Happy Mother’s Day.

Today was a wonderful Mother’s Day.  The day started with breakfast made by Seth and getting to go to church as a family for the first time since March.  Levi cried going into nursery and coming out, but apparently he did well in between.  We attempted Granite City brunch but there was a quarter-mile-long line coming out the door.  So, we went home and Levi had a 2 1/2 hour nap while we snacked and caught up on The Office and Parks and Recreation. 

Once Levi woke up, we had a nice lunch at Johnny Carino’s.  Levi ate his weight in gorgonzola penne pasta and chicken scaloppini.  He even used his crayons for their intended purpose!

Then we headed over to the mall and looked at the big fish tank and the puppies for a while.  Levi just loves the fish and squeals in delight when they come into his view.  After a bit, we walked down to the Stride Rite in our mall and had Levi’s feet measured.  We were shocked to discover he was measuring a 6 1/2, so the lady said we shouldn’t go any smaller than 7.  The terrible thing is, he’s been wearing size 5s from Target for the last 6 weeks!

We looked around the mall, then found some we liked and that Levi seemed to have no difficulty toddling around in.  They look pretty cool on him even if they are a little bold!  They were on sale at Scheels.

 

All we had were the blue and khaki grippy socks from when he was learning to walk, so we had to find him some cheap socks at Target.  Johnny Carinos left all three of us parched for some fluids, so we got a mango smoothie that Levi couldn’t get enough of.

Mango Smoothie from Seth Anderson on Vimeo.

He’s got rhythm.

Levi feels the beat. He's felt the beat since he was 8 or 9 months.  We think it’s hilarious.  We finally captured it on video yesterday.

Dancin' from Seth Anderson on Vimeo.

Atlanta Trip

Levi and I just got back from an 8 day trip to Atlanta.  My parents drove down for part of the time  from GR.  We had Easter dinner with Katie and Todd and did lots of other things.  We went to an aquarium, the self-proclaimed best in the land….

… we chased kitties around Katie’s house….

….chased puppies around the park…..

…and snuggled with grandma.

Levi even learned a new move with his face:

Happy Easter!

First Swing of Spring

Yesterday it was 42 degrees outside and relatively calm.  Seth had the day off from the ER, and Levi and I were sick of being inside all winter, so we decided to take a walk down to the park near our house and try out the swing.  We are under a flood watch here in Fargo during the next week as all this snow melts and the water starts to accumulate.  We still needed a hat and a spring jacket outdoors, but it felt nice to be out there.  Seth and I had to carry the stroller over a couple snow banks that were in our way and our toes got wet wading through all the puddles.  Levi had a good time on the swings though.  He was so little the last time we were on them.  We had a fun time together.

First swing of spring. from Seth Anderson on Vimeo.

Ruby Tuesday’s

Nice coupon I found today on fatwallet:

Shrimp & Angel Hair with grapes

Tonight Meribeth made shrimp and angel hair pasta with garlic and olive oil.  It was really delicious.  Ridiculously delicious.  It was the first time Levi had shrimp, but I think he really liked it.  Lately, he’s been loving grapes.   Not half grapes….whole grapes.  You give him a half grape and he sticks his finger in the middle of it until there’s a hole in it and then nonchalantly flips it to the side.  You give him a whole grape and he will chow it down and ask for another while the first is still being processed.  Tonight we took some cute pictures at supper.  He’s such a cute little guy, especially when he’s eating!

 

Career outlook

to the tune of Just the Two of Us

Sometimes I wonder

What you gonna be?

A general, a doctor

a plumber, maybe?

Hungry Fella

We’ve been trying to teach Levi how to say more with his hands.  We never know when he’s full because he just keeps eating and eating and eating and seems to never stop.  Well, yesterday, he finally got the hang of it.  Turns out, he really never is full….

More Please from Seth Anderson on Vimeo.

Fourteen Months!

Tonight I came home to a sleepy Levi who looked like he had just got up from his nap.  He was standing over by his table that makes all the noise and bouncing up and down to the music as he often does.  He looked over the couch at me when I came in and gave me a big smile.  I just love it when he does that every time I come in the door.  He always comes crawling over and then stands up by pulling on my pant legs and says “oh oh oh” up at me until I pick him up.  Then I usually show him my badge from the hospital or my cell phone and carry him around a bit.  It’s really great.  Meribeth took some really great pictures today:

Don’t have to imagine what he’s doing back there!

 

 

Our little baby turned 14 months today!  He’s growing up so fast!

New Video

Meribeth made me this special video with pictures from this past year + in Levi’s life.   I really like it.

Daddy Video from Seth Anderson on Vimeo.

Yesterday, when I came home from the hospital, Levi wanted to play with my cell phone like he usually does.  This time though, when I would give it to him with the screen dark, he would hand it right back to me and put it in my hands.  If I would turn it on, he would take it right back with a big smile on his face.   When I would turn it off when it was in his hands, he would quickly put it back on my lap until I would turn it on again.  It was pretty cute.  We’ve come a long ways: 

Fun on the car.

Chatting while driving. from Seth Anderson on Vimeo.

Levi has found a new word to repeat all day long.  Even when we ask him to say mama, he immediately says dadadadada.  It’s pretty cute.

First time sledding!

This weekend was supposed to have nice weather and plenty of sun.  A nice break from the sub-sub-sub zero temperatures we’ve been having thanks to the Alberta Clipper that came through.  So, we decided to borrow a sled from some friends at church and hit the slopes today.  The temp on the sign outside our deck said 25F so we went for it.  We got Levi all bundled in snow pants, sweater, winter coat, hat, mittens and scarf and headed to the sledding hill near our house.  Our parking is underground so we don’t experience the weather until we step outside of the car.  So, when we got there and stepped out, we realized it was really cold!  The wind was howling, but there were plenty of kids sledding so we thought we might as well give it a shot since we’ve made this much of an effort!

As you can see, he can’t see. :)

Really getting into this sledding thing!

Picture taken post-sledding experience as demonstrated below.

Hitting the slopes from Seth Anderson on Vimeo.

We were pretty crazy going through with it seeing how cold it was, but it was fun.  We’re going to give it another go one of these next few days when it’s not so cold and we can stay longer!

Blackberry shake

We made blackberry shakes the other night while we were watching TV.  As usual Levi was clamoring all over us to have some, so we obliged.

He wouldn’t stop asking for bites until both of our glasses were finished.  It’s pretty safe to say he’ll eat anything he can fit in his mouth, including the wood finishing buttons from our chairs, the cap to the chapstick, rocks from our shoes in the entry-way, seeds from lemons he finds in the carpet, and the hanger ribbon from Meribeth’s sweater!

You wouldn’t believe it if I told you..

This morning I woke up and got ready to go to the hospital and saw this outside our deck door:

While walking from my car to the hospital, in the span of 3 minutes,  my nose hairs froze to each other, the sidewalls of my nostrils froze together, and the moisture off my chin accumulated in my gotee and froze together so I couldn’t move my chin freely.  It was cold!!

- Seth

It’s been a picture taking day!

Levi and I didn’t go anywhere today. When we got up this morning it was –22 and never warmed up past –7, so who could blame us! But, it was nice and sunny so our apartment was very bright and. . . perfect for picture taking!  I’m kind-of obsessed with taking pictures of Levi. He’s just changing so fast and I love the thrill of satisfaction when I can say ,“that’s a good one!” and the challenge of keeping up after a FAST crawling Levi!  I’ve also been really inspired by a local photographer – her website is amazing and I would take Levi there in a heartbeat. BUT, it’s insanely expensive. It’s ok though. I’m having a blast trying to get the perfect shot! Here are some of my favorites from today.