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.