Day 279 - Road Rash

"My head hurts.  Right here, Not so much here, or here so much, right here."

Leevi took a pretty good digger trying to stand on his push car on the cement.  Thankfully I think it looks worse that it actually is.  Mostly just skin abrasion.  Leevi being the consummate trooper, was able to pick himself up and get going again quickly.

Day 278 - Hoodies

"Hoods are good."

Yes they are.

Day 277 - Mother's Day

"Happy Mother's Day Momma!"

Paige and Leevi wanted to surprise Valerie for Mother's day with Breakfast in Bed.  Very exciting times, although trying to eat syrupy pancakes in bed isn't easy (or at least so I am told, not having had breakfast in bed before.)

Day 276 - Our Baby Can Read.

"Pictures.  Words...Words... Pictures."

Ok, not really.  However, he does like to throw books around.  That is close, right?

Day 275 - Teddy

"Haha, I love you Teddy [in this exact moment of time]."

Leevi likes stuffed animals quite a bit, but doesn't really show any allegiance to one in particular.  Perhaps this will change over time, but my old teddy bear did the trick for this day anyway.

Day 274 - The Ottoman Shuffle

"I'm not here to start no trouble, I'm just here to do the Ottoman Shuffle!"

Leevi is starting to pull himself up and scoot along the furniture.  He doesn't have a lot of balance yet, but it will get better.

Day 273 - Crawling in the Dark

"Shhhhh!  Be very quiet!"

A little late-night crawling for Leevi.  Along with some late night nose-dripping.

Day 272 - Winter Olympian-in-Training.

"Is it 3 circles and then a flip, or a flip and then 3 circles?"

Looks like Leevi is getting ready for the upcoming Winter Olympics.  He is hoping to perfect the Triple McDuss 360° just like his big sister.

Day 271 - The Not Quite Greatest of the Pureed Vegetables

"Woah, that is not quite what I was exepcting."

Squash < Sweet Potato

Day 270 - The Not Quite Greatest of the Great Lakes

"That is one huge lake!"

We are lucky enough to live very close to Lake Michigan, so we decided to take a little day trip because it was so warm.  As it turns out, the temps dropped by about 20 degrees as we approached the lake, but we still had a good time exploring the town of Port Washington and the harbor area.  It isn't quite Lake Superior (the greatest lake on earth), but Lake Michigan is still pretty cool, and it is nice to be living so close to the Great Lakes again.

Day 269 - Tunnel of Fun

"That's a long way to crawl"

Kids can turn almost anything into great fun.  Especially when brightly colored.

Bonus Photo:

Just a good photo of Leevi on a nice spring day.

Day 268 - Table Time

"I can see why Kaija likes to play down here so much.  Under the table is great!"

Leevi seems to really like playing under the table, much to Kaija's chagrin.

Day 267 - Play Time

"Let's Play!"

Leevi is pretty much always up for some fun.

Day 266 - Driving Time

"I'll take the wheel Momma!"

Just a little fun behind the wheel.

Day 265 - Comfortable Rest

"zzz."

Nothing like a good night's sleep.

Day 264 - Good Times

"Look where I am, can you believe it?"

Yeah, he definitely ends up in different places than where you left him...

Day 263 - On the Bottom

"Well, the bottom seems sort of anti-climactic, don't you think?"

Maybe to all of us, but to him, it is a world of excitement.  right?  RIGHT?

Day 262 - Move Along, Move Along

"Grandpa, I just learned to crawl, what's with this walking stuff?"

No rest for the weary Leevi.  That is our family's way.  No need to sit back and ruminate on what is done.  Keep on moving to the next goal.d

Day 261 - Garage Operation.

"Can I help you?"

Don't be bothering Leevi and Kaija when they are clearly busy working on things in the garage.  You've been warned.

Day 260 - Pack and Wake Up All Night

"This just isn't all that comfortable, you know?"

Leevi does not enjoy sleeping in the pack and play all that much.  He wakes up very easy at home, but in the pack and play, even easier.

Day 259 - Signing Time

"All done."

This is how he tries to say all done.  Time to start reinforcing the baby sign language.  I've heard it helps with the development of vocal communication.  Although if it has anything to do with how much his sister Paige talks, maybe we don't want to head down that path...

Day 258 - Dinner Time

"Time for food, right?"

Dinner time is a very serious matter in this household.  very serious if you don't bring him food.

Day 257 - Check It Out.

"Finally, I can come check out what that thing is you put up to your face!"

Once they start crawling, they want to grab everything.  Including cameras.

Day 256 - Johnny Nap-Up

"zzz."

Leevi was jumping around and having a great time.  Suddenly everything went quiet.  Quiet with a baby usually does not equal something good.  Turns out it was just nap time.

Day 255 - This Cat Likes Milk.

"Hurrah for milk."

Milk is good.  Even for cartoon cats. Even without hats.

Day 254 - Time to Swim

"I thought you said we were going swimming.  This just feels like cold tiles, not like warm pool water."

Swimming time for Leevi.  We held off on official "swim lessons" for him, and opted to just bring him to the pool on our own.  Someone should probably tell his mom that you aren't supposed to you cell phone cameras in locker rooms...

Day 253 - Resting Pose

"Just taking a little break here. Nothing to see, Nothing to see."

All that crawling is hard work.  Some times you just need to give your back a break.

Day 252 - A Sophisticated Mess

"My dear old man, why don't you take a seat and relax a bit with me."

Only Leevi could make a giant mess of toys and a plastic mallet look in any way shape or form sophisticated...

Day 251 - and, Done.

Now that I'm up here and moving, I'm not so certain I like it."

We have a crawler.  Truthfully, he very much enjoys the crawling, and this was just a moment in time that I caught on his face.

Day 250 - Are You Ready to Rock?

"Let's ROOOOOOOCCCCKKKKK!"

Yelling babies are scary.

Day 249 - Even Closer

"Now I've got it!"

He is even closer.

Day 248 - Almost There

"Uggh, if I can just get this foot out of...."

Leevi is close.  Very close.  Pretty soon all bets are off, and a complete house rearrangement will be in order.  Fun times ahead!

Day 247 - Hand Slapping

"My hand on top!"

What is the name of that game anyway?  You pull your hand from the bottom and then put it on top?  I can't remember.  Either way, Leevi likes it.

Day 246 - Bath, in Black and White

"Bath time, again?"

Leevi is not as big of a fan of the bath as Paige.  He is slowly warming up to the idea, but I doubt he will ever be quite as excited.  Then again, there probably isn't a person on earth that likes them more than Paige.

Day 245 - Tired Eyes

"I want to play for just a little longer."

Pro-Tip:  If your kid's eyes look like these.  Nothing good will come of letting them stay up longer.  Nothing.

Day 244 - Fairy Paige Strikes Again

"Paige, I don't feel any different in these wings.  Are you sure I am supposed to change?"

First hair, now fairy wings.  When will it all end? I do find the juxtaposition of "Daddy's Big Guy" and Paige's Fairy Wings funny though.  Also, this is a pretty good shot showing how big that gap is between his front teeth.  I assume it will close up over time.  Paige has taken to calling him her little Michael Strahan...

Day 243 - Punk Rock Mickey

"My Mohawk might say rebel, but my t-shirt says adorable."

OK, I'm not gong to be one of those Dads that puts their kid's hair up in a mohawk, but this looks pretty darn awesome by random chance if you ask me.

Day 242 - Don't Worry, Be Happy

"It's a good day to be a kid!"

Leevi is still happy as can be.  Especially on trips to Grandma's house.

Day 241 - Giant Side Lights

"..."

In case you were wondering, large open windows (or sliding doors) that do not have direct sunlight are great for portraits.

Day 240 - Out for a Run

"Let's get this show on the road.  Time's a wasting."

The roads have cleared up enough to get out for a run.  Leevi has not had too many opportunities to get out in the stroller.  Unfortunately the tire promptly leaked, and needs to be repaired...

Day 239 - Paige Julia Salon Spa

"That feels funny.  What are you doing anyway?"

Leevi almost has enough hair to be noticeable now.  Paige clearly decided that it was long enough to style.  I foresee this not being the last time that Leevi is subjected to her "styling."

Day 238 - Spring Swing

"Weee!"

Valerie took advantage of the nice sunny spring air, and took the kids to the park. Leevi sure enjoyed the swing.

Day 237 - Ride 'Em Cowboy

"Giddy up Bailey!"

Leevi spent some quality time with Grandpa Roger and Bailey.  Apparently including some Rodeo training.

Day 236 - Late Night

"zzz."

Late night, late photo.