Leif turns 1!

On the day after Leif's first birthday, we had a delightful family party at our house with all four of Leif's grandparents, his Auntie Ooh-ooh Ah-Ah (a.k.a. Sarah), and Great-Aunt Mirja. Leif was not so sure at first about whether he really wanted to open all those presents -- he seemed to be finding it to be more of a chore than a pleasure in the beginning -- but after a while he started to catch on that there might actually be some fun stuff hidden inside the paper, so all that hard work ripping open packages was not for naught. He also enjoyed an early dinner with us all, featuring a variety of foods I was pretty sure he would like: turkey lasagna, green beans, peas, and a spiced prune cake for dessert. (Yes, I know, prune cake sounds really unappetizing, but trust me, it's good!) Below are some highlights from the party.

Aaron reads Leif one of his birthday cards


Leif opens a present with a little help from his dad


The Birthday King! (We tried again to get a picture of him wearing his birthday crown -- a gift from Great-Aunt Mirja -- while actually smiling the next day, but no dice; we just ended up with a series of pictures of him in the process of taking the crown off his head.)


Leif really did enjoy his birthday dinner more than it looks like he is in this photo....


I figured Leif and I could share a piece of cake -- he could have a few little bites and then I would eat the rest. Well, Leif had other ideas! He quickly grabbed the entire slice of cake out of my hand and proceeded to eat most of it. Guess he liked it :-).




Leif tries out some of his nifty new toys






HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, LEIFY LEIFSTER! We love you very much. What a great year it has been!

Boston

Over President's Day weekend, Leif and I decided to give Aaron a few days of peace and quiet while we went out to visit Tamara (my close friend from high school who now lives in Brookline, just across the city line from Boston), her husband Mike and their daughter Sierra. Over the past few years, Tamara and I have inadvertently started a tradition of visiting each other whenever one of us is pregnant. Aaron and I stayed with Tamara and Mike for several days back in spring 2008 when she was expecting Sierra, Tamara came to Minnesota in 2010 when I was eight months pregnant with Leif, and now that she is awaiting the arrival of Sierra's baby sister, it was my turn to visit her once again. We had a delightful time hanging out at their condo, walking around the neighborhood, and visiting the Museum of Science and the New England Aquarium. We were very lucky to be able to see my dear friend (and Leif's buddy from his early, cranky days) Shuli on the same trip -- she drove down from her current home in Portland, Maine to spend a few days with us all. Below are some highlights from the trip.


Hanging out with Shuli at Tamara's place. Leif got a lot of good walking practice in around the condo; he especially liked cruising along the edges of the giant L-shaped sofa.


Leif picked up lots of tips on how to be a big kid from Sierra.


At the Museum of Science, Leif was most interested in investigating the properties of benches and escalators.


Sierra was *very* excited about pushing Leif in the stroller as we made our way out of the museum! Tamara and I helped out a little bit with steering here and there, but overall she did a great job considering the stroller was taller than she was.


Shuli and I enjoyed several chilly but pleasant walks around Brookline while Leif got some late afternoon napping done in Tamara and Mike's snazzy jogging stroller.


I think Leif dug the stroller as much as I did!


Taking a break for snacks at the aquarium's pleasantly large-windowed cafe. Not satisfied with Cheerios and water, Leif managed to grab a chunk of my bagel.


Leif found all those fish -- and masses of people, since we were there on a holiday -- downright exhausting! Luckily he is still light enough for me to carry him in the Baby Bjorn (just barely).


Logan Airport thoughtfully provides rocking chairs at some gates for the convenience of parents traveling with young children. That's so the children can stand next to the chairs and practice rocking them, right? Leif thought so. Right after taking this picture, we were off to board our flight home at the adjacent gate. Leif was a very popular little guy on that flight, despite (or perhaps because of) his antsiness. He refused to stay on my lap for more than 5 or 10 minutes at a stretch and hardly napped at all, which meant he got to make numerous trips toddling up and down the aisle, making friends. Various people sitting near us also played lively games of peek-a-boo with him toward the end of the flight when he was starting to reach the end of his rope. Thank goodness for the kindness of strangers!

Little Big Boy

Leif and I had an adventure out in Boston last weekend, and I will post pictures from our trip sometime soon, but tonight since I am short on time I just wanted to write a short entry to wish an early birthday to our little boy who is *very nearly* one year old. I'll try to get some good pics of him smiling on his birthday! Although you can't see his face in this photo, I think it does a good job of illustrating just how much he has grown since one year ago. (Another inch or two and he may be able to turn some doorknobs on his own -- YIKES!)

Leif's first snowball

With temperatures soaring to an incredible 47 degrees this past Sunday, we decided it was time for our first "spring" (that's Minnesota February wishful thinking) family walk by Lake Harriet. It was also high time to try using our Ergo baby carrier again, now that Leif is plenty big enough to ride in it on my back rather than on my front. He wasn't super thrilled when we first put him in the carrier inside our house, but once we got moving, and especially once we got down by the lake and he got to see all the dogs out being walked, he seemed pretty content with the arrangement. I'm not sure if I could go all the way around the lake carrying him on my back like that (without my back complaining); I imagine once the real spring thaw hits in three or four months we will give it a try and see how it goes.

When we got back to the house from our walk, we made sure to commemorate the massive snowbanks that have built up over the course of Leif's first full winter. As Aaron likes to say (frequently, and with tongue planted firmly in cheek), "It's hard to believe all this snow will be gone by next weekend." One of these weeks, it will finally be true!

Suspicious

Hmmm....I suspect Daddy may have been playing with Leif's toys again!

More climbing

In between bouts of walking/running/staggering around the dining room table and practicing going up the stairs, Leif has become a very determined climber of assorted objects and pieces of furniture these days. He likes to try to climb the baby gates, occasionally the bookshelves, and even our bed (which, of course, is MUCH too tall for him to get up on top of yet, but that does not deter him from trying once or twice a day!).

In the interest of keeping him off of the taller and more dangerous things, we have half filled the living room with a variety of cardboard boxes and foam cubes (stuffed with blankets or sheets so they will support Leif's weight) that are low enough to the ground that even if he manages to topple off one of them before we can catch him, it won't be too much of a tumble. Recently, I also experimented with using one of the cardboard boxes as a small step to help Leif climb up onto the big leather chair in the corner of the living room. This was fun for a while (up...down...up...down...up...down), but once Leif decided it would be a good idea to try to dive head first off the side of the chair, I decided it was high time to take his little step away and stop playing on the chair for the time being! Hopefully by the time he is tall enough to clamber up onto it without assistance he will also have learned how to come down safely -- FEET first!

Auntie Sarah's birthday

Leif had a marvelous time at Buca celebrating Auntie Sarah's birthday on Superbowl Sunday. Surprise surprise, it was not the busiest night for them, so Leif had the run of the place! He got excellent exercise walking laps around the entire (mostly empty) restaurant, taking turns holding on to Granny's, Auntie's, Mommy's, or Daddy's fingers for support. (Grandpaw had made the sacrifice and stayed home to make sure the family was represented among the 111 million people watching our Cheesehead neighbors prevail in Superbowl XLV.) Leif steadfastly refused to sit in the high chair that the restaurant kindly provided for him, but he did manage to eat a decent dinner, in the end, while cozily nestled on my lap.

Galk!

These past few weeks, Leif has been working hard not only at practicing his walking skills, but also at trying to say (or approximate) the word "walk." His version sounds more like "GALK!", but he says it with such gusto that we often find ourselves imitating him rather than the other way around.

Linguistic side note: I find it interesting that he can say the "w" sound in some contexts (he says "wa wa" for water), but he has not yet been able to muster an initial "w" sound in a closed syllable like "walk." It will be interesting to see how his pronunciation develops over the coming year.

Exploring

Leif's increasing mobility has given him a whole new appreciation for his surroundings, now that he can explore them independently and even (sometimes) from an upright position. One of his discoveries has been just how much fun it is to sit *under* his high chair rather than in it -- and when that gets old, pushing the high chair across the room is also entertaining.


He has also zeroed in on the parts of our buffet that he is actually able to open. Time for Round 3 (or 5, or 8??) of childproofing!

Hair with attitude

Leif's hair has grown enough now that he is capable of sculpting it into what I like to call "hair with attitude." This is most often accomplished at mealtime or bath time. Lately, one of the many songs I sing to Leif throughout the day has often been: "Are you going to San Francisco? Be sure to wear avocado in your hair..." Unfortunately, as I discovered the other day, Leif now knows what "hair" means, so my singing this only prompts him to pat his head with his avocado-coated fingers that much more enthusiastically.

Legoland

On a cold weekend day in late January, we took Leif on a mall walking expedition to the Mall of America, including his momentous first visit to Legoland. (Or at least his first photo op overlooking Legoland!) I'm sure there will be many more visits to come...especially after he has outgrown the urge to eat the Legos.


This was the outing that convinced us our budding walker needed some real shoes, stat! Poor Leif was slipping all over the place in his soft-soled Robeez shoes. He still found plenty to enjoy at the mall, however, despite the walking difficulties. Watching people going up the escalator was a particular hit.

Shake that egg!

In this video, taken on Christmas Day, Leif demonstrates his egg shaking skills (accompanied by Auntie Sarah's vocals).

Two cousins in a boat

We recently got around to loading a bunch of video clips taken in December and January onto our computer, so I wanted to share a few of them. In this video, Leif and his cousin Vivian (at ages ~10 months and ~2 1/2 years, respectively) play together in Leif's new Radio Flyer wagon, which in its not-yet-assembled, wheel-less state was temporarily fulfilling the essential role of Living Room Boat.



(On a side note, the boat has recently been relegated to the basement to have its wheels put on and to await the eventual spring thaw, since Leif's interest in it had progressed from the innocent "Let's walk around the outside of the boat and push the seat backs up and down" to the much more harrowing for Mom "Let's practice climbing into and out of the boat...over and over...head first!")

Baby steps

Leif has started to attempt a few small, independent steps, although he still prefers to walk around holding on to our fingers with one or both of his hands (or simply to crawl). His PR so far is about 4 or 5 feet! As when he was learning to crawl four months ago, holding my cell phone just out of his reach seems to be the best enticement to get him to attempt a few steps on his own.