The Last Week...or so

Last week Levi and I went to Dr. Salhadar's for his 16 month check up. Levi is such a funny boy with him..trying to jump, showing him his shooes, and being such a good boy during the exam. He just laid on the table without a squeak. The Dr. claimed usually he is fighting kids this age for the check up. Levi is growing like he should following the growth curve. He weighed in at 27.5 lbs and was 33.5 inches long. Dr. Salhadar mentioned that we should start introducing potty training to Levi...Yikes! Needless to say he said the best way that he will learn is by example...so for now, we have an open door policy.:) We bought the padded potty ring (with cars)that he recommended and have been trying to tell Levi when he poops or pees in his diaper and also sitting him on the toilet a few times a day. Like Dr.Salhadar said this is all an introduction and right now there is no expectations. Levi also had to go to the hospital to have his hemoglobin checked...which was less traumatic to me thanks to Grandma Roedema's help and a donut for Levi. He did great and they found the vein right away and thankfully the results all came back normal so no more iron supplements. Levi is getting more stubborn and telling Ryan and I no..this has been leading to some battles lately but I am sure that there is much more of that to come. He has been enjoying his daycare days, at Sandy's, since he can interact with kids. He seems to enjoy playing with the neighborhood kids too. The days he is home with mom we play as much as we can but sometimes I can tell he is bored with me or being inside.:) Then Ryan comes home and they play rough and outside...then he can get some of his engery out. Levi does have times where he reads or plays by himself too but he sure likes interacting with others.
Here are some snap shots of the last week!

Bath Time...16 months old!

Really, bath time is not really a special occassion to blog about but it is one that Levi really enjoys. He loves the "wa wa" and says " bye bye" when the water goes down the drain and he has to push the drain to empty. He could spend hours in the bubbles and just transfering water from one container to the other. The actual cleaning part of the bath is maybe 5 minutes. He thinks he is so funny when he puts bubbles on our faces or his own. He has the best laughs in the bathtub. What excitment and joy he gets from playing in the water..it makes Ryan and I happy to watch him play.

Levi's First Hair Cut

I finally did it. I have been contemplating cutting my baby's hair for awhile now. It has been looking very wild the last couple of weeks...with curls and a mullet type look in the back. I really do not know why I have been so sentimental about this.. So today, we went over to my neighbor, Angela, who cuts hair and Levi got his new big boy look. He wore a cape and sat on my lap the whole time. He did not cry he just sat there and let Angela trim away. He was so good and when it was done I could not believe how different he looked and so much older. And I did keep a few of his curls for his scrap book and no tears were shed by me either..

Love of Sweets

Levi loves chocolate...anything..cookies, brownies or ice cream. Put simply, food brings Levi joy. Here he is learning how to use a spoon.He is still practicing the spoon.But he can handle the fork well and can get the pieces into his mouth too..not on the floor. I hope this picture makes you smile.

Another Camping Attempt

Well, I guess it is not our luck with camping this year.Every year we go camping at Ludington State Park with the Roedema family. We took Levi when he was 3 months old last year.So as tradition we went camping to Ludington State Park this past Thursday to Friday. We had intended to go all weekend. But how much fun is rain, mud, clouds and 50-60 weather..in a tent. We did enjoy Thursday night. It was a great night for a camp fire. Again, Levi was very intent on fighting us to go to sleep. Finally, after many walks...in which every male was dada, and every campfire was "hot" and pointing at all the doggies and bikes..he collapsed..only 2 1/2 hours later than usual.This sleeping thing also could be related to him getting his molars! He was all dressed for the low night time temps and slept realitivly well in his pack n play in our tent. He loved just playing around the camp in the "dirt". Ryan and I did have time to walk on Lost Lake Trail...by ourselves! While Grandpa and Grandma Roedema spent time with Levi. Next year has got to be the year for camping and good weather..don't you think?

A Trip to the Zoo

We were able to head out yesterday for another family outing. On Wednesday we went to Grand Haven for the afternoon and it was actually...relaxing. So we planned to go to John Ball Zoo yesterday. We used the tickets that Allison and Steve gave for Levi's birthday..so thank you! We wandered around the zoo and saw most of the animals. Levi was not as scared as last time and I think that he was actually able to see more of the animals than before. He loves riding on Daddy's shoulders and pointing...he did alot of that.

Calling his friends on the way to the zoo to let them know the fun to be had. He loves his candy necklace from Grandma Roedema...did not want to take it off..enjoyed munching on it and kept him content:)



Petting Area




Looking at the bears and some other animal pictures





Ryan trying to jump as high as a snow leopard...he had to do it!



A great afternoon spent as a family!

Latest Happenings

Lets just say it has been an interesting couple of weeks. Last week Ryan, Levi and I ventured on our first "family" camping trip. We went camping last summer but this was the first time with our own little family. We borrowed Grandpa and Grandma Roedemas pop up and headed to Warren Dunes State Park. We got set up and took a bike ride to the beach...and then things got a little crazy. First, Levi was teething, second he was not used to sleeping in the camper and third it was kinda warm out. We had to take him on car rides with the AC on to make him fall asleep...Ryan even tells the story that he drove to Indiana one time to make him pass out...which is true. He was not eating right and just did not seem to be acting himself...all which we attributed to teething and his new surroundings. Well, during the night(the first night)Levi was sleeping by Ryan and I in the sleeping bags and was burning hot. I took his temp 103...gave Motrin and Tylenol. The next day, he was still tired acting, and not himself...again had to drive him to take any sort of nap...that really cuts in on relaxation time for mom and dad. However, we did end up going to the beach for a few hours, and having one campfire! Anyways, the next night he was burning up again and the max temp I got was 104.6!..middle of the night, dark, and camping. We stripped his clothes off, put cold washclothes on him and medicine again. I called Dr. in the morning...one of the doctors I work with and trust and he wanted Levi to be seen right away in the ER. Casey and Laura live near Warren Dunes and are familiar with the area so Laura and I went off the the ER...and the diagnosis we got there was an ear infection with an upper respiratory infection. Needless to say, this trip was neither relaxing or fun...not kidding. So we packed up and headed home. This past week I was filling in the Dr. I work with about Levi's latest...a rash on his face...and later in the day it spread to his trunk, legs and back. Dr. then explained that Levi might not have had an ear infection at all but maybe it was Roseloa. Anyways, we will follow up sometime this weekend with Levi's DR and see what he thinks about his ears vs. rash. Sorry to say no pictures to post either.
However, I do have some pictures of Levi's love...FOOD. He does have most of his appetite back...except when his teeth are bothering him. He loves to try to eat on his own and try different things...today a tuna fish sandwich...he said num num while eating that! Here are some pictures of the spagetti dinner he had the other night. He got really frustrated when he could not do it himself..and it was all down hill from there. It is fun to watch..not to clean up. Also, cookies...I think the pictures show his reaction to cookies.