More happy birthdays

Leif's birthday in late February began a parade of family birthdays that have helped buoy our spirits through a slushy, chilly March. First, Cousin Rachel (down in South Carolina) turned 2 in early March, followed by Grandpaw G., who turned an undisclosed number of years older than 2. Next it was Auntie Mirja's turn, followed by Aaron. With Grandpa B.'s early April birthday yet to come, the celebrating is not over yet! (Which is good, because the snow is not over yet, either, apparently.) Below are a few photos from Grandpaw and Aaron's birthday celebrations.

Grandpaw's birthday dinner at Famous Dave's


Taste-testing the frosting on Grandpaw's birthday cake


Aaron's birthday dinner at our house

Leif sees the light

Leif isn't trying to say "light" yet, but he does think lights are pretty neat and loves pointing at them. On this particular day, the dining room light merited a rare "double-point."

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!