We'll Be Back After This Short Interruption

We have to vacate our home for the next week while we get new windows installed and the old lead ones removed. Then I will be up at the cottage with the boys while Randy paints. With our WiFi broken on the laptop I can only post on the desktop, so I leave you for the next couple of weeks with these two images of the boys.......

Slip 'n Slide

This past week the weather was fantastic and called out for some water activity. We were honored to be able to break in the Slip 'n Slide that Soren gave Kai for his birthday last January. Kai dove right in while Soren cared more to stay on his two feet. Both had a blast. Thanks for sharing in the fun Kai!

It's All About the Mouth

Some of Sevi's 6 month milestones: Teething and Feeding

What Would We Do Without You.......

We thought we had it all figured out this past winter for care for Sevi while I was back teaching two mornings a week. Then our nanny got stuck back home in Columbia when her green card expired. With Nancy and Henry in Florida for the month of March, my mom took on Sevi full time. Then it turned into a Nanna share for April and May. Sevi loved all the love and attention and I have a feeling that the Nanna's (and Henry) loved all the baby snuggles too. We thank you so very much for all your help, we couldn't have gotten through the semester without you.

The Photo Quest

There is a saying in academia, at least in the arts, "Those who can't do, teach." As embarrassing as it is to admit, this phrase rings true in one arena of my photographic life, when it comes to trying to get a photo of Soren with Sevi. The image at the top of the blog (that was also our 2009 Christmas card) was obtained by the ultimate bribe of popping in M&M's into Soren's mouth. But since then Soren fights having his photo taken. I decided that maybe he would at least smile for a stranger if I was out of the so called picture, and it worked.

Spin Master

Already I am counting the days for when Soren will hit the height limit to go on roller coaster rides with me. Randy is out of the picture since he lost his roller coaster ability at Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH - The Roller Coaster Capital, a few years back. I have secretly been building up Soren's spin tolerance at the local parks and for now he has been loving the training!

Happy 6 Months Sevi!

Self Discovery

We have officially hit the timeframe in a babies first year that I really love. The time of self discovery. When a baby will spend hours contemplating their own hands and marvel at the ability to grab their own toes. Their knowledge of self has taken a leap and their sense of independence is growing. You catch them staring at you and you stop what you are doing to flash a smile and soak up that loving toothless grin of a response.

Happy Mayday!

Jumping Jumperoo

Return of the Bumbo

We have fond memories of the days when Soren was in the Bumbo. It has recently returned into the household as a loaner again and even after three years Soren still fits into it. Sevi is just as happy and content in it and more than ready to start eating real food.

Happy 5 Months Sevi!

Sevigram

I am currently teaching a Black and White Photography course at The University of Saint Catherine's. As a demo for a darkroom technique known as photograms, I used Sevi as an example. You can say that Sevi has now officially been "exposed" to photography and the darkroom. This was done when he was about 3 months old and even then just fit onto a piece of 16x20 photographic paper.

11 Feet of Pure Cycling Pleasure

The remaining winter sludge has officially been cleared from the MN landscape and out from hibernation have come the family bike gear. This year Soren has moved up to the Tag-A-Long and Sevi has moved into the Burley. The Tag-A-Long is a borrowed gift from Uncle Jeff and Soren LOVES it. When Randy attaches the whole lot to his own bike it measures a total of 11 feet (lord knows the total weight with our big caboose!). Look for the train of boys on the weekends. This gives me until summer to get back into shape to pull the train myself and get the boys to all the local parks and pools. Choo-Choo........

Milk Brothers

We welcomed Griffin into this world in the beginning of January. We met his parents a couple of years ago and have just recently been blessed with getting to know them on a more intimate level. With Sevi tipping the scales with his weight, I knew he had plenty to share. When Griffin needed a little help to tip his own scales, I was happy to share some of my milk supply to get him over this hurdle. While my milk maid role was short, it is the bond of friendship that has been created with this milk connection that we are the most excited about. Soren has a new buddy (Griffin's older brother), Randy has a new biker friend to talk shop with, I have an incredibly wonderful new friend and Sevi and Griffin are officially milk brothers.

Andrea and The Boys

"I'm Going To Share"

At this early stage of brotherly companionship, Soren is more then willing to share his belongings with Sevi. Time will tell how long this stage will last.....

Happy 4 Months Sevi!

We Are Family

We are family
I got all my sisters with me
We are family
Get up everybody and sing
(Pointer Sister Lyrics from We are Family)

OK, so technically it is really only one half sister for the boys, but we are all thrilled that we can get up and sing about having Liz as a part of our lives. Sevi was a bit unsure about the whole thing, but we just wrote it off as typical baby behavior. Soren though said at bedtime that having Liz there to read him stories was the highlight of his day. We hope this is just the beginning of many family reading hours.

The Things They Say #1

The Scene: Andrea trying to motivate Soren to head outside.
Andrea: "Let's get our jacket on so we can go outside and get some fresh air."
Soren: "I don't like fresh air, I like house air."

Grafitti Snow Artist

Take one toddler with cabin fever + Warm winter weather + Spray bottles with colored water and you have a great recipe for an afternoon of creative mark making.

Oh Canada!

To honor our Canadian heritage and Olympic spirit Granny Annie (aka Nana Guitar) bought the family some Vancouver 2010 merchandise from the Hudson Bay Co.. Sevi is sporting the Olympic hat and Soren is wearing the highly sought after red mittens. Sunday's Gold Medal hockey game with Team USA vs. Canada will be a great finale for the games. Go Canada (and thanks Nana)!!!!

Foot in the Door 4 - Part 2

We fought the crowds at the opening last night, and was it ever packed. It took us an hour to get through the three galleries and try to locate the artwork.

The first image shows the work of Sevi. The image was shot in utero during my residency in Ireland. Then he added his footprints to take on a literal meaning to the Foot in the Door exhibition.



Soren's image is titled Self Portrait As A Middle Aged Man. You had no idea that he was this talented, did you?


Ha - Gotcha. Unfortunately we couldn't find his on the wall during the opening.

This last one was my image. A toy camera landscape image taken in Ireland.



It appears that the online gallery has a mix up of what is supposed to be Soren's image as well. Click on the search tab and type in Lewandowski to get to the boys images. Hopefully it will get cleared up and we can show you the real work that was titled I Was So Mad.

We even made it into the MIA flickr gallery!!!!! The show is up until June. Be sure to check it out in person.

Foot in the Door 4

Mark your calendars Twin Citians for the big debut of Soren and Sevi's artwork at the Minneapolis Institute of Art Foot in the Door Show. Come hang out with the art boys (and the other 5,000 other artists) whose work graces the walls. Follow this link for more info:

Meet some of the artists on this you tube link:
Gotta love the artist named Susie Q Kangaroo!!!!

Hope to see you Thursday night. Pictures from the big opening will be coming soon. No fair spoiling the fun when you really should go in person....

Valentine Love

If you do the math it is no secret that Sevi was conceived about this time of year. I kept threatening Randy that the baby should be named Valentino, but that was quickly vetoed. Our little valentine is the perfect sugar coated, huggable love bug. Happy Valentines Day to all.

Follow Me........

It has taken a good solid two months, but we think Soren is getting into his Big Brother groove. The fact that HE is the wise one, with years (ok 3) of experience to show the Little Guy exactly HOW to play, seems to be a good enough incentive for Soren to actually acknowledge Sevi. These brief moments of play are little treasures for us and hopefully a sign for some good brotherly fun times ahead.

On the Ice

This past summer we picked up some great size 10 double blade ice skates at a garage sale for $2. Then this Christmas Soren received a hockey stick along with an indoor field hockey class at the local community park. So far Soren lasts about 5 minutes out of the 45 minute class period. His introduction to the ice with the skates lasted about the same. For now the idea of being a hockey player still entices him, we just have to let the physical side of it all catch up.

Tumpy Wump

Go ahead and guess what a 2 month old who is in the 96% for weight just may weigh? Well, our not so little Sevi weighed in yesterday at his 2 month appointment at a whopping 15.1 pounds! As proof you can see in the photo how Sevi is popping out of his 0-3 month clothes - we can't even get the snaps close to being closed! I have hence adopted the name my own mother gave me as a baby: Tumpy Wump.

Sevi's First Bottle

We can't decide if Soren is getting a bit better with his Big Brother role or if we have just become numb to his fits of fury over the last two months. Either way I was thrilled that Soren wanted to participate in giving Sevi his first bottle. And like his big brother, Sevi took to the bottle like a champ.

Twinkle, Twinkle

For Soren's third birthday he received a guitar from Nana Guitar. We call her Nana Guitar because of all the musical instruments in her home, the favorite being my father's classical guitar and Nana's partner Bob's ukulele. Now Soren has his own guitar to strum and he plays it daily, loving to perform in front if the video camera. Here is his rendition of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. I have to laugh at Soren's eagerness to play this song and how it has come back to haunt me. I used to have to practice it over and over (with tears of unhappiness in my eyes) when I was young and learning to play the violin. We plan to start Soren with guitar lessons soon and I hope that they bring him that wonderful smile of happiness he has now.

Sevi @ 2 Months

At two months it appears that Sevi has already learned the act of defense. This fisted, boxing like stance has been a daily look for the last few days. Do you think this could be a reaction to the anger his big brother has so often displayed? Perhaps Sevi's way of saying "some day man, I am going to get you back for all those times you rocked the hell out of me in that infant car seat."