Leo is one!

The day has come, and darling Leo turned one!  He was sick at the beginning of the week and pretty contagious, so we decided to keep him home.  I had him all to myself that day and most of the week!  It was so nice to spend time together, one-on-one.  Lots of snuggle and play time and quiet walks.

Cupcakes were homemade carrot cake with three cups of shredded carrots.  So yummy!  Stacked and sprinkled with rainbows.  The stacking made Matthew really nervous, but I knew it was secure the whole time.  I took this photo of Leo with the lit candle after singing “Happy Birthday”.  He extinguished it with his fingers before I reach out and could stop him!  Ouch!  Luckily, his hands weren’t very dry, so he just startled a bit and then he was fine.

    

We were all pretty excited about the gifts.  Dean quickly busied himself with the barnyard and farm animals from him and Fiona while Leo opened his other presents.  Fiona could hardly contain herself!  Leo was really interested in tissue paper.

One of Leo’s gifts was this super cool fire/dump truck!  Is there really such a thing?  In any case, he loves it.

I love this photo below, with three sets of hands opening presents in the background while Leo runs off.

   

   

Happy birthday, sweet boy!  You have won our hearts!  We love Leo.

February Album: Adventures inside and out

This February, we managed to get out to the park whenever it was not raining and the naptimes aligned.  Which was pretty often.  It’s been chilly, but the kiddos don’t seem to mind.  They are from Oregon, after all.
  

We are all looking forward to spring and summer!  Luckily we live between two great parks that are fun to walk and bike to.

Nothing like fresh air for the soul.



I even managed to pack the kids a lunch one afternoon so we could spend more time outside.  The weather was decent, especially for a February!   That day my secret agenda was to get them all home to nap so we could make it to the family matinee at the Kennedy School to see the Muppet Movie… 

One of Leo’s first words is “cracker” – only it sounds more like “gak-oh”. Here he is holding one in each hand, his favorite way to eat them. 

Also, this month Leo started walking! It comes as no surprise, for the boy who rolled over at one week old and crawled at five months.  He is everywhere!  I’m pretty excited about this – it’s fun to have another little person walking around our house.  And he definitely seems pretty empowered by the walking.  I think that crawling was beginning to frustrate him – it’s like his whole world has opened up!  Watch out.

What else happened this month…?  We had a fun time visiting Vancouver’s awesome library.  It was designed by one of Matt’s professors in grad school at UW, and it has an incredible children’s section.  So, we ventured across the Columbia Bridge (seen from the photo with me and Leo, on the balcony of the library), and checked it out. 

 

We jammed out to our own music this month. 

Fiona continued swim lessons (this look that suggests to me that she is not about to get into the water until the class is about over).  She’s come around lately, thank goodness!  For this day, I needed my handy list of calm.

My curls came back!  They were on hiatus?  Well, yes, for about a month.  All this baby-making, breastfeeding over the past um… six(?) years has taken a toll on my hair, and my love-hate relationship with it was more hate than love.  My hair stylist said, “I know you, and I know you’ll go back to curls.”  She was totally right.

Sweet Leo, he just keeps growing.  Here he is at eleven months.

My sweet boys, what a gift.

today I will choose

I found this lovely a few weeks ago - I can't even remember where I saw it first, but I don't think it's being printed anymore.  I am trying to make sense of my recent funk, and I love this simple sentiment.

 

January Album: A Fresh New Year

Album time!  I've enjoyed posting and looking through our monthly albums over the past couple of years - it allows me in the short term to do something with the hundreds of photos I take each month.  I also saw something handy on blurb that I've started experimenting with, for anyone interested in creating an instant photo album with your blog posts.  I like putting things in things.

So, happy 2012!  We opened the year on Whidbey Island – ahoy mateys!

When we got back home, we completely reorganized the house to combine Dean and Fiona into one bedroom and make Dean’s room (which has been his since he was born!) into Leo’s room.  Everyone transitioned so well.  Our house was a wreck for about a week.

That took several trips to IKEA and lots of reorganizing, but I think the end result is nice for everyone.  (Pay no attention to the clothes that Sweetpea neglected to put away).

And now Leo has a safe place to be, right off the kitchen.  He’s pretty happy about that.  He gets all the universally age-appropriate toys in his room, while Dean and Fiona get all the art supplies, doll house accessories, and small Legos.  Ah…

My 2012 photo-a-day project has given me the excuse to get myself outside this winter.  I have come to enjoy my walks at work, since it makes me stop and actually observe and record.  I don’t think I’ve appreciated winter as much since I’ve been in Portland.  (We’ll see how I feel in May when it still looks like this – well, a little greener at least.) 

 

 

We’re also getting lots of outside time at home, whether it’s pleasant or a little wet… I think Dean is ready for pedaling a bicycle sans training wheels.  He’s mastered the Strider bike, and Leo will be ready for it soon!

 

And when it’s super wet, we’ve been inside, crafting or making robots (inspired by one of Dean’s Christmas presents).

  

And, something else happened this month: sweet baby boy is growing! 

Such a little man!  He started taking steps and eating more regular food - pretty much everything we could give him.  Then these last couples of weeks, he had a major setback – he caught a pretty nasty stomach flu which reverted him back to eating baby mush and not interested in walking, plus he was waking up in the night.  Slowly, he’s been on the mend, thankfully, but it was a pretty unpleasant experience for him, and unfortunately it transitioned right into teething.  Poor guy.

On the brighter side, he loves peek-a-boo, clapping, and rocking out to music with his brother and sister.  He is truly a joy to them both – Fiona loves to pick out his clothes and help get him dressed and Dean loves to build block towers for him to destroy (which Leo also loves).  I am delighted by their interactions. 

No one could imagine our lives any different.  I could imagine our house a little more organized, but I am trying to let that go a little.  I’ve got my list.    #Thinkaboutwhetheranissueisreallyworthworryingabout