10 Months!

Ten months!  We are closing in on the one year mark!  My heart is so full because of the blessing in this little boy!

His new tricks: clapping and standing (each on their own and simultaneaously).  Climbing the stairs.  Crawling intside the cabinets.  Baths in the big tub.  Successfully going up and over the one step landing.  We even get some waving from time to time.  And..sleeping through the night again! 

His little body just wants to go and go and explore so much.  He can crawl at a rather rapid pace when he wants to..and turns it into somewhat of a game for us to chase after him.  He's in a stage right now where he laughs at everything (I know..what an awful stage to be in).  I'll have my eye on him, and then he darts down the hallway.  I ask him where he is, and I hear laughing and the clomp clomp of his crawl suddently speeds up..  He also thinks its funny everytime he successfully craws up and over the landing into Dad's office.  Clay taught him how to crawl down the one step off the landing without face planting, and he has it mastered.

As I mentioned, he is sleeping through the night again from time to time.  Levi has been a great sleeper for us from about 3 or 4 months old but a couple months ago, he started getting up at least once a night - sometimes for up to 2 or 3 hours.  Those were long nights with a little boy who just wanted to sit on mom's lap and play.  But, as with all phases, it has passed and now even if he does get up, its a quick feeding and he's back to sleep.

We take a trip to the library every week or two and get Levi new books to look at.  He loves for us to read to him, but generally favors the same book over and over; we just don't know which book it will be for that week.  Its been fun being able to take advantage of a decent library not too far away, and I've gotten into the habit of reading more for myself.  My selections recently have been a parenting book (Don't Make Me Count to Three by Ginger Plowman - highly recommended!!), a biography of sorts (The Duck Commander Family by Willie and Korie Robertson), and a feminist take on more women of my generation choosing to stay home (Homeward Bound by Emily Matchar).  Quite the variety I know, but I've enjoyed all three of those for vastly different reasons.

I couldn't ask for a better buddy to have with me throughout the day.  We have our rough spots but they are far outweighed by the very bright spots.  Right now I'm enjoying him getting a little older as each month brings more interaction and new "tricks."  We were a bit shocked when he started standing on his own so I guess we'll see what his next trick will be!

Mini Van in the Big City

This post is long overdue, but it might be Levi's only visit to NYC so I figured I should share it.  I have to say, New York City is just not quite my thing.  Visiting in the summer does NOT help make it more appealing but in my defense, I have visited when the Christmas decorations were still up in January and its still not my thing.  Give me some wide open spaces over dirty concrete floor to ceiling any day.

However, I shouldn't come off as such a debbie downer when we really did have a nice trip!  Actually, I'm so proud of Clay earning his invitation on this trip!  We went for a long weekend in July as it was an incentive trip for the reps in his company.

We stayed in the Waldorf Astoria.  This was nice for several reasons but one of the main ones being that we were within walking distance of just about everywhere, but we werent in the middle of the chaos of Times Square:

Levi in Times Square!  We were rather obvious tourists for two reasons: 1. tennis shoes and 2. baby.  Those two things don't really hide in NYC.

 Levi and Clay in Central Park!  I learned on my tour of the city that all of Central Park is man-made.  The tour guide made it a point to say that not even a single blade of grass grew there on its own and that literally every part of it was designed and brought in. 

 My treat on the trip was a stop at Crumbs cupcake shop.  Cupcake shops are rather trendy I know, but I wanted to go and get to pick out any cupcake I wanted.  So we did.

I picked out a chocolate and vanilla milkshake cupcake and Clay went with classic cookies n cream!

To be honest, they were dry.  It was rather disappointing.  However, the most bizarre lady was in Crumbs.  She offered to babysit Levi so we could go to a broadway show.  We were both very surprised by the friendliness of this grandma, but then again, our whole weekend trip showed us that people in NYC love babies (not so much strollers)..and therefore talk to you and your baby.  Needless to say, we thanked her for her generous offer but declined.

Guess what else happened on this trip?!  Clay turned 27!  We were limited in celebratory options but he opted to eat Chinese that evening for dinner, and we both wore shoes other than sneakers.  Here is our selfie picture complete with stroller:

Monday morning I spent on an air conditioned tour bus around the city while Clay sat in class.  God was so gracious as Levi was a very well behaved travel companion.  I also made friends with a mother and son (from Indiana - the Midwest kindness) who were so nice - they were always aware of me on the walking portions and made sure I could get the stroller up and down stairs or tight places!  I know it may seem small, but they were a huge blessing!

One of our walking stops was the 9/11 memorial site:

I took other pictures on the tour but we're going to move on.



That evening we went to eat at a small Italian place.  I thought it was rather humorous that because we had the stroller with us, we were banished to the outside back corner (note stacked tables and chairs behind). 

Just a couple more pictures and we'll be done.  This little guy slept horribly all weekend long.  Oh well.



Finally, for those of you who are not aware, we are the proud new owners of a minivan.  If you are debating, or even considering, the option of minivan ownship, please reach out.  We're here for you and we will convert you as it. is. AWESOME.  Just don't tell anyone we said so. 

All that to say, we welcomed Van to the family by driving her right into the heart of New York City.

View from inside:

Overall, we really did have a great time despite the heat and the fact that we had a 7 month old baby with us in a city that is not really known for their family accomodations.

The sweetest view there was on the way home: