2am to eat then goes back to sleep and gets up again between 4 and 5am to eat.  I try to put him back in his bassinet after this feeding but he usually wakes back up again in the six o’clock hour.  That’s when I bring him into bed with me and cradle him in the crook of my arm.  He’s very happy there and usually sleeps until 8 or 8:30am that way.  With this set up I feel like I’m getting enough sleep.  However I am dreading going back to work and having to be up by 5:30am each day.

How about a cute kid sayings before I wrap this up?  Lately if Levi has some spit up (he is the child that has spit up the most for Kris and I) James will start yelling “Spit up!  Spit up!  Alert!  Alert!”  over and over again. It is tremendously cute.  James has been saying the cutest things lately.  He’s going through another language explosion I think.  I’ll try to remember what some of his more notable ones are so I can share them with you and write them down for my own benefit (I should be writing these down as my brain is a little sluggish these days and I tend to forget all the cute stuff within minutes of it happening.).

It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve posted here.  I’ve meant to several times only to sit mindlessly at the computer doing other things, things that don’t require my brain.  Wednesday Levi will be six weeks old.  And while I’m tired, I have to say that he is an incredibly easy baby.  He sleeps very well (last night he went to bed around 9:30pm and didn’t wake up until 3am!).  He eats very well.  And for the most part he’s a happy baby, only getting crabby when he’s tired.  And he’s getting so big!  I don’t know how much he weighs but he’s got to be 11.5 pounds or so.  He’s in size 2 diapers now and his 0-3 month sleepers are getting too small.  His arms and legs are so long that he can’t fully stretch out in them anymore!  I’ve put a couple 3-6 month sleepers on him and the arms and legs fit him perfectly but they’re too big in the torso.  He’s my little monkey baby with his long arms!  Levi has started smiling and cooing too.  He’s usually happiest in the morning and will give me a big grin when he wakes up.  And I love hearing his little voice.  I can’t wait for him to talk more and more.  I am so in love and am in heaven having a tiny baby in the house again.

Today is Annika’s last day of school.  She’s ready for it to be over so she can play, play, play all day with James and Ryan and Erin.  Every single time Ryan and Erin are outside she’s begging to go over there and play.  Usually I let her because Ryan and Erin are calling for her too.  I can’t believe how big Annika is getting.  She’s getting tall but she’s also so lean.  All that running and jumping and playing and monkey bars are toning my girl in a big way.  Her upper back and shoulders are nothing but muscle.  She’s cut!  I have a picture from Memorial Day weekend when we had the slip ‘n slide out.  Here it is:

See those muscles in her shoulders and back and even her butt and thighs!  Oh, and don’t worry.  That look is actually pure joy.  I uploaded pictures last Friday and there are a bunch more from the slip ‘n slide, including some video, and she is having a great time.

Annika’s imagination continues to go at top speed.  She is constantly making up a story or song or play scenario.  She doesn’t stop talking or pulling James into her make believe world with her (and she can be quite bossy telling him what to play and do ALL THE TIME).  One time James came stomping out of their room, slammed the door and shouted “I’m not the prince anymore!”  I guess he was done playing for a little while.  Her world usually has a princess, an evil queen, a prince and some catastrophe that they must work their way out of.  Last Wednesday was her preschool graduation and family picnic at the park in town.  She spent most of the hour playing with Elyse and Grace and James.  Sometimes Grace was the monster and Annika and Elyse were the princesses and had to run away from Grace.  Basically it was a glorified game of chase.  Then James got in the act and the girls had to run away from James.  Too bad James isn’t as fast as the girls (with his cute little boy legs) so he’d have to take shortcuts in order to keep up with them.  We saw him with his little finger pointed out at them and we thought he was “pughing” them (his word for shooting – his gun is usually called a “pugher”).  Kris stopped him to tell him that there is no shooting at people, even with a play “hand” gun and James corrected him.  He wasn’t shooting, he was casting spells!  Sure enough, he was the “evil wizard” and was chasing the girls and shooting spells at them.  Um, I guess that’s OK?

And James is turning into such a little boy.  He’s not so much a toddler anymore.  He’s a big preschooler now.  He’s leaning out too with all his running and playing.  His little baby belly is thinning out and his legs are losing their baby fat.  It makes me happy and sad all at the same time.  And his vocabulary, his imagination, are exploding.  He says the funniest things!  Last week he put on the fairy wings that Annika received at Elyse’s birthday party.  Then he exclaimed excitedly “Now I can fly!”  Immediately concerned, I told him “Those wings are for pretend, right James?  Those wings are just for pretend.”  He looked up at me with a sad little face and said flatly “Oh.”  Yikes.  He likes to “fly” by jumping off the bunk bed ladder.  Or by jumping off the stairs (three or four stairs up these days).  He gets a strict reprimand whenever he does those things but he’s all boy and just can’t help himself I think.

Today is my dads birthday.  Happy Birthday Grandpa Dan!  I’ll call him at lunch time and wish him a happy day.  I just saw him on Saturday (He and Marcia and Krystle and Pierce came to the Minnesota Machine game with me as did some friends of ours – Pam, Scott, Mark, Jon, Salix and Talia!  Nana and Papa made it too!  The kids were in heaven to have so many loved ones there!) when we were celebrating my birthday.  (Yep, that’s right.  I’m 34 now.  Woo-frickin’-hoo.)

And now for some very sad news.  Papa Merv has been diagnosed with lung cancer.  He has more tests coming up to determine how bad it is and devise a treatment plan.  If you could, please keep him and Gramme in your thoughts and prayers.  We need them right now.

Let’s end this on a happy note with a couple pictures – more available at the link to the left.

Proud Gramme with two of her grandkids:

Annika made Levi a crown:

Sometimes Kris will let me snap of picture of him:

James chillin’ on the couch (while watching cartoons):

Levi in his outfit from Paris (courtesy of my coworkers Scott and Bill – thanks guys!)

Annika showing off her second lost tooth:

So much is going on…I’m sure I’ll forget to write some things down.  Here’s a re-cap of our week:

1. Levi’s 1st football game
2. Michelle and the girls come for a visit
3. Meeting baby Isla
4. Levi goes to the doctor again for his eye
5. Levi meets my friends at monthly wine night
6. Kris’s birthday
7. Annika’s first “drop-off” friend birthday party
8. Brunch with Grandpa, Mathias and Krystle and Pierce
9. Annika loses another tooth!

See!  So much happening!  And that’s of course not mention all the day to day cuteness of my new baby.  He is adorable by the way.  Completely melt-my-heart cute.  I think he smiled at me for the first time today.  There were not intestinal rumblings shortly after the smile and he was looking right at me while I was talking to him.  I’m going to go with smile.  HE loves me!  My wittle itty baby wuvs me!  OK, let’s get back to the list…

So, Levi went to his first football game, the Machine, last Saturday night.  He was an angel baby, sleeping through almost the whole thing.  Nana and Papa were there too and Nana was able to hold him for most of it.  Annika and James were good too but that might have something to do with the treats and toys that Nana brought with her.  So prepared she is!  After the game I gave Levi to Kris so he could show him off to his players.  Then we went to a restaurant for a late snack.  Kris was hungry, not having eaten dinner.  It was pretty late by this point.  Poor James was so tired that he laid down on his chair at the restaurant, put his head on my lap and fell asleep.  Annika was getting tired too and cuddled up with Papa, almost falling asleep too.  By the time we got home it was close to midnight.  I arrived home first (we had separate cars since Kris had to be at the field early) with two sleeping children and one screaming one.  Levi was hungry!  But I didn’t want to leave Annika and James in the truck by themselves.  I was worried about them waking up alone and getting scared.  I literally stood in the kitchen for a minute, slightly panicked and unsure what to do first.  I decided to race the children upstairs so I put Levi in his car seat, sprinted for James and carried him upstairs and dumped him in his bed with his coat and shoes still on.  Then I rushed downstairs, picked up Levi to console him for a second (man, was he mad!) before I made the same mad dash with Annika.  Except at that point I heard something outside and went into the garage to find my neighbor, Andrew, walking in, wondering if everything was OK.  He was out walking his dog and saw me dashing up the stairs with James.  I explained the situation and that I had just called Kris and found out he was still 10 minutes away.  So I took Andrew’s help.  I gave him Levi to hold and console while I grabbed Annika and carried her quickly upstairs.  Then I came down, chatted for a minute with Andrew, said good-night and came inside to finally feed my starving baby.  Just as I sat down and got settled and Levi latched on, Kris arrived home.  I asked him to check on the kids, remove their coat and shoes and make sure they were settled in for the night.

We slept in the next morning (or at least I did) and then picked up the house and waited for Michelle and the girls, Brianna and Katie, to come over.  Michelle was my first friend to come over and visit Levi and I was so excited to see her!  Now that she works at a different location then me, we don’t get to see each other very often any more.  It was such a nice treat!  The kids were excited too – playmates!  Annika almost immediately asked Brianna to come outside to play.  We had the bounce house set up in the backyard so they were either in there or in the sand box.  It was great to chat with Michelle, enjoy the great weather and watch our kids play together.  They got along really well.

Tuesday we made the long trek to our neighbor Andrew and Katie’s house to meet their new daughter, Isla.  She was ten days old at the time (Levi was 20) and so cute!  She slept the whole time and he her little tongue peeking out through her lips.  Annika and James were a little crazy while we were there and wrestled on the floor with Andrew.  Finally we shoved them outside to play so the adults could chat.  We stayed a couple hours, until both babies woke up and wanted to eat and it was a great visit.  I hope we can see them again this week.  Andrew is back at work this week so maybe I can go check on Katie and see how she’s doing on her own a couple times.  They’re going to be such great parents!

Thursday I took Levi back to the doctor.  His eye was goopy again.  The doctor gave me a different eye drop and did some massage on Levi’s eye to help open his blocked tear duct.  Poor kid!  While we were there I had Levi weighed again.  He’s already 10 pounds, 4 ounces!  My growing baby.  That led to a minor hormonal freak out on my part.  I moaned to Kris that my last baby is already getting so big, make him stop, whah, whah, whah.  Breathe.  Other than his eye, Levi is growing and healthy and thriving.  I can’t ask for more.

That night Krystle came over to babysit A&K while Levi and I went to monthly wine night with my friends.  This month we were at Jeanette’s house to re-watch the Sex & the City movie before the second one comes out.  They’re all planning on seeing it together.  It was the first time any of them had met Levi and they cooed and aahed appropriately.  Heh.  Who wouldn’t at my adorable baby though, right?  And Levi was a good little baby, only getting fussy when he wanted to eat.  He did and then went right to sleep.  Good baby.

Kris’s birthday was Friday.  It was a pretty low key day for us.  We gave him his presents in the morning.  Then we gave him a quiet empty house in the afternoon when Annika was at school and James, Levi and I went to pick up Mathias from the airport and drove him to Grandpa’s house.  Then we came home and I made him a cake.  Then I fell asleep in the recliner and he had to make his own dinner (pork chops on the grill).  I’m such a good wife.  Heh.  He had to go in to work for a bit that evening but I hope he had a nice day.  Happy birthday babe!

Yesterday Annika had a birthday party.  It was her first party where the parents dropped off the kids.  The party was for one of Annika’s “best” friends at preschool and she was so excited to go.  I had asked the mom if I could stay for a little bit since Annika is so shy and she was OK with that.  I stayed for ten minutes or so to make sure Annika was OK and then I left.  When I came back three hours later to pick her up she was not excited to see me.  She wanted to play more!  And asked why she had to leave.  I’m glad she had a good time.  Her little friend is going to the same school next year for kindergarten.  It would be fun if they were in the same classroom or at least at the same time (AM or PM).

Today we had brunch with Grandpa, Mathias, Krystle and Pierce.  Mathias was in town just for the weekend to attend a friend’s wedding so we took advantage of that to have our annual birthday meal together.  Grandpa’s, Mathias’s and my birthday are in a couple weeks and Kris’s was just Friday so we always go out together to celebrate.  Mathias had to sit next to Annika (her request) and help her get her food.  And Grandpa had to sit next to James (his request) and help him.  Levi slept in his car seat which meant Kris and I got to eat in peace!  Nice!  After we ate Levi woke up hungry so I took him to a secluded part of the restaurant and fed him then we chatted for a couple minutes, paid the bill and left to go to our house.  There we spent the afternoon together.  Well, the kids went outside to play in the steamy, humid heat while the adults stayed inside and watched the Twins game on television.  Grandpa held Levi while Mathias napped (long night!).  It was a great afternoon!

The exciting part of our day was this morning though.  Just before we left for church Annika said her loose tooth was really bothering her.  It was pretty loose so Kris sent her upstairs to get the tweezers.  And then he pulled it out!  Her second tooth was out!  This is her other bottom, middle tooth.  Kris got her a kleenex to stop the bleeding, we put the tooth in a cup on the counter and we left for church.  She feels so grown up and big when she loses a tooth.  She put her tooth in the little stuffed animal’s pouch tonight for the tooth fairy. And the tooth fairy has already come.  This time “he” couldn’t find the tooth in the pouch so “he” consulted his “assistant” who pulled the tooth out and gave the stuffed animal back to him.  Then he placed the money in the pouch and the animal back under the pillow.  Another successful visit!

And here starts another busy week with a couple visits/parties planned.  I’ll try to get some more pictures uploaded this week too.

Perfect.  It’s been a perfect day.  Levi slept pretty well last night, waking at 7am.  The kids slept in until 7:30am then came into our room and greeted us for the day with smiles instead of whining and fighting.  The clouds parted and let the sunshine in finally and it warmed up outside to almost 70 degrees.  We had a nice lunch (albeit with whining from Annika about what we were eating but that’s par for the course), I took Annika to school then came home and took a bubble bath.  Kris went to get Annika from school while James and I stayed back and played while Levi slept.  Now Kris is at work, I’m out on the deck with the laptop, the kids are at the neighbors playing in the backyard (I can see them from the deck) and Levi is asleep inside (and I can hear him through the screen door).  It’s a perfect afternoon.  Life is just really great right now.  I am so blessed.

Annika and James are adjusting really well to having a new sibling in the house.  Annika is completely in love.  We always have to pretend that she is the mommy and I’m the grandma, sister, aunt, etc.  And she has to hold him and kiss him and check on him and rub his head ALL THE TIME.  She is such a good big sister.

James wants to hold Levi about once a day and gives him a kiss and hug once to twice a day.  Other than that he pretty much ignores Levi.  He does want plenty of mommy time though.  I make sure to put Levi down (or give him to Kris) a couple times a day so that James can crawl onto my lap for some cuddles and kisses and tickles.  He needs that.  If I do that, I think it helps him with the meltdowns.  He just wants more one on one time.  I’m happy to give it to him.  He is such a good little boy.

Tomorrow night the kids and I are going to our second Machine game of the season and Levi’s first on the outside.  It’s supposed to be really nice out tomorrow (highs in the low 70’s) so we’ll go for a little while.  I figure we’ll stay until half time and then see how Levi is doing.  If it doesn’t get too chilly or if the kids are behaving (bleachers and kids do not always go well together) then we’ll stay longer, otherwise we’ll head home then.

So, is anyone wondering where Kris and I came up with Levi Axel?  Well, Levi was actually our second choice name for James.  We both liked it then but decided to go with James instead.  When we found out we were having another boy, that was the first name we both brought up again and we both still liked it.  We kept our ears open for other options just in case we heard a different name we liked better.  We never did.  Levi it was.  Levi isn’t in honor of anyone.  The only “famous” Levi we know of is Levi Leipheimer the professional bicyclist.  And while we’re both fans of Leipheimer, we didn’t choose to use the name Levi because of him.  It’s a nice coincidence but nothing more.  And Axel is actually in honor of Kris’s mom’s family.  A very long time ago when her family was settling in Minnesota they were on a boat coming up the Mississippi.  They had to get off at the Red Wing stop because their baby, Axel, was sick.  Axel recovered (although he had hearing problems I think) and the family decided to stay.  Her family ( at least her brother) is still in Red Wing and even though her parents are gone, she and her siblings still own the family farm overlooking Red Wing and the bluffs.

OK, I think that’s all I know for today.  Levi is still sleeping inside.  It’s so hard for me to leave him be when he’s sleeping peacefully like that.  I just want to hold and snuggle him and smell his head and kiss his face and neck and hands repeatedly.  Even though we are done having children (done, do you hear me?  no more babies for us) I would have another one in a heartbeat right now.  This teeny newborn stage is such a blast for me.  They’re so easy to care for what with their sleeping 20 hours of the day.  I’m getting enough sleep because Kris is here to help with the other kids so I can get a nap in when needed and that sleepy baby nestled in your arms, the crook of your neck, on your chest?  OH MY GOD, there is nothing better.  I’m taking it all in now while I can because this is the last one.  I want to savor this time (OK, getting choked up here) because it’s going to be over so quickly.  All right, I might have to go pick up Levi now just to snuggle him while he’s sleeping.  And smell his head.  And kiss his face.