Levi meets SANTA!

We took Levi uptown to meet Santa and Mrs. Claus on Monday night. I think practically every kid in town under the age of 7 was there! It's nice to see a good turnout for such a small town though. Well, Santa even brought his reindeer along and his helpers were giving out rides while Santa met all the kiddos. We skipped out on that and got right in line, which ended up to be a good thing, because by the time we left, the line was all the way out the door of the community center! Levi was a good boy and just looked around at all the other kids while we waited in line. Sucking on the binker of course. :) When it was Levi's turn, Paul set him on Santa's lap while I took pictures. He would not take his eyes off of him! He just stared, for like 30 seconds, then burst into tears. It was pretty funny! Paul scooped him up as soon as he started crying, and then he was ok. Hopefully next year there will be no tears, but only time will tell!

Thanksgiving

We had a fun, busy Thanksgiving weekend! Thanksgiving day we went to my mom and dad's and had dinner with them and my sister and her hubby. It was nice to have it low-key and just the seven of us. Levi was the center of attention and was loving it! Then on Saturday we went to Paul's brother and sister-in-law's house for dinner with their whole family on his dad's side. So there was quite the crew there! We have an annual tradition of making lefse, so after dinner that is what we did. Paul slept all afternoon and I was watching Levi, so neither of us helped a ton, but I made sure to get a sample! :) The girls have a good time, they like to help roll it out, so that is fun. It's something that all of our kids will remember when they grow up, and hopefully the tradition will continue! I don't have a lot of pics from this weekend, I chose to just enjoy it and not worry about taking so many pictures, but I made sure to get a few of Levi in his shirt!

 

We have so much to be thankful for this year! First on the list I am thankful for our healthy, happy, perfect little boy!  Also for Paul, my family and friends, the roof over our heads, and for everything that God has given us this year. We are truly blessed! :)

first snow of the season

It snowed last weekend on Saturday. We got like 6 inches I think. As much as everyone was complaining about it, it's the middle of November in Minnesota, and it was time. None of us are ready for a winter like last year, but it had to start sometime! It was actually coming down really nicely, no wind or anything. Maybe I enjoyed it more since I didn't have anywhere to go :) Sunday afternoon Paul blew out where we park and in front of the garage, and a ways down the alley too. Of course as soon as he was done the city plow came through the alley and pushed the snow all back over what he had just done...happens every year, the dude can't figure out how to push the snow the right direction....oh well... Anyway, I set Levi in front of the patio door while Paul was out there, and he was having a fun time watching him! It was pretty cute.

It is almost a week later now, and most of the snow is gone. We had some nice temps over the last couple days. It will be back soon enough!

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

plums!

These must have been a little tart, because the face he made was hilarious!! I laugh every time I look at them. What a goof!

 

I know the second one is sort of blurry, but I just love his face! Haaahaa! He did really like them after the initial taste! :) 

Next up...peas! Which means I better make them!!

pears!

I forgot to put up Levi's reaction to pears. Well, there really wasn't much of one. They are pretty mild, so he liked them right away!

7 months

Seven months. Each month goes faster! Levi was busy, busy, busy this month, gaining speed with crawling and standing next to anything he can pull up on. He is quick, that one! We had another ear infection early in the month, not sure if I mentioned about the first one, but 2 weeks after he finished meds for that one, he got another. Also had a little cold/cough for a few days, but that has since gotten better too. He still gets a snotty nose once in awhile but nothing major. The flu has been going around town lately so I am crossing my fingers that we don't end up with that at our house...ugh, not fun.

 

I had a heck of a time getting a picture of this little stinker the other day! We can't just sit, we have to try and climb up the back of the couch, or crawl to the other end, or lunge towards me....yeesh. But I did get a few goods ones, even though they are all a bit blurry! I was trying to get them quick so I didn't have much time to get the focus right! :) Thank goodness for photoshop sharpening, ha. 

Levi at 7 months:

Weighs about 20 lbs on the dot, according to my bathroom scale.

I didn't measure him this month. Probably couldn't have gotten him to lay still that long anyways!!

In size 4 dipes.

Size 9 month clothing, can fit into some 12 month already too. Seems like he has been flying through sizes lately.

Never. Stops. Moving. The kid is ALL OVER. Every day he gains speed with the crawling, and he can pull up onto just about anything. Keeps me on my toes, that is for dang sure. Sad part is that it's only going to get worse! :)

Loooooves food. I don't think there has been anything he's tried that he hasn't liked. There's nothing that he refuses to eat. Which is probably why he weighs 20 pounds at 7 months old....

Also loves those little puffs, the ones that dissolve. And the ones that are called crunchies, they are cheese flavored....omg he loves those. Seriously, he sees me with them and he races over and like starts panting like I can't get it into his mouth fast enough! It's quite funny.

He tried crawling up the stairs once, and got up 2 steps to the landing before I moved him. I was right behind him so he didn't fall backwards. Besides that time he really doesn't pay attention to them yet.

He is more interested in anything that is NOT a toy vs. something that IS a toy. He will sit and play with the toys for a little bit, but then he'll spy the remote and take off like a banchee after that. Momma is still faster though!

Loves paper, obviously. Christmas should be fun, ha.

I've tried to give him a sippy cup with some Apple Prune juice (watered down quite a bit) but he would rather chew on the spout. When he does get a drink he's not sure what to think of it.

Changing his diaper is quite a workout. He screams as soon as I lay him down, like I am torturing him or something! At first I was worried that he actually was hurting or something, but alas, I have learned his ways. He lays perfectly still at daycare. Little stinker!! Getting clothes on him is also joyous. Sarcasm.

He loves being naked. I think if he could be naked all day he would be a happy camper. But since it's November and a wee bit chilly, we will have to limit that. :)

Sleep. Some nights are good, some nights aren't as good. He's getting better, slowly but surely. Hopefully. We've gotten rid of the middle of the night bottle, but he still will wake up a couple times. Usually he is up for the day by 5:00-5:30. Wahoo. 

He enjoys squealing at the top of his lungs. We call it his happy screams. He'll do it once, then when we laugh or something he'll keep doing it louder. He has always liked hearing his own voice!

Blows bubbles/raspberries all the time too. He's constantly making the brrrr noise with his lips/tongue out.

Car seat is apparently torture along with the diaper changing and putting clothes on.

Since he has absolutely zero fear at this point, when he pulls up onto anything and everything, he's had lots of klunks on the noggin from falling down. Some were pretty hard, but he usually only cries for a minute and then, surprise, goes and does whatever he was doing again.

For as much as he likes to get into things and crawl around to explore, he wants me right there on the floor with him a lot of the time. Or at least where he can see me. He doesn't like it if I put him on the floor by his toys, then run to the kitchen to try and do something quick. He seems to like the tupperware cabinet so at least that keeps him entertained for awhile!

He doesn't fall asleep to the bottle much anymore, except nighttime. But he does like me to rock him to sleep yet, which I can't say I mind.... Except when he fights it and is over-tired. Which is pretty often actually. I will always love cuddle time with my little man.

No teeth yet!

Well I think that about covers it. Now a few pics for good measure!

 See what he's after in the pic above? PLANT! MUST. GET. THE PLANT!!

applesauce!

This isn't quite the reaction I expected from applesauce:

 

Ha! I think the first bite was a little tart and caught him off guard. After the initial taste he did like them. Another jarred one, because I had them on hand from a gift basket that my mom got somewhere and gave to me. Next time he has apples we have home-canned applesauce for him!

Next up...either plums or peas, depending on if I get the peas made or not! :)

mango!

These went over pretty well! This was another jarred one just because I was lazy...lol. I think he liked them!

Next up....applesauce!

Boo!

We had fun dressing our little monkey up! We went to visit grandma and grandpa, and the cousins on Sunday. They all looked so CUTE! Madison was a southern belle, Allie was little red riding hood (but refused to wear the hood), and Aaron was a race car driver.

 

Then on Monday night we took Levi up to the school...they have a costume contest and games for the kids every year. Sadly our little monkey didn't win! But it was still fun! :)

 

I took a few more pics of monkey in his costume the next day, too... 

 

It was a great Halloween!

carrots!

Carrots took a few bites to get used to! We used jarred carrots because of the whole nitrates thing. He really liked them after the first couple bites though!

 

Next up....pears!

green beans!

Not much of a reaction for these. He liked them right away which is good! Gobbled them up every day! Hopefully he'll like his veggies when he gets older too!

 

Next up...carrots!