Autumn Leaves

A couple of weeks ago, the weather was perfrect for a romp in the leaves.  Stephanie, Garret, Ethan, Stephen, and even Dan Hayden were over at Bob's.  He has wonderful maple trees, and leaves were even dry!  Levi thought it was hilarious to have the boys dump armfuls on him.  Later on he picked up the big rake and helped with the pile.  It was so much fun!

 

 

 

Twenty-One Months Old

Levi was acting goofy for his monthly milestone shot on November 7th.

Here is an extra photo from our trip to the pumpkin patch.

 

 

A week after the pumpkin patch, we went to Double Four Tree Farm with my parents to pre-select our Christmas trees.  The weather was warm--mid-60s in November!--and Levi enjoyed seeing the tractors, trees, animals, and people.

 

Levi the Lion

For Halloween this year, we went down to Jill and Randy's house and posed for a picture with Maddie the Cupcake.  Afterwards we had dinner at my parents' house.

Pumpkin Patch

We waited until pretty late in the game to visit a pumpkin patch this year.  It was 4:45 on a drizzly Sunday afternoon before we finally made it to Picha Farms.  Bob and Stephen came with us.  We actually had a pretty good time!  The farm was close by, and it wasn't crowded.  Levi's favorite part may have been sloshing through the thick mud in his new boots.  My favorite part was probably the fresh kettle corn.

My guys

Nathan tried his hand at the pumpkin sling shot.  No luck this year.

Levi stood next to the muddy tractor and watched Daddy sling pumpkins.

 

Twenty Months

It's hard to believe Levi is this old and this capable.  He is getting more independent all the time, and it's great to see his new little discoveries.  This morning we were fooling around with the camera.  I asked him if he wanted to go upstairs so I could take a picture of him.  He took off running, sat down on the bottom step, and smiled.  Goofy!

Day-to-day activities

Here are a few photos of Levi's daily routines.

Reading with Daddy

Watering the plants like Daddy.  Actually, just after I took
this picture, Levi got fed up with the fact that there was
no water in the can.  He got so mad that he bit the handle.

Levi always loves throwing rocks into containers.

Not a great picture, but that basket is full of small instruments. 
Levi understands how to play most of them.

19 Months Old and the Fair

A growing boy!

 

 We went to the Puyallup Fair on Friday.  It was over 85 degrees and really crowded, so Levi and I were both exhausted after two-and-a-half hours.  We tried out the petting farm for the first time.  There were kids--human and goat--all over the place, and he thought it was fascinating.  He also sat down and played in the wood chips, which he enjoyed but I didn't really appreciate.  :)

I took a picture like this last year.  Levi liked the noisy roosters!

It's a boy!

Since I'm 20 weeks pregnant, today I got to have a level two ultrasound.  We got a few good pictures, one of which showed that we're expecting another boy!  So two boys in the house!  This should be fun!

In this shot, the baby is looking up.  His head is on the left, and his torso is on the right.

Everything looked good in the ultrasound, so it looks like we have a happy, healthy baby.

Ocean Retreat

Nathan and I finally took Levi to the ocean!  On Friday we drove over to Long Beach to spend the night.  Our hotel was right on the beach, and we got a suite with a separate room for Levi; it was great.  When we first arrived at the beach, Levi plopped right down in the sand and dug his hands in.  It only took two minutes for him to get sand everywhere on his body: hair, ears, diaper . . . everywhere!  And he was so happy!

 We happened upon a sand castle that had been erected and abandoned.  Levi destroyed the towers as if he was Godzilla.

One of the local landmarks is this museum.  It's more of a gift shop than a museum, but there's lots of weird things inside.  Nathan used to come here as a kid when he was visiting his grandmother, and apparently it hasn't changed much.

 

 

Building our own sand castle.  Nathan constructed it, and Levi knocked it down.  In the end Levi wandered away, and Nathan was able to finish his creation.

I was afraid Levi woudn't like the water--he's such a cautious kid--but he loved it every time a wave rolled over his feet!  Below I captured the wave that got all three of us wet.

 

We're going to have to do this again!!!

Playing around

I knew there was a use for those ugly utility boxes in the front yard!

We went to the zoo with Carmen and Vivienne, but I didn't take any great pictures.

Eighteen months

Levi turned eighteen months old today.  He had his check-up yesterday, and he is a big boy!  At 35 inches tall, he is off the charts for height.  (The 95th percentile, the highest indicated on the chart, is 34.25 inches.)  He weighs 28 pounds 7 ounces, so that is the 82nd percentile.  His head circumference of 48.5 centimeters is the 75th percentile.

Lately Levi has begun to be more physical: running a lot and trying to climb more things.  He can say dada, mama, bubble, ball, nana (banana), tickle, and a wide array of animal sounds.  He is increasingly interested in new things, and I always love to see what captures his attention.  I'm looking forward to seeing what the next few months will bring!

Random Photos

Yep.  That's Levi wearing his swim trunks and his favorite doggie towel,
even though he didn't want to go in the pool, and he's "helping" me water the plants.

All American

Amy, Maddie, Levi and Auntie Ann on the evening she flew back to Boston

Love Auntie Ann's fish face!

More family time

Today was photo day for the kids.  As usual, it was awfully interesting getting everyone to look towards the camera, so we were lucky to get some smiles.

Grannie and Grandpa with Levi, Paige, and Claire

Maddie wanted to share in the limelight, but Amy wasn't so sure.

The cousins are getting so big!

Paige started crawling just yesterday, and here she crawled into the tent to join Claire.

Andrew and his daughters

Mary Robert and Maddie

Chillin on the Sit 'n' Spin with a cold drink

Giddyup, Grandpa!

 On Monday morning we all went to Amy and John's house to play with Maddie's toys.

On Tuesday, Grannie met Levi and me at the park for lunch and a public concert.