Two zold!

...which is Leif-speak for TWO YEARS OLD! Happy birthday, Leif!


We had a very enjoyable party at our house on Leif's birthday with all of our in-town relatives (the usual suspects: Granny & Grandpaw G., Grandma & Grandpa B., Uncle Erik, Aunt Tami, & Cousin Vivian, Great-Aunt Mirja, and Auntie Sarah). Auntie Sarah arrived with a bunch of car-themed helium balloons which were (and continue to be) a huge hit with the birthday boy. Leif was very taken with all of his birthday gifts and seemed to enjoy the new kind of "muffin" that his mom had prepared for the occasion: chocolate cupcakes (which he continues to refer to as "cupcake muffins"), and especially the whipped cream that accompanied them. But most of all, he delighted in having so much attention showered on him by so many loving relatives all at once. It was fun to see how he reacted to everything now that he sort of gets what birthdays are about (much more so than last year, in any case). Thank you to everyone for coming to celebrate Leif's birthday with us!

Cousin Rachel

Aunt Jess and Cousin Rachel came to Minnesota to visit for a couple of weeks in February. Unfortunately, Leif was sick for the first week they were here, so we didn't get to see them as much as we had hoped. We eventually made it over to St. Paul to meet them for a fun afternoon/evening outing to the Children's Museum and Cossetta's, and out to Cottage Grove for a family meal and playtime with golden retrievers at Granny and Grandpaw G.'s house. The picture above and the videos below were all taken on the last night of Jessica and Rachel's trip, when they (along with Auntie Sarah, Granny, and Grandpaw) came over to our house for dinner.

One of the surest ways to get Leif and Rachel into the same frame for a photo or a video is to start reading a book!



Leif has not been persuaded to hug either of his cousins yet, but he is (usually) OK with giving them high fives.

Zen cars

In mid-December, I posted the following comment about Leif and his obsession with Matchbox cars on Facebook: "Watching Leif slowly rolling his Matchbox vehicles around (and around and around and around) on a tabletop is like watching someone rake their mini Zen garden. He is totally serene and at one with his kahs, kucks, and vans." A few weeks later, I finally managed to get a video illustrating this (which was easier said than done, since if Leif notices that he is being videotaped he often stops doing whatever he had been doing and stares at the camera instead). I'd estimate that Leif has spent at LEAST an hour (in total, spread out over the course of each day) most days of the week for the past several months doing exactly what you see in this video, and to my amazement, he has yet to tire of it. I envy his single-minded dedication to his favorite pastime -- it is more than I can muster these days!

Giggling climber

Leif has continued to earn his reputation as a little monkey boy (both an avid climber and a great lover of bananas) this winter. First he figured out how to climb up from the floor to the top of his changing table without any assistance, and not long thereafter he discovered that by grabbing onto the sheet or blankets on top of our bed he could pull himself up just enough to get a toe-hold on the bed rail and from there, push up until he could get a knee up on top of the bed. Needless to say, he found this new skill very satisfying, not to mention entertaining, and it required quite a bit of joyful repetition that night when he first figured out he could do it (which is when this video was taken).

Toddler bowling

A while back, Auntie Sarah gave Leif just about the most fun toy ever: a plastic bowling set. In Leif's world, bowling involves first throwing the ball at the pins (while standing almost directly over them), and then immediately running toward any pins that may remain standing and kicking them over with your feet. As you can see in this video, it's a VERY fun game that merits many, many rounds of "Again, please!" Thanks again to Auntie Sarah for all the good times bowling (past and future).

Mid-winter ducks

We've been enjoying the abnormally warm weather this winter -- a stark contrast to last winter, when there were something like seven snow emergencies declared in Minneapolis and Leif and I spent what felt like six solid months indoors. One afternoon in early February, usually one of the most bitterly cold weeks of the year, we enjoyed a two-hour walk outside, making the full circuit of the neighborhood, first down to Lake Harriet to see the ducks swimming in the patch of open water near the shore and then over to Pershing Park to play on the non-snowy playground. We topped it off by meeting Aaron at the bus stop on our way back from the park just as he was arriving home from work. Nothing more exciting than seeing Dad get off the city bus!