The Life of Marye, Ben, and Levi

Ben is done with his Master’s program (!!!!) so the weekends now mean two full days of relaxation. Relaxation with a few chores thrown in, of course. Here, in pictures, Levi and Ben in the comfy lawn chairs, Levi at the splash pool, and a mini photo shoot (courtesy of Ben) of Levi at the farmer’s market. We can’t wait for the upcoming three day weekend!

We captured a few second of Levi grooving to his favorite CD.  At the end, he yells “all done” and rushes back to his coloring project

Levi got a new pair of Curious George sunglasses for his birthday.  He looks goofy in them, and oh so cute.

Toddlers are funny.  Of course, you can almost never snap a picture at the perfect moment when they are wearing a diaper on their head and pretending to be  a gorilla, and they stop singing that adorable little ditty while coloring as soon as you pull out the video camera.  But we are hoping to do a better job of jotting down the funny little phrases that Levi is starting to say on a more regular basis.  He mimics and even responds to questions with startling, and hilarious, accuracy.  Of course, every time this happens I think to myself, “oh, I should write that down, it’s funny”, and then I don’t.  Well, here’s to hoping to can find a piece of toilet paper and a crayon next time Levi decides to be humorous!

Mama: “Hey, Levi, say Obama”.

Levi: “Oh, Ma-Ma”

Mama: “No, Levi, O-Ba-Ma.”

Levi: (thinking, “didn’t you hear me the first time?”): “OH MAMA OH MAMA OH MAMA”!!!

The Three Amigos from last weeks’ birthday party were born in the same week of August 2008.  Relative to Lasai (on the far left), Levi is a little skinny.  Relative to Waylon (in the middle), Levi is tiny!  Rest assured, we had his two-year check-up this week and our little big guy is perfectly healthy.  He weighs 23.9 pounds (10.8 kilos for those across the water) and is 34 inches (86 centimeters).  Levi was very cooperative during the appointment, and really only fussed when he had to be measured and weighed.  Maybe he’s sensitive about his small stature

The upcoming weekend is going to be a big mama + Levi party because Ben will be hard at work on his capstone project, which is due on the 25th.  This means that Levi and I will be going on lots of outings because trying to work on a paper with a toddler running around is difficult.  So far, I am thinking we will hit up the farmer’s market on Saturday morning, hang out with some buddies Saturday afternoon, and visit my mom to celebrate her birthday Sunday afternoon.  Any other suggestions?  Rumor has it the heat and humidity are on their way out by Sunday, so maybe we’ll actually enjoy a bike ride…

We had such a fun-filled weekend of celebration that you will just need to check out Levi’s website to see all of the pictures!  And, because I can’t resist an adorable 2-year old, I’ll share a bit of the fun here too.

Stan and Marcy arrived on Friday and Levi was excited to see them, but even more thrilled to open his present.  A major difference between his first and second birthday is that he now understands that a wrapped box means a new toy!  He was delighted to receive a real choo-choo train from Grandma and Grandpa.

On Saturday, we put Grandpa to work (in 90 degree, humid heat no less!) and half of our raised bed garden (in which vegetables rarely grow because of the excessive shade and abundant tree roots) was converted to a sand box!  In this picture Levi is looking at my hand holding the dish brush like it is the craziest thing in the world, but I swear he likes to play with it )

Mom and dad also got their act together and bought Levi a tricycle, complete with “parental handle” so that we can push and steer him until his little legs can fully reach the pedals.

Of course, with the heat and humidity, we had to make sure and stay cool.  We brought out the kiddie pool and I can assure you that Levi was not the only one making use of it.  And, we blew a few bubbles!

On the actual day of the birthday party, Sunday, we didn’t take a lot of pictures because we were busy eating, chatting, and making sure no 2-year olds ran off.   The party was a great success.  The splash pool, playground, and grassy lawn at Brackett Park made for an ideal location, and the boys (it was a joint party for Levi, Lasai, and Waylon) ran around until they were hot, sweaty, and deliciously happy.

Silly boy!

Wow, Levi is two years old today!  The past two years have really flown by.  Last night after dinner, Ben and I were reminiscing about the start of my labor exactly two years before, and now we are chasing a two-year old around the house!

Ben has to work and go to class today, so Levi and I are celebrating on our own.  We started the day with a trip to Brackett Park for the splash pool and playground.  Then, home for lunch and a nap.  I think I am going to treat him to ice cream at Izzy’s and a visit to Choo Choo Bob’s (train store) this afternoon.  We are having the big celebration (with two other little guys celebrating their second birthdays) on Sunday.

Happy!

I love playing with water!

Despite not posting for a while, I have been thinking about the blog!  I decided it was time for a redesign and, with Frank’s help, the site is looking a lot nicer.  He also helped with our comment “problem” and all of the unwanted feedback has been deleted (although the comments counters on each post will not be reset).  Actually, the easiest fix was to delete all of the comments, so all of our lovely readers will just need to chime in on this post to let us know you are still out there!  Let me know what you think of our new look as well.

Here’s a recent picture of Levi and Grandpa Stan!

In a slightly scary development (for mom), Levi has discovered the joy of gymnastics.  He started by hanging on our dining room table, which is difficult because a) it is not very high, and b) when your head connects with the side of the table it hurts.  Since then, he has moved on to railings and he has found out that they are much easier and more fun to hang on.  He even makes the corresponding monkey noises every once in a while.

Applause please!

Lastly, does anyone else think this pose has a slightly James Dean-esque quality to it?

Having worked at the Capitol for 3.5 years now, I just accept the fact that May is a crazy, busy month.  And this year has been no different.  We started the legislative session with visions of “finishing early” (which we do every year), and, of course, worked right up until the end with all night sessions the last weekend.  Actually, we went into overtime with an 11-hour special session.  But, the work got done and everyone vacated the premises very quickly afterwards.  For the past week, it has been wonderful to come into work at 8, write some letters, do some research, actually take a lunch break, and pick Levi up from daycare at 4.  Perfect.

Ben’s parents came up for a weekend visit last week and we travelled to Wabasha to visit (great) grandma Clara on Sunday.  Levi actually enjoyed the 2-hour (each way) car trip, mainly because we took Stan and Marcy’s minivan.  In the van, his car seat is up high enough that he can see out the window and he entertained himself almost the whole way just looking at the scenery.  In fact, it was so entertaining that he didn’t even take much of a nap on the way home.  Oh well, at least he was content.  Stan took some great pictures at the park where we spent a few hours with Grandma Clara.  It was very close to the nursing home and a great way for us to spend some time together while Levi played.

We have been thrilled to discover that Levi loves doing chores!  He isn’t super helpful, yet, but we have great visions of the future!  I’ll close with a couple favorite pictures…there are lots more on Levi’s website.