Dingleberry Rd

Today we decided to take a family trip down Dingleberry Rd.  Meribeth had been there earlier in the week with MOPS and wanted to take me back and take some pictures and pick some more apples.

Down Dingleberry Rd is Wilson’s Apple Orchard in Iowa City.  It was packed with cars and people.  The weather is starting to turn cooler here, but it was still pretty warm carrying 36 lb Levi, a diaper bag and a bushel of apples!

Levi had such a great time toddling around and picking up rotten apples off the ground.  We had to keep reminding him which ones were ‘yucky!’  He didn’t catch on :)  They even had pumpkins there.  He, of course, thought he could pick them up like the decorative pumpkin we have in our living room right now.

We had a fun time as a fam, took some good pics and Levi even got to practice his new word.

Apple from Seth Anderson on Vimeo.

It's been forever

This is Seth trying to get us back on the blogging train. Meribeth has so much fun reading other people's blogs and yet we don't contribute to the blogosphere like good netizens. Let's see, what's been happening since we last blogged 2 months ago....

We moved into our townhouse after paying incredible amounts of money to have the dog pee cleaned from the downstairs carpet. Disgusting. The first few days were a whirlwind as we tried to get as many things done as possible while our parents were still here.

I started residency and started to adjust to the life of a radiology resident. I must say, it's much better than the life of an intern. No more endless rounding, no more H&Ps, and no more sleeping in the hospital waiting for that pager that inevitably meant a sleepy walk to the ER. I get all of my weekends off, and usually just try to read about an hour a night, which is more of an aspiration than a goal I am regularly meeting.

Levi is growing up before our eyes. He can say mamma, dada, na na (banana), up, op (amen), ite (eat), aht (hot), yeah and sign for more, please and all done. He has such a great little personality and is a joy to watch busily tear around the living room getting into everything he can get his hands on. He just moved into his toddler bed, which I must say, was a pretty easy transition. Meribeth moved the bed to such a wall so that we could put a bed rail on one end, use the intentioned headboard as a footboard and make a headboard which we attached to the wall. So, he basically has a crib with shorter legs and shorter siderails. He seems to really like his new khaki room and the big Elmo that sits in the reading chair.

Our friends just had their baby and we had a chance to visit them at the hospital. It was really great to see and hold a newborn and see the place where our new little one will be entering the world in just 40+ days!

He seems to be adjusting nicely :)

All moved to Clear Lake

Over the last couple weeks, Seth has had a pretty easy schedule at the hospital to end his internship.  He’s been on ophthalmology which has been a cake walk compared to ICU and medicine.  Since he’s had half-days and weekends off we were able to get most of the packing done before Seth’s parents came with the truck and trailer from Clear Lake to pick us up. 

It’s so crazy to think we’ve been here a year.  Levi has grown up so much in this year, and Seth has learned so much and been through so much.  And, we’ve found out we’re having another baby during our year here.  That didn’t come out too clearly….we found out in Fargo, but she’s coming in October! :) 

It was pretty tough packing with a 1 1/2 year old running around pulling things out of boxes as we’re putting them in!  Definitely different than packing a year ago with a 5 month old in the house!

With Seth’s parents, one of his co-interns and a friend from church, we were able to get all the heavy stuff into the trailer in one night! 

  The next day we went to church and some dear friends from Bethel took us to the country club for brunch.   It was so delicious and Levi even got his own plate of french toast!  We got all the little stuff that takes forever packed up and were able to go to bed that night knowing everything was done except cleaning in the morning.

We checked out with the ladies at our apartment complex and got on the road by about 11:00.  Grandma and momma and Levi road in the Pacifica together, Grandpa manned the truck and trailer minus the right side mirror, and Seth took the Lumina.  Every vehicle was jam-packed full of stuff.  I can’t believe how much stuff we have.

Levi did so well on the road.  Grandma read him books, he looked out the window and was just generally a happy guy.  We pulled into Clear Lake about 7 hours later.  So happy to be done with the packing, loading, and the long drive!  We’ll be here about a week and then we close on our house in Coralville. 

Here’s a shot showing how long and wavey Levi’s hair has gotten.  He got a haircut today, but we don’t have any ‘after’ pictures yet.  Check back soon!

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!